Turku University of Applied Science

[kurakPL]

Hi guys

Im Dawid and in a year from now Ill be studying at Turku University. And since I live in Poland and going there for at least half a year, I considered taking my Merlot 1996 Miata with me. Turku seems like a middle sized city, but I have no idea how the traffic is like or is it a generally good or bad idea to take a miata with me.

Also, I heard you have some terrific driving schools back there in Finland, and I think I could use one of those famous lessons, or two. Am I right?

Best regards and hi!

Some photos of the miata itself:







Feel free to top in here and take a peek at bigger pictures.
http://www.mx-5.pl/viewtopic.php?t=7844

[Samuli]

Hi Dawid and welcome.

Bring the car over, you will not have anykind of problem, what so ever with it over here. What I know about trafic in Poland, you'll do fine here as it is safe and ppl do respect rules You might want to take part of winter driving courses, their fun and teach you a lot of car control.

Please, you are welcome to join our club, we have monthly meetings and 9 trackdays this summer.

Ps. love the merlot, looks really nice with the hardtop.

[Tem]

Turku seems like a middle sized city, but I have no idea how the traffic is like or is it a generally good or bad idea to take a miata with me.

Nothing special about traffic over there, you'll be just fine with a Miata (or any other car).

I guess you have to decide whether it's a good idea. If you plan to sell it over here, you should get a better deal than in Poland. If you plan to drive/ship it here and back after 6 months, just see how much it costs and if you think it's worth it.

Here's another idea. Buy a car from Poland, drive it around and sell it over here with a nice profit. And repeat every time you visit Poland during your stay here. Check out nettiauto.com for local car prices and compares to prices in Poland.

[Samuli]

Ah, dont forget the tax man who changes the outcome of carprices a "bit"

[kurakPL]

Hi

Thanks for all the replies, sorry for showing up again so late.

Since I'm the kind of a poor student and I like my car too much I am not getting into any sort of car-trading. Yet I checked the nettiauto.com out of sheer curiosity and I must admit that the prices are somewhat comparable for the most popular cars, so there would be too much hassle compared to the profit.

Since I couldn't find any info in english, Id like to ask what is the cost of an additional driving course/lessons? I am going to Turku on a summer semester and I think in February of early Marz I could take some (:
What are the costs of a track day? Do I need to have a rollbar/cage, or is hardtop enough? What about helmets and other safety stuff?

Best regards!

[Klasu]

No, rollbar/cage is not needed on track, don't know if the club has already decided whether helmet is needed or not, I wear one for my own protection anyway. Trackdays probably cost 30-40euros for non members, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[Samuli]

No cage or rollbar is needed and helmet is recomended (I would not go on track without one).
Club membership cost's 40€ year and for the money you'll get one trackday worth of 40€ for free and rest of the days with nice discount.

You can go to slip and slide courses even middle of summer, they have soapwater track to play. Or you can do like we did as youngsters after first snow fell, go to some big parking lot to "drift" (we've been drifting as long theres been snow and rwd cars) around it and learn to control the car. There's also ice"race"tracks made on frozen lakes where you can learn to drive fast on ice and snow, nice thing is that crashing there means huge puff of snow and half hour snow plowing

[kurakPL]

All of this sounds like fun. Im going to a trackday here in Poland in June (unless Ill be abroad) and then Ill decide on club membership; about slip and slide, I've had the miata for a half year only but I took advantage of every snowy day we've had here in Poland, and hell I loved it 

I see now that your motorsports culture and popularity is way over my expectations. Wish it was like that in here.

[Tem]

Or you can do like we did as youngsters after first snow fell, go to some big parking lot to "drift" (we've been drifting as long theres been snow and rwd cars) around it and learn to control the car. There's also ice"race"tracks made on frozen lakes where you can learn to drive fast on ice and snow, nice thing is that crashing there means huge puff of snow and half hour snow plowing

Just be careful, cops tend to raid the "best" parking lots when it snows and it's illegal to drive around there without a reason. Also, don't get too tail happy in downtown, cops tend to pull you over and you get a ticket, or in worst case even lose your driving licence for few months.
(i'm not saying don't do it, just be aware of that and don't get caught! )

Also, these days most ice tracks tend to be on land, not on ice. Environmental stuff, cars tend to drip some oil and they don't want it in water. Haven't heard of a good ice track in Turku in several years, but there are plenty within some 50km radius in land.

[kurakPL]

Hello there

Its me back again. I recently got my confirmation letter from TUAS and confirmed my accommodation in the dorm. All great news, but I ain't taking my car to Finland.

Id like to ask again, what is the cost of an additional driving course/lessons? Arleady have a driving licence but Id like to sharpen my skills and I guess theres no place as good (:

In the meantime, I've done some racing here in Poland. Some nice shots here:













And personal favourite (mind the people cheering in the background  )



Cheers!

[Mai-ck]

BTW turku on suomen perseenreikä.   

[Samuli]

Do you mean that you would want to rent a car and have some track time?

[kurakPL]

BTW turku on suomen perseenreikä.   

Well... why?

Renting a car for track day? Didn't even know one could do that. I thought about normal driving school, where you drive with an instructor in their car.

[Tem]

BTW turku on suomen perseenreikä.   

Well... why?

It's just an ancient "joke" told by jealous ppl.