[QuietFiend]

Man what a build!! Its already making miss my AW M2C .
The ZE40's look money on the F87.

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by QuietFiend

Man what a build!! Its already making miss my AW M2C .
The ZE40's look money on the F87.

Thanks Boss!

[warrenw]

Hi all. It's been awhile since the last update.
In that time I switched jobs, moved, passed the ARE, so nothing done to the car. Until today. In preparation for the winter track season have some goodies being installed. Now that I take the subway to work I don't need to drive my car anymore, so it's becoming my dedicated track vehicle.



More to come.

[warrenw]

Posting a quick pic now, more coming later, but just a quick comment about CAE -

So at first I thought they changed the design but after looking at others it's the same. I think CAE has different versions that treat the lockout nut differently and that end piece is more rounded, even in CAE's picture it's rounded, but mine was more square which led to more cutting than anticipated. Working on a solution to cover since we cut instead of molded but if we come up with a solution I'll post up here.





Anywho. Happy with it!

[///393]

Nice. Congrats on all the moves. Shifter looks incredible. Whole interior is really starting to take shape.

[ebisu8]

Love it dood!

[warrenw]

Since my CAE install I have driven the car...once... To the car wash.







In fact I'm driving so little I can barely keep the battery charged.

However, next week my car goes on a car carrier and down to the circuit! I'm trying to do 5 track weekends prior to the end of the season.

[///393]

After seeing a CAE in person on CrashFL’s car it’s definitely a want but I don’t love the idea of having to cut the console.

Good luck hitting all 5 events. Seat time is gold.

[MadM2C]

Curious on what size your new ZE40 setup is? also tire curious on which tire size

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by wilson kop

After seeing a CAE in person on CrashFL’s car it’s definitely a want but I don’t love the idea of having to cut the console.

Good luck hitting all 5 events. Seat time is gold.

Not enthused about it. Need to find a solution. The entire bottom of my cupholder is cut off lol. Some people melt it but it takes forever to heat up and it's trial and error if how much you molded it is enough. So ya mine ended up getting cut. I don't even care about the noise, I worry about dropping something in there.

Originally Posted by MadM2C

Curious on what size your new ZE40 setup is? also tire curious on which tire size

18x10+25 with a 10mm spacer up front.
265/35 tires.

[MadM2C]

Looks awesome. Perfect size for the car.

[warrenw]

Fearing that my battery might be dead after not driving for 2.5 months (once to the car wash) I went down to start the car... Door wouldn't unlock via comfort entry, used the manual key, car alarm went off briefly before stopping due to low battery LOL.
Key wouldn't start the car, had to put it next to the steering wheel. Pressed the start button a million times, finally started. Tons of warnings saying "battery discharge while stationary" etc etc. Lol.







I install a harness tomorrow and ship the car same day down to the track. Stoked.

[Steelguin]

Glad you like it there. I spent 4 years there and never need to go back. For any reason. ever.

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by Steelguin

Glad you like it there. I spent 4 years there and never need to go back. For any reason. ever.

Oh dang sorry to hear that. Yeah I think it depends on assimilation, I've gotten pretty connected so I have a normal, regular life here and don't really feel like an expat anymore. I have also gotten used to not having certain "only found in the US" type things so that also helps.

[warrenw]

Last weekend I went to the track for the first time in 8ish months. Boy, am I rusty! I feel like I've lost all my muscle memory and have to relearn all my braking points, entry / exit speed, etc.

Anyway I went down with some good friends of mine so here's the story!

I headed down to their shop which is about 30 minutes south of my house, I needed new brake pads, full brake fluid flush, engine oil, diff oil, and a harness. I ended up going with a Schroth 6 point that's perfect for my HANS.





Not long after, it was time to line up the cars to load onto the car carrier. It's much easier to ship the car than to drive it!









Our third friend showed up just in time for the carrier.













And then into the car for our ride down there! It's about 4.5 hours to get to the track by car. Thankfully we had a van-limousine to drive.





We stopped about an hour later at a rest stop to grab dinner number 1.







Riding in the captains chairs while watching TV or scrolling on your phone (or even sleeping) really makes the time fly by.



And before you know it, we made it.



Time for dinner #2.







Then we made it to our hotel and settled in for some rest for the drive tomorrow!







