[size=2]Hey everyone,

The school was awesome!!! So much fun for so little money. MINI USA and MINI Mania helped finance the school, with paid BMWCCA and other instructors, two days at the Jefferson Ciruit short track at Summit Point, in West VA, and lunch each day for participants. The school format was the same each day, a $50 donation to a MINI of Towson charity got you a t-shirt, morning classes and driving drills including slalom, braking and skidpad, and two afternoon track sessions of about twenty five minutes each. The whole thing was very nicely done.

Marc Cohen, owner of BMW of Towson was there, along with various staff members. Marc and company are very interested in working with DC Metro MINIs, and would love to host an event or two and also do more driving schools. Future schools would not necessarily be so cheap. The regular price per student of a school is between $180 and $375 depending on the number of days and the number of instructors, food, etc. Disappointingly, there were almost no people I knew at the school (other than track officials and some BMW CCA club members and instructors) so there are a whole bunch of people who live near Baltimore who aren't DC Metro MINI members!! We need to recruit them and get them into the club.

I took some cool skid pad and other videos, along with nice pics of the MINIs, and will put some photos up at http://photos.yahoo.com/z3bum and the videos at another site.

If you all would like more schools like this, please let me know, and also about how much you might be willing to pay for a one or two day school. I'll pass that info on to MINI of Towson staff who helped plan this one, and to MINI USA as well.
That's all for now.

Mike

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yeah, what a great time.


need more seat time as usual :/

Another one coming up in the spring...

Mike, can you believe how many people were NO SHOWs? WOW.

Marty

 

Agreed, the school was a blast...I'm glad it was genuine track instruction rather than simply exercises. The instructors were all great though I found the classroom sessions to be quite lacking in organization and accurate content (speaking as a two-time Skip Barber student).

I would absolutely do one of these again as long as the classroom time was either reduced or better. My dollar range would be about $150 for a one-day, $250 for a whole weekend...higher if more track time was involved.

Thanks to MINI of Towson and its sponsors for putting its neck out for this event.

Oh and btw--Marc Cohen is the son of Lou Cohen, who owns BMW/MINI of Towson. Marc is executive VP or something like that.

 

Miriam is a good teacher, but sadly, things seemed to be mis-timed. So we missed out on a few points that we needed. A two day class would definitely be double the price of a one day, as you have to have more instructors, the track rented, etc. I think $350 for a two day is reasonable, since no one would be sponsoring the event again. The cost of the track, food and instructors was about $15,000 for the two day event, and the classes can actually take 40 students (divided up into three run groups, or about 12 - 14 students per group) (we only had seven in the last Blue run I was in...)

How many folks here would actually pay something for this kind of event? To me, it was totally worth it, but the level of driving might be a bit much for some people. Jefferson Circuit track speeds aren't too fast, 70 - 110 mph, and I don't think too many MINIs got over 100mph.
Mike

 

I'd do it again for twice what we paid or maybe even 4x what we paid. Granted I paid not only for my session but also for my fiancee's session and the associated costs (hotel, food, gas). Next time I'll make her pony up for her own good times because now she's hooked!


On my best line out of turn 7 during our second run (green group - 3 or 4 of the last laps on our second session were yellow flag) I managed to get all the way up to 105 by my speedo (probably optimistic by at least 5 mph) and almost got too deep into turn 1 but luckily my brakes weren't cooked yet - still pretty cool from only having run one full lap). Still, I think some of the guys with better tires must have seen close to 120, and during the instructor runs the M3 and some of the Porsches were at 120 or better. We might just have to buy another MCS just so we can dog mine at the track more often. We'll also need better jobs to finance the habit, but what the hell it's only money.

Marty

 

I agree with MartyR about the class time. As for a price range a single day cost go as high as $175 & $350 for a two-day.

I attended on Saturday, but had to leave before the second track session. Unexpected family event, u know the type that getsscheduled after you have already committed to something you wish to do.

The various exercises were a great insight into the real capabilities of a MINI. :smile:

 

Glad you guys had a great time! I too am hooked on track days. I was at Summit Point the 18th and 19th of last month, main track, ( http://www.na-motorsports.com/Tracks/summit-2.html ), with NASA-VA.

I also did an event with them at VIR at the end of July and have been impressed with the instruction both times. They have an excellent chief/classroom instructor who keeps a tight reign on the driving instructors. I have found there to be an incredibly high level of consistency in the instruction among them.

They also run races between the HPDE sessions. So there is a huge variety of cars and lots of action all day long. Saturday night there is an "all hands" party, couple of kegs of beer, decent dinner food, and awards for the racers. All are welcome. The only downside is that you get only 3 driving sessions per day. But, the cost for the weekend is only $289, so it still works out to be the average going rate, about $50 a session. Between the races, lunch, and the classroom sessions, there is plenty to do! And as you have just learned, driving on track is exhausting!

I plan on going back on October 23 & 24 along with at least a couple of other MINIs who are already registered. Check it out: http://www.nasaracing.net

 

Brian (blue group) and I (red group) had a blast! We would definitely do it again and go for the entire weekend. Couldn't justify leaving the boys to entertain themselves for another day.

The instructors we had were great and really showed us what our Mini could do. Hard to believe that we haven't even touching what can be done. Rode with Walt (Gray stock MCS) - blew me away as to what the car is capable of doing. Nice to know for the real road.

