just got back from OctoberFast, a 2 day event with the WI chapter of BMWCCA at RoadAmerica. Car did great, having the Catalyst with me is magic and I got moved up to intermediate!
At the end of day two, once I got moved up and set loose on my own, I did 2 predictable things -- 1, I PR'd, and 2 I started chasing times and faster cars, and my line went to sh*t. Had to recombobulate myself and focus on the driving. The garmin is awesome, but I think at this point I need to run it turned away from me so I can review the data later, instead of seeing the red screen in my peripheral vision and try to "make it up" by doing something stupid later.
Some thoughts:
- I wish this wasn't the end of the season, I probably would have gotten into the 40s with another day. Looking at the lap times thread here, a stock (engine-wise) E90 should be able to turn 30s (though my corvette-racing instructor thought that a 45 would be a good time). Without traffic, I started the weekend at 2:59, and closed it out at 2:52, with a 2:49 optimal per the garmin. I think another day would've put me firmly into the 40s.
- I still need better cooling. It was warm for October, topping out at 84F, but that's not that hot by summer standard. I got a coolant warning halfway through the day and had to back off a little. This is with a CSF oil cooler, but stock everything else. DCT did better than at blackhawk though because it's a longer track so it didn't get as abused.
- I need to keep working on threshold braking. On one of my last runs of the weekend, I blew T12 by not braking enough. Thought there was something wrong with my brakes and reviewed the Garmin data later, comparing it to my PR. G force topped out at the same 1G or so as it did for that lap, but... waaay too late, though I started to brake at the same point.
Gonna try to sneak one more day in somewhere before the season really ends, and then it's off to Porsche school in December!
Stupid seasons.