1 day autocross stress/replacement parts dilemma

[tylerderden121]

My wife got me an autocross day at Lime Rock. I have a 2013 e93. I was looking at rental costs for a Miata and they start at $900 a day. The track I would be on doesn't have hard walls so I'm not super worried about body damage. For a 4 or 5 hour session where I'm not sure how many actual laps I'll get in (a lot? just a few), how much wear and tear would I go through in a day if I'm a first time auto cross racer? Will I burn through brake pads in one day? Are there any other likely things I would have to address after a day on the track that could be very expensive? I'm trying to using my own car versus spending 900 bucks automatically to drive a Miata. Any tips/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[dparm]

Confused, is this an autocross or track day/HPDE? You mention "4 or 5 one hour sessions" but then you said autocross.

Or is this one of those high-speed autocross events / "track sprint" where they set up cones on the track?

[tylerderden121]

Here is the description on Lime Rock's site below. I'm new at this!!

Lime Rock Park offers easy-to-join programs where you can register to drive your street car, race car or a rented vehicle on a real race track in a relatively safe environment – perfect for high performance fun for all driver experience levels, new street driver training and advanced track driver skill development! These programs are held on Lime Rock’s .44-mile Autocross and Skid Pad courses.

Lime Rock’s autocross is a half-mile permanent, paved track (not cones in a parking lot as many autocrosses are) that can be run in seven different configurations, and includes camber and elevation changes. The course is also specially designed so that only smooth grass surrounds the course and drivers are able to explore the limit without the same fear of damaging their car that can be a daunting reality of events on the larger 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park road course. A note: though most people utilize their own vehicle, rental cars are available for your special occasion or in case you aren’t comfortable using your own vehicle.

[tylerderden121]

And here is the link.

https://limerock.com/summer-autocross-days

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by tylerderden121

And here is the link.

https://limerock.com/summer-autocross-days

Looks fun! I wouldn't think you need to prep much for this. Stock everything should be no problem.

[m3peat]

Tires are the only thing you would be concerned about and unless you are overdriving every turn, wear will be minimal and generally front outside edges only unless you’re lighting the rears up at every chance.
Take your own car and enjoy it.

[Kelse92]

Sounds like their version of an autocross school. Should be a lot of fun!
Tire wear will probably depend on the surface, but you should still be fine to send it. Stock brakes should be fine too.

Enjoy the learning day!

If you get the bug come back here and we can get you all setup with a full track/autox setup later on

[dkexige]

TLDR: Drive your own car. You're unlikely to have $900 worth of wear for a novice autocross day.

I've done BMW CCA Boston chapter Advanced Car Control Clinic (AC3) at Lime Rock on the lime rock infield. It's not exactly the same thing as what you're signed up for, but I imagine it will be run similarly. They'll basically send you out maybe 3-4 cars at a time, with a decent gap between cars, and you'll run the infield course on some configuration. It's not racing, and if you catch the car in front, you should be slowing down to build another gap. It's also not traditional autocross where you run the course once, and then come in. It's meant for you to have some more seat time learning the characteristics of your car. It feels different to autocross as well, as you can have some 'rhythm' from lapping, like you would on the full track.

They will design the course so that you will never exceed 2nd gear speeds. It will be possible for you to lose control of your car, but be safe and get the car slowed down. With autocross, generally the only things you'll hit are cones. The lime rock infield does have some pretty far off trees, and there's a gazebo that's a fair bit off the course. It is possible to run into those, but only with 'target fixation'. Slowly work up to your own comfort level and you'll be fine.

The front undertray for our cars are felt, and they don't hold up too too well to cones, but they can take a few hits. Mine was chewed up by the original owner a bit from low driveways, and I think I did 3 driving school events where I hit plenty of cones before it got chewed up enough that I decided to replace it. You'll have some very minor wear from stressing your tires, suspension components, cooling system, etc more so than street miles, but it won't be significant or measurable really.

