I managed to drive myself into motion sickness today . . .

[Don Vito Corleone]

This morning I took my M3 to an Advanced Car Control Clinic held by the North Star BMW Club here in the Twin Cities. It was held on a small, tight track at a local technical college, built for training police pursuit driving. This was my first time taking this car on the track, though I have driven on the same track in my E90 330i, as well as driving on larger, faster tracks.

My M3 has adjustable Bilstein coilovers, set pretty low, and was aligned for aggressive street driving, just this week. I was driving, for the first time, with Schroth Quick Fit race harnesses. My M3 is a pretty formidable track car, and certainly corners harder and accelerates much more viciously than my 330i.

After about 20 minutes on my second half-hour stint on the track, I found myself getting dizzy and hot. I was perfectly ready to pull off if necessary for safety, but felt I could continue. I completed the full half hour, but by the end I literally vomited into my mouth as I left the track. I ended up leaving the event after a half day because there was no way I could deal with two more stints on the track, much less riding with my instructor in his car.

At this point I'm not sure what to think. I've never felt sick while driving my own car in my life. I don't know whether I just had some kind of bug (I felt fine otherwise), or whether the race harnesses aggravated the G loads on my head or what. Just really really odd. This will not keep me off the track, but I will definitely get some Bonine or Dramamine before the next track event.

 

[Black2na]

was it a hot day? driving a car at speed can take a huge toll on your body. from what i learned doing leMons races is that you need to be properly fed and hydrated it helps alot to keep the nausea at bay. i normaly can do 2 hours at race speed on course before i start to feel tired and need a driver change. you should be able to do 20 min and feel like it was to short and wanna go back out. next time get a good nights sleep eat a good breakfast and drink plenty of water you should be ok next time! and if you wanna see if your sensitive to g-forces do one of those indoor gokart tracks that do like 30MPH they are normaly 20-30min in length and you should be able to see how your body reacts to it

 

[Howard]

Intense physical activity can make one nauseous if they are not properly prepared for it (e.g. somebody jumping back into their old workout after recovering from an injury).

 

[halik]

This morning I took my M3 to an Advanced Car Control Clinic held by the North Star BMW Club here in the Twin Cities. It was held on a small, tight track at a local technical college, built for training police pursuit driving. This was my first time taking this car on the track, though I have driven on the same track in my E90 330i, as well as driving on larger, faster tracks.

My M3 has adjustable Bilstein coilovers, set pretty low, and was aligned for aggressive street driving, just this week. I was driving, for the first time, with Schroth Quick Fit race harnesses. My M3 is a pretty formidable track car, and certainly corners harder and accelerates much more viciously than my 330i.

After about 20 minutes on my second half-hour stint on the track, I found myself getting dizzy and hot. I was perfectly ready to pull off if necessary for safety, but felt I could continue. I completed the full half hour, but by the end I literally vomited into my mouth as I left the track. I ended up leaving the event after a half day because there was no way I could deal with two more stints on the track, much less riding with my instructor in his car.

At this point I'm not sure what to think. I've never felt sick while driving my own car in my life. I don't know whether I just had some kind of bug (I felt fine otherwise), or whether the race harnesses aggravated the G loads on my head or what. Just really really odd. This will not keep me off the track, but I will definitely get some Bonine or Dramamine before the next track event.

Heat exhaustion I would think; generally you don't get motion sickness if you're the one in control.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Heat exhaustion I would think; generally you don't get motion sickness if you're the one in control.

It really wasn't hot. I don't think that was a factor. I still don't know what to make of it. In hindsight I think I may have hosed myself. I bumped my head earlier in the morning (it really was just a slight bump), and I had quite a bit of coffee prior to going on the track. These facts, as well as the race harnesses, are really the only things different from my other times on the track.

 

[boomerang]

I crewed on a racing team for about ten years. I saw many experienced drivers throw up in their cars during that time frame. Typically, it would be during their first time in the car after the off season or the first time in a different car.

I realize this is not in any way an answer but it happens and that may be the best way to look at it.

 

[Brigandier]

It really wasn't hot. I don't think that was a factor. I still don't know what to make of it. In hindsight I think I may have hosed myself. I bumped my head earlier in the morning (it really was just a slight bump), and I had quite a bit of coffee prior to going on the track. These facts, as well as the race harnesses, are really the only things different from my other times on the track.

Kinda sounds like minor dehydration to me, it doesn't help you were pushing the limits, that would exacerbate the effects.

I hope you at least had a roarin' good time.

 

[vshah]

Ginger Ale does wonders