Bronzit E30 - OBDII S52 shaved bay - weekend/autox toy - Journey

[Digitalwave]

Yes it is a lot of fun. Last autox I was fussing mainly with tire pressures and it made a significant difference. I want to leave the car as is for a while (except possibly building up another rear subframe/TA setup since my bushings are on their way out) and just learn the car and maximize the current setup.

Is an infrared temp gun appropriate to take tire temps? Or do I want one with a probe to poke the tire?

I've been told probe only but haven't researched why. I think the surface of the tire cools too fast for an infrared to work properly.

Zach I def need to update my thread, so much has changed in the last couple of months...

[moatilliatta]

Wheels are gray8!

Cant wait for some action shots!

Digitalwave, what are your sprint rates and bars?

great photos BTW!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Condor has an alignment and corner balance setup now... we are really diving in deep and trying different things every time we're headed to the track. It's a fun rabbit hole!

The photos don't always tell you a lot, but some things are obvious (like my rear camber). Another nice tool to have at the track is a pyrometer, and to test the inside, middle, and outside of the tires. That can help you dial in camber and tire pressures.

Yes it is a lot of fun. Last autox I was fussing mainly with tire pressures and it made a significant difference. I want to leave the car as is for a while (except possibly building up another rear subframe/TA setup since my bushings are on their way out) and just learn the car and maximize the current setup.

Is an infrared temp gun appropriate to take tire temps? Or do I want one with a probe to poke the tire?

[Digitalwave]

Condor has an alignment and corner balance setup now... we are really diving in deep and trying different things every time we're headed to the track. It's a fun rabbit hole!

The photos don't always tell you a lot, but some things are obvious (like my rear camber). Another nice tool to have at the track is a pyrometer, and to test the inside, middle, and outside of the tires. That can help you dial in camber and tire pressures.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Right now I have

Front:
Max caster (probably around +9*) w/ offset bushings and camber/caster plates maxed out
Max camber (put on a bubble gauge about 3.7*)
0 toe but only because we were lazy, I will be running 1/16" toe out when we align it again

Rear:
2.2* camber (not enough, I am adding more by removing my subframe riser bushings, hoping for closer to 3*)
1/16" toe in (it will end up being about 1/8" toe in when I remove the subframe risers)

Macpherson struts (E30 front) roll over so much under heavy cornering, you really need a ton of camber. It gets even worse when the car is lowered aggressively without roll center correction. It's easy to get in the wrong range of camber sweep/gain, meaning you gain positive camber while cornering, rather than more negative camber.

I think with how much camber I am running now that I will be able to clear my 225/40-17 Hoosier R7's without even rolling my front fenders. 225 Hoosiers have a 246mm section width! I'll be running a 17x8.5" wheel which gives me an advantage of your setup, since large wheels clear the struts easier (because the strut tube angles away from the hub, so the further you are from the hub, the further away the tube is).

Check out this photo from my last track weekend. The front has an excellent contact patch, the rear is rolled over too much (need more rear camber). https://www.motorimages.com/2020-EVE...-BMW/i-QdD9RKB

Wow. Didn't realize my alignments been this far off pace for the car and its current usage. Just did a bit of research over the past day and read basically the same as you suggest here^ in multiple threads/topics/forums. Thank you for that. Good thing I can take care of alignment adjustments myself these days that'll probably be one of the first projects in the new garage. I'll play with caster again too - currently it's set close to stock but I have adjustability at both the camber plate and the control arm bushing.

I am painfully aware of the wheel-to-strut clearance issue I have made worse with the 15" wheels... one of my first thoughts when checking clearance was exactly that... I could fit quite a bit more inboard with a 17" wheel. Oh well.

Nice photos! The car looks very good and really punctuates the alignment tips you shared. Next event I'll try to have someone either watching/recording/photographing so I can check a similar view. So hard to judge these things on my own. Now I am really dying to adjust alignment and get back out there!

[Digitalwave]

No kidding! Thanks for the feedback. I'll try this first.The 2.5* was kinda a carryover from when I was daily driving it. Don't really need to be so conservative now that it gets driven twice a month for pleasure. And rarely on the highway.

Out of curiosity, what overall alignment specs are you running?


Damn I am dying to go to an event asap.

Right now I have

Front:
Max caster (probably around +9*) w/ offset bushings and camber/caster plates maxed out
Max camber (put on a bubble gauge about 3.7*)
0 toe but only because we were lazy, I will be running 1/16" toe out when we align it again

Rear:
2.2* camber (not enough, I am adding more by removing my subframe riser bushings, hoping for closer to 3*)
1/16" toe in (it will end up being about 1/8" toe in when I remove the subframe risers)

Macpherson struts (E30 front) roll over so much under heavy cornering, you really need a ton of camber. It gets even worse when the car is lowered aggressively without roll center correction. It's easy to get in the wrong range of camber sweep/gain, meaning you gain positive camber while cornering, rather than more negative camber.

