my new nurburgring whip

[Bimmerman325i]

A few reasons.

Most significant is the ability to rotate tires front and rear, side to side. Greatly increases tire life, especially on highly cambered and toed rear suspensions like the e30.

Second, biasing more tire to the rear adds static under steer. This can be helpful in certain situations (Porsches) but in our cars we want more rotation not less because we don't have that much power. There is a degree of driver preference involved as well.

Those are the two main reasons, but definitely not the only ones.

[lambo]

^ Interesting. It makes sense now that I think about it.

[IronFreak]

Hopefully I don't get shot for this, or get blamed for thread jacking, but its actually going to be powered by a bastard engine......ford 302, MSII in front of a tremec TR-3550. I can see your argument, and it makes sense, I addressed the off set sizing because I wasn't sure if the turning radius would allow for that large of a fitment up front.

Let it be noted that the motor will be N/A off the bat as this is my first run with MS. once I feel comfortable with it I'll add FI. who doesn;t like needless power!:-D

[IronFreak]

Thank you for your input, I appreciate the knowledge gained by you guys

[Eric]

Hey man-

I got to say, I've probably read through this thread 3-4 times. SO awesome. I have a question pertaining to your flares. I'm building a autocross/HPDE car,

Thanks dude! Hope to have some good updates soon!

first one I have ever done.

hmmm.
Without sounding like your father, I'd suggest you take a step back for a moment. Instead of ripping the whole car apart to put a mustang heart in it and the car being broken for long periods of time (i know too much about this), I'd instead put some good rubber like the RS3's David mentioned earlier and have a bit of fun with the E30 in stock form. It's a fun auto-x car straight out of the box.

Plus if your doing auto-x, you'll be in the $100,000 completely custom ridiculous class and never ever ever ever be competitive. Read the rulebook before you start buying parts. I auto-x my E28 M5 because the E30 (when not broken) is way out classed.

I want to put some fat meats under the girl. I have been leaning towards flares for 2 reasons, One, both of my drivers side stock flares are bumpy, a fatty probably tried squeezing between cars and knotted them up.....and I just think they look cool while being functional.

I agree, they do look cool! But you can fit 235/40/17's under the stock fenders which is PLENTY of rubber.

Coming from drag racing, stretched tires seem absolutely pointless, I'd like to see if I can get 10-11" wheels under the back, and 8-9" under the front with good meat. possibly a 255 up front, and 275 out back. I want a nice wide stance.

I honestly think 275 is probably too much tire. I would have been better off with 255 conti's...

Also, if you look at the pictures I test fit a page or so back, my rear wheels are 11.5" I believe and there is VERY little room. I think the best tires to run on the E30 for really really big rubber, is the 275/35/15 hoosiers, and the popular 285/30/18.

I think that's why I have gravitated to your build. Since you have ran both the IE and Fiberwerks flares, what would you recommend for good coverage. I also have seen KAMOTORS flares, what are your opinions on them?

I would recommend the eurostop flares over the IE flares every time. The IE flares didn't really fit well (they are 2002 flares) and didn't offer a huge addition in width. The eurostop flares that I have are designed for the car, and fit much much better, and they add a huge amount of room.

I haven't seen the KA flares in person, but they also look like a good option. I think they have less additional room than the eurostop flares, but more than the 2002 ones (and look way better).

My only complaint about the eurostop flares is that there shipping charges are astronomical. It would have almost been cheaper for me to fly from germany to LA and pick them up in person and fly back.

Maybe I'm way off in left field. I know you run some pretty thick spacers for clearance. Your thoughts please?

I run thick spacers for caliper clearance. Also helps with inner firewall clearance when turning.

Can't help with the flares, but if you are wanting to build a track/autos car, I'd strongly recommend you find a way to fit equal sized tires and wheels all around. It makes stuff last much longer and handles better.

So true, BMW's are so much better when running square setups.

What engine do you have or how soon are you planning on upgrading? A 225/45/15 RS3 is more than enough tire for your usual m20 or m50 swap. S50/2 and higher swaps would want more tire.

Agreed, drive the car as it is for a little bit before tearing into it. I was running sub 8:30 BTG times at the ring with a M20 out of the junkyard with no idea how much power it had or the milage. The chassis is capable and fun if you learn how to manipulate it.

A few reasons.

Most significant is the ability to rotate tires front and rear, side to side. Greatly increases tire life, especially on highly cambered and toed rear suspensions like the e30.

Agreed, however in this last tire setup, I bought the same size tires, but built different wheels so I cannot rotate... retard.

Second, biasing more tire to the rear adds static under steer. This can be helpful in certain situations (Porsches) but in our cars we want more rotation not less because we don't have that much power. There is a degree of driver preference involved as well.

Those are the two main reasons, but definitely not the only ones.

BMW often staggers the tires to add the safety of understeer for normal drivers. Going square makes the car much more neutral and fun to drive. I had a friend that bought an E46 M3 and hated it. Then he swapped the top mounts to get a free 1/2 deg of negative camber, bought 2 extra rears, and ran 265/35/18's on all 4 corners. The car was an animal after that, totally transformed the car!

