Pics and TR- HOD Mar.4th at Homestead Motor Speedway

[MiamiE93Vert]

(NOTE- I think this is the best place to put a trip report and photos. Someone please let me know if this should be in a different subforum... if the trip report is too long you can skip right to the photos).



This past Sunday I did my first HPDE at Homestead Motor Speedway with Hooked on Driving. It was an absolute blast and it took me until about today before the adrenaline and rush from the day finally wore off; definitely one of the most fun and exciting things I have done and I look forward to doing it again! (I am finding myself trying to track the apex of the curves on my commute into work. lol!)

However, what made the day truly memorable was that I had the chance to share the day with friends and forum members who were just as excited as me to take their cars out on the track, learn to be better drivers, see and talk cars for the day and be spectators for the advanced and expert groups. So a special thank you to Matt Gold (matt gold) and his friend Navid, Raj (askjeeves) and his friend George and my friends Mike, Daniel and Emanuel for sharing the day. It would not have been nearly the same experience without them.

Trip Report
The day before the event I was so excited it felt like Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, I have two little girls (5 and 2) that needed attention until they went to bed so car prep would have to wait. Thankfully, I had done my pre-track day inspection and oil change earlier in the week so the only thing I needed to do was prep the exterior. As a noob, of course I am not expecting to bring tools or supplies with me in case some thing happens, but dammit I will protect my car front from rock chips, lol!

Once the girls were asleep I first gave the car a quick wash, then went to work putting on my number and wrap. The photos below show my end product. For the numbers, I had purchased reusable vinyl numbers online and they went on (and came off) very easily. Not necessary but hey...because race car! Next, I put on contact paper that I had purchased from Home Depot. I got the idea from some other forums after some google searches and it worked great; about $6.00 a roll, cut the roll in half to about 5 inches wide and went on (and off) with no issues. For the front, mirrors and body it only took about a half an hour, and that was because I had to figure out the best method for removing the paper from the backing. Next time it should only be about 15-20 mins.

The next day it was breakfast and off to the track. I live about 20 mins. away so getting there was easy. Finding the entrance to the track though was a little harder, but I found it in the back after only 2 U-turns! Once there it was park the car, registration, rent a helmet and off to the beginner driver's meeting.

Since it was my first time, I was paired with an instructor; mine was Jeff Milton from Mach Motorsports in Dania. Great guy and a great instructor. We went through the map of the track, talked about some basic etiquette and techniques and then we were ready to go! Photos below are of Matt Gold's and my car in the garage and the view from the garage to the track.

Morning Runs- HOD does 7 30 minute sessions with 3 in the morning and 4 in the afternoon, which beforehand did not seem like a lot but it is a lot of track time! I was so jazzed up my first run that it was a blur. However, my instructor was thankfully very patient in pointing out things I could do better with my lines and positioning. For the second run though, the adrenaline had worn off and it was harder to concentrate on proper technique. Also, it was very hot, my oil pressure was starting to creep up and the car felt a bit slippery. Not knowing if it was the car (it likely wasn't) or me getting fatigued (more likely), I decided it would be best to end the session a little early and collect myself.

From the photos below you can see a big storm came through which wiped out run 3 and gave us some time before lunch to decompress and walk through the garage and see some of the other cars running in the advanced group, which included some radicals. Just to walk next to the race cars and exotics was a thrill; for someone in the industry it probably gets old, but for us it was a treat.

Afternoon Runs- The afternoon runs have blended in my mind. By this time the nerves were gone, I had a better picture of each of the track's turns and I was ready to drive my car haaard! Plus, the storm dropped the temperature of the track considerably and left overcast skies so it was perfect track weather.

It was the best of times and the worst of times. I had some really good runs; good lines and speed.... and I had some bad lines where my car was really not happy with me. At least on the bad lines I had a good idea where I went wrong, so I was able to self evaluate for better consistency. Overall though I was a much better driver in the afternoon and by the end of the day my driving had improved tremendously.

As an aside, I was amazed at how much gas I burned through. I filled up my tank before going to the track and I had to go to the gas station in the middle of the afternoon for more gas. During one run I set my trip computer to record my gas mileage and I got 6.6 mpg for the run, Lol! For the day, I burned through about a tank and a half of gas.

Between some of the runs, we went to the grandstand by turns 3 and 4 to watch the advanced/expert group. One of the cars in these runs was a Porsche GT3 Grand Am car doing some testing runs and man, can that car fly! On the turns it sticks to its line like it is on slots, accelerates out of nowhere and looks great doing it. We were able to get some photos of the car on the track but the photos do not do the car justice when you see and hear it in person. The other cars that impressed us were the race ready Mazda Miatas. For the price, these little things cornered great and modified, looked like they had plenty of power. I have some movies of the A group runs on my phone but unfortunately, they are not posting.

