Autocross mayhem

[The Barvarian]

Our first autocross of the year pointed out that my son is a hell of a driver. I remembered that I need to work on a lot of things to get even close to where he is. This was the first time driving our e30. In other posts you can see the suspension is set up really nicely and the rComps are sticky. We ran at Candlestiick/Monster Park. The track was a mess with a lot of gravel.
Our day was cut WAY short when the fan chewed a radiator hose. Our e30 is an 87 so the thermstat hose is close to the fan. I would like to solicite advice on the following:

1) Guys at the track who know e30s said we need new egnine mounts and a transmission mount. Should I replace with stock or run polyurethane? Are the plastic ones that noisey?

2) It was suggested to run an electric fan, I am looking for suggestions on what fan would be a good choice?

Dave

[Jean]

Our first autocross of the year pointed out that my son is a hell of a driver. I remembered that I need to work on a lot of things to get even close to where he is. This was the first time driving our e30. In other posts you can see the suspension is set up really nicely and the rComps are sticky. We ran at Candlestiick/Monster Park. The track was a mess with a lot of gravel.
Our day was cut WAY short when the fan chewed a radiator hose. Our e30 is an 87 so the thermstat hose is close to the fan. I would like to solicite advice on the following:

1) Guys at the track who know e30s said we need new egnine mounts and a transmission mount. Should I replace with stock or run polyurethane? Are the plastic ones that noisey?

2) It was suggested to run an electric fan, I am looking for suggestions on what fan would be a good choice?

Dave

What class are you guys competing in, and against what cars ?

I had IE engine/tranny mounts on my autocross car and they were way too noisy at the low rpms (idle/sitting at red lights etc), but on the i6 they shouldn't be as bad from what I gather.

You can just re-wire your a/c fan , very simple to do.

[The Barvarian]

We were in AA and ran against a couple of other modified e30s , some M3s, at least one modified e36 and some modified e46s. Ryan (my son) took 6th today in AA. That is unofficial. I still feel bummed that I ran so poorly. We just finished the car so neither of us practiced at all.

Have you seen anyone run an electric fan on the motor side before? I would like to keep my A/C working.

[The Barvarian]

I had IE engine/tranny mounts on my autocross car and they were way too noisy at the low rpms (idle/sitting at red lights etc), but on the i6 they shouldn't be as bad from what I gather.

What is an i6? Should I just replace with stock mounts?

Another casualty was the clutches in my diff. They are GONE now. I have new ones so that is another project for the next couple of weekends.

[Mfever]

What is an i6? Should I just replace with stock mounts?

Another casualty was the clutches in my diff. They are GONE now. I have new ones so that is another project for the next couple of weekends.

I6 means inline 6, which is the kind of engine you have. I would just go with the stock mounts, they will do fine.

[The Barvarian]

Doh!! i6, I should have known that.....

[jlevie]

Urethane engine mounts will transmit much more engine vibration into the car body. That's not a problem on a pure track car, by may be objectionable on a daily driver.

It is possible to fit a puller type fan on the engine side of the radiator. It will have to be offset towards the intake side to clear the waterpump pulley. My experience is that you need at least a 16" fan rated for 2000cfm (or more). And you'll need to control the fan with an 80-80C thermoswitch.

[The Barvarian]

It is possible to fit a puller type fan on the engine side of the radiator. It will have to be offset towards the intake side to clear the waterpump pulley. My experience is that you need at least a 16" fan rated for 2000cfm (or more). And you'll need to control the fan with an 80-80C thermoswitch.

I think I will stay with the stock mounts for the foreseeable future.

Any thoughts on a brand/model of fan?

[madjurgen]

I added the IE urethane motors mounts to my m20 and they added absolutely no additional NVH(noise, vibration, harshness). These are a must in my opinion on any e30 that is autocrossed.

Later on, I added the IE urethane tranny mounts. Holy balls! It sounded like my m20 had suddenly grown into a full-out race V8. Not suitable at all for the street.


Do your research for the fan, endless threads about which type, brand to use.

So, I vote definitely go with the urethane motor mounts and find a stiffer stock solution for the tranny. I have e34 5 series tranny mounts.

