This is the longer form thought mongering about the track day at Thunderhill this last Friday now that I've had some time to relax, recover, analyze video, and think through some things about the day.

To start, I conned a friend into going along with me this time. In truth, not much conning had to be done.  I won't spent much time speaking toward his experience other than to say that since he had a car with some horsepower to it seemed he had a vastly more entertaining time out than he'd had the last time he was at Thunderhill. 


For myself, I wouldn't say that I had a more entertaining time at Thunderhill this time versus last but it was entertaining and probably more rewarding...if you discount the little agricultural expedition that I had in the second session.

Anyway, a little break down of how things usually go for those not very familiar with how track days usually work. You have a car, you want to learn how to drive it fast or push it around in a way that's unsafe and highly illegal to do in polite, civilized society so what are you to do? Well, you get in touch with an organization that puts on polite, civilized events on closed road courses that allow you flog the ever lovin' sin out of your car in a [relatively] safe environment away from the prying eyes of John Law who'd be all to happy to punch your ticket, crush your car and throw your ass in jail for actually using the full potential the factory spooned into your vehicle.¹ 

There are a lot of tracks and a lot of events to choose from, Google is your friend. Look for reviews of the organizers themselves, not so much of the tracks. A good organizer makes all the difference.

Anyway, after a night of sleep at a nearby hotel we got to the track a bit before the gates opened--important to getting a prime spot in the paddock--and got set up well before the morning festivities. These usually start out with car prep -> coffee -> BSing with other drivers -> driver's meeting -> driving. The driver's meeting is critical; you get the scoop on the rules of the day, flags and other important announcements. Novice and first timers are also paired with their instructors. If it's your first time out having an instructor/mentor greatly lowers the learning curve and there's usually no extra cost; instructors tend to be volunteers.

Following the driver's meeting I had a half hour before the intermediate group (B) went out on track. I spent the time rechecking the car, washing windows and setting up the GoPro on the front bumper.  

Session 1 - 9:20 AM - Managed to squeeze in seven blissfully uneventful laps in the first session. A reasonably quick pace emerged that put me in just north of 2:30:00 per lap without traffic. Over all, the car was great; ran like a sack of hammers. It didn't take too long before I was comfortable winding out to redline without fear of popping the motor. This had been my only real concern going into this track day. It held together, handled well and developed no faults so session one alone made the whole day an unqualified success!  

Lap Times:³

1. 2:51 - Warm-Up
2. 2:37
3. 2.32
4. 2.31
5. 2:41 - Traffic
6. 2:32
7. 2.47 - Cool-Down

Session 2 - 10:25AM - Adjusted tire pressure, went out and give it a bit more. Most of the session I didn't have to contend with traffic and my lap times were getting south of 2:30; minor improvements to my lines, braking, throttle, and gear selection really did start to add up. Heading into my 9th's lap I goofed a bit an lifted in turn 1, the back of the car came around and I took a fairly sedate off-loading expedition in the infield. Since I'd gone 4-wheels-off I was black flagged so that I could have a conversation with the track marshal. By the time I was done with the marshal the session was over.²  

Lap Times:³

1. 2:45:16 - Warm-Up
2. 2:32:16
3. 2:30:21
4. 2:33:00
5. 2:27:09
6. 2:29:14
7. 2:27:19
8. 2:28:00
9. 2:49 - Off at Turn 1, cool-down

Session 3 - 11:40AM - Third session I didn't remember to record but I backed it off a bit and focused primarily on heel-toe and braking. If I had to guess I'd say I was turning 2:35-2:40s. I didn't want to have any temptation to turn a good number or try to make it look pretty for the camera rather than focusing on feeling out the car and learning how to really drive it.  

Session 4 - 1:55PM - Same as the 3rd session.  

