Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan13
I can't seem to get past it.
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I'm going to offer my 2 cents. Take it for what it's worth (2 cents).
I am in the mood for story telling. Long, LONG time ago, I have a bunch of friends that take their BMWs to various local tracks. I've always been fascinated, and every time they broach the topic, I've always told them "next time you guys go, you let me know." But then, next time they asked, I've always had some stupid excuse. "Oh the car needs brakes." "I'm working on a new suspension this weekend." "UCLA is playing [insert bottom feeder team] on Saturday." "Oh is it my anniversary AGAIN? No way."
This went on for about 1.5 years. Until one weekend, out of nowhere, they invited me to go to Vegas. What? Free transportation and room for Vegas? Are you freakin' kidding me? That's my FAVORITE kind of Vegas trip. So after some boozing, some "light" gambling (I did manage to win $500), the next morning they said "hey we're heading over to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wanna come?"
This being back in the day when my tolerance for alcohol is as strong as my taste for spicy food (and before you ask, I like spicy food), I gladly said yes despite the light hang-over. While gawking over some of the nice hardware parked at the track, an instructor approached me and asked if I wanted to get a ride. Unbeknownst to me, my buddies were in the back laughing their @sses off, I borrowed one of their helmets and walked up to the pit expecting a new M3 or an M5 to pull up.
Nope. It was an '84 E30. With an Eta engine. Being taught to be polite, I quietly hopped into the car, and as I closed the door, the door handle fell off in my hand. I awkwardly handed the handle to the instructor with a sheepish grin, and he just tosses it out the window. So as we're getting gridded up, it started to rain despite the sun being out. And rain it did...For the first time in ages. In Vegas.
So imagine my chagrin when the instructor still chose to go out on track. In the rain. DRIVING HIS FREAKIN BALLS OFF. First two turns I was holding on for dear life, for those of you that don't know the outer road course at Las Vegas, it is a tight, technical, and very challenging course. By turn 3 my eyes were as big as saucers. By turn 5 he was sliding and counter steering like crazy.
By lap 2 I was freakin' hooked. This is about as much fun as I ever had with my clothes on. The entire time the instructor, while driving his car to the limit, was yammering in my ear, talking like he's just going on a Sunday drive to church. In about 5 laps he pulled in, I got out of the car, and my entire system was flooded with adrenaline and my hands were shaking, not from fear, but from sheer excitement. I did not know that you can actually drive like that. I did not know that a 15 year old chassis with 300,000 miles on the chassis can move like that. I did not know that an E30 can run circles around an E46 M3 like that.
I was hooked. As I shake the hand of the instructor that just gave me the ride, He looked me straight in the eye, smiled, and said "the first hit is free." At first I didn't quite get what he was referencing, but now I know.
They're like drug dealers. They give you your first taste of speed for free. Now you're hooked, and you can't get the need for speed out of your system.
So I went from that first free hit long, LONG time ago, to spending almost $10,000 a year tracking my E46 323Ci, then upgrading to a 350Z, ultimately to my MZ4 Coupe (with a slew of other daily drive thrown in there). Now it's the MZ4 Coupe with GC coils and 275 slicks all around riding on fixed calipers and track pads, constantly searching for that perfect lap and the flood of both adrenaline and ephedrine that comes with knowing you had driven the mother f**k out of the car and hit just about every mark perfectly.
So what's the moral of this story? Just like all my stories, there is none. However, I'd like to point out, that if I had never taken that step and went with those guys to LVMS, I would probably still be telling them "oh UCLA is playing Oregon State this weekend. I can't go."
That and riding with and watching some dude chase down E46 M3s and E39 M5s in a bone stock E30 325e (in the rain) says to me...It doesn't matter if you're driving the 3.0Si or the new M4. You can have fun just the same, and frankly, it's a lot more rewarding to drive a car like the 3.0Si fast, than it is to drive the new M4 fast, on a track.
*To be honest...It's not hard to drive the new M4 fast on the track. You can slap any average joe in that car and it'll make him look like the next Michael Schumaker. And I'm not saying the comatose Michael, the 9 time World Champion Michael.