Iowa Chapter BMW Event at MAM

A couple weeks ago we headed up to MAM for some track time with the Iowa chapter BMW club. Though a bit over analytical you could say, they are a great group of guys to run with and put on a good school. Unfortunately, we we plagued with rain all weekend. A few dry sessions was all we had, but we will had fun none the less!

We had a good crowd from KC up there, our regular track guys along with Stan and his wife Deborah Thorne where both drove their wonderful 996!

350+ft/lbs of torque in the rain with no nanny controls…not a good combination. Val got to see the track from all angles in a few of her sessions.

ewwww mud. At least we didn’t make it out to the soybeans like a few guys I know 😉 I believe it took awhile to find enough chains to pull Russ Wiles out of the mud.

When we got home it was time for some work.

Time for the old suspension to go, and the replacements to go on. Found a great deal on a set of Escort cups.

Then it was time to corner balance……

Then off to the new alignment shop. They moved from their old location to a brand new, state of the art building. People wonder why dealerships “over charge” them for service. Well……their monthly nut to break even in this new building was about what our total gross revenue was last year as an independent shop! So just common sense that they have to charge more to pay for fancier stuff 😉 It is hard to wrap my head around that figure.

Two new state of the art alignment racks. No more ramps.

This was really cool. Plug each tire stem into an air hose on each corner. It automatically sets the pressures.

And new alignment heads that don’t attach to the rim face anymore. Very cool!