There is no admission charge. Watching is free! If you do go, I would appreciate if you would please take some videos with my camera. I want to see just how much lean there is.

Now if it would only rain real, real hard I might actually have a chance of not getting embarassed!

First of all, it was nice to meet you 818! Thanks for coming out! Your car looks beautiful!!!

The X3 proved itself to be a remarkable auto-x car. I took 3rd in class behind a Z4 3.0. His best time was around 83.8 seconds, and mine was 86.04. Not too bad all things being equal! In fact my fastest time was faster then some of the guys running M3's and I was quicker then a couple of S2000's. Fast time of the day was 70.5 run by an instructor in a stripped, pure race tire shod highly modified e36 M3.

The main thing holding me back was the tires. Those all season tires just did not have the grip. While the body lean felt substantial from inside the car, the video (which I will post when I get time) of outside looked really flat. No lifted wheels or scary angles whatsoever.

It was really interesting to get into trouble with understeer. I would nail the throttle and let x drive send power to the front wheels. That would immediately pull me out of the push and get the car turned. Very unexpected!!!

The brakes were flawless all day. The tires held up great... not a hint of wear. I think that if I was to change anything to make it a better auto-x car, I would mount real tires, add a bigger rear sway bar (to take out some understeer) and MAYBE lower it with stiffer shocks. However, on that last point I hesitate to do that because during low speed, TIGHT corners the front outside corner was hopping a bit. Stiffer suspension might exacerbate that.

I had a great day and can't wait to do it again. Thanks to the LA Chapter BMW CCA staff for a great event and to Shelly BMW for the sponsorship!:thumbup:

See, I told you you'd place! I knew by watching your speeds compared to the other cars. Congrats. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thanks for the compliments on my X. :D

It sounds like a lot of fun and I'm very interested in joining the local chapter up here. Congrats on 3rd!

Thanks! It was awesome!!!!

Here is a link to my videos. Enjoy!

http://randall-harris.com/X3_Auto_x.html

This video is somewhat band width demanding... beware!

Wow! Great job! 3rd is impressive. I wish I could have been there to watch. Maybe next time I'll try racing my X too. Did you get a couple of practice runs before the actual run? Those lanes look pretty narrow. Must be hard to memorize the course and all the turn speeds. I would probably go too fast and drive off the course. :rofl:

Xpost - I responded to this same thread in another forum:

I had fun with our X3 in a club drive up in the Cascades last fall and noticed a lot of the same things with the handling. I found that going deep into the corners with heavy last minute trail braking followed by the full throttle exit yielded excellent rotation and very nicely balanced cornering. I was stunned that this critter could do something like that and had a blast the whole time.

I bought our 2.5i 6spM as a trip car that could do offroad and got a Honda S2k as my track car for driver events and while I knew the X3 was quite pleasant to drive, had no idea it could leave 3 series drivers more than a little sheepish about not being able to keep up in the twisties :thumbup:

We got two practice sessions of 4 runs per session. The lanes are not that narrow. By far the most difficult part is memorizing the course. Maybe that is the competitive advantage with the X3... being up high and able to see the whole course :)

By all means bring it out! The next date is Saturday April 8, 2006 at California Speedway. You need to be a BMW CCA member so join the club early. I will be available to offer my technical support. I guarantee a great time!

Speed takes money, turns take talent. ;)

It's just awesome White05X3 took care of business at the meet. Just because someone has the coin for an M3 doesn't mean they know how to drive it. And just think what White05X3 could have done with an M3. :wow:

You are too kind! Thank you! If we can get enough X3 and X5's out to the local events maybe we can get a separate class going. THAT would be sweet!

April 8, 2006 at California Speedway. That is a much larger facility so the track will be longer and more complex. By all means bring your X3 and run it! You will have a blast! Heck, I didn't even scuff the tires!!!