Fresno SCCA Event at Buttonwillow Kart Track

[old phart]

2013 M3 E93 DCT. Third week into ownership. Autocross event at Buttonwillow on the kart track. Audio a bit weak. Only picked up when wide open or sliding.

I'm no pro but could feel the lack of torque. No Ooomph coming out of the corners. Tried to keep the revs up as best as I could. My first run I forgot to turn off traction control and it was a hilarious mess. Also found it was easier to just reach down and slap the shifter. Paddles always in the wrong place. Guessing they'll be more useful on a not so tight course.

I purchased a gopro 360 camera and filmed all my runs with it. Loaded it onto my Oculus Quest. Freaking Awesome! Tried to post the 360's on FB but playback is glitchy.

Anyway all good fun. Looking forward to a 'real' track day soon.

[dogbone]

Welcome to the forum!

10 years of going to Buttonwillow and I never heard of a car being on the kart track. Didn't even know that was allowed. Interesting.

Yeah, a stock E9x M3 is a somewhat heavy car that lacks power on a race track. I have an E92 street car that is stock power and an E90 track car that is supercharged. The E92 moves in slow motion compared to the supercharged car. The stock-powered E92 is a pleasure to drive on the street, but on track, it feels underpowered--especially at 5000' altitude in CO.

A supercharger is an easy way to add significant horsepower. Gives you tons of power that is predictable and linear. Unfortunately, it doesn't pass smog testing in CA, so that's a consideration.....

If you want to practice just tossing the car around to start to learn the concept of catching a slide in a safe environment without being on a track or autocross course, and if you're in SoCal, I HIGHLY recommend going to Willow Springs and renting the Balcony skid pad by yourself. It's cheap (membership is around $75 and the rental is $100) and you can toss the car around and start to understand what is required to keep a car under control when the rear steps out. Go during the week and you'll be the only person there. Awesome.

Anyway, glad you're putting the car through it's paces!

[dparm]

For stuff like that, I usually preferred to put EDC in "comfort" as it let me feel the weight transfer more gradually -- and I could predict breakaway better. Agree it's a great opportunity to practice catching the car with low risk.

[redpriest]

That looks like a ton of fun! Didn't even know it was allowed to do that at the kart track, sounds like something I have to sign up to do sometime.

[old phart]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Welcome to the forum!
If you want to practice just tossing the car around to start to learn the concept of catching a slide in a safe environment without being on a track or autocross course, and if you're in SoCal, I HIGHLY recommend going to Willow Springs and renting the Balcony skid pad by yourself. It's cheap (membership is around $75 and the rental is $100) and you can toss the car around and start to understand what is required to keep a car under control when the rear steps out. Go during the week and you'll be the only person there. Awesome.

Anyway, glad you're putting the car through it's paces!

Thank you, and thanks for the heads up about Willow Springs. I'll definitely look into it.

[old phart]

Originally Posted by redpriest

That looks like a ton of fun! Didn't even know it was allowed to do that at the kart track, sounds like something I have to sign up to do sometime.

Last year they had the starting line going straight into a 180 corner! This year they started us with a bit of a straight. It's an annual event for the Fresno Chapter of the SCCA. Set a Calendar reminder for Oct 1 to check their website for events.

[dparm]

Originally Posted by redpriest

That looks like a ton of fun! Didn't even know it was allowed to do that at the kart track, sounds like something I have to sign up to do sometime.

It's not much different from autocross, really.

[roastbeef]

welcome to the most useful forum for track-going m3's. some of the local track coordinators are speedventures, speeddistrict, and speedsf. there are a few more that host semi-exclusive events as well.

[old phart]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

welcome to the most useful forum for track-going m3's. some of the local track coordinators are speedventures, speeddistrict, and speedsf. there are a few more that host semi-exclusive events as well.

So there's a local Exotic Car Rental company and the owner is amazing. He rents Buttonwillow every now and then and invites people to come for a very reasonable fee. I've done a couple regular track days so after the warm up laps and driver talk I asked - So how will this work? Do we make our own groups?

He looked at me and said - You just go out when you want for as long as you want and come in when you get tired or need a break.

I went through two tanks of gas that day

[roastbeef]

Just two?