Mostly, the experience of pushing your own car is valuable for extenuating circumstances on the road. Bring your own car

[dkexige]

Oh, if you get hooked, autocross in the New England region is very strong. In your backyard there is CART. Also check out "Devens", which is in Ayer MA. Multiple clubs run there, including New England Region SCCA, and BMW CCA (in my signature).

[dparm]

No way are you going to do $900 worth of wear and tear on your car. Drive the M3 and send it.

Unless your tires and brakes are already shot, you should be fine. Just check them after every session.

[tylerderden121]

This is all awesome and everyone seems to agree. Thank to everyone for the feedback and I'm click on some of those links! All the best.

[kyippee]

Ooh Devens. One of the first driving things I did over 10 years ago. It's been a long time since I've read that name

[Estoril Blue]

Its an autocross, not a track day.

Just show up with enough pad and tire, not-old brake fluid and empty all the loose crap from your car. Have a great time.

[tlrid3r]

Many good comments here. Little to no wear in a first time autocross. The M3 is a great car enjoy it.

Just maintain a good tire pressure. You good to go.

[e92BMW///M3]

Thanks for posting this. I have been tempted to get my M3 on track and this seems like a 'safe' way to dip my toe in the water. Now to figure out some logistics to make it happen.

[byroncheung]

Originally Posted by dkexige

TLDR: Drive your own car. You're unlikely to have $900 worth of wear for a novice autocross day.

...

The front undertray for our cars are felt, and they don't hold up too too well to cones, but they can take a few hits. Mine was chewed up by the original owner a bit from low driveways, and I think I did 3 driving school events where I hit plenty of cones before it got chewed up enough that I decided to replace it. You'll have some very minor wear from stressing your tires, suspension components, cooling system, etc more so than street miles, but it won't be significant or measurable really.

Mostly, the experience of pushing your own car is valuable for extenuating circumstances on the road. Bring your own car

This.

I ran on the limerock autocross tracks a few times, with both limerock itself and SCDA. Like everyone else said it is unlikely you will have issue other than burn some rubber. Especially if you're new, mostly likely you won't be pushing that hard. So just bring your car and you'll have a blast, and learn how your car handles when pushed close to limits.

Only issue I ever had there was this - I once spun out and get onto the dirt when my right foot was too eager in coming out from the last corner onto the front straight (the section straight in front of the gazebo). As a result one side of the felt tray fell half off and was dangling and dragging on the ground. I had to ran over to the main track to borrow some duct tape to patch it up.

Probably a freak occurance, my tray was ripped to begin with before the event, it probably hit some loose dirty when it spun and that was the last straw. Other than that I never seen any damage done to any car over the autocross track. It gave me an good excuse to upgrade to aluminum tray so it was all good...

[e92BMW///M3]

I signed up, now just need to sort out a helmet.
I didn’t see any other M3s in the list of participants but perhaps you’re in the afternoon.

[tlow98]

$900 for autocross? Am I reading that right?

[e92BMW///M3]

Originally Posted by tlow98

$900 for autocross? Am I reading that right?

To participate in the event is $250. I believe the $900 quoted was to rent a car for the event if you didn't want to use your own.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by e92BMW///M3

To participate in the event is $250. I believe the $900 quoted was to rent a car for the event if you didn't want to use your own.

Ah yes. Thank you. Reading comprehension fail

[GeorgeA]

Use the m3! What’s the point of owning it if you can’t use it for its intended purpose.

[pbonsalb]

I did a BMW advanced driving school with my E90M3 not long after I got it and all I did was scuff up the front tires a little and burn some gas. Why would you rent a car rather than drive the car you like? Halfway through my day (which was far from a full day on asphalt since there was a classroom session and participants take turns), another person’s E92M3 suffered a tire leak so I let them use my car when I was not using it. Back then E9xM3 were not so common and the instructor liked mine so I let him do some autocross runs as well to show us the line.

If it breaks, it can be fixed. Don’t be so scared of it you want to drive it only rarely and gently. Enjoy the car. If you have anxiety, go to therapy since it is probably affecting more in your life than what you do with the car.