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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
Race day at Midvaal Raceway - 24 April
- Thread starter GoCart
- Start date
VictorMike
///Member
A handycam
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GoCart
///Member
For those interested, I thought it good to provide some feedback of my experience on the day, and of the Z4 and how it behaved.
The Day: Midvaal, even though it is an aged track, with never ending maintenance in progress, proved to be an amazing place to have an enormous amount of fun. Totally relaxed and never too busy on track.
During the morning sessions we had a good mix of cars, from Golf GTi’s, all of which faster than the BMW’s as we all know, new spec Polo’s, to a standard Polo Vivo Sedan, which we thought was proof that you can have fun, no matter what you drive.
A good selection of race machines as well, Midget Race Cars, a heavily modified BRZ, Formula 3 style cars and a bunch of absolutely beautiful race prepped motorcycles.
The racing was hugely exciting with no major issues or damage to any of our cars, well DB did manage melt a set of brake pads, which is not unusual when participating in these events. Of course the opportunity of fitting a set of performance high temp pads has presented itself.
The rules were simple, know your limits (although, this is easy to forget), consider other racers, keep a safe following distance, only overtake on a straight and above all, don’t set out to brake any records or prove a point.
VukMiler, the only forum related passenger, will tell you that being a passenger is probably as much fun as driving the car. And as passengers at Midvaal ride for free, I can’t think of any cheaper way of getting a thrill.
Expect to see more of these fun days in the unofficial events section.
The Car: Z4 30si Automatic, who would have thought that you could have so much fun with a soft hair dresser’s car, and an automatic at that...
Initially the Z felt a little unsettled which made me nervous, but now I think it was just me, possibly because this was the first time I’ve driven the Z with passion, and did not know that car all that well.
I had two main issues, ONE: no sport seats – this became a non issue as we progressed and I used my fat midsection to nestle in nicely.
TWO: non runflats front / runflats rear – I believed, that due to the thicker side wall of the runflats at the rear, the car would be prone to constant over steer, the behaviour turned out to be the exact opposite but not excessively so, which made the Z4 totally predictable..
Throughout the entire day, I redlined my car but a handful of times, but mostly shorts shifted with a grand left to redline, and did not engage ABS even once, in fact, looking at the footage from the last session, I’ve only activated my second stage brake lights 3 or 4 times (that session)... this is a important note, as to prove that you do not have to seek the limit all the time (or at all), fun is had well within your and the car’s limit.
Electronic aid: Somewhere in the 2nd session it broke traction for the first time and the Z4 let me know that everything was going to be OK. From that point, even though the stability system was very much involved in my efforts, I always felt as though I was totally safe, even while going off on one occasion. I’ve taken away from this that our cars are actually very competent and safe, and you will have to be a complete lunatic to totally mess it up on the track.
BIG thanks to Gareth for backing off during my incident to allow me the opportunity to correct the issue and get back up to speed, mature driving.
Conclusion: Guys, get involved and participate in events such as these, whether it is official events or not, you will be blown away with how epic a day it is.
The Day: Midvaal, even though it is an aged track, with never ending maintenance in progress, proved to be an amazing place to have an enormous amount of fun. Totally relaxed and never too busy on track.
During the morning sessions we had a good mix of cars, from Golf GTi’s, all of which faster than the BMW’s as we all know, new spec Polo’s, to a standard Polo Vivo Sedan, which we thought was proof that you can have fun, no matter what you drive.
A good selection of race machines as well, Midget Race Cars, a heavily modified BRZ, Formula 3 style cars and a bunch of absolutely beautiful race prepped motorcycles.
The racing was hugely exciting with no major issues or damage to any of our cars, well DB did manage melt a set of brake pads, which is not unusual when participating in these events. Of course the opportunity of fitting a set of performance high temp pads has presented itself.
The rules were simple, know your limits (although, this is easy to forget), consider other racers, keep a safe following distance, only overtake on a straight and above all, don’t set out to brake any records or prove a point.
VukMiler, the only forum related passenger, will tell you that being a passenger is probably as much fun as driving the car. And as passengers at Midvaal ride for free, I can’t think of any cheaper way of getting a thrill.
