Need advice on starting racing...

Hey guys. Long story short, I am looking for a place I can do some spirited driving without getting arrested. Not only am I getting more mature but as I get older and able to buy more and more car, it has become increasingly apparent that I need to take it to the track.

I currently drive a 2008 BMW 135i with a mail order tune and meth injection and basic bolts on parts that's probably making a little over 400rwhp. I am unsure if I should race in this or get a cheap, designated track car. The 135i is technically my daily driver, but since I commute in a work vehicle it only gets driving maybe once every other week. My main issue is that I can't afford to break it so I don't feel like I should be racing it. Plus if I got bumped or slid into a wall or something I'd cry. It's just too nice of a car to beat on, plus tires are expensive for it and I don't really want to go burning through those. Plus I can admit that I'm probably not skilled enough to drive something this fast in anything more than a straight line (yet). I'm pretty sure I would rather have a track car that I could do whatever to and not care if I bump into a wall or if someone taps me and has a wheel size that's cheap to burn up tires in. However, I'd also hate to spend a bunch of money setting up a track car then discover I don't like it. What would you guys recommend?

Also, I'm not really interested in the competition per say. I just want to drive fast. I mean if I have to get out on a track with a bunch of people and race them in order to achieve that then that's great, but maybe there's like a "funsies" event that would be best for me? Where I could just get out there and go for it and not have to worry about much? Maybe try it in my 135i then build a car once I decide what I want?

Also, if I was to get a cheap track designated car it seems like a Miata or an e36 would probably be the best way to go. The Nissan Z cars and the RX7 and the e30's and such can also be found cheap but it seems like there is less following for them. I don't want to be in a class all by myself. Or perhaps maybe I do? haha...

OR perhaps NASA or SCCA isn't what's best for me and I should join BMWcca or something? Again I am not (yet) really interested in building a car to spec, I just want to drive for fun. What's best for me? Maybe I should build a spec car. Any help or advice would be appreciated!

What you speak of is called a track day, you get with a bunch of people sorted by skill, and run the track, not competing for anything, just driving hard. Typically you need prior track experience, and must first go to track driving school. There is also autocross, where you drive around a parking lot through a cone course alone, competing by lap time. Autocross on dirt is called rally cross, if you're into that.

Welcome, you will find the most common answer around here is miata/E30/36. Lapping days, hpde, and driving schools are your friends. All will sort you by skill, and 2 of the 3 will usually pair you with an instructor. Autox is one I have yet to try yet from anything other than the passenger seat, so I can't honestly offer an opinion on it other than I plan to start attending and running this coming year. Again, welcome! I'm sure others will be along to provide more insight.

Get on a ChumpCar or 24 Hours of LeMons team in your area as a driver. Gets lots of track time in a beater car and save your DD for AutoX and HPDE's.

A friend of mine started out similarly with a 135i with similar modifications. Did a few HPDE's, track days and now he races an E30 in SCCA on top of driving in ChumpCar/LeMons.

Welcome to the slippery slope of high performance driving.

You want to do HPDE's. At that level, the car doesn't much matter. You can do an HPDE in a Studebaker and have fun. NASA, BMWCCA, PCA, Track Daze, etc etc all do them. You'll be taught some wonderful skills and be allowed to drive as fast as you want...within your limits. Eventually, driving around the track fast with no purpose may begin to seem pointless, and that's where time trial comes in, but you're several years from that. It is an expensive pasttime, but worth every penny. I find that if I'm on the track 2-3 times a year my off-track hooliganism is greatly diminished.

I would not track the 135. There are too many things that can happen on track that are out of your control, and insurance will not cover you while you're out there. You'll also learn far more driving a low powered car in the beginning than having something with gobs of HP to mask your mistakes. Go to a few events and talk to people who have cars that interest you and pump them for advice. Most of us are all too eager to bore you to tears talking about our cars and driving.

If I were you, I'd run a few autocrosses to get started. (That's what I did almost 30 years ago, and I'm still at it!) Take advantage of the available novice instruction to it's fullest extent, and don't be afraid to ask the fast guys for advice - they're always glad to help out a newcomer. You can run these in your Bimmer as is, but that will definitely wear your tires pretty heavily. If you let us know what area you are in, we can point you to the nearest events.

