brillomaster Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 Well after much deliberation I've decided to go it alone with track cars... its been a great couple of years with Ken but the direction we each want to go with a track car is starting to differ. And the fact that we were without a car seemed like a good time to part ways. So, I have gone and bought myself another(!) BMW 328i (number 5!) for the low low price of £650. it will of course be stripped out as much as is sensible, brakepad and fluid upgrade, reusing the wheels and tyres from the old car, and then at some point a set of cheap coilovers. whilst I have bought the car on my own, my intention is not to go on trackdays on my own - I have a few friends from work who would come along, and also a couple of people from this forum who would be interested in doing a trackday or two, and now that I have full control of the car its entirely at my discretion who I allow to drive the car and when, and I alone bear the risk of someone binning my car. Hopefully will work out ok, but only time will tell. I figure at the price I paid I need to get 6 trackdays out of it to break even, which is about consistent with how long the previous cars have lasted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 So what car did the other guy buy and how were your views differing? I know these are more humanistic questions than car, but group ownership always fascinates / worries me, so I'm interested to understand what happened with you guys?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) I believe Ken is thinking of getting something more expensive than me, i'm still all about keeping it cheap. Also Ken has a few other commitments coming up, so might be looking for a car next year sometime, whereas I knew I wanted to get back into trackdays and would have the funds available now. And also I am keen to take a few other people out in a car, which obviously ken didn't want to fork out half of the cost of ownership, tax and insurance for someone else to be using the car, so if I go it alone I can decide whether I want to charge my mates a usage fee for the car or not, that kinda thing. Plus no offence to Ken but I also fancied a bit of a change, we've done nearly all the tracks in the UK in a beemer now so there isn't a lot more to do, but with my new car I can take people out who have never done track driving before, so it'll be like starting afresh again. there is a bit of risk involved on my part that I take someone out who then crashes the car, but I trust all my friends to make a contribution to repair or replacement costs if that does happen - although in 25 trackdays we've only hit something once, and that would have likely been prevented by decent tyres which we now have, and traction control, which I can keep on when a novice is driving the car. Edited July 11, 2016 by brillomaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philw99 Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 I believe Ken is thinking of getting something more expensive than me, i'm still all about keeping it cheap. Also Ken has a few other commitments coming up, so might be looking for a car next year sometime, whereas I knew I wanted to get back into trackdays and would have the funds available now. And also I am keen to take a few other people out in a car, which obviously ken didn't want to fork out half of the cost of ownership, tax and insurance for someone else to be using the car, so if I go it alone I can decide whether I want to charge my mates a usage fee for the car or not, that kinda thing. Plus no offence to Ken but I also fancied a bit of a change, we've done nearly all the tracks in the UK in a beemer now so there isn't a lot more to do, but with my new car I can take people out who have never done track driving before, so it'll be like starting afresh again. there is a bit of risk involved on my part that I take someone out who then crashes the car, but I trust all my friends to make a contribution to repair or replacement costs if that does happen - although in 25 trackdays we've only hit something once, and that would have likely been prevented by decent tyres which we now have, and traction control, which I can keep on when a novice is driving the car. Any progress mate? when's the next track day I’m looking to get something booked ASAP just fancied something different than Oulton wondering if you had anything planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 oh progress definitely made mate! car is 80% stripped, its getting serviced on thursday, have collected the old wheels and tyres and other trackday stuff from Ken. planning on booking the first trackday (which will be more of a shakedown to test the limitations of standard brakes and tyres) at Blyton Park on 14th August with Javelin. if you haven't driven Blyton its a nice little track, EVO magazine use it for a lot of video tests these days. It doesn't take long to learn, actually your zed might feel a little big going round, but hey, its a summer weekend trackday for £129 at the moment. then my plans for the rest of the year are Blyton again in September, Donny in October, oulton park in November, and cadwell in December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Well had a slight setback whilst doing test runs with the new beemer... cracked a radiator on the way into work, cue overheating engine, 4 hour wait for a tow truck, and £200 bill for a new radiator. Which unfortunately means I didn't have the funds to do Blyton Park in August. Still, car is now fixed, and I've taken out as much as I can without really getting into it or spending any money. At some point I hope to replace the rear exhaust backbox with a straight pipe, and remove the entire sunroof assembly and rivet on a lightweight ally panel in its place, but they aren't urgent. But the rest of the car is feeling good - has good direction change, but suspension is somewhat floaty at the moment - and there is a delay between turning the steering wheel and the car actually turning - suspect high sidewalls might be the culprit there. But will be booking both Blyton in September and Donington in October when I get paid at the end of this month. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanman312 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 22nd of October???? A whole bunch of us are booked on that day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 yeah thats the one! well will see you there in that case! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissanman312 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Awsome we have loads going including half my pals m3 race series should be a good day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Alrighty, booked in for Blyton Park on 24th September with Javelin. still plenty of places left if anyone fancies coming along in a zed (or anything else for that matter!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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