I suggest watching at 1080p60 with nice speakers or headphones if possible.
Camera setup is a GoPro Hero 3+ Silver stuck to the sunroof and a cheap Audio-Technica lapel mic taped to the rear bumper (so most of what you hear is exhaust noise).
This was from one of the later sessions in the afternoon, so the car had already seen 90+ minutes of track time earlier that day. The sessions were 30 minutes long and on ABCC's full circuit: 3.56 miles long with the longest straight being 1,850 feet, or 1/3 of a mile. I was easily able to do 120+ on the straight sections in my stock M3.
I suggest jumping forward to around 14:30 when things start getting very fun. I start chasing a 911 Turbo, M5, C63 Black Series, and some other formidable cars (there's plenty of other cool stuff earlier though, like an original Dodge Viper). Unfortunately, my stock brakes completely gave out afterwards -- the pads melted and glazed the rotors. They were the original pads and rotors with about 65,000 miles on them, a true testament to the durability of the OEM system!
Once the brakes gave out I tried to take it easy for a few laps but was getting tons of grinding noises from them and they just felt really sketchy right before they gave out a second time. I retired for the day and decided to save some pad and rotor for the drive home.
This was the first truly punishing track day for the car and I must say that it really showed itself to live up to the reputation as a benchmark in the class. It was very predictable and I never once felt uneasy. The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires didn't get too greasy despite having a lot of miles on them, either. The motor was more than happy to wind out to 8400rpm and oil temps held steady right around 250 F throughout the session.
Since the rotors and pads were shot, I've since ordered a StopTech big brake kit and will be installing it this spring when I take the car out of storage. From a cost perspective, it wasn't a whole lot more than new OEM rotors and pads, and with this I am getting the added security of improved cooling and thicker (longer-wearing) rotors. The ST40 caliper uses a common Porsche pad shape for which there is an immense selection of compounds. It also shaves a few pounds of unsprung weight from each corner.
Big shout-out to the group at Laps Inc for a smoothly-run event. No one wrecked, no one broke anything, and we all had a great time.
Camera setup is a GoPro Hero 3+ Silver stuck to the sunroof and a cheap Audio-Technica lapel mic taped to the rear bumper (so most of what you hear is exhaust noise).
This was from one of the later sessions in the afternoon, so the car had already seen 90+ minutes of track time earlier that day. The sessions were 30 minutes long and on ABCC's full circuit: 3.56 miles long with the longest straight being 1,850 feet, or 1/3 of a mile. I was easily able to do 120+ on the straight sections in my stock M3.
I suggest jumping forward to around 14:30 when things start getting very fun. I start chasing a 911 Turbo, M5, C63 Black Series, and some other formidable cars (there's plenty of other cool stuff earlier though, like an original Dodge Viper). Unfortunately, my stock brakes completely gave out afterwards -- the pads melted and glazed the rotors. They were the original pads and rotors with about 65,000 miles on them, a true testament to the durability of the OEM system!
Once the brakes gave out I tried to take it easy for a few laps but was getting tons of grinding noises from them and they just felt really sketchy right before they gave out a second time. I retired for the day and decided to save some pad and rotor for the drive home.
This was the first truly punishing track day for the car and I must say that it really showed itself to live up to the reputation as a benchmark in the class. It was very predictable and I never once felt uneasy. The Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires didn't get too greasy despite having a lot of miles on them, either. The motor was more than happy to wind out to 8400rpm and oil temps held steady right around 250 F throughout the session.
Since the rotors and pads were shot, I've since ordered a StopTech big brake kit and will be installing it this spring when I take the car out of storage. From a cost perspective, it wasn't a whole lot more than new OEM rotors and pads, and with this I am getting the added security of improved cooling and thicker (longer-wearing) rotors. The ST40 caliper uses a common Porsche pad shape for which there is an immense selection of compounds. It also shaves a few pounds of unsprung weight from each corner.
Big shout-out to the group at Laps Inc for a smoothly-run event. No one wrecked, no one broke anything, and we all had a great time.
