Woo Hoo! AutoX - I took 2nd place today!

[Kirby]

I raced the 325i today and took 2nd place in my class. This was the first time I "trophied" so I'm pumped up. Now I gotta work on a first place finish - that's going to require sticky tires and more experience. I ordered new wheels/tires for the street yesterday, so the old rims will soon be getting sticky Falken Azenis or something similar dedicated for racing.

My 17 yo daughter also raced today and did great. She improved her time by almost 7 seconds. She learned SO MUCH about car control today and where the limits are, and was smiling all day. She even saved a 30 mph spin by counter steering, still stayed on course, hit no cones & was complimented by a number of people.

If you really want to learn how to drive your car and learn how it handles, this is a great way to do it. There's no question that my daughter will be able to better handle that inevitable panic driving situation that will occur some day, but instead of a panic response it will be instinctive.

 

[Tom]

Congrats! Are you going to try it out in your 330 next?

 

[Bryan330i]

That sounds fun!

Congratulations!

What were you up against?

 

[jrt67ss350]

Congrats, Kriby! Sounds like a fun day. And, let me tell ya - you are an awesome dad to take your daughter to an event like that and have her drive. That's something I've always wanted to do.

 

[Kirby]

I ran the 330 several times in the early spring. It's kind of a trade off - the extra hp is helpful, but the auto tranny & extra weight of the convertible is a deficit. The manual tranny in the 325i makes a big difference. For the time being I'm going to keep running the 325. I'm still learning a lot, and I need to develop better consistency. But I will probably try the 330 again sometime next year to see if my improved skills can work around the auto tranny deficit.

There were several other BMW 3 series there today. I got beat by a Dodge Neon SRT4 (4 cylinder turbo). Yes, BMW E36/E46 non-M, non-ZHP 3 series are classed with the SRT4 and other similar 4 cylinder turbos. He had alot more experience than me, and had racing tires. I was about 2 seconds behind him, which is quite a bit. Putting tires on my car would make up about one second, so I still have lots of skills to improve. That's what the challenge and fun is all about - I'm lovin' it!

 

[MrElussive]

That's awesome. Where was the AutoX held?

 

[Kirby]

It was held in a remote part of a shopping Mall parking lot, near Pottsville, PA. You might recognize Pottsville as home of Yuengling Brewery.