How did the off in the E92 happen?

 

The back end came loose while throttling out of the sweeper at Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
I held the counter steering input too long which then snapped the other direction when I regained traction.
I put two tires off on the passenger side entering the esses.
The car then rotated to the left slightly and went off track.
The section of the track there is hardpack dirt with rocks (marbles) and it's downhill with little runoff at that speed.
There is a 3' brick retaining wall at the bottom of the hill, which I hit almost straight on.

 

Oof. Sounds like it hurt. Especially the degloving injury.

 

Yeah, passenger went to the hospital. Wasn't a good day all around. I no longer take passengers.

I'm okay with my own injury and the destruction of my cars, just not of others. I still feel like **** for hurting him in just a simple "joy ride"

Here's a different video but it shows the sweeper and how hit connects to the esses.

You might have to watch the first 15 seconds a few times to notice the wall on the left and the downhill section:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pR4EiZU43qU

 

Yeah, the wall looks sturdy...lol


I definitely have reservation about taking passengers. Especially when they complain I'm clearly not driving as fast as I do when I'm solo. Not realizing we're lapping a stock (safety equipment) Evo, which, safety wise, might as well be a beer can on wheels.


It's probably pretty luck you had that off in a BMW. It would have been much worse in a CT9a. Granted, you prob wouldn't have gone off in an Evo


When you do you think your first event will be in the E36M?

 

3500lbs @ 26MPH = 2.46G

Lots of bruising of my sternum, tailbone and my elbow hit the doorpanel due to the airbag deploy. I was limping for a couple weeks after that.



I have a few offs in the evo, but nothing like that. Most of my offs in the evo were due to a bad line, not drift oversteer. I had a few of those in the evo, but that was because I didn't know to countersteer and none of my instructors ever said anything about it.



"Oh, you mean I should do countersteering input in AWD, too? Okay."

Agreed on the damage though, BMWs are tanks for sure.

I'm trying to get the car done for a shakedown track day on March 4th.

 

You should try to make Team Topak at Chuckwalla 4/1-4/2. I'll be there. Should be a good time. Revo's events are always pretty good.

 

Oh nice, thanks for the invite. That's a bit of a hike for me though.

I think the farthest I go it Buttonwillow and that's a 3.5 hour drive.

 

Ah, for some reason I thought you were in So Cal.


Buttonwillow is on my list. I might try to do an event there this year. Depends on what my budget lines up with. I want to go to Buttonwillow, or Willow Springs (Big track) this year. Haven't done big willow in the Evo yet.

 

They bring in a part that is new but still defective. They blame us, we can't resolve it by contacting a vendor. Customer doesn't want to do the leg work since "I paid you to do it" blah blah. Then they blast you on the internet and all their buddies rally behind them. Everyone jumps on the bandwagon because the internet loves drama. Trust me, customers can always find a way to make it hell for you LOL. I could fill this thread with our experiences

 

I'm bummed because NCRC in only doing one event this year at BWRP and it's the weekend I'll be in Vegas. That means I gotta pay +$55 through Speed Ventures. Bleh. We should coordinate. I have a score to settle there.
If I do the full GTA schedule, I'll have to do Big Willow. I'm nervous.

 

Noah, congrats on getting the car to track successfully.


One thing, whoever "welded" those reinforcement plates on should not be welding anything, on anyone's car. Those welds look terrible and like they lack just about any penetration. Please take the car to a professional and have those plates properly burned in.

 

Yeah, he's going to be redoing them and some side work to compensate me for the ****ty job.

His work in instagram isn't that bad, so I trusted him. I think the circuit in my garage was only 15A (his welder needs 40A) and the ground was having issues.

I sent those pictures to the company that sells the plates and they were like, "Oh, hell no."

 

Good to hear. I noticed someone in your thread on the BMW forum said they need to be welded 100%, but he didn't comment on the terrible welds themselves.


And yeah, I'm sure the part mfg would never approve of that install...lol

 

Maybe he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news?

Also, the guy doing the welding thought the plates were to keep the rear lower control arm from pushing up, not the pockets for the bolts from ripping out. We talked about it after.



Honestly, this was so I could save a few bucks. Next time I'm taking the car to a race shop and just eating the cost.