[txusa03]

No cops, no curbs, only cones…The e92 autocross event was here in Houston at Reliant Park this weekend. I had an opportunity to participate. I was also a participant in last year event for the e90. Sorry hunter, you have to be 21yrs or older to participate . Back to e92 and this weekend. Here is how my day began. I got to the site around 8 am with lots of anticipation. I think I know what to expect because I was there last year and I ate 1 cone last year so I want to redeem myself . Got out of my car (by the way I felt completely at home driving up in my silver e90). Looked around and attempted to go register. I was too early and they were not ready to register. So I headed to the breakfast table and got some fruits and drink. Then I headed out to look around. Decided this was a good time to snap a few photos of the setup for the 9 am session. As I was taking picture, I noticed something is different this year, it appears there are 2 tracks setup. Now I am curious so I went to inspect the track and sure enough there are two tracks . I did not understand what is going on. On 1 track, there are only silver e90 330. On the other track, there are silver e92 335 and G35 coupes. BMW bring to the track only silver cars from their stable. As 9 am approaches, I began to head back to the tent and I went into the second room in the tent where there was an e92 335 on display. A BMW rep starts out with a welcome message and began to talk about the 335. According to the BMW rep, the 335 does not have any sheet metal that come from the e90, they are all different (of course you all know that). 335 also comes with real time traffic info and it will re-route your trip if the current route has more than 5 minutes of delay. After 15 minutes of talk, we were divided into 2 groups. I went to the track with only e90 330. Then I was told that we are going to takes a few laps in the e90 330, after that, we will get to drive the car and there is a timer setup to see how we performed against one another. Sounds fun. I ended up with 31 seconds for my time . Best time in my group was 28 seconds. The instructor did it in 18 seconds . The instructor also explained to us where to place our hands on the steering wheel and showed us how to shuffle our hands when we turn. Sounds and looks simple enough but when I was in the car on the track, I swear I could see out of the corner of my eye that the instructor had a little grin in his face because my hands were all over the freaking steering wheel in the turn. My hands were crisscrossed and it looks like I was making passionate to the steering wheel. That’s ok, no one expect me to become an expert with only 2 short laps. After that we headed off to the other track where we get to compare the e92 335 with the G35. We get 3 laps for each car. Everyone got to drive the G35 first for 3 laps. After that, we hop into the e92 335 and did 3 laps in it. Again, my hands were all over the steering wheel still . It all happened too fast for me to think about my hands placement. I had to look ahead to anticipate my next move.

First, the G35 is no pushover. That car can stand up for itself. It felt fast and responsive. The G35 DSC is not as sensitive and did not kick in as much. Off the line, the G35 feels heavy to me compare to e92. The e92 feels very light off the line and I did not feel any turbo lag and it felt very fast. As mentioned before, coming out of each turn, the DSC/DTC on the e92 seems to kick in because as I am coming out of the turn, my foot is on the accelerator but the car is not responding or accelerating until several second later. This also happen to the G35 but not that often. This year, I did not eat any cones

I got there at 8 am and did not leave until 1:30 pm. I stayed around a little to take pictures of the second session and also to do a street drive on the Z4 and the 5 series. 5 series had a big blind spot for me. The Z4 was very noisy and it had a very small field of vision in the front and the inside rear view mirror takes up more real estate away from your vision. It had the steering wheel paddle shifts which I hate. The paddle shift is a problem to me whenever I turn. I rather get the 6 speed manual and save money. It also could be that I am not used to the paddle shifts (does not matter, I do not care to learn to get use to it).

I know this is long but thanks for reading. As I stated, this was the second time I get to attend this event. It really allows me to appreciate what I have purchased and what my car and the e92 are capable of. By the way, Lexus, Benz, and Mazda also have similar event so if any of you ever get a chance to go to one, go for it. Now for the photo which I know many of you are waiting for. I drew out the 2 tracks the best my memory serves me.

[txusa03]

photo.

[txusa03]

more...

[txusa03]

[txusa03]

last set.

[Zirenz2006]

Nice writeup and pics!

[KL2DC]

Nice write-up, great pics. Thanks for sharing.

I did the South Florida event not too long ago. We came to similar conclusions.

For reference my event report is here. You have far better pics though

[txusa03]

KL2DC, our instructor did not tell us much as far as which line to take. I knew which line to take from my previous year event. The instructor will tell you to brake if you brake too late. I thought that was bad that they did not explain the line when they took the initial run. I got the same stainless steel cup too. I did not get the espn magazine tho.

[tom333]

On bmwusa.com there are no events listed where they were last year.

How do you sign up for these drives?

[txusa03]

I only know that they have it in florida, atlanta, dallas, and houston (from what I heard). My experience with this is that by the time it is listed on the website, all available spots are taken (so why list it on the site). I am not sure if there are anymore of these free events after houston, call BMW NA to see if they have any other event after houston (refer to e92 autocross drive event). But it is not just BMW, Lexus, Mazda, and Benz also have similar event. You don't need to stick with BMW, the Lexus will give you as much fun whiping the car around and small autoX track. Check out their websites.

[KL2DC]

tom333: These E92 events are by limited engagement. They are different than the nationally-campaigned Ultimate Driving Experience. The E92 events are in conjunction with local area dealers and Comcast and were setup to be by invitation only.

txusa03 is right, there are many ride & drive events on offer. Check out www.tasteoflexus.com, there is a Chicago event scheduled for the end of this month.

[txusa03]

Originally Posted by KL2DC

tom333: These E92 events are by limited engagement. They are different than the nationally-campaigned Ultimate Driving Experience. The E92 events are in conjunction with local area dealers and Comcast and were setup to be by invitation only.

txusa03 is right, there are many ride & drive events on offer. Check out www.tasteoflexus.com, there is a Chicago event scheduled for the end of this month.

For such a free event, you really have to have a big and willing sponsor (or sponsors). Last year event in houston were sponsored by Bridgestone (that why I got bridgestone hat) and Westin Hotels.

[findtom]

I hope they'll do something like this in Montreal.

[Stealth335i]

Great write up!!! Thanks for the info, pics and drawing of the tracks.

[txusa03]

I have a big old canon g2 powershot. I did not want to take this beast with me into the car because I know I will have to keep the camera from flying around and hurting someone. My other hand is holding onto to the handle on the roof. You really get tossed around in these autocross (plus, i am light weight so I am really hanging on for the ride ). I also remembered, the instructor did not remind anyone in our car to buckle up (All three of us were at last year's event so we knew to buckle up). The e92 is one on one with instructor, the e90 is with three drivers and 1 instructor. But the e90 time trial is one on one with instructor. I am still pumped about it.