I bet if Alex put a square setup on his Mcoupe his understeer would vanish. Not sure what to do about it's desire to overstear though...

[ak-]

Is that gold block under your spindle that "lowering" compensation thing that straightens out suspension geometry for really low cars?

[IronFreak]

Wow man, thank you so much for this response. it really helps focus in some of the areas I was fuzzy in. That being said let me respond to a few things that explain why I'm doing what I'm doing.

Thanks dude! Hope to have some good updates soon!



hmmm.
Without sounding like your father, I'd suggest you take a step back for a moment. Instead of ripping the whole car apart to put a mustang heart in it and the car being broken for long periods of time (i know too much about this), I'd instead put some good rubber like the RS3's David mentioned earlier and have a bit of fun with the E30 in stock form. It's a fun auto-x car straight out of the box.This was my original intension, I picked up the car really cheap as the PO wasn't sure what was wrong and I conviced him it had a bad HG. Well sure enough it did.....along with some other MAJOR issues. someone had tried rebuilding the motor, I had areas of the harness that had been cut and spliced back together instead of just unhooking it. 3 head bolts weren't even torqued so the HG blew out injecting oil into my coolant system. As I pulled the motor apart I noticed 3 of the six cylinder walls had deep grooves from the rings......at that point I said screw it. I had added up the cost of the machine work, and all the parts I needed just to get it going again and it didn't seem worth it. I had this 302 laying around from a different project and just decided that's what I'd do.

Plus if your doing auto-x, you'll be in the $100,000 completely custom ridiculous class and never ever ever ever be competitive. Read the rulebook before you start buying parts. I auto-x my E28 M5 because the E30 (when not broken) is way out classed.I guess if anything I could still do some cone chasing and HPDE events. That would get me seat time, and when it's all said and done I'd have a goof off car.



I agree, they do look cool! But you can fit 235/40/17's under the stock fenders which is PLENTY of rubber.



I honestly think 275 is probably too much tire. I would have been better off with 255 conti's...

Also, if you look at the pictures I test fit a page or so back, my rear wheels are 11.5" I believe and there is VERY little room. I think the best tires to run on the E30 for really really big rubber, is the 275/35/15 hoosiers, and the popular 285/30/18.



I would recommend the eurostop flares over the IE flares every time. The IE flares didn't really fit well (they are 2002 flares) and didn't offer a huge addition in width. The eurostop flares that I have are designed for the car, and fit much much better, and they add a huge amount of room.

I haven't seen the KA flares in person, but they also look like a good option. I think they have less additional room than the eurostop flares, but more than the 2002 ones (and look way better).Maybe this would be a better option the the eurostops, plus based on your comment above, if 235-255 section width is enough there would be no need to go stupid wide.

My only complaint about the eurostop flares is that there shipping charges are astronomical. It would have almost been cheaper for me to fly from germany to LA and pick them up in person and fly back.



I run thick spacers for caliper clearance. Also helps with inner firewall clearance when turning.



So true, BMW's are so much better when running square setups.



Agreed, drive the car as it is for a little bit before tearing into it. I was running sub 8:30 BTG times at the ring with a M20 out of the junkyard with no idea how much power it had or the milage. The chassis is capable and fun if you learn how to manipulate it.



Agreed, however in this last tire setup, I bought the same size tires, but built different wheels so I cannot rotate... retard.



BMW often staggers the tires to add the safety of understeer for normal drivers. Going square makes the car much more neutral and fun to drive. I had a friend that bought an E46 M3 and hated it. Then he swapped the top mounts to get a free 1/2 deg of negative camber, bought 2 extra rears, and ran 265/35/18's on all 4 corners. The car was an animal after that, totally transformed the car!

I bet if Alex put a square setup on his Mcoupe his understeer would vanish. Not sure what to do about it's desire to overstear though...

I guess take that for what its worth, not trying to push against the grain, that exactly why I ask these questions. Getting into autocross and HPDE events is hard enough for me, being in Nebraska there isn't really anything all that close.

[acolella76]

Is that gold block under your spindle that "lowering" compensation thing that straightens out suspension geometry for really low cars?

Yes. Roll center and bump steer spacer... puts the control arm at near stock geometry.

[Eric]

finally.

[IronFreak]

oh goody!! Cool to see this thread moving again....I skim through it every once and awhile for inspiration!

[M-technik-3]

I was at Colorado Springs yesterday. Brrr 19 degrees and blowing snow. Loaded up some army unit.

[lambo]

bout mutha fuckin' time...

[Eric]

I was at Colorado Springs yesterday. Brrr 19 degrees and blowing snow. Loaded up some army unit.

interesting, saw two c-17's come in yesterday while heading home from the gym. You came in on the ONE day this year that we've had snow! haha!

[acolella76]

So what was the resolve , if you don't mind my asking?

[M-technik-3]

interesting, saw two c-17's come in yesterday while heading home from the gym. You came in on the ONE day this year that we've had snow! haha!

yeah they were doing formation and tactics.