Lime Rock, Rolling Alpha's, and the Dreaded OBDIII

[E36MPwrd@xxxxxxx]

I had the great fortune to skip a day of work to go play at Lime Rock with
Connecticut Valley Chapter on Monday.  What a blast.  Great track.  Gotta love
all those high speed corners.  Very easy on the brakes compared to Summit and
Jefferson.

There was a guy there from up north (don't remember where) that had an Active
Autowerk stage two turbocharger in his car.  In the second session (when I had
finally started to learn the track), he caught me at the end of the no-name
straight, proceeded to get very sideways while following me through the
chicane (it was a miraculous save as viewed through the rearview), and then
proceeded to blow by me as if I were parked on the main straight.  Power, pure
and unadulterated.  Apparently the install of this was a major PITA, but he
claims that engine wear is not significantly increased (of course his shop
sells them).  

Some poor guy rolled his Alpha coming down the hill turning onto the main
straight when his wheel failed.  You can't get far with only three.  Car
didn't look pretty, but he walked away, although a bit earlier than he should
have.  Reminder--if there's no fire, stay in the car until an official tells
you to get out, and regardless, keep your helmet on!  It would be a shame to
survive a dramatic crash only to be run over by someone that didn't see the
yellow flag.  The organizers were pretty pissed to see this guy checking out
his car with students still on the track.

Finally, my afternoon instructor is an engineer working on a project related
to OBD III.  To quote him, big brother is coming.  It doesn't sound pretty.
With a little luck the first year or two of the E46 M3 the standard should
still be OBD II.  I can't help but wonder aloud if the Landshark has any
thoughts on OBD III.

Tim Leithead
'95 M3, Avus Blue

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