Welcome to the addiction!

Autocross/solo AND HPDE track days will both serve you well. Autocross will better teach you how to handle things at the limit and allow you to push beyond them with little consequence to your car. HPDE's will allow you to build up high speed skills, but in a more gradual manner, because if you screw up there, you'll wad up your car. Where do you live? Folks here can recommend the small local clubs that may cater your particular desires. Some of the larger autox/solo clubs are more competitive than others, so I find that can be intimidating to novices. Remember to have fun.

Since you can do it with the car you have start with Autocross in the 135i. BMWCCA is a great place to do that. I actually autocross my miata with them locally in San Diego.

Then figure out what your budget is and try to go to a HPDE/Track Day. How fast you go is going to largely depend on how much you want to spend. If you can have a dedicated track toy/race car etc. When you are learning the speed of the car won't really matter

A lot depends on where you live. Because if Autocross happens five minutes away from your house but the nearest track is a few hours it changes things considerably. You will also have more fun if you are running a car that is similar to ones others are bringing out in your area. This gives you people to ask questions of and ideas on setup.

My choice was miata because out here in southern california you can find rust free ones all the time. With rollbar+new brakes+sticky tires etc I still only have about 3500 into the car total

Try ice racing.

It's much, much better in my experience to not have to worry about whether you're going to tear up your reasonably nice daily driver.

Available options can vary a bit depending on where you live, but I'm in a similar situation and chose autocross with my local SCCA region. One advantage here is at least somebody running autocross will also road race in some form if you want to learn the ropes from the inside before getting a car.

Start out with autocross, which will require you to buy a helmet. Then you can ask for birthday and christmas gifts like driving gloves, and shoes. Save up for a fire suit and Hans, and then when the right competition car shows up, you won't need to come up with the extra $2000 to actually be legal to climb into it.

Getting yourself equipped can be a real financial shocker.

You are exactly in the situation I was two years ago. After asking around a lot, this is what everybody told me to do.

Since you are completely new at this, I would suggest to start with Auto-x. You can do it in your DD (I do). It's not too rough on the car (except tires) and the chance of damaging it are lower than if you take it to your local Wal-Mart. Must clubs will even have a helmet you can rent.

After you try one or two, if you still enjoy it, you can go get yourself a helmet. If you think it's too slow, you can move on to HPDE, track-day or something like that. Try one or two with your BMW (get some track insurance). Then if you get the bug, you can get yourself a dedicated track toy.

Myself, I tried Auto-x last year and loved it. I intend to do the complete season this year in STX and include one or two track-days as well. I was also a non-competitive guy, but once you start, you will see that its hard not to get at least a little competitive.

If you tend to be a motivated person who doesn't "half way" stuff, the time commitment will be as surprising as the financial one.

The fundamental skill for road racing cars is being absolutely comfortable at speed - this allows you the mental "bandwidth" that's absolutely necessary for wheel to wheel racing. This is learned most effectively in HPDE events where you learn to go as fast as you can while on the ideal line while using the most engine and brakes and least steering possible in the pursuit of the fastest lap times.

Doing time trials is a good stepping stone from going as fast as you're comfortable to HAVING to go as fast as possible.

There is a big difference between the two.

Then, if you find that strapping on a car in any weather - and keeping that car maintained and set up - and going 10/10ths to out qualify the next guy, and entering corners faster than you've ever done, while WAY off line - is your thing.

Then go racing.

It's expensive, and it takes a huge time commitment - Last July and August I spent probably 200 hours finishing a car rebuild which was completed 1/2 way through the practice day I'd planned on towing to at 6AM. I made one 15 minute session on the Friday in a completely new unproven car, and finished the weekend with 2 class wins and a 2nd in group.

Then 3 weeks later I backed into a tire wall at a 45 degree angle and about 75mph. My winter will be making a new body from a set of molds I miraculously located in this country, rebuilding the car, and generally getting ready so it's setup and tested by the end of March. It'll be a slog.

