Blue Chunder: E46 318Ci / VQ37VHR Swap + Other Stuff

[Cement 883]

Got the new plate on and the extinguisher mounted up 👍

[Eagle 1664]

Shame all the rigmarole you gotta jump through with track days now but least you put it all to use.

[Cement 883]

On 7/21/2024 at 3:14 PM, Eagle said:

Shame all the rigmarole you gotta jump through with track days now but least you put it all to use.

I didn't find there to be much of the aforementioned rigmarole to be honest ... just needed helmet, fireproof overalls (rented at track) and closed in shoes then off you go 👍

Here is a video made from dashcam footage of one of the sessions ... certainly not the fastest driver out there

 

[Eagle 1664]

Having to sign up and pay a $50 fee then do an induction day (not sure if that a separate day?). I thought also needed gloves, boots and neck brace also last time i looked, but maybe they changed that or i got it wrong. 

Do they do the full circuit often? The club circuit looks rather un-appealing for anything with power wanting to be unleashed. 

[Cement 883]

8 hours ago, Eagle said:

Having to sign up and pay a $50 fee then do an induction day (not sure if that a separate day?). I thought also needed gloves, boots and neck brace also last time i looked, but maybe they changed that or i got it wrong. 

Do they do the full circuit often? The club circuit looks rather un-appealing for anything with power wanting to be unleashed. 

Yes you need to pay a one off $50 for the 'HD Auto' membership. The induction is essentially taking a drive around the club circuit with one of the staff (4 of us in the ute plus staffer) then they observe you for two sessions to 'sign off' that you're not a complete liability. At that point you can book the national circuit for any subsequent dates.

You only need all of the gear if you have a roll cage etc ... street car with diagonal belt is fireproof overalls, helmet and covered shoes only.

Unsure on the international circuit tbh, i think it's relatively uncommon ... likely another level (cost) of staff / safety for them to put on and it would remove the ability to run the two independent circuit model so they'd be excluding a lot of people I guess 🤷‍♂️

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

Saw the 337 on Sunday at HD. Looking minter!

[Cement 883]

11 hours ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Saw the 337 on Sunday at HD. Looking minter!

Hopefully it was parked up and not getting hassled by the MX-5's on track 🤣 You should have come and said hi !!

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

I was on the National getting hassled by all the race cars in my sh1tbox P11. Saw your car at around 8am, want sure who the owner was and was in a bit of a rush for a 🚽 😅

Next national is in November which is ages away.

[Cement 883]

Have embarked on a fancy brake project in another post over here:

@BreakMyWindow I assume you don't do the club circuit any more ? I can see why you would not when you've got a little more experience etc ... I reckon I'd be plenty nervous going on the national circuit !!

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

10 hours ago, Cement said:

@BreakMyWindow I assume you don't do the club circuit any more ? I can see why you would not when you've got a little more experience etc ... I reckon I'd be plenty nervous going on the national circuit !!

I did the club circuit just to be able to do the National. Club is a bit too slow and boring. Nothing to be nervous about on National, just start in the slow group and get some seat time. 🙂

[Eagle 1664]

2 hours ago, BreakMyWindow said:

did the club circuit just to be able to do the National

So you only have to do it once to qualify for national?. Sounds like National only about half a dozen times a year or less?

[LsBeema 464]

On 7/29/2024 at 8:32 PM, Cement said:

I didn't find there to be much of the aforementioned rigmarole to be honest ... just needed helmet, fireproof overalls (rented at track) and closed in shoes then off you go 👍

Here is a video made from dashcam footage of one of the sessions ... certainly not the fastest driver out there

 

Encouraging Brru. !! 

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

19 hours ago, Eagle said:

So you only have to do it once to qualify for national?. Sounds like National only about half a dozen times a year or less?

Yep. National is usually run around 9-10 times a year. They do the odd full day too.

[Vass 834]

Saw this featured on Kiwicarlife, cool to see it in action up close. The wheels look mint. Hope you find an Msport rear bumper for it, would tidy it up nicely.

[Cement 883]

On 8/15/2024 at 7:43 AM, BreakMyWindow said:

Yep. National is usually run around 9-10 times a year. They do the odd full day too.

Do they always do a half day for the national track vs full day for club also ? Was curious about that one.

On 8/15/2024 at 8:49 AM, Vass said:

Saw this featured on Kiwicarlife, cool to see it in action up close. The wheels look mint. Hope you find an Msport rear bumper for it, would tidy it up nicely.

Thankyou Caught me by surprise when i saw the thumbnail in my recommendations, initially i thought "woahhhh somebody else did the swap !!!" hah. Hows about those stone chips on the front that the camera seemed to really hone in on 🤣 Looks a LOT better now with the new plate, stone chip touch ups and black grill.

Here is the Kiwi Car Life review:

 

[BreakMyWindow 1878]

On 8/18/2024 at 11:43 AM, Cement said:

Do they always do a half day for the national track vs full day for club also ? Was curious about that one.

Club is always a full day, national is mostly half-day, with the odd full day available.

https://www.tracktime.co.nz/ also do full days on National, i'm doing the next one on Wed 4th Sep.

[Dragonperformance 3]

Amazing thread. Joined the forum just for this! The level of work and varied nature of the jobs is highly respectable. Hi from the UK 👍