[VacMan]

The IS we bought has poly trans and motor mounts. I don't mind it for a quick jaunt but could never stand it for a DD since there's a ton more NVH. On the other hand, my brother-in-law Josh (Delphinitive) loves the setup. Of course, he's half my age as well and it's his car. :)

[//MPower]

Guys at the track who know e30s said we need new egnine mounts and a transmission mount.

That's not necessarily true.

To keep the thermostat hose out of the fan, all you need is a zip tie. Like most people, you are missing the factory clip that holds the hose away from the fan and prevents this problem.

Could the motor mounts still be worn and need replaced? Sure. However, the thermostat hose will be chewed by your engine fan regardless of the condition of the motor mounts. If your alternator or power steering pump is cutting into the lower radiator hose, then you definately need new motor mounts. Regardless, it's not a bad idea to inspect them and replace if necessary.

[The Barvarian]

Good thinking....

That's not necessarily true.

To keep the thermostat hose out of the fan, all you need is a zip tie. Like most people, you are missing the factory clip that holds the hose away from the fan and prevents this problem.

Could the motor mounts still be worn and need replaced? Sure. However, the thermostat hose will be chewed by your engine fan regardless of the condition of the motor mounts. If your alternator or power steering pump is cutting into the lower radiator hose, then you definately need new motor mounts. Regardless, it's not a bad idea to inspect them and replace if necessary.

Great idea for us to check on, thanks for pointing that out.

[Jeremiel5]

That's not necessarily true.

To keep the thermostat hose out of the fan, all you need is a zip tie. Like most people, you are missing the factory clip that holds the hose away from the fan and prevents this problem.

Could the motor mounts still be worn and need replaced? Sure. However, the thermostat hose will be chewed by your engine fan regardless of the condition of the motor mounts. If your alternator or power steering pump is cutting into the lower radiator hose, then you definately need new motor mounts. Regardless, it's not a bad idea to inspect them and replace if necessary.

I CONCUR.

But I vote that you need to replace your engine and tranny mounts to urethane especially if you are going to auto-x the car and especially for the year of your car because you have one radiator hose that is close to the fan and the lower radiator hose that is next to your power steering pulley; my experience with stock motor mounts was not a good experience especially when auto-xing because of the beating you take your e30 to go through, your motor mounts will break faster than if you daily drive it, obviously, but the keyword is that it still breaks. while you may solve the problem now, it doesn't mean that you won't get the same problem later. you may solve the problem for a good amount of time, but ultimately it will break again and if it does, then that means you are risking the chance of replacing radiator hoses again and whatever else breaks with it

i changed my motor and tranny mounts to IE urethane and it made a big difference; it's a lot stiffer and my engine sounded tight, but there are some minor NVH which i don't care much about because to me, the stiffer, the better especially if i can feel the ground from my seat (like from my ass, hehe). all i'm saying is if you can sacrifice minor NVH in order to save money long term, then urethane mounts are really good investment especially if you are going to auto-x this car (try drifting it too, lol, jk)

[The Barvarian]

How hard is it to change motor mounts?

DO you have to pull the control arms and cross member to replace the motor mounts?

I CONCUR.

But I vote that you need to replace your engine and tranny mounts to urethane especially if you are going to auto-x the car and especially for the year of your car because you have one radiator hose that is close to the fan and the lower radiator hose that is next to your power steering pulley; my experience with stock motor mounts was not a good experience especially when auto-xing because of the beating you take your e30 to go through, your motor mounts will break faster than if you daily drive it, obviously, but the keyword is that it still breaks. while you may solve the problem now, it doesn't mean that you won't get the same problem later. you may solve the problem for a good amount of time, but ultimately it will break again and if it does, then that means you are risking the chance of replacing radiator hoses again and whatever else breaks with it

i changed my motor and tranny mounts to IE urethane and it made a big difference; it's a lot stiffer and my engine sounded tight, but there are some minor NVH which i don't care much about because to me, the stiffer, the better especially if i can feel the ground from my seat (like from my ass, hehe). all i'm saying is if you can sacrifice minor NVH in order to save money long term, then urethane mounts are really good investment especially if you are going to auto-x this car (try drifting it too, lol, jk)

[ddavidv]

No, but they can be fun to do with limited access.