But - I'm doing it. I'm racing cars - fast cars - and some day when I can't I'll have done it. I'll never wonder what it's like to do 1'15"s at Summit - a place I've been going for decades - and to pick up a checkered winners flag at the end of my cool down lap.

It's life memory stuff, and you can swing it, do it.

Surprising response! What a great community. I think you guys supplied some solid advice.

I live in Flemington, NJ. Which I guess is part of northern or central NJ. I'm about 1 hour 45 minutes from NJ Motorsports Park which I guess isn't TOO rough. BMWCCA also holds autocross about 25 minutes away in Manville at the Patriot's ball park parking lot which seems like a great place to start as well.

Any other advice or people to talk to?

once you arrive at your first event, watch watch watch .... listen listen listen .... you'll soon pick out the folk that seem to know what's going on and the one's that seem likely to be helpful

also while registering ( assuming it's not too backed up) can often point you towards the novice instructor and/or others that tend to be helpful to beginners

good luck, welcome to the addiction .... biggest thing is, remember to try to have fun ... the learning will come, especially if you're having fun

I'd definitely start with the BMWCCA locally

In reply to grunyon:

Being in Flemington, you have a bunch of autocross options. 3-4 active regions nearby. Philly (where I usually run), NNJR, SNJR, and NEPA. Plus BMWCCA stuff. Pocono raceway is pretty close as well as the PA Hillclimb series.

http://www.sjr-scca.org/solo.html

I think South Jersey Region is the closest to you. Looks like they'll hold there first 2013 event in March.

Flemington is sort of in the middle of all four regions. The easiest/fastest to get to might be the NNJR events at the Meadowlands.

I think you're looking to do some rallycross with that thing. I hear that BMWs are the bestest at rallycross...

but seriously, you want an HPDE or FATT.....BMWCCA has HPDE-style track days as well, for reasonable price.

As everyone else said, HPDE or autox is a good starting place. I ran a bunch of autox first, then did HPDE, now do LeMons when I can. If you're worried about your car, then I'd suggest autox as it's much less risky.

Since you're in central Jersey, you're not too far from NJMP and Pocono. Both tracks offer cart racing for pretty cheap. IIRC, a 3 or 4 hour event at NJMP is less than $100. That may be a good way to get your kicks, beat the snot out of a cart without worrying about blowing an engine and go fast.

fanfoy wrote: I would suggest to start with Auto-x. You can do it in your DD (I do). It's not too rough on the car (except tires) and the chance of damaging it are lower than if you take it to your local Wal-Mart.

It's not even that rough on tires, I did almost 6 full seasons plus some track driving and 3 years of full-time DD'ing on my last set and they still had some tread on them when they turned into fossilized hockey pucks (mind you that's on a light car).

I did some track days and karting before I did autocross and I came DFL most of the time in my first two seasons, it's a completely different style of driving. If I could have given myself advice from the future to help me go faster I'd say "drive like a meth-head running from the cops." The driving style needed is frantic and violent compared to track driving, you rely on your peak grip a lot more.

As "Tarzan" Yamada says, there are two ways to learn the limits, to creep up to them until you find them or to overshoot them and work back down. For learning autocross it's better to overshoot, you don't have to worry about wrecking and creeping up wastes too much precious driving time.

Based on this:

Also, I'm not really interested in the competition per say. I just want to drive fast. I mean if I have to get out on a track with a bunch of people and race them in order to achieve that then that's great, but maybe there's like a "funsies" event that would be best for me? Where I could just get out there and go for it and not have to worry about much? Maybe try it in my 135i then build a car once I decide what I want?

...and the fact that you are in NJ... join the BMWCCA NJ Chapter. Sign up for a driving school in the spring at NJMP. You will get a ride-along instructor and have a blast driving as fast as you want. Don't ignore the auto-x advice because it can teach you good car control skills but if fast is what you want - don't piddle about in 2nd gear... go to a race track. :)

Go to the website, (http://www.njbmwcca.org/event_info/driver_school.php) read the docs, pay attention to the prerequisites for car prep, pony up for some track insurance and bring the 135i. If you get hooked, think about another car around the time you start thinking about how to make the 135i handle better or say to yourself "I need better tires".