Posts tagged BMW

Yes that is 325 without the i. This year’s shootout car, the car that the points tied drivers drive to determine the winner, was a E30 BMW 325.

The owner warming the car up for us.

Since I was going second, my fellow shootout driver staged the car for me. That meant I couldn’t even try the brakes before the first corner. This truly was a blind drive.

Getting comfortable.

Wow! Fun car! The stock (and probably somewhat tired) suspension meant that there was much body roll. Which I’m more than used too. All season tires meant there was little grip. Which I love. The controls seemed to work very well, apart from the hilariously loose shift linkage. Heel and toe was very easy. Having never spent much time with a floor mounted throttle, I didn’t think it would be as easy as it was. However, the throttle was far more sensitive than the one in my car. Or maybe I wasn’t used to the extra powah.

Speeding to the stop box. (Thanks to Lucas for the pic!)

Even though my competitor was unable to match my first lap time. I was granted a victory lap. And being more familiar the car, I was much faster. Even sliding, countersteering, and downshifting into the first hairpin. At one point I pushed a bit to hard into a corner losing some speed. The run didn’t feel that much faster than the first one, so I decided to throw some time away and powerslide a medium speed left hander. I could hear the crowd cheer from the open window.

I got some cheers for this!

E30s are those cars that you often see racing. At track days. At autocross. Even rallying. I knew they were good cars. And after driving this very modest example, I was sold. Sweet car! This car bring RWD and all, was a far better match to me. Racing last years FWD shootout car didn’t feel nearly as natural as this year’s shootout car.

Champion! (Check out that hair!)

Big thanks to the competitor that offered up their own ride and tell us to really go for it.

To see all the runs I recorded that day head over here.