In a message dated 1/11/2007 11:46:10 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
lors01@msn.com writes:
BMW: I
will never own a BMW. Anne had one and it was a maintenance
nightmare. The engine parts were made of cheap material, and the company
support for a car under warranty was NIL. I hate that company...
spit spit.... In 2 years we paid over $15k for repairs that
weren't due to damage, were supposed to be covered under warranty, and
were outrageously overpriced.
They are called Bavarian Money Wasters in the SCCA. Not a popular car to
race. The most popular class right now is Spec Miata. Very nearly a stock Miata
with no muffler. But cheap to get into and easy to sell if you don't like it
after all. The wife and I both went through two SCCA drivers schools
successfully but never went on to get our competition licenses. It turns out
that one driver per car is more than adequate.
Two days of instruction in your own race car with 5 track sessions per day.
The last session on Sunday is your first race. My wife turned into some kind of
animal, demanding better brakes and more power because some people had passed
her on the straights. Not a good candidate. I found that I became depressed
between sessions, and had the feeling I couldn't get a full breath unless I
was in the car with at least the engine running. A good candidate for race car
driving.
The first few seconds inside your brain when you break out of solid bumpy
IMC after the two longest hours of your life. The kids are screaming, and have
comprehensively soiled the back seat. Your wife only stops screaming when she is
barfing on the new hand held and the dash and you. And that instant when the
plane is filled with blinding sunlight as though kissed by a God who loves you
and through squinting eyes you see that you are lined up on the centerline of
7,000 feet of white concrete.
That feeling right there, but instead of just 5 seconds, it lasts for
45 minutes at a time.
Racing is life. Everything else is just waiting.
Always take a bunch of trash bags. Eventually you will bring your race car
home in them.
Lynn E. Hanover