Over the winter I managed to install eibachs, full 3" exhaust, semi-track pads and got myself 17" Enkei RP01 wheels with Bridgestone RE540 tyres. Also got alignment done (-1.5deg front camber, -1.3deg rear camber, less then 1/8inch toe-in front ant back (back a little less then front), caster 6deg, rear thrust angle straight 0deg).

My previous best time was 1m12.3sec (have a laptimer in my car) and was getting beat by the likes of E36 (321hp) and E46 M3's (343hp) and tuned Venturi Atlantique (his best laptime was 1m08.3sec at around 400hp and he used to be a professional racecar driver).

Yesterday we had this years first track day and it was a blast. I managed to get in 4 sessions of 5-6laps, one of them was taking passengers with me so I only had 3 sessions to go all-out.

I have managed to drop my best time down to 1m09.7sec, now being one of 3 drivers under 1m10sec in production cars with non-slick tyres

Car was running strong and I was really satisfied with it. No usual brake fade, no weird handling. And I love the staggered setup - 235/40/17 front and 255/40/17 rear at ET38 (no rubbing at all).

Only thing that I really need to replace is a wheel bearing, as it got louder then my straight through exhaust at normal driving, lol.
And I need to make some ducting around my Koyo radiator, as after around 10 all-out laps my stock water temp gauge started to rise and I had to back off. That was all at 10psi. If I could run my sessions at 12psi I could probably drop another 0.5sec/lap I think.

Hopefully I will be into the 1m07s later this year which would be the track record for production cars. Just gotta shift mad quick you, lol

What was really interesting is that there was also a 600cc bike on the track and he could not get past me. He was only slightly better at acceleration but MUCH better at braking. In corners I left him for dead

Anyway, here is a nice pic from the event (I will post some pics later when I upload them):

 

Good job!

That picture is simply amazing. Definately new background material.

 

Thanks

I will post more pics tomorrow and anyone likes a specific pic, they're available in 3600x2400 resolution or something like that (8Megapixel format)

 

Congrats! Great pics too

You might want to invest in a real water temp gauge as the stock one is not accurate. I'm sure you have already read the threads about ways to control the temps so I'm not going to say anything about that.

 

Yea, I know about the stock water temp gauge
And I hope a proper ducting will take care of the heat.

 

So what group let a bike out on the track at the smae time as the cars? Seems like a disaster waiting to happen...

 

Its perfectly OK, as long as we are on the same pace, haha
We rent a track and we use it. So far so good. No accidents, no problems.
Its been descussed before and I dont feel like explaining it all over again Thanks.

I'm sure you have other experience and therefore require specific precautions like roll-bars, helmets, etc, etc...

Here are more pics:
http://www.web-a-photo.com/pictures_...58004867948826

 

NEW!!!

An onboard video of a friends M3 that holds the current production car lap record (on DOT tyres):
http://www.levin.si/bmwslo/forum/sli...m3_mk_wmv9.zip
pawwsord for ZIP file: bmwslo.com

I was really amased that he could pull that kind of lap with all the driver errors during the lap.

Car is on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup ($4k worth) 19" tyres (285 wide I think) and has intake and exhaust, with passenger seat removed.

Any comments on the driving style ?

 

glad you had a good day at the track, thanks for sharing.

i like your mods... they are well thought out.

what tire pressure were you running? did you check and adjust it after each session? if you want to take a couple of seconds off your laptime invest in a pyrometer and adjust your camber at the track. while most pyrometers are digital today if you can find an analog one they work great and are less expensive. i often just use my infrared laser pyrometer (which i consider essential for monitoring under hood temps). it gives a good indication as to where your camber should be.

as to camber adjustment at the track....

i was running at Brainerd Int'l (Minnesota) and came up against the fastest car that i had ever run with... a very well built porsche 944 w a big KKK turbo. we ran about 4 2.5 mile laps together and there were places he could make time on me and vice versa...

generally i run the Ferrari North America tuning day and i have run w just about every type of car built and have never been beaten in five years. ( i also raced SCCA Nats for 22 seasons and held the lap record at Brainerd in gt3.. so i know the track).

anyway, after the shock of running up against a car running equal to mine i checked tire temps w my pyrometer, dialed in just a touch more front left camber and out we both went in the next session. it was highly gratifying to watch the red blob of a 944 get smaller in my mirrors.

air pressure and camber are your best friends at the track and a pyrometer should be your guide.

thanks again for sharing your day,

howard coleman

 

You the man Howard!

 

Thanks Howard to chip in. After taking a look at my front tyres, I fund I had excessive wear on the front left tyre. I want to check out the alignment printout again and surely... my front tyres are just under 1/8" toe-in. I think I need to decrease it down to like 1/16" and it will also get rid of the little understeer I had in slow corners entry (cruical long lefthander before finish straight). But I will leave it in the back as it is, as I liked very much how progressively car started to slide its tail. But that is also partially thanks to staggered tyres.

I will get myself a pyrometer soon so that I can see if there's any room for improvement in the setup.

In the meantime I need to sort out the ducting around the radiator and get some gas pedal extension. I cant sidestep (heel-toe) and in the tight stuff I'd really need to go down to 2nd gear instead of beating on the primary turbo in 3rd

Also, I need to check my tyre pressures. I haven't this time as my rear wheels were delivered to me at the track only.

Overall I really felt satisfied with the car and confident to push it to the limits without making any big errors.

GO FD!