599 HGTE Track Day

The BMW guys were kind enough to let me play with them today at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The HGTE was fantastic. Turn in was so natural with HGTE and track out power was simply amazing. The car really loves to dive into corners with the V12 weight. HGTE weight and set up seems to allow you to be smoother later in the apex than with other cars. I had the car in RACE mode and never changed it all day.

Sessions were 30 minutes and the only problem I encountered was with the tires. P-Zeros are gummy bears, it was 90 F trackside and they started to pick up everything. There was a club race and practice sessions between run groups so there was a lot of rubber on the track from racing tires. The tires got so bad that I had to pit once to see if there was a major tire problem; Track and tires were so hot it made sound as if driving on wet road. I kept tire pressure at 29 psi rear and 32 psi front (no change from owners manual).

Instructor was amazed how fast the car was out of keyhole and onto the back stretch, 140 MPH before breaking zone. He described the shifting as "violent" as 3rd to 4th at 100+ mph is a little abrupt. You could open a bottle of champaign and talk about the brakes well into the evening, they are just that good.

Attached are pictures of paddock area and of P-Zero after a 30 minute session. Track photos of car should be here in a few days. Numerous BMW professionals remarked in reference to the Ferrari that it is customary for them to test out new cars before they are allowed on the track They were a great bunch of guys and really enjoyed a splash of Rosso Corsa among the Bimmers.
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Cool glad you had fun!!

Although...how does it compare to the Scud and F40?

 

Did'ja skeer 'em?

 

There was a GTR there for that

 

Seems like you had a lot of fun. Thanks for the write-up. If all goes well I should be on the track later in June with both my HGTE and GTO. I can't wait to compare both on the same track. Seeing your pics and reading your post makes it even harder to wait for that day to come.

Cheers,

M

 

from track day
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Hawkeye- Looks like you had a ball. Those Corsas are not much more than round art erasers, but they sure stick like all get out. Will not last too long on the race track, but 30 minute sessions should not do too much damage.

Glad to see you enjoying her.

Taz
Terry Phillips

 

Lovely pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

Fantastic shots - how long did it take to pass the p-car?

 

another 4 seconds and he was in review mirror, after that turn, there is a long back straight with a kink where I would hit 140 before braking zone. As they say, there's no replacement for displacement.