After the final run I removed the contact paper and my number and got ready to go home. It was funny to prepare the car to go back to "civillian" life, almost like transforming back in the morning from being a warewolf or like a superhero putting back on its mild mannered disguise. Also, as an E93 I was able to put the top down for the ride home, which made for a nice ride home.

Impressions of the car: I was extremely pleased with how the car performed, not knowing what to expect for the first time. No issues at all; the only thing was after each run I had the bad smell of power steering fluid, but from reading the forums I had expected that. Even though I have an E93 and am very heavy on the track (lots of fast cars on the track for our group and the only car I could pass was a Volkswagen CC, lol), the car responded very evenly and predictably, without much body lean that I could feel. If I put myself in a difficult spot, the car drifted evenly and smoothly until I could get back on line. The word George used to describe the driving feel was "breeds confidence", and he is correct. Great car by any measure, but I have gained a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for both the car and the engineering that had to go behind it to make a hard top convertible that has all the comforts of a luxury car, four very useable seats, utility for two kids and the ability to go to the track and handle it like it is back home in its element.

To the photos; hope you enjoy them.

[Exclusive]

nice! Glad you had a good time. I want to go do this eventually!

[mdosu]

3 comments:

1. I like the quick and easy ghetto wrapped
2. Looks like a fun event
3. is that a fucking tornado I see??!!!

[Martin_D]

Originally Posted by mdosu

3. is that a fucking tornado I see??!!!

Grab the red slippers and toto!

On a serious note how did you like Homestead?

[Powerbeast]

I want to get onto that track.

[IMG]

Noble looks sick,looks like a lot of fun !

[GOLFFRR]

great turn out thanks for posting up some pics!

[mkPOTO]

great pics!

[edu09]

Hey Louis, seems like you had a good time at the track, nice pics! just hope you have removed that plastic wrap from your hood or are you gonna keep it as a new mod?? lol

[aus]

Great pics. That wrap can on on a lot cleaner!! I've been doing it for years.
If you're going to go out a few times a year, just get an old school Colgan bra.

www.carbras.com


.

[BradfordSil]

I want to go do this eventually!

[iDRIFT]

Looks like a great turn out!!!!

[MiamiE93Vert]

Originally Posted by mdosu

3. is that a fucking tornado I see??!!!

When I saw it for the first time I took the picture just in case it was a tornado, but there is an open field in that direction so I think it was just a lot of dust. Definitely made an impression though. Once we saw that we ran to the garages and it started to rain heavily about 1 minute after the picture.

Originally Posted by Martin_D

Grab the red slippers and toto!

On a serious note how did you like Homestead?

It is a nice track, although I have no experience driving any other tracks. It was really cool to have two straightaways for the road course be part of the NASCAR track (the expert group used the high bank 3 and 4 turns) and the garage and facilities are first rate. However, I grew up in Wisconsin going to June Sprints at Road America, and the change in elevation along with beautiful scenery and being able to sit in the grass in the infield made Road America a nicer overall experience as a spectator.

Originally Posted by aus

Great pics. That wrap can on on a lot cleaner!! I've been doing it for years.
If you're going to go out a few times a year, just get an old school Colgan bra.

www.carbras.com


.

You are definitely correct, it was a terrible job by me . But under the circumstances I was fine with the results; It was late Saturday night once my kids finally fell asleep, it was my first time using the wrap and I had to wash the car first to have a good surface to use for the wrap and my numbers. Next time I will do it during the day and hopefully do a better job.
Yes, a clearbra will be a long term solution... but other modifications just look so damn good in the meantime .

[MiamiE93Vert]

Originally Posted by edu09

Hey Louis, seems like you had a good time at the track, nice pics! just hope you have removed that plastic wrap from your hood or are you gonna keep it as a new mod?? lol

Thanks Eduardo, you're coming with us next time! .

[paradocs98]

Thanks for posting pics. Good for you for hitting the track. It's a blast and you learn a ton.

Some pretty serious cars there--Riley track day car, etc.

The white E92 M3 behind you in the garage looks the business, too--suspension, StopTech brakes, rollbar, etc.

[Rob@StrasseWheels]

Nice! Wish I would've made it, was recovering from celebrating my birthday haha!

[mattgold]

Thanks for the pics Louis. I agree with everything said! Fantastic time, good weather before the rain, GREAT weather after, and superb group of guys.

I spent the first 1/2 of the day learning the track, doing some lead/follows with other drivers and generally letting other drivers teach me. The second 1/2 of the day was a bit more eventful after letting Raj teach me where the limits of my M3 were.

Excited to get back out.

[datbimmerdoe]

looks like a blast! thx 4 sharin

[bmwtech13]

Very cool! Definitely looked like a lot of fun!

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by Martin_D

Grab the red slippers and toto!

On a serious note how did you like Homestead?

Looks like a great event and a lot of cool cars