Hope to see you all soon at the next local event.

Anita
2004 Electric Blue MCS
White Bonnet Stripes

 

The BMW Club holds events there fairly often according to an instructor I spoke with after the Sunday sessions. He suggested joining the club and them, as the events there tend to fill up. Better still, of course, would be more all Mini events, so that those with larger, more expensive machines would not have to be so embarassed.

 

Is a good way to be getting more track time at a big discount, as their schools are quite good. A number of the instructors this weekend were BMW CCA and PCA guys.

I would say though that MINI Coopers will have a hard time catching up to the many M3s that club members bring out. My Cooper was fun, but definitely alot slower than the Cooper S cars... except of course in some of the corners!!

 

Do any of you know the website for this club? Walt (Brian's instructor) mentioned this club and commented on the magazine you get as a member which is supposed to be rather good. We would like to look into it, but I can't remember the website address. Anyone know?

Thanks,
Anita
----------------
Electric Blue MCS
White Bonnet Stripes

 

BMWCCAs do have an excellent reputation for instruction, though I as of yet have not been to one. I have, however, met many BMWCCA instructors at various other driving schools , and been fortunate to have been instructed by some of them.

I recently joined the BMWCCA and received the first issue of the magazine, "Roundel". Don't know the website off hand, just do a Google search. They will put you in the region in which you belong according to the chapters available. Then you can join other chapters for a nominal fee if it's necessary in order to attend that particular group's driving school.

Good luck!

 

Go to www.bmwcca.org

 

Just as an aside, I dropped my BMWCCA membership when BMW threatened litigation against this and many other websites and companies a couple years ago. I might just have to join PCA if only to drool and slobber on all over THOSE cars.


M

 

BMWCCA is a not for profit organization for BMW automobile enthusiasts. They are not aligned with the manufacturer. My take from reading some of the articles and editorials in the magazine is that they have the same gripes against BMW the manufacturer and corporation as we do.

So Marty, you and your fiancee can come to the NASA-VA event on the 23rd and 24th if your disenchanted with BMWCCA. They do run an excellent school! http://www.nasaracing.net/trackday/index.shtml

 

Is not really associated with BMW AG or BMW NA, so dropping them because of BMWs actions doesn't really make sense. In fact, BMW wasn't threatening the web sites, their lawyers were. It was a bad situation either way of course, but BMWCCA had nothing to do with it nor were they given any input.

I have been a long standing member of BMWCCA, and feel it is one of the best run car clubs in the world. The Roundel magazine is definitely first rate and the activites have been great.
Mike

 

well call me ill-informed, but the only benefit of BMWCCA membership I ever perceived was getting the Roundel. I have a '73 2002, and less and less was about the oldies and more and more was about the Nikasil this and E46 M3 tranny that. Wait, once I got a discount on some O-rings for the distributor from BMW of Towson...


Paint me ignorant but IMHO the CCA should have been actively speaking out against the lawsuit retardation of BMW. And yes, websites did bear some of that burden, which is why this place is no longer minicooperonline.com.


If CCA membership is still $35/yr I might consider atoning for my past transgressions.

Marty

 

While we're taking pot shots over the internet, you might want to consider that my 02 (when it's running - aw hell, even when it's not) is way cooler than your Z3!

Marty

 

It looks like $40 to join BMWCCA and that cross-joining various regional clubs within same is free. The New Jersey chapter sponsors driving schools for its members at Lime Rock and Summit Point. Members have expressed some concern about whether the Shenandoah Circuit will be ready for the two day event the first weekend of November.

The event is open to all members (some of their events require various levels of prior experience) and the tuition is $350. Does that sound about right, or have I missed something?

 

whovous, it just recently went up to $40 a year. The fee to join other chapters is $15.30, up from about $13.50.

 

Does that mean I need to join both a national and at least one regional, or do I get one regional with my national membership? And how many regions does one mini car need?

 

When I joined earlier this year, I got one region free or at least included. I have consided it a good move, at least from the autocross point of view. I plan on taking one of the two day driving classes next spring/summer.

 

You only need to join once, you will be assigned to the chapter closest to you.

But, say you live in Maryland and are assigned to your local chapter, more than likely your chapter is not going to hold driver's schools at Lime Rock or Watkins Glen. If you wish to, for example, participate in another chapter's school being held at one of those tracks, then you need to join the chapter that is holding that event. I am not certain, but some chapters may allow you to participate in one event without joining, but that's it. Depends on the chapter, how popular their driver's schools are, etc.

 

Heh, heh, heh,
I will give you that the 2002 is EQUALLY as cool as Z3 Coupe, and it is significantly cuter... Z3 coupes are just ugly, in a good way, which is why I love mine! 2002's are classics, especially the round taillight versions... they were my first look at BMWs, in grade school. By the time I could buy a car, I was stuck with a 325e as 2002's and 320i's were out of production.

BTW, since you live in the area, if you need some 2002 parts, let me know... I get 20% off retail at BMW of Arlinton, Towson and Sterling... (yes, a little more than the CCA discount) and would be glad to hook you up!

Now, get the 2002 running and take it on the track!

 

hehehe


I'll definitely take you up on that, Mike!

Marty