Racing – Cars Break

Track Day: Utah Motorsport Campus West with 2018 BMW M3 Manual

In 2006 Utah was given one of the greatest gifts a state can get: an international-quality racetrack. Back then it was called Miller Motorsports Park and it was sponsored by the legendary Larry H. Miller of car dealership and NBA Jazz owner fame.

The track recently changed ownership and is now called Utah Motorsports Campus. They hold races like Moto America, Super Moto, Pirelli World Challenge, and many more. In addition to big racing series they also have open track days for which I am incredibly grateful.

This track is unique in that it can be broken up into 3 different configurations: East, West, and Outer. East and West are both 2.2 miles and Outer is 3.06 which makes it one of the longer tracks in the USA. One neat feature about UMC is that it’s one of the safer racetracks out there. Many of the turns have a very large dirt area to slide off into instead of greeting a concrete wall. Les Tracks:

East is really fun because it still has the “attitudes” which is basically a 3-part chicane and is super fun.

I’ve only done West once, and it’s very different from East as you’ll find out in the video.

Outer is the best because it has all the best turns of the track and a freaking HUGE 1/2 mile straight. Some bikes can get up to 200mph on this part. My record thus far is in my Dinan Stage 1 340i @ 143mph but I haven’t had a chance to take the M3 on it just yet.

And this is what the track looks like all together:

And now for the good stuff: watching me make a fool out of myself trying to chase down a $100k+ non street-legal lotus driven by a former champion motorcycle racer. It was still a ton of fun and I benefitted directly from UMC’s nice dirt slide off areas.

I did have some good laps, though, and my best of the day was a 1:57.06, which is about on par with some of the amateur racing clubs out there with fully prepped Miatas or Porsche 944s. Anyone who has done track days knows that keeping up with any class of racing while in a full interior daily driver is not too shabby.

First 1/4 Mile Run with 2016 BMW 340i bone stock

Went to the drag strip last night, here are my numbers:

Rocky Mtn Raceway is at 4200 ft

RUN1 – 13.742 @ 102.56 mph – Sport+, DCT not fully defeated
RUN2 – 13.660 @ 103.67 mph – Sport+, full launch control
RUN3 – 13.676 @ 103.44 mph – Sport +, full launch control

As many of you know, for launch control to work you have to actually drive around a bit, not just wait until the engine is warm. I heard it was 6 miles but I tried it at 3 miles of circling the pits and it worked.

So that’s a bone stock 2016 340i AT M Sport w/ track handling on 19″ wheels, oem summer performance bridgestone runflats.

I’m doing a dyno run next week then it’s getting the stage 1 Dinan. I’m really excited to see how the claimed extra 95 rear-wheel ponies affect the dyno numbers and ETs.

And yes, my reaction times do suck Maybe that’ll get a little better next time, too.

Timeslips:

Wide Open Wednesday at Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC) Formerly Miller Motorsports Park

Wide Open Wednesday is a ton of fun. Miller Motorsports Park was built in 2006 and bore the name until it was purchased by another company in 2015 following the death of Larry Miller a couple years prior. It’s now called Utah Motorsports Campus and it’s back with tons of great events on and off road.

Here’s the lineup before we were allowed onto the track and pit area. That’s a 2016 M2, Camaro SS, Z06, GT350, STI, 328, 2009 M3, and a few more in there.

Wide Open Wednesday (WOW) is typically the first Wednesday of each month during the summer. Pay $25 and run what you brung. You can even spring for some 100 octane unleaded if you’re feeling crazy and think it will make a difference in your lap time like me. It’s $9.27 per gallon but makes you feel reallly cool. Also if you’re not running catalytic converters feel free to burn the 110 octane leaded stuff. Totally full of booyah, that stuff. Makes my dirtbike run like a champ.

One of the fun things about WOW is you’ll see all kinds of people there. You’ve got the quintessential douchebag with a brand new M3 or M2, the total garbage-fest group of Honda Civics with nothing but a muffler delete, and everything in between. I hope to become one of those M3 douchebags soon.

This is a measly 2009 M3 but still a very cool car. High-revving V8 and some very sticky tires. This guy wasn’t a douchebag, just very talkative a little odd.

This is a highly modded car, had a big nasty turbo, racing seats, and removable steering wheel. I guess part of the point of that is so you can actually get inside the car – the seats have such high lateral supports that your leg literally wouldn’t fit past the wheel if you tried to climb in.

Ye Olde 110 octane. Only $9.09 per gallon!

This rig was nuts – dude put an LS1 out of a GTO in a teeny tiny 318 BMW. It sounded great but very much not how you’d expect a little beemer to meow.

Guess I forgot to take any pictures of my car, oh well. It was a blast to do this again, last year I only made it out once. I got up to 92mph on the back straight but keep in mind this was only the 1-mile course and not the full 2-miler with that huge massive straight section it normally has. Also we were limited to cone gates so not as many people would go flying off the track into the dirt, although a few still did. I’m looking at you, yellow and blue all-body-work and no suspension parts, tires, or brakes Honda. Try to keep it on the tarmac next time. That said I came pretty close to sliding off myself a few times haha. Highly recommended.