[spacedogg]

As I've mentioned here and here, I am active with the BMW Car Club of BC. As I have also mentioned here, the BMW Car Club of BC also runs track days at Mission Raceway.

So I skipped out on work and went with a buddy of mine (Lodaka) to see what this Mission Raceway was all about. Although I had heard much about it, and passed by it many times, this was my first time driving at Mission Raceway.

Let's first start off by saying...it is a small track. Much smaller than I thought. It's a shame that we don't have a longer racetrack in the Vancouver area. Having said that, Mission Raceway is a good track for beginners. It has nine corners and most of them are quite technical. It is not an all out speed track...as the top speed I was able to reach in my (admittedly slow) 325i was only 140km/h (GPS verified...thank you Garmin Nuvi!).

To those who have already raced at Mission Raceway and are going this Thursday with Parkshore BMW...Turn 1 has been widened so it's much wider. Turn 7 has been re-jigged with a chicane and there is a long sweeper to the left that goes back onto the straight-away. Unfortunately our instructors considered this setup as unsafe (as it promotes high speed..but a higher possibility for a collision) so we ran with the old Turn 7, 8 and 9 complex setup.

The first half of the day was mainly comprised of safety/avoidance exercises followed by track orientation laps. We then got to go out in packs of 3 or 4 cars with a lead instructor car. We had an instructor in our car for ever 5-6 laps giving us pointers on how to have proper vision, braking and line.

All in all, it was a great day for a trackday newbie with lots of instruction and guidance. Emphasis wasn't given on pure speed but rather on efficiency and smoothness of technique. A lot of tips and hints given by the instructor on balancing your car and proper brake usage to avoid eating up your brakes. I would highly recommend that you go next time!

Not that many good photos this time...as I was spending most of my time driving...and not trying to take photos...


A nice collection of cars showed up...including Lance in his R8. My 325i was faster in the corners than that Subaru Legacy. Hurray...my car is faster than a wagon!


That Subaru Forester has been turboed and nicely modded with STi parts. Check out the vanity plates on that M5...


Hehe...


Good to see that M5 drivers aren't afraid to take their cars to the track...


Black and white...


I'll take either one please.


Someone brought a loaner. Hellz yeah!


Lots of ///M cars today. Driven how they were meant to be driven...


A couple minutes of classroom time to teach you the finer points...


Lining up in pit lane to go out in groups...


Old turn 9...the most important corner of the track...


I have such bad shutter lag on my camera...that I have to guess when to press the shutter. The fact that I even have a car in the photo frame is a bit of a miracle. So don't complain that it isn't centered!


Lucked out again...


Easier on slower cars...hehe


Damn shutter lag...


An M3 was supposed to be in this photo...


We just like to have our hoods open. Makes us look like we know what we are doing...


Ticking cool...


Owner: "In the development they had problems with R8's catching on fire. And when it goes...the fact that it's made partly out of magnesium doesn't help. I have full replacement insurance...but I wouldn't be able to get another [R8] for 2 years. Basically...I'm going to vent my engine everytime we come into the pits." Lol. We would do that same...


This is your gas mileage...


This is your gas mileage on crack...errrr...on a track(day)...

[sylver]

wow looks like alot of fun!!!
51k on the clock already?

[ManBoobies]

I should have listened to you guys and went.

Was Lance giving rides again? I had my $5 ready.

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by sylver

wow looks like alot of fun!!!
51k on the clock already?

Yeah and I have 1 year left on my lease.

I think I'm just going to buy it out instead of getting something new.

Originally Posted by ManBoobies

I should have listened to you guys and went.

Was Lance giving rides again? I had my $5 ready.

No rides this time. Not enough time to do driver switches...

Lance is going hardcore. He said he's going to autocross...and the next Mission Raceway event with BMWCCBC. But he's also doing a 3 day course with PDC...so by the next time we see him he'll be damn fast...

[Gen_E92]

nice write up dave...i beat lance's R8 by decent margin at the last autox event by ubcscc

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by Gen_E92

nice write up dave...i beat lance's R8 by decent margin at the last autox event by ubcscc

Yeah...but he's getting good and catching up. He's a baller...so he's going to all the local driver training events and getting lots of seat time. In the past 2 months he's been to three driver training events. And he's signed up for another driving school and two other driver training events with BMWCCBC

And the car helps too.

[ehhhwik]

nice pics dave! looks like a lot of nice cars attended...

my track day is on thursday (may 29) can't wait!!

[flyer333]

hot stuff! good pic again dave

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by ehhhwik

nice pics dave! looks like a lot of nice cars attended...

my track day is on thursday (may 29) can't wait!!

