# NY BMWCCA Autocross School (a.k.a. alee abuses his car)



## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Well, what can I say... other than I had FUN!  2 board members were there... AF330i (Alan) and CarFreak (Ben). If Alan didn't open his big mouth, we would have been in the same run group, but oh well.  Ben ended up in my run group though.

The school was broken up into 2 sessions. 

The morning session involved rotating between 4 exercises, doing 3 runs in each exercise. These were skidpad (100 ft radius), emergency lane change, a mini course lined with cones and increasing/decreasing slalom.

The afternoon session involved the same 4 exercises, but gated together into a big autocross. It wasn't timed, and I was able to get 6 runs out of it.

To say I learned a lot was an understatement. I was VERY nervous going into the school, esp. in the rain. I always thought my car was good, but I never thought it was THAT good. I know in a world of go-fast mods, saying that is some sort of sin, but I think while I could certainly benefit from sways and a more tweaked suspension, I have a lot more to learn about my car before I'll go down that path. $40 is a pretty cheap mod.

After playing with DSC both on and off, and exploring the limits of my car, I had a new found respect for how competent the car is in stock form. DSC was a great way to learn the line and gave me a good feeling for what the car felt like at about 85%. Recognizing that feeling let me take the car to its limit without spinning. I did get sideways a few times, but I didn't spin. I credit DSC for educating me. My instructors were very good, and encouraged me to experiment with DSC on and off to get a feeling for how the car behaved.

Other notes:
1. S-03s are incredible tires. In the wet, they easily outperformed my old Dunlop 8080Es.

2. I drove about 70 miles to my parents' house after the event, and tramlining practically gone.

3. After pushing my car, I didn't really feel the need to speed. It was almost like getting my go-fast fix, and I was content to cruise along.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted. But I feel like this is something I am likely to pursue again. :thumbup:


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

AF330i tearing up the autocross


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

AF330i lifting a wheel :yikes:


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Carfreak in the final turn before the slalom


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Carfreak again


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Who would have thought I'd do an autocross? :dunno:


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Me entering the first gate


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Rest of the pics (not very exciting)

http://staff.pop3now.com/alee/bmw/nybmwcca/school1


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Wow, I'd think an auto-x would be canceled in weather like that out here.


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Kaz said:


> *Wow, I'd think an auto-x would be canceled in weather like that out here. *


The weather was brutal... cold, 55 degrees, high winds and horizontal rain. The instructors were psyched. A lot of spinning cars today. :bigpimp:

I spent the last 2 hrs detailing my car in the parking garage, and got home at 1am... my car was filthy. :yikes:


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## AF (Dec 21, 2001)

Al . . . I had a great time, thanks for posting the pictures

It is the next morning and I am still feeling it . . .. BTW I still have to vacuum up the Alee sandwich crumbs in my backseat


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

:thumbup:

Looks like fun.

It's a little amazing the body roll you guys got in those conditions.

I know I learned a lot on the wet skidpad at Summit Point about the handling of my old E34, and I also had the chance to autocross it on a wet course once. What a blast (at least while I was driving).


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## LarryN (Dec 24, 2001)

alee said:


> *...
> Other notes:
> 1. S-03s are incredible tires. In the wet, they easily outperformed my old Dunlop 8080Es.
> 
> ...


Sounds cool alee! I'm doing a Boston chapter school next Sunday.... hopefully in better weather. We had a few events last year that looked just like that day was. It bought me more runs though, since a bunch of people are no-shows.

I very happy to hear about the scrubbing of the S-03's minimizes the tramlining. We got our tires at about the same time. So, I'm looking to test them out as well, compared to the Conti's I had. I'll also get to check out the sways I installed yesterday.

Funny yo mention the speed bug, when you left the event. I'm exactly like that too. I drive mellow on teh way home from the events... Anyway, glad you had fun! Good writeup.


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## LarryN (Dec 24, 2001)

PhilH said:


> *:thumbup:
> It's a little amazing the body roll you guys got in those conditions.
> *


I was thinking the same thing. It's not easy to lift a tire on an e46, nevermind in the rain! Cool pic though!


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

AF330i said:


> *BTW I still have to vacuum up the Alee sandwich crumbs in my backseat  *


:lmao: It was all Carfreak, I swear!


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

*Re: Re: NY BMWCCA Autocross School (a.k.a. alee abuses his car)*



LarryN said:


> *We had a few events last year that looked just like that day was. It bought me more runs though, since a bunch of people are no-shows.*


Only 2 no shows... a little rain never scared anyone in the Northeast. 


> *I very happy to hear about the scrubbing of the S-03's minimizes the tramlining.*


Once they've been beat on a bit, it felt like the tramlining completely disappears. I think you're going to be very happy with the tires. :thumbup:


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Woohooo!!!!!!!

Al, that's looking awesome. 

The OCD Zaino guy is history now !!!  :bigpimp:


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Alex Baumann said:


> *The OCD Zaino guy is history now !!!  :bigpimp: *


You're forgetting the part where I spent 2 hrs from 11pm to 1am detailing my car and polishing a scuff I got from clipping a cone.


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## Mathew (Feb 8, 2002)

what did you do about helmets?

do you have your own or did you rent them?


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## alee (Dec 19, 2001)

Mathew said:


> *what did you do about helmets?*


They had loaners available. It was definitely a pain ... during the autocross runs, the person in the back of the line who just completed their run would run a helmet up to the front. They cycled between 6 loaners.

If I do it again, I will definitely buy. I think I found the G-Force open face one the most comfortable (and my giant head is indeed an XL :eeps: )


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