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Alright I got the FSTB installed, looks great by the way
So now I need a last bit of advice before I leave for the mountains tomorrow. A few posts back, I mentioned my suspension setup. Today I got the FSTB installed and changed my front Eibach sway bar setting back to the softer setting because I was getting a bit too much harshness over bumps.
The Nismo springs I'm using are similar to the G sport rates in front, but the rears are moderately stiffer. Im not a suspension or track guru, and need to know if I should leave the rear sway bar setting to the middle or if I should move it to the softest setting as well sonce my rear spring rate is already higher than the front.
My goal is not to make it too oversteeery while carving the Tail of the Dragon. I don't want to exceed my skill level. My tires are 235/45/18 front and 255/40/18 rear and I'll be running all four corners at 34psi. Tires are Pilot Sport A/S 3+
Have you slid it around in like an empty strip mall parking lot to see where the grip limit is, and how forgiving the tires are when approaching that limit?
Have you slid it around in like an empty strip mall parking lot to see where the grip limit is, and how forgiving the tires are when approaching that limit?
Don't really have a place like this nearby that I can think of.
This won't help for the upcoming trip, but in general, you should always know where the limit is on your car.
OK serious comment here...
1. Find a parking lot with few light poles. Find one that either is attached to a closed business, or is sparsely populated - think an outparcel at a large mall.
2. Wait until it rains for a few hours.
3. Go to said lot, and push the car harder than you have until it slides.
4. Rain = lower coefficient of friction, so less tire wear and lower speed grip departure. Also usually less bystanders/witnesses.
5. If you can, get a traffic cone (1) and put it in the middle of the largest flat space, and try to drift around it in a complete circle.
That's the same as a skidpad setup at tracks that have that, so if you're super worried about legality find a track with a skidpad.
It will teach you the line between grip and slip, what it sounds/feels like, how the nannies react, and if you do it for a while you'll get to the point where you can throttle steer in inch increments around the cone. Sounds boring, but it is like wax-on - repeat it enough and it becomes muscle memory which can help you in an unplanned dynamic driving event.
Spent the weekend in Spartansburg/Greer SC touring and participating in the BMW performance center experience. Got to see some beautiful cars and tour their museum. Overall amazing experience. On the last day I got to participate in the track event.
Truly fascinating. Heads turned when I was one of three that did not own a BMW. Got to drive X5, X3, M340s, M2, M3C.
I scored 4th in the time attack vs other people. scored a 24.1 in a 23.7 fastest. Guy after me pulls a 22.7 on his first lap followed by a 22.1 on his fastest ( has 2 M3s and plenty of track experience.)
Went into a Hot Lap as a passenger in a M3 competition that really messed me up. Going from 80-100mph into a sharp 40mph turn with the latest braking I had felt in my life and back to 100mph back to back to back was surreal. After speaking with a few owners I was informed that the center had an advantage which were tires (unsure the Michelin type) which were not original equipment and must have been pretty soft being that they last 1-2 laps before they need to be changed which at first blew my mind however it was completely understandable after the experience. Pretty amazing what a 500whp + on a DCT with multiple gears and NO LAG will do. Nissan has a long way to catch up to something like that, the GTR is like in a different class. The Z is in about 1-2 classes below it in my opinion.
A truly once in a lifetime experience for me. Obtainable with the purchase of a brand new BMW with expenses covered by them. Amazing marketing, I have not been able to stop talking about it since
I'm at a point in my life where I find many fast cars average and though these had grip advantage they put plenty of smiles.
A bit of sadness due to the fact that I could never own that caliber and abuse it like we did. I would care too much.
On another observation, I was corrected a few times by instructors for twitchy feedback. In my defense I was expecting the oversteer and it never came, certain cars did understeer from my "too fast entries" for wanting to beat some times but even with VDC off the system is NEVER fully off unless you know how to FULLY disable it which is prohibited at the event. It does fool the driver into full control but plenty of electronics making you "feel reckless" but the car is in much more control than you think.