Hope you guys have fun. From Paullo's description...you guys have more of a open lap day...

Should be good. Take some good pics if you can!

[Orb]

The loaner was me e90 323 (300 km). My car has a few problems so I broke the car in for them and the brakes are little worn now. I did not have much problem loosing the m3 or m5 through the tight stuff in my group. The instructor made us go way to slow but it was fun nonetheless. I ended up slowing so the lead car had a 20 second on me then catch up after two laps. Almost looped in turn 5 as the suspension was like riding on air cushions but when you have a loaner you can be little more daring.

Orb

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by Orb

The loaner was me e90 323 (300 km). My car has a few problems so I broke the car in for them and the brakes are little worn now. I did not have much problem loosing the m3 or m5 through the tight stuff in my group. The instructor made us go way to slow but it was fun nonetheless. I ended up slowing so lead car had a 20 second lead then catch up after two laps. Almost looped in turn 5 as the suspension was like riding on air cushions but when you have a loaner you can be little more daring.

Orb

Hehe...you crack me up.

Yeah the guy in our group kept emphasizing that we need to throttle a bit on turn 5 because of the off camber design of that corner.

It's too bad your car was in the shop. You probably would have enjoyed it way more in your car!

BTW...what's wrong with the car? Hopefully not fuel pump or turbo related...

[Orb]

Originally Posted by spacedogg

Hehe...you crack me up.

Yeah the guy in our group kept emphasizing that we need to throttle a bit on turn 5 because of the off camber design of that corner.

It's too bad your car was in the shop. You probably would have enjoyed it way more in your car!

BTW...what's wrong with the car? Hopefully not fuel pump or turbo related...

In turn 5 if you don’t throttle a bit you will loop for sure but I got a little carried away since I was not caring that much at losing control. The instructors consistently conflict with instruction what you should do. They also fail to understand the learning process is finding 20 ways to do it wrong and one way to do it right. You will never know if you did right unless you do it wrong first. Turn 5, 6 and 7 was the only places were I got enough of lead on the m5 and m3 to keep them from running me down on the straight. I severely cooked the brakes on that car and I did my best to be easy on them.

My car is in the shop for vanos sticking and fuel pump which are all fixed now. I just upgraded the brake and put some KW v3 on so I was very disappointed that I didn’t have my car there.

Orb

[spacedogg]

Originally Posted by Orb

In turn 5 if you don’t throttle a bit you will loop for sure but I got a little carried away since I was not caring that much at losing control. The instructors consistently conflict with instruction what you should do. They also fail to understand the learning process is finding 20 ways to do it wrong and one way to do it right. You will never know if you did right unless you do it wrong first. Turn 5, 6 and 7 was the only places were I got enough of lead on the m5 and m3 to keep them from running me down on the straight. I severely cooked the brakes on that car and I did my best to be easy on them.

My car is in the shop for vanos sticking and fuel pump which are all fixed now. I just upgraded the brake and put some KW v3 on so I was very disappointed that I didn’t have my car there.

Orb

Yeah...being a track noob I appreciated them not pushing me. But I could see how that might be annoying for some of the more experienced drivers who want to really try to push the limit and test out what works.

Man I would be SOOO pissed if my car was in the shop with fresh mods that I couldn't test out. What brakes did you get? Big brake kit? Or just pad change? Hawk?

Are you planning to go to the next dancing with cones? I'm debating about whether I will go...might just go to the next Mission day in July. Originally was thinking of going to both...but...

[Orb]

Originally Posted by spacedogg

Yeah...being a track noob I appreciated them not pushing me. But I could see how that might be annoying for some of the more experienced drivers who want to really try to push the limit and test out what works.

Man I would be SOOO pissed if my car was in the shop with fresh mods that I couldn't test out. What brakes did you get? Big brake kit? Or just pad change? Hawk?

Are you planning to go to the next dancing with cones? I'm debating about whether I will go...might just go to the next Mission day in July. Originally was thinking of going to both...but...

I really didn’t like the instructor I had. He went to show me a line but I end doing faster another way….I realize only 2-3 of the instructor know what there doing.


I got DBA rotor, Axxis UTL pads, Stainless lines, and better brake fluid. This is known as stage II upgrade. The stock brakes are really good just the pads go south after a while. The new rotors are thermally 30% more efficient at rejecting heat so the pads run cooler. There no need for BBK from street tires.

I signed up for the July date for Mission. I’m not sure about the autocross this time. It was fun but I rather go to the race track. I might get the last spot in the Advance training in less than two weeks from now.

Orb