Next morning we got everything together and headed over to the track, where we unloaded our cars.





Personally I chose to skip the first session because during my license renewal I thought the track was pretty greasy due to the dew, so instead I did a GT3RS ridealong



It was great being back at the track for winter season because I got to see a lot of my friends who I hadn't seen for almost a year. Due to the attractiveness of the course and setup, it attracts a lot of people from all over the country, some of whom come and store their car at the track for the entire season. As such, they end up bringing a ton of tools and consumables to take care of the cars for the 12 week season.















Unfortunately it's still pretty cold! So we spent a lot of time in the car between sessions trying to not freeze!

Well, I say freeze, but it wasn't THAT cold compared to previous weeks. This weekend was only about 2*C. It got up to 5*C which was nice.



Time for lunch!



After lunch it warmed up, and time to head out there.













All that driving comes at the cost of calorie burn, so I was definitely excited when it was time to finally eat dinner.







My friend was happy to "do his best" in pouring a glass for me.... rolleyes.



So if you haven't tried this yet, I highly recommend trying to find a place that serves it near you. It's beef ribs that have been aged, then cooked over straw, then finished on your grill. It's incredibly good.





Then to finish it all off with cold noodle.



In a stark departure from other times I go to the track and just want to sleep, we decided to go bowling.





That worked up enough appetite that we had to have dinner #2, which was an overpriced hotel pizza.



Next morning was shaping up to be even better weather!





Unfortunately McLaren's burn oil so... gotta top up.







I did two sessions, then it was time for lunch!





Got pretty...dirty...



I guess it's pretty loud at the track because it ends up attracting people who are curious about it, so some older gentlemen came by to take a look.







And with that, on the last lap, it started raining. So we quickly loaded up two cars on the carrier and I put my car away in the pit, to come back in two weeks to drive again.



How was my driving?

Not bad not good. Firstly, maybe it's because I'm normally a gentle shifter, with the CAE I ground 2nd, in one specific corner, three times. It really kills your vibe when you do that so I'm having to re-learn how to be more forceful in my shifts.
Secondly, my laptimes were pretty off from the last time I came. Really need to work on my entry speed, braking points, and exit speed. I feel like I'm almost having to relearn, but to be fair I haven't really driven a car in general for a couple months and haven't been at the track in 8, but that's something I'm excited to get back out and continue practicing.

With that, time to start heading home.

But first, dinner.







Time to go!







Since we stopped to eat first, it gave the truck enough of a head start that we arrived around the same time so we could put the cars away.



All in all, really fun weekend.

[adc]

Good for you to get out there for the first event of the season. I think I’m a month away from doing the same, at least.

Although I have to say if I had a lunch like that at the track, my body would fall asleep on me for the rest of the afternoon. Looks tasty though…

[happyjack]

warrenw EPIC post!

[///393]

Killer update. Some seriously good pics of your M2 which looks great.

[///Mobbin]

I feel like I was able to vicariously experience this event and all the amazing food through the photo stream, so awesome, thank you for sharing!

Reminds me of track outings with friends at COTA, end up eating some pretty amazing food in Austin on those weekends as well, makes the weekend into more of a motorsports vacation.

[warrenw]

Originally Posted by adc

Good for you to get out there for the first event of the season. I think I’m a month away from doing the same, at least.

Although I have to say if I had a lunch like that at the track, my body would fall asleep on me for the rest of the afternoon. Looks tasty though…

Lol yeah I think your body gets used to the higher carb count in food over here after awhile. But, racing works up an appetite so I'm usually pretty hungry afterwards!

Originally Posted by happyjack

warrenw EPIC post!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by wilson kop

Killer update. Some seriously good pics of your M2 which looks great.

Thanks! Really happy with the changes!

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

I feel like I was able to vicariously experience this event and all the amazing food through the photo stream, so awesome, thank you for sharing!

Reminds me of track outings with friends at COTA, end up eating some pretty amazing food in Austin on those weekends as well, makes the weekend into more of a motorsports vacation.

Yeah man Austin has fantastic food! I went to a couple F1 races at COTA and the food in Austin was always a highlight.

[warrenw]

I got a few pictures from someone in the grandstands.

[WordOnRoad]

Ideal weekend if I've ever seen one!