[3002 tii]

I've been tracking my 3.0si for a good 3+ years. Looking back, I have no regrets commiting the car to track use only. If anything, the low cost maintenance of the N52 has made it that much of a better choice for hard driving. Oil changes every 5k, fluids every 20k, bushings every 40k. The only major 'watch out' for on the n52 are oil leaks (valve cover gasket) and water pump/t-stat, both of which are straightforward jobs. But I've yet to hear about any catastrophic engine failure.

Sure it lacks some top end coming down the straight but most of the road courses I frequent aside from Watkins don't have very long straights. Most other times, its powering out of the corners where I wish I had more grunt and that could easily be solved with gearing...

The 'must have' track mods in my opinion are: LSD with shorter gears and suspension/camber (not factoring in track pads or tires since that'd be the case for any street car). With -3*, I have no problem stuffing 255/35 on all 4 corners which will be more than sufficient in providing grip.

I haven't had as much time to do DE's this year but I do plan to start doing Time Attacks next year. Guess I'll have a better feel for how the N52 coupe stacks up compared to its peers.