Is there a mini club in the north east that rents out tracks or do I have to "tag" along to porsche/ferrari/viper club outings to get on the track or do autocross.

Or do we just join the BMW club because Mini's are made by BMW.

And if there is a Mini specific club that does this where can I look up the "rules" for saftey equipment.

and if anyone has any "limerock" specific information, I'd be very happy to hear it.

 

Might have better luck in the regional forums.

My husband Autocrosses through SCCA and doesn't go to make specific events-- he'll race his Elise against minis, vets, porsches, and the random econo car! heheh

 

How does he like the Elise?

I thought about getting one for a track only car, but realized if I got a mini I can dual purpose as a daily driver. It's become way too expensive for me to keep tracking any of my porsche's, between brakes (about 1-2k a year) and tires (about 3k a year) it was becoming a very very expensive hobby.

 

He loves it. (Except the two times we have had to drive it cross country... Our last move, we put it on a car carrier...) It is essentially only a track car for him now-- I telecommute, but with the baby, we needed a second car that could hold a carseat, hence the mini. He'll take it to work if I need the SUV-- but I wouldn't have it as a daily driver. He races one to two times a month. (Totally not my thing...) It is fun on drives with the top off on twisties... but the bumps get a little jarring after a bit. But, you do get a ton of looks in it! heheh. You get a lot of bang for your buck-- it looks a lot more expensive than it is. And can't argue with the performance!

 

Join NASA! Your North East region site is http://www.nasanortheast.org

Completely laid back, very helpful and you'll have a blast. I've been driving/racing with NASA for 3 years now. It's great! I'm not sure of your Driving experience, but in HPDE1 you'll get 1-on-1 instruction, classroom sessions, after driving-download sessions... all for an amazing price. If they're anything like in my Rock Mountain region, they fill up Very quick. So you've got to register in advance.

 

Your local chapter of BMWCCA is a good place to start. They'll run you through their intro course (Advanced Driving Skills School) before letting you loose on the track. The ADSS is a series of skid pad and threshold braking exercises designed to get you familiar with the limits of traction and your cars behavior at relatively slow speeds. The exercises are a fun way to wake up your driving skills in a controlled environment, and they may throw in an autocross too (The Boston Chapter does anyway).

If you have some experience in Karting or any other type of track stuff, or are just impatient, you can right to the track with these guys:

http://www.scda1.com/index.html

They're a great group to run with, Limerock's their home track, and you'll usually get out there with a couple of exotics mixed in too. There are other clubs that run Limerock too, check the website for listings.

Good Luck and have fun, you won't regret it!