[WOPALX]

I had the pleasure of being invited last Friday to a Track Attack training day at the Marulan driver training center, the day was run by Ian Luff.

For those not familiar with the facility it's fairly new, is a short track with lots of challenging bends, more info for those interested can be found here www.mdtc.com.au . It's about 2 hrs from the northside of Sydney with the M7 making it a painless drive.

Had an awesome day, lots of nice cars such as a Porsche 3.8 Cup R, Lexus ISF, Audi RS4, a couple of Holdens and Fords plus the usual smattering of WRX's with various modifications as well as a race prepped Evo 9 & MX5, both of which were trailered to the track. Even a Subaru Forester had a go .

I particularly enjoyed drifting around the last turn going onto the main straight .... not so good for my lap times, or rear tyres, but lots of fun with the LSD allowing the perfect amount of slip.

Best lap time of the day I think belonged the the P-Car at 45.?? seconds. Not sure what my best was but the last 3 laps were timed for a combined split competition which I came 4th in with 2 conservative laps in the 49's and the third in the 50's

The 335 ran flawlessly, as I was not sure of the days format I should have in hindsight prepared a bit better by installing my track pads before the event. That said I did 8 sessions of 10mins each on average and the car would still pull up damn well at the end of each so the stock brakes can take bit of a hammering. Oil temps peaked at 140 degrees so no issues there which was somewhat surprising.

The Lexus ISF owner had a slight off at the end of the straight, I think he needed a change of underware but his car was okay. The only other casualty of the day was a Mitsubishi Colt being driven by a 14 year old which broke a drive shaft.

[johnnydad]

Nice to see it still up and running.

I took my 325i out on the track - just 3 sessions, but pretty much on my own - when my son was down there doing the junior driver training in the dirt oval. Great fun for him and me. It certainly is tight and twisty - never a dull moment, and they really have maximised the elevation change to make it nicely technical. I was similarly very happy with how the stock 3er took to the track. 335i would be an absolute blast.

[John_01]

Thats interesting. Thanks for posting. What top speed did you reach on the straight?
So far my only experience with track driving was the Maserati trackside experience day driving a Granturismo that was supplied. Lets just say the high speeds and braking distances gave me a new perspective for driving. I also enjoyed the slower speed corners where I felt more in my comfort zone.

John, What was your experience like with the standard brakes on the 325i? Did you use standard brake pads and fluid in your car? I'd rather find out from others experience, rather than having to find the limts of the brakes for myself.

[johnnydad]

I found the brakes just fine. Certainly held up to those three brief sessions as well as a track day at Wakefield - again, 15 minutes of lapping, then a cool-down lap, wait 30 minutes and repeat, didn't create any fade at all. Similarly, afterwards no shuddering or spongeyness to the pedal.

I've yet to try it out on a longer, faster track like Eastern Creek or Winton......

Prior car was a Liberty 3 litre - standard brakes were awful but upgrading to DS Performance pads made a big difference on track days. BMW stock brakes are better again though.

[spdrcr]

Sounds like you had a fun day Wopalx!

Next time take my performance box with you - would be interesting to compare against my 135i day a few months back.