So, late last week I got in touch with Sharif Abdelbaset, General Manager of Forged Performance in Atlanta. Forged had set up a track weekend and the all-new AMP (Atlanta Motorsports Park) and we were able to join them for a driver training session. We brought up our old 318i E30 (her name is Doris), and ran both Saturday and Sunday on the full AMP road course. We had a fantastic time despite some teething pains (seized front caliper on Saturday afternoon).
I'd really encourage you guys to get out and check out the track - it's really phenomenal and has a lot of interesting, technical corners as well as huge amounts of elevation change.
Special thanks to Sharif for setting this up, Scott Siegel for some great instruction sessions and a big thanks to the AMP staff for taking care of us, our cars and the track during the weekend.
You can find the link to our photo album from the event on our website:
http://wreckracing.gatech.edu/
That sure is a tight circuit. Looks like an autocross corner.
In reply to jstein77:
There are two 2nd-gear corners (for the E30). That image is turn 1; turn 6 is also very tight. In Doris, we were coming out of those corners right around 4.5k rpm in 2nd gear, so not super tight, but tight for a big road course.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Doris is a bone stock 318i E30. We took off the rear sway bar for the weekend and ran an old set of Azenis that I had saved from my CRX days, otherwise she had all the factory parts on her. The shocks and bushings probably literally came from the factory - they were pretty shot. She was donated to the team by a Georgia Tech Alumnus and we use her as a driver training car for auto-x. This was her first session on the track. Other than that caliper and a lot of body roll, she did great. I was hitting the limiter in 4th gear at the end of the straight. I think that comes out to just under 115 mph.
EDIT: She's a '91 318i so she does have the newer DOHC 4 cylinder.
Damn. The track is 1/2 hour from my house and I still haven't been there. I actually was randomly looking at membership rates last night. 
I ain't livin that large!!! I wonder what a private track day would cost. Cool pics!!!
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
She's a '91 318i so she does have the newer DOHC 4 cylinder.
I thought 91 was the first year for the M42?
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
wait...GRM stickers plus high dollar racer with a single digit age
OK after the Meme flounder
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
Doris is a bone stock 318i E30. We took off the rear sway bar for the weekend and ran an old set of Azenis that I had saved from my CRX days, otherwise she had all the factory parts on her. The shocks and bushings probably literally came from the factory - they were pretty shot. She was donated to the team by a Georgia Tech Alumnus and we use her as a driver training car for auto-x. This was her first session on the track. Other than that caliper and a lot of body roll, she did great. I was hitting the limiter in 4th gear at the end of the straight. I think that comes out to just under 115 mph.
EDIT: She's a '91 318i so she does have the newer DOHC 4 cylinder.
Does it have an LSD or did you remove the rear sway bar to help one wheel peel?
poopshovel wrote:
Damn. The track is 1/2 hour from my house and I still haven't been there. I actually was randomly looking at membership rates last night. I ain't livin that large!!! I wonder what a private track day would cost. Cool pics!!!
About $470 for the NASA weekend in October
Adrian_Thompson wrote:
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
She's a '91 318i so she does have the newer DOHC 4 cylinder.
I thought 91 was the first year for the M42?
I think he mean vs the M10? That was in the early 318i
Raze
SuperDork
7/31/12 5:45 p.m.
If you live near AMP and haven't been you should, period. I'd just look for an event, whether road race, SCCA AutoX special stage, etc. We went for an AutoX special stage and only ran the back-half and had a blast, it's exactly as described. It is a bit spartan right now as it's not complete, so changing tires in the dirt/gravel isn't exactly fun, but give it time for the amenities...
In reply to z31maniac:
^ This. Yeah, it has an M42 not the older M10.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
It has an LSD, but it's pretty shot. We took the bar off to get rid of some oversteer in low-speed corners, particularly on exit or under trail-braking.
In reply to Raze:
It's really an awesome track. I wasn't sure what to expect when we got there, but I left impressed.
4cylndrfury wrote:
iceracer wrote:
and the line is wrong.
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
we use her as a driver training car
Ha ha, yeah. You can see there are two people in the car. I'm in the passenger seat (instructing). Either Jake or John from the team is driving. It was probably their first or second lap out on track. They both did a great job finding the fast lines by the end of the first session though.
Here are some more images put up by Forged Performance. You can check out some of the fancier cars we were sharing the track with:
http://forgedperformance.com/?p=1511&option=com_wordpress&Itemid=159
Loved the police escort vid on the team's homepage, Johny. I used to work at Turner, some of those streets are very familiar. How'd you get it down 10th St. without falling in a hole?
JohnyHachi6 wrote:
Could be mistaken, but I think that GTR has an active rear wing on it. Each side changes its angle of attack depending on steering and stuff. Pretty crazy. Also ~$1500 IIRC
Edit: I was wrong; this is what I was thinking of:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7l70Q6P-vU
Anybody got an "In" at AMP? We really should be doing business together.