Increases the level of stupidity of those that get to wreck theirs.
My wife has the X3 on her top 4 list at the moment so maybe we could parlay that into a track day for me LOL... I've autocrossed at the BMW center and it's amazing. Shame I missed you - I was up there last Tuesday and Wednesday for work. No car stuff, unfortunately - driving the company Escape which is definitely MEH.
Glad you got to go. It is a definite bucket list item. Now you need to get something that still does European delivery and take it around the Nurburgring
Now you need to get something that still does European delivery and take it around the Nurburgring
Do any of the German brands let you take a European delivery car all the way up to the Nurburgring? That is pretty far away from BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, etc. I know you get to drive on some unrestricted sections of autobahn, but I have never heard of being able to take your new car to the Nurburgring.
They all used to, but some have let that go due to covid/world economy.
Looks like just Mercedes, Volvo and Porshe now. Porshe = Stuttgart = 4 hours more or less to Nurburg, and you're driving into Mosel River wine country. Germany is actually pretty small - think it took us about 7 hours from Neuschwanstein to Trier back in 2019. That's with most of the Autobahn limited to 130kph nowadays.
Edited to add: The Nurburgring Nordschleife is technically a public toll road. Tour busses take laps. Makes for an interesting day.
I may or may not have done a few laps with a Mercedes S-class rental full of other GIs. Since we were all aircraft mechs, it was kinda tame for them.
They all used to, but some have let that go due to covid/world economy.
Looks like just Mercedes, Volvo and Porshe now. Porshe = Stuttgart = 4 hours more or less to Nurburg, and you're driving into Mosel River wine country. Germany is actually pretty small - think it took us about 7 hours from Neuschwanstein to Trier back in 2019. That's with most of the Autobahn limited to 130kph nowadays.
Edited to add: The Nurburgring Nordschleife is technically a public toll road. Tour busses take laps. Makes for an interesting day.
I may or may not have done a few laps with a Mercedes S-class rental full of other GIs. Since we were all aircraft mechs, it was kinda tame for them.
Crazy! I have never heard of the Nurburgring being a part of a European delivery due to the distance and probably the likelihood that someone will get excited in their new car and crash it. An 8 hour round trip plus time spent on track would make for a pretty long day. European delivery used to be a big thing for our Audi & BMW guests, but I never heard them mention the Nurburgring. It was usually a factory tour and then some time spent on unrestricted autobahn.
When I did my European vacation in 2019 it took a lot longer to get from Porsche to the Nurburgring because it was Easter weekend and the traffic/road construction was awful. That is one of the busiest weekends at the Nurburgring, but all the extra cars on track didn't phase my Ring taxi driver in our 911 GT3RS. Man that was a blast!
Round trip? Why go back to Stuttgart, a large metro city (it does have a good zoo)? I'd stay the night - or a few - at a gasthaus on the Mosel and take a leisurely drive back down. You'd have 2 weeks in Germany/Europe from my reading on these, and TBH the cities in Germany are usually NOT where the great parts are. Some cities excepted. Bonn & Cologne are near the 'Ring and are cool, Trier is my favorite large city in western Germany, but there's little gems like Bernkastel-Kues and Clairveaux and Bastogne all within easy day-trip.
IIRC European delivery didn't really come with any restrictions other than total trip time and maybe total mileage, but an around-Germany trip was easy to do within those limits. Unrestricted Autobahn is honestly kinda boring. Factory tour sounds cool though!
Hey everyone, still in the Smoky Mountains, limited signal and my cabins (satellite) wifi sucks lol. Figured I'll post my Tail of the Dragon pics for now and will post about my overall trip next week when we get back. Best driving experience of my life and so glad I took the G!!
10-21-2023, 12:30 PM
. Got to drive X5, X3, M340s, M2, M3C. 
