A few days ago many of you gave some great advice to me in a thread I wrote asking for advice on tracking the G35 for the first time. Thanks a million to all for the advice, so here is how things went!

After arriving at the track and getting some intruction from the track manager in the driver's room our group of six or so decided it was best to start off with a couple of parade laps to get everyone familiar with the track. Headed off by fellow F-chatter(www.ferrarichat.com) Dave Goldman in his F328 I rounded out the back of the pack.

Next, those who had never driven on the track were instructed to take a few laps with two of the experienced drivers there(Richard Thompson and Dave) before going at it solo.

So I took the laps with Dave in his 328, he gave lots of great input on danger parts of the track, things to look for, and different takes on proper lines.

Before long I realized that it was time to take the plunge and give the track a few laps, starting off at 4/10ths and slowly working my way up.

The roadcourse is a short technical circuit composed of 14 turns. This is great in my opinion because it gave me some time to work on car control, turn in, and tracking out through a variety of tough corners, esses, and bends.

My first session consisted of about 12 laps or so, then I decided to take a quick break to let the brakes cool and re-check my tire pressures.

I had done plenty of research as to how I could expect the car to behave and was pleasantly surprised to find it to be quite neutral and predictable. I did not run into nearly as many understeer situations as I thought I would, which may have a lot to do with the fact that I essentially was preventing some of it by purposely giving a little throttle during turn in to induce mild oversteer.

Once I pulled off the track, got some water, and checked around for any problems I was ready to jump back out there and crank up to 6.5/10ths or so.

Did maybe 10 more laps and had Dave come ride shotgun to give me some pointers on my technique and line. Line was pretty solid. only with a couple minor issues that were quickly fixed by learning some of the 'local' knowledge. As for technique, I started off being a little too jerky with turn in and too quick to mash on the throttle when tracking out. Consequently I was messing around too much with getting the car's balance off kilter during some turns, which obviously can result in some dicey situations. Luckily I didn't run into any bad results since I was not pushing too close to the limit.

So I took the advice, did a few more laps, and was getting much more consistency with balance and fluidity.

I heel/toe normally when just driving around town, but being on the track was more fast paced and frequent, resulting in some great practice for the next time out.

Went to take another break and let the car cool down. Richard asked me later if I wanted to take a ride in his car, but I took the opportunity to ask him to ride along with me instead to give me some further critiques. At this point I had several sessions under my belt and was able to move up to 8/10ths or so. After a couple of laps I was letting the rear end come out during track-out just to spice things up. Efficient? No! Fun? No doubt!

I exhibited really solid car control and found the G35 to be very responsive with the throttle-on oversteer and equally easy to manage. Unfortunately I was unable to time my laps, but I knew I was getting faster and faster by my exit speeds and entry speeds into many of the corners.

The Brembos performed very well and I experienced only minor brake fade near the end of my last session where I was pushing pretty hard and really abusing the brakes. I think that the next time I go out I will definitely change from the stock pads to something much stronger, although with stock pads and fluids the Brembo equipped G35s stop from 60mph-0 in only 114ft! Which is pretty impressive for a 3500lbs car.

All and all the day was much more fun that I could believe. It is so addicting I feel like I don't know how to occupy myself until the next track day

Also, this was made even more fun by being surrounded with some great friends who share this crazy car obsession we all take part in. We told plenty of stories, got some great laughs, and just enjoyed having the track completely to ourselves for only 6 cars.

When cleaning out my trunk I noticed I had a rather large Scuderia Ferrari shield sticker(1ft tall). Without second thought the sticker ended up on the rear of Richard's 350z, looking obnoxious as ever! Yet I still got it in the end when he was able to remove it quickly, fully intact, and stick it right on the center of my warm hood, making it a P.I.T.A. to take off!

I came into the experience with eggregiously high expectations, yet somehow they got blown away in a manner I could have never expected

So here are some great shots taken of the car with me behind the wheel. Hope to see you guys on the grid...

 

A few more pics...

 

Nice write up and nice pics. I'm hoping to hit the track for my first time this Fall when the weather cools down a bit.

 

How hard I am pushing the car. In tenths. If I am giving it my all and pushing the absolute limits of myself and the car I am said to be doing it at 10/10ths.

 

congrats..........nice pictures by the way

 

Great write-up and nice pics.

 

Excellent! Good to hear you had a good time. It is the most addictive activity I've ever participated in. Couple of pics from my last track weekend...I'm back at Mosport next weekend. Wooo!

 

Great fun and nice pics guys. That's a great place to test the limits of your rides.
C.

 

Looks like fun!! great write up.

 

I dont see this being me anytime soon. The closest I've found is that there is a track at Sebring, Florida (two hours from me) where PANOZ (a race driving school) teaches you how to race using their cars. I will be going fast, but not on my G.

 

Sebring. Yum.

Surely there are clubs that hold HPDEs there? Lookup your local BMW Club chapter.

 

Nice write up and pictures indeed. Glad you had a great time, a safe time, and learned about your car. It really helps to get a feel for the limits of handling of the car for safer street driving too.

 

i'm jealous, your tracks are much nicer than ours, and more technical as well.
this is an in-car video of one of our participants, mike turrola, piloting his Z06. He's also the points leader for our organization.
https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/ind...e367e16e97bed2
enjoy.