markbradford

Here's a report of my first track event, the BMW Performance Driving Event, hosted by the Bluenose Chapter of the BMW Car Club at Atlantic Motorsports Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, Canada (less than ½ hour from where most of your cars first set foot on North American soil)

First Impressions:

CARS: Upon arrival I noted that I was among some very serious iron: One 2000 Viper, a gorgeous Santorin Blue--like colour 2000 M5 (my personal favourite), a ton of Porsche 911s from the 80's to 2000, a couple 928 S4s, an M coupe (which would become my nemesis for the entire event), and other assorted Bimmers. Only one other Audi was present, a 2000 A6 4.2. There were some cars that were obviously out of their element: An old (88?) Civic hatchbach DX, unmodded, a Lincoln LS, a Subary Legacy wagon, etc. You had to give credit to these drivers for struggling to learn proper performance driving techniques in handicapped cars.

TRACK: Atlantic Motorsports Park is located in the middle of nowhere in Nova Scotia. It boasts the most elevation variance of any track in Canada. This is something that I grew to really appreciate as the day went on , making the course much more exciting (kind of like golfing on varied terrain - it adds a different dimension to the fun). On the first day the track also happened to be soaked - this tickled my fancy quite a bit, as only the A6 4.2, the Porsche 911 Turbo, and my car had AWD. Needless to say the BMW owners were hoping for sun the next day. ;-) The combination of these two factors made for some interesting cornering experiences, especially on corners at the crests of hills, as the tail ends of some of the cars tended to get light and invoke oversteer.

INSTRUCTION: One word: AMAZING! I can't believe how much I learned at this school!!! I had always considered myself someone who drove fast properly...... WRONG!!! The first few laps were a humbling experience to say the least, a sentiment generally agreed upon by all the novices. Gradually, with the knowledge gained in the classroom sessions and the experience of the exercises and hot laps I gained speed, smoothness, and consistency. This enabled me to be MUCH more comfortable with the limits of traction.

DAY ONE: POURING RAIN ON AND OFF ALL DAY!!! I had hoped for a few drops of rain at some point in the weekend to show the BMW guys what they were missing. Well we got a few drops and then some! It poured all day, and my instructor continously praised the A4 for it's ability to gain ground coming out of the turns (he loved the ability to simply floor it at the apex, even in the rain). Before the event, I had asked him what he thought of the A4 and he answered, "It's an interesting car" with a bit of attitude in his voice. He was obviously impressed after the first few laps.

There was a guy from Maine who brought an M Coupe to the event. He would prove to be my only competition in my group (Novice Green group) The novice group consisted of a few E36 325s and 328s, a Z3, the M coupe, an M3, the POS Civic, a behemoth 750IL, and me in my slightly modded 99.5 1.8TQMS. All day I ran away from everybody, although we were not allowed to pass on the first day, we could pull into pit lane to gain space. As the day went on, the track dried up a bit in the last few hours and the M Coupe became a bit more competitive. Also, as the track dried up, I had a chance to really test the limits of the suspension a bit, and was pretty impressed. However, I was just focussing on my lines and using the first day as prep for the dry day to follow.

DAY 1.5: There was a social gathering at Moosehead Brewery that night, where we sat around and drank beer and talked about European cars (tell me again there's no such thing as Heaven!!) I hung out with the guy with the M coupe and we talked about the track, our cars, our instructors, and our expectations of the next day. We both agreed that he should run circles around me tomorrow, because he has a weight, power, and handling advantage.

DAY 2: Our expectations did not come to fruition. Even in the dry, the advantage of Quattro was evident. I was simply better able to put the power to the road coming out of a turn. I ran with the M coupe all day, pulling away out of the turns, losing ground in the straights. As there is no way this should have happened, I figure the learning curve on the A4 is much different than the M coupe. Either that or I have bigger juevos.

Anyway, but the end of the second day I was flying through the track infinitely faster than when I started, carrying obscene speeds through some pretty tricky turns. I had completely learned the balance of the car (which, IMHO, is the most important thing) and how to make to subtle changes to effect the correct outcome.

SOME THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT THE CAR:

NEW BRAKES: Although I just got new pads and rotors a week before the event, I realised I AT LEAST need aftermarket pads (EBC Reds) and probably a full big brake kit (BIRA). The stock brakes exhibited some serious fade the second day, when I wanted to come into the turns much hotter but worried about braking ability.

TIRES: The Bridgestone RE730s are a fantastic street tire that can hang out at the track occasionally too. They were absolutely amazing in the wet and good in the dry the next day as well.

BALANCE: The A4 wants to push quite a bit, but with proper modulation of the inputs, you can get it to do what you want quite handily. Odd: I found running 45 front and 41 rear to be a good way to provoke oversteer (although I have been also told the opposite).

CENTRE CAPS: Take them off. I now only have one left.


SOME HIGHLIGHTS (AND LOWLIGHTS):

High: Watching an old Rabbit Cabrio completely stick to the Viper's *** all day on the second day. The Viper would trounce him on the straights and the Rabbit would completely catch up to him in the turns, rear inside tire 8 inches in the air at all times!!!

High: Finally completing a lap and the instructor telling me that I hit every apex perfectly and was beginning to "get it right."

Low: Next turn (very steep downhill, >180 degrees) Got overconfident and carried too much speed, lifted off the throttle mid-turn (BIG NO-NO) and came very close to some dangerous oversteer and a resulting weed excursion.

Low: In the classroom, when the instructor asked if anyone had a FWD car, the driver of the Z3 2.3 put up her hand!!! We stifled our chuckles.

Low: Passing only on the straights. Civic DX, Z3, and 750IL were rolling roadblocks. I can't wait to get out of the novice group next year.

Low: Porsche 993 going into the bush because he ran bald tires in the rain on the first day. Idiot. Estimated damage in CDN$ ---- $30,000. New front clip, rear driver's siide suspension, back bumper, two wheels, and oil leak. Driver OK, but pride in critical condition.

High: Coming into the pits and having the driver of the M Coupe come over and say, "Nice driving! I simply couldn't catch you."


THE SHORT VERSION: I had more fun than I've ever had with my clothes on at the track event. I would recommend it to anyone as the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT INVESTMENT YOU CAN MAKE FOR YOUR CAR'S SAKE (AND YOUR OWN). If I had it to do all over again, I would have done the track event before I even chipped the car. If I had this much fun at a Bimmer event, I can't wait to check out a Quattro club event!

I'll post my pics tomorrow or the next day.

Cheers,<p>Mark
99.5 1.8TQMS>>>APR V3, Eurosports, Ace Lolas, etc.
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Chris T

Now you're addicted like the rest of us! QC event will be even more fun!

valium

not sure what you are running for power, but I'd say do a pad & fluid upgrade to learn, learn, learn how the car responds before puting in huge brakes. I think you learn more with the car stock for a while than just wholesale upgrading whatever is "weak."

Just my $.02.

You'll have a blast at the QCUSA events, though everyone there knows the advantage. I'm debating taking my A4 to the BMW CCA school at Lime Rock in October, or driving my dad's Vette:

A4 Pros: Great in rain, fun to drive, my car, I'm used to it.
A4 Cons: Slower, heavier, I sold my harnesses, my tires are old.

Vette Pros: 375 hp(!). BIG brakes.
Vette Cons: I've never driven a RWD car on the track, so I voluntarily moved down to a low group, to learn rather than be pushed to go too fast and f*ck up.

Jon

Jon