I think with how much camber I am running now that I will be able to clear my 225/40-17 Hoosier R7's without even rolling my front fenders. 225 Hoosiers have a 246mm section width! I'll be running a 17x8.5" wheel which gives me an advantage of your setup, since large wheels clear the struts easier (because the strut tube angles away from the hub, so the further you are from the hub, the further away the tube is).

Check out this photo from my last track weekend. The front has an excellent contact patch, the rear is rolled over too much (need more rear camber). https://www.motorimages.com/2020-EVE...-BMW/i-QdD9RKB

[Sh3rpak!ng]

The wheels look great on it. I am glad you didn't go with bronze.

Thanks, bronze didn't feel right for these wheels. Plus I'll be keeping the rota grids as my "daily" wheels/tires so I'll keep enough bronze in my life to be happy. Might get them refinished soon too.

[rzerob]

The wheels look great on it. I am glad you didn't go with bronze.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

You should be fine with more camber. All of the track E30's in my area run 3.5-4*. It gives a lot more fender clearance too, obviously.

My car had loads of more grip and perfect contact patch in the corners when I went from ~2.2* to ~3.7* of camber up front recently.

No kidding! Thanks for the feedback. I'll try this first.The 2.5* was kinda a carryover from when I was daily driving it. Don't really need to be so conservative now that it gets driven twice a month for pleasure. And rarely on the highway.

Out of curiosity, what overall alignment specs are you running?


Damn I am dying to go to an event asap.

[Digitalwave]

You should be fine with more camber. All of the track E30's in my area run 3.5-4*. It gives a lot more fender clearance too, obviously.

My car had loads of more grip and perfect contact patch in the corners when I went from ~2.2* to ~3.7* of camber up front recently.

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Alright. Got tires on the wheels and completely remade my splitter.

A few weeks ago I went to a cars and coffee event and pulled into a gas station to fuel up.... badly misjudged a curb that I couldn't see over the hood (very low seat position severely limits close proximity front visibility) and caught a few inches with the passenger side of the splitter.... didn't turn out too well. Besides popping most of the rivets holding everything together, it bent the lower reinforcement bracket, broke a few of the oem IS lip clips, and actually bent the valence and fender since they're all bolted/connected together. I already had a new piece of ABS cut ready to make splitter V2, so this accelerated the plans. V2 features 1/4" ABS which is magnitudes stiffer than the 1/8", a riv-nutted aluminum bracket at the bottom of the valence, and splitter mounted via brackets from the core support + frame rails. I also countersunk the splitter support bolts since they tend to get chewed up right at the leading edge. This version is MUCH stiffer. I also hope that a front impact will not cause damage to the valence now that it's not actually mounted to the valence.





Got tires mounted to the new wheels!! 235/50r15 toyo R888r on the 15x10 jongbloed series 500. I am quite pleased with how they came out. Could've been maybe a touch darker shade of grey, but I like them.






Unfortunately, I needed 22mm of spacer in the front to clear the strut, so they do not fit the current flare/fender combo. I also got unlucky with the position of the locking collars on the coilover being in the exaxt spot of the outmost edge of the rim so I lost like 5mm there too... considering building a new set of spindles just to gain that back. Otherwise I'm open to any ideas out there to gain some more clearance. Camber is currently at 2.4*

The rear fit fine!! Only needed a 5mm spacer to clear the upper spring perch pad which can be ground down with no ill effect and then wouldn't need any spacer at all. Dammit! Really don't want to run such large spacers.









Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Wheels are back from powdercoat. A bit lighter grey than I had in my mind, but I think itll still look great. 235/50r15 toyo r888s deliver today. Might even get them mounted today or tomorrow. Unfortunately I probably wont have time to fit the new wheel/tire combo for a couple of weeks. I am starting a new job and we are moving. Good news is that I'll finally have a 2 car garage and extra storage all to myself. Staying in LA but leaving the valley. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Wheels are at powdercoat now. Maybe done tomorrow. Still need to order tires but progress is slowed due to moving (I'll have a 2 car garage 100% mine in a few weeks) and starting a new job

Don't you have the ultra wide flares already? Are you going to make a custom set?

So no silver?

No, I have the standard flares. And no, didn't like the silver for this car and they were also fairly beat up so they needed a refinish anyway.

[rzerob]

ironically I still probably won't be able to use the current flares, looks like I'll need to go a bit wider, or figure out some other way to gain inner rim

Don't you have the ultra wide flares already? Are you going to make a custom set?

… and in the color I want too :D

So no silver?

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Either you have tiny hands, or those rims are wide as f***. I'm going with tiny hands.

Seriously, these should look badass and put down some serious rubber

one way or another I'm looking forward to finally maxing out the rubber under the car! Decided to do this instead of buying another set of tires for the current wheels... all part of the master plan

lol

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