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Originally Posted by vinuneuro
Very insightful remarks..thanks!
At the competition level would you stick with something production based? I'm hoping to do some HPDE this summer..did a couple autox's..really didn't enjoy them.
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I did a lot of autox when I was in high school and college, and I liked it for what it was: cheap, safe, educational. More recently I've been frustrated by the lack of seat time, particularly in my region.
I only got into HPDE about three years ago, and though I did quite a lot last year, I still have a lot to learn. There's been no "master plan" for it, but I'm getting to the point where I'm considering racing next year ('08), at least to try it. We'll see how I feel at the end of this season. If I do, it'll be with one of the amateur Spec series. Spec Miata is the best known, but is also crowded. I think Spec E30 or PCA Club Racing is more likely (I'd likely use a 944, though a rear-engined 911SC sounds fun). Any of those cars run about $10-12k built, and are relatively cheap to keep running (911 excluded, on both counts). Given my skill level I don't plan on being competitive, but I think I'd like to try it.
If you have the car for it then I definitely recommend HPDE, just make sure you do at least 6-8 days in your first year. I've not tracked the X5 (or any truck), but based on my experience with the S4 I think you'd be much happier with a proper sports car, or at least something under 3000lbs. It's not cheap (though it's all relative, I guess), but it's good fun, reasonably safe, and (for me at least) pretty rewarding. Good luck and be safe.