MandaBoo, point taken. The rule that SCDA had was that you must be able to place a board, stick, anything flat from the rear roll bar to the front windshield and have the top of your helmet still be 2 - 3 inches below the stick. Though there was a convertible M3 there that particular day as well in the advanced group which did not have any roll bar installed...and he still ran. They also would have had no problem if I had installed the factory / aftermarket hardtop on the Z...which I personally do not like the looks of, but if that is what it would have taken, then so be it!

But like you said, it is up to the individual club that is running the track day as to what they will allow. I can only assume that is for insurance reasons...

 

Since you are thinking of the Mini as a track car I'd consider getting a used one and keeping the Z4 as the daily driver/nice top-down cruiser. I was recently looking for a used MCS for a friend and let me tell you there are a ton of them for sale out there, including 05s/06s, and they surely can be negotiated down quite a bit. They have finally been on sale long enough for there to be a large enough number of people selling, for whatever reason (I see having a baby/need a bigger car mentioned in ads) that you can really get a good deal if you work it. Since tracking the car officially screws with the Mini warranty anyway it seems like you might as well save the money - and then you also will feel easier about replacing the seats, etc, to make the car lighter and doing whatever you want to it as a track car.

Additionally, if you feel you can sell your Z4 now without losing any money you might want to do that anyway just to take advantage of that before you do lose money on it. There are lots of good options for a nice daily driver - maybe a Cooper 'vert

 

Don't allow pop-up hoops, so there goes a lot of the roll bars on some of the new cars, and you have to have the top of the helmet clear the stick rule. But no one's checked on my Mustang..... But it's a 4 point bar with a diagonal and a harness bar.

Matt

 

You could also look at getting the new Z4 Coupe or ///M Coupe!

If you did decide on a MINI, though, I would go with the JCW...probably the most comperable to what you may have become used to with the 3.0's bhp and torque...

Top Gear has a pretty good review of the different "Performance" MINIs that are out there...

Check out this link http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...=top+gear+mini and slide the scroll at the bottom to 30:25 approximately, unless you want to watch the whole episode about Lambo's as well...

They talk about the JCW (which they like the best), the Hartge, the DigiTec, and the BBR (I do not think we can get the BBR here in the states, too bad, it is 275 bhp!)

 

Thanks for the link. Nice review.

I've also thought about a Z4 Coupe, but it's going to be a lot of money, even for the non-M.

I just got back from washing the Z4, and a short scenic drive. After everybody's good advice, I'm afraid I'm still undecided.

 

bobdobbs, The track day event in my sig was sponsored by SCDA (Sports Car Driving Association) at the New Hampshire International Speedway. They are a club that operates in the northeast. http://www.scda1.com

They have SCCA instructors and course operators/flaggers at all of their events.

Anyways, if you need/want something with a rear seat...I guess the Z4 is not going to do it for you anyways.

Best of luck to making your decision and hope you have fun with whatever you get! (My g/f's MCS is a blast to drive)