Expect to see more of these fun days in the unofficial events section.
The Car: Z4 30si Automatic, who would have thought that you could have so much fun with a soft hair dresser’s car, and an automatic at that...
Initially the Z felt a little unsettled which made me nervous, but now I think it was just me, possibly because this was the first time I’ve driven the Z with passion, and did not know that car all that well.
I had two main issues, ONE: no sport seats – this became a non issue as we progressed and I used my fat midsection to nestle in nicely.
TWO: non runflats front / runflats rear – I believed, that due to the thicker side wall of the runflats at the rear, the car would be prone to constant over steer, the behaviour turned out to be the exact opposite but not excessively so, which made the Z4 totally predictable..
Throughout the entire day, I redlined my car but a handful of times, but mostly shorts shifted with a grand left to redline, and did not engage ABS even once, in fact, looking at the footage from the last session, I’ve only activated my second stage brake lights 3 or 4 times (that session)... this is a important note, as to prove that you do not have to seek the limit all the time (or at all), fun is had well within your and the car’s limit.
Electronic aid: Somewhere in the 2nd session it broke traction for the first time and the Z4 let me know that everything was going to be OK. From that point, even though the stability system was very much involved in my efforts, I always felt as though I was totally safe, even while going off on one occasion. I’ve taken away from this that our cars are actually very competent and safe, and you will have to be a complete lunatic to totally mess it up on the track.
BIG thanks to Gareth for backing off during my incident to allow me the opportunity to correct the issue and get back up to speed, mature driving.
Conclusion: Guys, get involved and participate in events such as these, whether it is official events or not, you will be blown away with how epic a day it is.
RAArmstrong
///Member
So so sad I missed this 
Woke up on the morning with a borderline migrane headache so took some powerful meds and passed out again :blueCry:
Woke up on the morning with a borderline migrane headache so took some powerful meds and passed out again :blueCry:
tyronejames
///Member
WaNaV8GoCart said:
Awesome review and definitely look forward to joining you guys next time in my baby 120i m sport. I just wanted to find out what you meant by "second stage breaking lights" ?
waylander42
Member
Presume you mean the emergency flashing brake lights when you really pile on the brake pedal.
So the surface was fine? Heard the okes with racing cars complain because the surface is so bad it can damage their suspension.
So the surface was fine? Heard the okes with racing cars complain because the surface is so bad it can damage their suspension.
VictorMike
///Member
WaNaV8GoCart said:
The fun was indeed amazing (I put it somewhere between bungee jumping and a good roller-coaster).
Many thanks to Herman and Dewald for letting me ride along in their corvettes while my battleship was berthed at port.
I also just want to add, that even in the passenger seat, one can feel the stability of these cars. At no point did I feel nervous, even when a certain car was traveling at 90 degrees to the direction it was pointed (I must admit, this did elicit a maniacal laugh from me).
WaNaV8GoCart said:
I would assume that a racecar suspension is hard as rocks, and would understand the complaints.. But for normal cars it is fine. Even flyhid's French track rocket was fine. (but YOH, that thing kaks off)
KaosHunter
New member
I wish I came through to this! I was busy yesterday spectating a Ferrari Track day at swartkops but will definitely join next time!
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Dewald Basson
///Member
VukMiler said:
Any day Vuk :coolshake:
I did not find the surface that rough when driving(like bouncy and stuff), however the surface is visibly patched and uneven, to me the coarseness of the asphalt is much higher than that of Zwartkops. Which was very evident on my tires :rollsmile:
KaosHunter
New member
Did you guys just go on a random day there ? Is it open everyday for noobs like me?
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Dewald Basson
///Member
More pics of "used" tires in my thread :crazylaugh:.
KaosHunter said:
It was an open track day, you cannot just pitch up anyday, each track as a programe for each month. Midvaal hosts drag events on most Friday nights I think
KaosHunter
New member
Does anybody know where to find the calender for them because I can't seem to find it on the site ?
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KaosHunter
New member
Sounds good, why I was asking is that I'm going to the vaal river this weekend which is in the area so I wanted to check it out.
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