[nwoodiwiss]

Another idea for a spring/summer MINI meet in Ontario could be an "Advanced Driver Training" day at Cayuga racetrack in the South West.

These are arranged by Raven Engineering, a BMW aftermarket tune-up outfit. I took my launch Cooper aroud this in September (in torrential rain ! ). The MINI held it's own on the bends with Porsche 911's and BMW M3/5's ! Too much fun. The cost is about $120 for the day, with full instructor training and they sit with you around the track.

I'll did out more detials and post it soon

Cheers, Nick.

[GordonD]

Great idea - i did this last year in my Z3 a couple of times and had a lot of fun.

it's not very well organized/supervised which is good in one way - you can just go and play - but scary in an other as any idiot who wants to do something stupid can with little chance of being chastised. My second session last year was on a day when there was torrential rain and some of the younger guys driving Civics were just too scarey to be around.

I have joined the Trillium chapter of the BMW club - they seem to be keen on bringing MINIs into the club - and they have very well planned driver training sessions for members with Cayuga as the first one this year

[JohnnyBoy]

That is a great little track too. Good for all skill levels and no real places to wreck your car if you go off(aside from the main straight wall. I'm down with going to that.

[paulmon]

This is absolutely something I would want to do. If someone gets the details just let me know.

Paul

[aircanuck]

You can count me in on that too, if I am still in the area! I am sure it never hurts to brush up on driving skills all the while meeting with the mini community!

Great idea!


Cheers,
Neil

[Ottawa Guy]

I'd be interested in coming down for a day on the track!

Count Me in!

[sniece]

When I picked up my Cooper at Waterloo Mini last weekend, the dealer told me about a track day they're doing (can't recall if it's Mini Canada, or just Waterloo Mini) at Shannonville in early April. It's $250 for the day with in class and in car lessons, lunch, and one person out at a time, to use his words...no paint swapping. Just another possibility to throw out there.

Steve

[paulmon]

Quote:

Originally posted by sniece
When I picked up my Cooper at Waterloo Mini last weekend, the dealer told me about a track day they're doing (can't recall if it's Mini Canada, or just Waterloo Mini) at Shannonville in early April. It's $250 for the day with in class and in car lessons, lunch, and one person out at a time, to use his words...no paint swapping. Just another possibility to throw out there.

Steve

I'd be very interested in more details about this if you have them.

Paul

[scollins]

You can see the Trillium BMW Club events here: http://www.trillium-bmwclub.ca/. If you have the cajones, Mosport is an unbelievable track. Mont Tremblant is fantastic as well. A driving school weekend is around $400.

For Raven days, call John at 905-477-1800, or email him at: dimoff@attglobal.net, or email Gerry Low: gerry@parallel-mkt.com.

When I spoke with John last week, he's planning on at least one event per month from February to November. The cost last year was around $200 for a day. You'll need a helmet...SA95+ I think, preferably not an MSA95 (motorcyle helmet). You'll have to have your car tech inspected by a mechanic. Typically this is a half-hour check, so figure another $50, plus an oil change if you're due.

Once you go the first time, you'll be hooked, so you'd better factor in $1500 for new tires before the summer is out, $500 for brake pads and another $1000-$2000 for more track days. After 2 or 3 years, your car will have no back seat (or no interior to speak of), a roll cage, safety harnesses and you would have tried one or two different brake and suspension upgrades by this point, so factor in another $15,000 on top of the previous annual amounts. By the fifth year, your car will be sitting in a shop, engine sold, with another, more powerful, awaiting transplant. Add $15,000. This will necessitate bigger brakes. $3,000. And, oh...that Gruppe N suspension setup is really looking like a necessity around about now. $4,000.........don't ask me how I know all this, but if you doubt me, mark my words.

So go on, get out there, have a great time

Shawn -certifiable, card-carrying track junkie, and I have the debt to prove it!