Decided to finally get my Turbo S out to the track. I've had the car for a year now and have been waiting for the right opportunity.


BMW Car Club of America was having an event at Auto Club Speedway. It's a fantastic track and they run IndyCar and NASCAR and other pro events there. BMW CCA includes classroom and in-car instruction, which was very important to me as this is my first time at this track.


I ran in Sport Mode (not Sport Plus) and in automatic mode so there is a lot of lag coming out of the corners. It may appear that I'm getting on the gas late but no the car is prob only 3K rpm and I'm on the gas and revs just need to climb a bit. I'm sure in Sport Plus with the RPM's much higher, it would have been a much more visceral experience but I just wasn't ready for that yet.


Enjoy.

 

Looks lie fun Adam ,that straightway is a blast what kinda speed where you hitting on the straightaway ,i'm always kinda nervous going into to the 1st banked turn at 125mph or so, i need to do the instructor thing next time i go to figure it out , looks like you took it & low did you stay on the gas or let off around it.

 

That looks like a good time!

 

Hey Adam,


Using the digital readout on my speedo most of the time I was hitting about 160mph at the start/finish line and then I would coast through the "funnel" (cones set up past start/finish) and tap the break to go through the bank at about 120mph unless I was held up.

But in an earlier session (session 3) I kept my foot in it past the start/finish and hit 170mph just before the funnel...then took the bank at about 140mph. It was rather frightening actually...but the car held nicely.


The only instruction I received on the bank was not to get in the "grooves". You can't see them in my vid but they delineate the lanes. Hitting the grooves at 120 was no bid deal but if I would have run into a groove at 140 it would have upset the car and could have caused a disasterous spin.


This car is just so capable at the track with good tires and properly set up suspension. I can't wait to have BBI finish the suspension...just need front camber plates and wider front LCAs to dial in some more neg camber and GT3 RS sways.

 

Op, just curious what tire pressures do you run in these half mile events?

 

Looked like a lot of fun. Looks like a VERY fast circuit, 170 that's really crazy. Tracks out in the tri state are nowhere near that open. A bit surprised you would be passing right or left in such a situation, but everything looked under control. Nice lines, BTW.

 

I never changed tire pressure for the roll-on events since traction is not really an issue since the race starts at 40-50mph. I think for street driving I was at 36 front 42 rear.



To extract the most speed I probably should actually increase tire pressure in the front to over 40psi to decrease rolling resistance.

 

Looked like fun, that's a really fast track (hitting 170mph! sweet)

 

Very nice Buddy... I'm a certified PCA solo driver myself, Lots of fun

 

Looks like fun. Next time give Sport Plus a try. Big difference and exactly what that setting is for. Will keep you in boost more of the time.


Walt

 

How many heat cycles have the R888's gone through? I ask because I remember on my Evo having to warm them up on 2 laps before they got real sticky.

 

Awesome video Adam, that looked like a blast.