*** Australian Chat Thread ***

Originally Posted by trive2

Hey Declan, where do you track your car? I'm looking to get into a bit more tracking. Been thinking of organising a half day meet with QR with about forty people. Either that or sprints, been on those? Any good?

QR - Half day including marshals and a driver trainer worked out at circa $3,600. We got 20 guys and split up into groups of 5. Personally I think it was the perfect amount of vehicles to be on track at any 1 time considering peoples' experience and the financial risk with the kind of cars that were on the track (mine was one of the cheapest). It was less than $180 each and there was plenty of track time.

We had a half day like that called a "beginner session" at Willowbank with the club. What are the insurances and the like involved? Do I have to organise through a car club or the like? We had a little more cars on the track at a time split into three groups, so about 20 again. I think 30 people would be a nice appropriate number, it makes it considerably cheaper for everyone else.

Would you be interested in helping organise another one of these days? I enjoy BMW Club events but they won't organise another amateur day, preferring proper race days where I have to pay $225 just to run around for fun. I can't afford that!

Originally Posted by trive2

We had a half day like that called a "beginner session" at Willowbank with the club. What are the insurances and the like involved? Do I have to organise through a car club or the like? We had a little more cars on the track at a time split into three groups, so about 20 again. I think 30 people would be a nice appropriate number, it makes it considerably cheaper for everyone else.

Would you be interested in helping organise another one of these days? I enjoy BMW Club events but they won't organise another amateur day, preferring proper race days where I have to pay $225 just to run around for fun. I can't afford that!

I'm already booked in for another 4 track days over the next year sorry mate. Probably don't need any more!

From experience I would recommend not having any more than 6-7 cars on track at a time. You want everyone to have adequate space should something go wrong (lose control or mechanical issues). If you split into 4 groups this would bring the price to around $150pp. I know the $3,600 was for everything so I think that included some sort of public liability. It was organised privately but not by myself so I don't know the ins and outs.

The cost to get on the track is only a fraction of the actual cost to you. You need to consider the work that will be required on your car before and after the day. Everything adds up even if you're willing to do the work yourself. At a bare minimum you need aftermarket pads - my OEM pads started losing chunks at the track, I also got pad deposits on my rotors which caused a hum under braking so I had to sand down my rotors with 600 grit paper after the day (PITA). You'll also want some better brake fluid with a higher boiling temp to avoid brake fade.

Also take into account the increased wear and tear on all the components that will be under extreme stress at the track, tires, transmission etc.

I'm not trying to deter you from getting on the track. It's great fun and you become a far better drive on the street as a result. Having said that though, if spending an extra $70-100 for the use of the track is a concern then you may want to consider holding off for a while so as to not find yourself in a situation when parts need replacing before or after the day.

Ah bugger, where do I get into these things!


My car handled the track work perfectly for five hours. I was only feeling hints of brake fade at the end of the laps, because it was given plenty of time to cool off between groups. I didn't do anything to it beyond normal servicing and maintenance before or after. I have no interest in pushing the car and my boundaries, because its my DD and I don't want to have to be slugged with all those costs you're mentioning. I'm specifically NOT interested in the expensive and timed BMW track days for this very reason.
The extra $100 really does make a difference at my level.

Originally Posted by trive2

Ah bugger, where do I get into these things!


My car handled the track work perfectly for five hours. I was only feeling hints of brake fade at the end of the laps, because it was given plenty of time to cool off between groups. I didn't do anything to it beyond normal servicing and maintenance before or after. I have no interest in pushing the car and my boundaries, because its my DD and I don't want to have to be slugged with all those costs you're mentioning. I'm specifically NOT interested in the expensive and timed BMW track days for this very reason.
The extra $100 really does make a difference at my level.

Fair enough. I guess it all depends how much you want to push your vehicle. You'll still be prone to increased service costs regardless of how hard you push it on the track (unless you drive like you're on a street in which case there's no point tracking it).

The days I'm talking about are being organised on M3 Post. The one in December is booked out but the other 3 haven't had dates confirmed so there will be spaces once the date and time is sorted.

IPhone five.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Bimmer App

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Bimmer App

Oooooooo if I hadn't lost my last two iPhone's I might be able to afford one of those, very prettty!

Yeah they come out tomorrow.

Ha GAAAAAAAAAAY

They are over rated bad.

I'm getting mine soon so I'll test it out - but I can't believe they still use a dual core. Also one of their selling points is "GPS" wdf!

Originally Posted by shook

They are over rated bad.

I'm getting mine soon so I'll test it out - but I can't believe they still use a dual core. Also one of their selling points is "GPS" wdf!

How much you want for the Note?

Anyone here with optus or tpg ?

Originally Posted by GJA003

Anyone here with optus or tpg ?

For what service?

Originally Posted by DeclanM3

For what service?

Mobile home phone or internet looking at making a big switch just wanted to know if anyone currently deals with them as a provider currently with shitty Vodafone for mobile and Optus for home bundle bit looking to move all to tpg as they ate half the cost and usr Optus networks

Originally Posted by shook

They are over rated bad.

I'm getting mine soon so I'll test it out - but I can't believe they still use a dual core. Also one of their selling points is "GPS" wdf!

Samsung Galaxy S3 is coming out in 4G, quad-core version. I reckon that'll be better than the iphone5.

Originally Posted by GJA003

Mobile home phone or internet looking at making a big switch just wanted to know if anyone currently deals with them as a provider currently with shitty Vodafone for mobile and Optus for home bundle bit looking to move all to tpg as they ate half the cost and usr Optus networks

TPG for home internet. When it runs well, it runs well.

Most recent experience has been a 6 week outage, 20+ hours on calls with TPG level 1 / 2 / 3
In the end they did exactly what I told them on my first call in order to fix the issue - I kid you not.

The problem for them is that they (most ISPs) rely on Telstra for any work in the exchange or in relation to the physical phone line. Optus should not have this issue.

Anyway, in terms of everything else TPG has been great. My brother works with hosting and infrastructure and puts their business grade stuff everywhere and swears by the quality and pricing.

TPG for internet, does the job with no complaints. Customer service is okay the one or two times I've needed them for basic things.

Telstra for everything. Dont really know what there customer service is like because ive never had any problems

Originally Posted by Davconelectric

Telstra for everything. Dont really know what there customer service is like because ive never had any problems

Telstra is good, but customer service is terrible. Had to call up about an issue and was put on hold for 45 minutes!