Speaking of unleashing the full potential, does anyone know of any racetracks in the Northeast that allow SUVs? NJMP, E-Town, Summit Point, Lime Rock, etc - they dont allow SUVs on a road course. Even BMW CCA events do not allow SUVs. WTF?

BMW is offering M experience at Lime Rock in October. You can sign-up for $2500 to drive any of their M cars on track;). I have done E92 M3 vs X5 M on track and found X5 M to be pretty good handling(not as good as M3 though) except the body roll due to higher seating.

Just curious, how is it even properly warmed up at the end of a 5 minute commute let alone ready to be beat on?

Yeah I looked at that, but I am not really looking to pay $2500 for less than 2 hours of track time, plus you don't even get to drive your own car there. Its a huge ripoff.

I think it costs around $3K per day to rent the whole Englishtown or NJMP road courses. I now also found some companies that give you a full day at NJMP, in your car, with an instructor (which is awesome) for $1500.

Anyone in the Northeast US interested in doing something like that?