derBayerische November December 2022 - 8

N C C ' S S U M M E R H P D E - T E C H , T O R Q U E , A N D T R A C T I O N
■ Cars turn in for Turn 17 after exiting the Carousel and making their way up the esses.
cable to skidpad instruction (rather
than on the track), but I feel it works
well for most students as it guarantees
exposure-based therapy, breaking
their fear of excessive oversteer
and over-rotation early on. I've
always felt that people are more
confident if first desensitized to the
uh-oh moments, as long as the
environment safely permits. A few
ugly, wet attempts for my own
orientation and I proceed to show
him my take on sideways-ness, talking
about my feet and eyes for the
duration of each lap.
Slides are going well until
things start to go...sideways.
Specifically, during one excessive
yaw, entering the inner circle late
(must have been over 47 degrees, as
Engineering once warned) we get a
very hard yankfrom the seatbelts and
a forced tilt-up of the seatback,
compressing everything from the
shoulders to waist. Jim Clark
forbid, you have a full bladder when
this happens. This industrialized
safety precaution is known as
Rollenkontingenz or in English,
Rollover Contingency. It's triggered
when the car exceeds the aforementioned
yaw angle while moving
at speeds over 21 mph. This is
because if a Stranger Thing (i.e. sand
trap) is in your path, it's then
physically plausible you may soon
find yourself in " the upside-down " (if
8
you didn't get that horrible reference
it's time to turn in your HANS and
retire). You get back full control of
the seat and seat belts after about
three seconds. Regardless, this
would destroy the consistency of our
skidpad runs for the rest of the
weekend. Nothing against BMW, but
seeing as this is a modern M variant,
maybe NHTSA would be so kind as
to lift the rollover rule this one time?
I'll happily sign whatever waiver is
required. Pretty please.
The rest of the day proves a
good run for everyone on the tarmac.
Although dirty in a few spots early on
and save for the occasional deer,
conditions are looking good. Lines
are gradually more consistent
through the corkscrew as spinning
rubber gathers heat and drivers are
setting up nicely for the bridge and
the esses. Things come to a polite
end in the final session of the day to
set a good stage for the rest of the
weekend. Back to my Holiday Inn
penthouse of lazy air conditioning
and cheap mattresses in Winchester.
The M6 is parked, center-window
view in the back lot. Time for bed,
long day ahead. " Yes, BMW, our
asset is secure. " Email sent.
Saturday:
Back to the track and lots of new
faces! It's incredible how much water
the stereotype holds that a car
guy/gal can always remember what
you drive, even years later. Names,
on the other hand, not so much.
I was no different. This happens to
all of us, all the time - you'll remember
my mods and I'll remember
yours. I might also remember your
best lap time! That guy over there, in
the blue E46. What's his name
again? What's yours?
The afternoon comes around
and it's hot. By this point I'm welllathered
in SunBum SPF 50 and
ghosting in my Casper-like pigment
around the paddocks. The first
student classroom session is about
to start. I mention in my next class
that the most typical modern M tire
(Michelin PS4) will not work after
174 degrees Fahrenheit and to keep
your TPM display center-stage while
on the track. Get to 175 and understeer
shows up unexpectedly alongside
oversteer like in-laws on the
weekends, when you'd rather they
not. We go deep into rear-axle
torque vectoring after a few questions
on that topic, with a look into MDM
logic coupled with Engine Sport
mode dynamics. It's a good conversation
with some great points made
throughout the room. I cap it with the
coined " Triple Three Rule " for
extending brake rotor and engine life
after exiting track: With the engine
running, sit for three minutes (1), roll
back three feet (2), after three more
minutes roll forward three feet, then
kill the engine after a final three
minutes (3). This exposes the padcovered
portion of your rotors to
fresh air and gives your engine (and
turbos on M cars north of the
F80/F10, 1M aside) proper time to
cool down. I mention the procedure
can sometimes afford an extra
track day on some rotors. Now
I have everyone's attention. " Best
nine-minute investment you can
make, " I conclude.
The night is falling and it's time
for our pièce de ré·sis·tance of beer
and dinner (yes, those are two different
things in BMW track culture).
Upstairs in the watchtower is a
catered array of heated deliciousness,
complete with your sandwich
■ Cars lineup in the cold pit for tech inspection at the start of the day.
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derBayerische November December 2022

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