Session 5 - 3:10PM - I finally felt relaxed enough to turn the camera back on for an afternoon session, mostly so I could record the lines and brake points I'd been working on to compare them with the first morning sessions. I wasn't driving out of the corners very hard this session or running all the way up the gears, I was probably rocking this session at about 75% except for lap 4 where I did pick the pace up a little. Due to a mechanical (a Miata popped just after turn 7) the session was black-flagged and shut down a couple of laps early. Lap Times:³

1. 2:45:05 - Warm-Up
2. 2:36:20
3. 2:39:10 - Traffic
4. 2:32:03
5. 2:37:17
6. ~2:48 - Session black-flagged, cool-down waltz

Session 6 - 4:20PM - Skipped this session to drive home.

After 5 sessions I was pretty well beat, I wouldn't have gotten much out the last session. Part of being a safe driver is knowing when not to drive. This was not a time to drive.

Okay…So now it's time to talk about the car a little, my beastly little silver E30 track beater. It was brilliantly fun to drive. It handled well though it needs a bit of work in the suspension area. Power felt great unless I was being passed, then I wanted little more. The car turned well enough, my data logger telling me that I was managing 0.97g. Without a doubt I could push a bit harder with a proper suspension setup and a proper seat with harness so I don't have to fight to stay on the left side of the car while turning. 

Also, the BMW is a little tail happy. No…Scratch that. It's a lot tail happy. It does not take much to get the ass on that thing to step out a bit. It's usually not too exciting when it does, though. It gives you warning before it starts to slip unlike the Z which doesn't. 325i: "Hey, I think I'm going to be going sideways soon." 370Z: "Look mate, I just went sideways. Though you should know." The former is better.

Comparing the old 325is to the 370Z is almost pointless, they're so far apart in age, power and intent that clear comparisons really aren't insightful. Clearly though the 325is requires more work to drive quickly than the 370Z but that also makes it more rewarding to drive to quickly. Though the BMW is 500lbs lighter than the Nissan it has less than half the Nissan's available power. There's just no way that they compare in all out punching match, the Z is just going to punch the BMW in the butt and walk away.

Until it has to make a right turn.

The Z is hands down the more powerful, faster car of the two. The E30 in it's current state of tune rings in at 114hp/ton, the Z is more like 200hp/ton. Eh…what can I say, 1.2 extra liters of displacement and two decades of motor development separate these two rocket sleds by a lot. There are a few things I can do to squeeze a bit more juice from the M20 but I'm going to find the most cost-effective speed in suspension setup and weight reduction, the latter of which is essentially free. 

It's important to note that other than making the repairs necessary to get the BMW to pass technical inspection and doing an oil-change with Royal Purple full synthetic I did zero track setup on the car. The alignment's hosed, the shifter's bushings are all worn out, the rear sway-bar end-links are crap, the struts are old and should be replaced. Even at that it did well an I'm happy but most importantly I come out of it with a clearer picture of what I want from the car and what ordering I want to take to get there.

So yeah…good day. Hugely successful. Lots of notes. Lots of fun! Oh…And my average fuel consumption on track? 

9MPG. =0_0= A few MPG lower than I'd thought it would be!

Footnotes:

1. For anybody who says "I would love to do that but my car is too slow/old/crappy/not good enough" well...fuck that noise. I've been out on the track mixing it up with Priuses and rental cars. That you drive is more important than what you drive. (As long as your car can pass tech, run it!) The only special piece of safety equipment that you usually need for track day is a helmet meeting Snell M2005 or better standards which you can snag for $75. Trust me on this, your car is far more capable than you think you it is so get out there and find out exactly what it can do so you can be a more effective operator for it!
2. ProTip: The wrong answer it blame the car unless the car physically broke in which case it's obvious to the Marshal and so you're not like to have that conversation anyway.
3. Track days are not races, lap times and data logging serve no useful function other than to give you information on how you as a driver are progressing and areas where, maybe, you can improve. There are no rewards for turning in the fastest lap and sometimes these tools can be a distraction.