Can an E30 be fast?

[Borat]

The weight of the car itself does not necessarily make the cornering better. The weight helps keep the driver from being thrown around the drivers seat thus making it easier for him to keep the car in control. And yes.. its a relatively heavy car. Drive a ricer and then get back in your E30 and tell me if you notice the difference.

factory manual weight for my car is 2260 pounds. not heavy.

How on earth does a heavy car stop you getting thrown around as much?
seriously, i want to know. sound reasoning and theory would be appreicated.

Aside from ballast issues a lighter car will corner better than a heavy one. (assuming other variable are equal) end of story.

[92 mtechnic cabrio]

VERY VERY rough turbo budget list (off top of my head)

low comp pistons $1500
td crank $300
stock header turbo adapter $400
turbo $400
wastegate $150
bov $150
piping $350
intercooler $150
vacumn lines and various stuff $100
some fabrication and weld work $150
35# injectors $300

and that's $3950 right there.

still sounds like a deal to me lol

then later on you'll want to tune the car, and thats like $400 for megasquirt to $1500 for some solid commerical aftermarket

[nando]

Please enlighten me more with your wisdom and knowledge on vehicle cornering dynamics...I have an autocross this sunday and YOU are my secret weapon!!!!!!

The reason why an E30 corners well is cause its HEAVY...of course! My next upgrade is gonna be 200 pounds of dumbell weight bolted to the floor. Pile in my car guys, we could probably fit up to 8, lets go kick some Honda ass!!

lol, hey, my 2nd fastest time last sunday was with craig in my passenger seat acting as balast. no wonder I went faster!

[Firestorm]

but I don't know wtf he is doing with that chart.

Tremec t56, that hunk of metal that's hanging off behind my ls1 :p

Two overdrives = win.

[Funkmasta]

E30's CAN be very fast.
My car (M30b35, chipped, lightweight flywheel, M5 trans, 3.46 diff) is right on par with 2 modded E36 M3's that I drove to Bimmerfest with. Will it break your neck when you slam on the gas? no. But it has plenty of power in every gear, and should run 13.8-14.1 in the 1/4 mile. I have $5000 into my car total, including purchase price. (but I am very thrifty, and have lots of parts at my disposal!)

[Funkmasta]

oh yea, the turbo is coming. :D

[winstontj]

brain hurt...

this thread makes my brain hurt.

haha... +1

if you want to go fast push the pedal down to the floor and pray you dont need to turn or brake! I seriously dont get why people need to beat out civics in a 1/4 mile... I mean comon really!!!

OK i figured it out for you, tear out the interior, seats, climate control, power windows, door locks, on board computer (if you want to call it that, bumpers, sunroof... did I forget anything?

Oh yeah buy a swapped civic and go play with the boys cuz you cant afford to make a BMW FAST... If you have to ask...

Seriously those shitboxes weigh close to half of an IX probably so how do you go head to head with something in that weight class? YOU DON'T. Try building a 25+mpg POWERFUL m20, upgrade the suspension, brakes, learn how to drive and have fun. If you need to drag race then do it but not in an e30 - or not in an e30 on your budget...You want an e30 because they are classy, ride nice, look nice, etc. give up drag racing and drive!

[sticksdaman]

CLEARLY didnt read the thread^

[Jscotty]

factory manual weight for my car is 2260 pounds. not heavy.

How on earth does a heavy car stop you getting thrown around as much?
seriously, i want to know. sound reasoning and theory would be appreicated.

Aside from ballast issues a lighter car will corner better than a heavy one. (assuming other variable are equal) end of story.

Your car is a 318 unlike the 325 where the engine is not as big nor is the steel on the chassis as thick. Your car is significantly lighter than a 325. Heavy cars don't bounce all over the road as much as lighter cars and heavier cars don't lean and shift as sharply as a lighter car would in a sharp corner.

[Firestorm]

Jscotty, talk less plz.

[Borat]

Your car is a 318 unlike the 325 where the engine is not as big nor is the steel on the chassis as thick. Your car is significantly lighter than a 325. Heavy cars don't bounce all over the road as much as lighter cars and heavier cars don't lean and shift as sharply as a lighter car would in a sharp corner.

exactly, my car is a 4 cyl. a 2.5 6cyl is a different class of car to a 4 cyl jappa. 325 are not heavy cars for their size and class. A e30 325i is not a little econobox runabout, so stop comparing it to one.

Do you know for a fact that my car has less steel in the chassis? I have never seen or heard anything to support that. where is the steel less? all body parts I found had same part no's between all models (for pre fl coupes of course).

But that is a side issue, I want to know more about how you arrived at those slightly misguided statements

You haven't made any attempt to justify your ridiculus comments about how a heavy car stops you being thrown around. Maybe the heavy cars just had better seats?

Go take some high school physics classes- you will learn that the centripetal forces acting on a body are proportional to the acceleration and mass of the body, it has nothing to do with the vehicle that the body is in.

"Heavy cars don't lean" - are you actually serious? Hang on, maybe all that weight keeps them on the ground? do the rules of momemtum not hold true for cars?

Tell me why sports car manufacturers spend $$$ making the cars light as possible. Maybe they should be using lead instead of aluminium and carbon fibre?

[sticksdaman]

shows that post counts dont mean shit

[MattE30]

Jscotty, talk less plz.

Keep digging.

[Funkmasta]

More importantly, you need to have the tireage and suspension to match the weight...

[Jscotty]

Hey, if I can keep this up, Borat will probably buy a set of muffler bearings from me too! I really got him going! This is too funny!