...but not new to the club. I've been a member for a little over a year now and originally joined just because the Street Survival courses give you a one year membership when you take the course a little about me and my cars, my name's Brendan, I'm 19 and live in Vermont and am a member of the CCA Green Mountain Chapter. in the summer I daily drive a '95 318ti which I made the unfortunate mistake of going all out on the cosmetics and leaving the performance aspect untouched (something I hope to remedy next spring) the ti was my first car that I got 3 years ago though so didn't exactly have my priorities right then I will say that even with the all original suspension and underpowered engine I like driving it more than just about any other car I've had my winter ride is a rusty 98 Outback that takes all the abuse while the ti hides in a garage over winter, and is the latest in a line of <$1,000 Subarus I've driven for the winter I'm not new to forums in general and I do love the community when everyone has something in common and respect for each other so I'm looking forward to my stay here
Ahoy. It is now time for my usual HPDE plug: Don't stop at Street Survival; GET TO THE TRACK! The local CCA's Driver's School events at your local track is sooooo much more fun. It is there that you will learn to maximize that small amount of power you have. Take it from me; I've JUST reached the point where power is starting to hold me back, and this is after 2 years of Driver's Schools (about 5-6 events). Learn to use it well and it will provide more smiles per mile than you can imagine. My E30 is my first car, and have had it for about 3 years mostly stock performance-wise (except for suspension) and must have put about 70-80k miles on it since I've owned it. 80% of that mileage is "just for fun" mileage. Have any pics of the 'ti?
there's not too many local tracks other than little oval tracks where I live =[ there are some auto-x's though so I'll hopefully start doing those next summer here's some pics of the ti, I already know that my mods aren't to most BMW guys taste but I like it
yeah, Cordobarot, it's a really uncommon color, it's actually grown on me over the years but when I first got the car I hated it, the original owner was a girl so that's probably why it's purple
There is nothing "unfortunate" about that! Do what you want to your car's looks as long as you're prepared to take the static for it (As in, I don't like faux cf parts, dark wheels on dark cars, or colored kidneys, but that's just my taste.). Before messing with your car, spend the first $1000 on yourself in HPDE schools. That does two things: 1) It gives you lifelong skills that will be yours long after your 318 is recycled into a refrigerator shell and drink bottles and 2) You will meet the right people to ask and learn from how to modify the things on your car that may need it. Before you've been through a few schools, your car is better than you are. By that, I mean it can do things that you aren't skilled enough to do with it - yet. You will learn how to approach and safely exceed (slightly!) your car's limits. Until then, you shouldn't change any of those limits. Just learn how to get there. After you find a limitation, we can help. Until you find a limitation, I won't.
$1k is quite a lot more than I have to spend, I'm 19 and a part-time student of all the people I know who auto-x I don't think any have done any HPDEs, they just learn as they go I really should get new suspension since my rear springs are both broken and I'm pretty sure it's all the same stuff that's been on there for 130k, I don't know if it's really safe to be driving aggressively on it, especially since the closest auto-x to where I live is an hour drive and I have to drive it back
Dude, I made it happen working a $9/hr part-time job a couple of years ago. Heck, the cost of one event was more than I made a week, yet I still made it happen. Once you go, you'll be hooked, and you'll probably start selling your organs to go again. Besides, it'll make you "that much better" than those just "figuring it out" as they go. And for reference, our CVC schools at Lime Rock Park are about $300 a day, which is actually quite a bargain compared to some of the "Driver's Schools" offered at actual tracks. I'm in the same boat in regards to track days. Luckily autocrosses are just next door, but the HPDE's are what I'm worried about. You'll be fine as long as you stay on top of maintenance and don't wreck the car.
Welcome Welcome to the forum Brendan! I hope to see your and your ti at an event soon... it looks very sharp. Please keep your eyes open for Green Mountain, Patroon, Boston, and White Mountain events. You will find a lot of support from your fellow members. If I can ever do anything for your please contact me.
I don't suppose you had to explain why it was a good idea to your parents did you? thanks, I'm going to try to make it to a couple events next summer when the ti is out of hibernation, don't think anyone wants to see my Outback
HA! Look at it this way, I was already a much better driver than anyone in my family before going. Now, I'm not even in the same league thanks to the driver's schools. You'd be scared half to death having my mom or my sister as the driver and you as a passenger. My brother's the only good driver in the family. This is also the reason why I think everyone who takes a driving test should go to the track minimum two times, because too many times I see people that are just driving way too badly because they don't know what their cars can do. Do you really have to take that very mild corner at 15mph? Seriously? That, and it is none of anyone else's concern what I spend my money on. I do not have a family to support, and I only pay half the rent I would otherwise pay for an apartment. Now is the time to spend my money on things I probably wouldn't be able to spend it on later in life when things like a family and a house come into play. I don't go around telling them what to spend their money on, so their input on the matter is null and void. When it comes to good driving, it's just like riding a bike; once you know how to handle a car at the limits, you'll always know even if you don't have to use those skills for a very long time.
I started both at the same time, just over 20 years ago. Both have valuable things to teach you. Autocross is a very good car control teacher (Badger Bimmers car control schools often end up with an autocross course incorporating all the exercises.), but at speed, your car can do some unexpected things, so I recommend about three HPDEs (@~$300) to really have an idea what you're doing. OK, on a tight budget like yours, you don't shop new; you shop used. It might amaze you what people are willing to virtually give you. In your case, stock rear springs. I'm sure somebody has some lying around cluttering up a garage and they'd be willing to get them to you for little over the cost of shipping. Ask around. Unless they're actually broken, a used coil spring for a BMW will work just fine. I have a set of used race springs in my 535is right now. What I did spend money on was new shocks (Bilstein HDs) and bushings (front control arms). If everything else is fresh, you'll never notice the springs.
well, HPDEs will more than likely not happen anytime soon for me, searching on the internet revealed that there are pretty much no HPDEs that take place in Vermont, I'm not a big fan of long road trips either, I'll make it to one before I die though, I promise that's another way to go, being on a 318ti-specific forum does make it pretty easy to find parts too, I'll probably pick up a set of rear springs if I don't get overcome with my hatred of wheel-gap yeah, and what little trunk space I have is filled with subs
