Alpina B3 2.7 Track Car

[Jand3rson]

Those videos were great.

God, I love the sound of an M20.

[kamotors]

looks and sounds amazing

[Jand3rson]

I literally jumped back in my chair in shock when I saw the pics of that M20. :shock:

[Andreas]

Here are some more pics, mainly about the exhaust system. I have received lots of compliments at the track regarding the sound ... and location.











The ITBs are only a mock assembley in these pics ... coming soon though.







This is how I had initially planned to route the exhaust.





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And to end off this media update, three more videos - all uploaded in HIGH QUALITY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCdK0ZojT1c (this was my fastest lap on the day, one of the very few no-traffic laps)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJr4qCbS4Ss (this video includes a lot of trackside footage for a different view)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEaulGboWX8 (a video compiled for a fellow track enthusiast with a Fiat Uno Turbo)

[Andreas]

I have been asked via PM for more detailed build threads. The build has been documented on a South African E30 forum. There are two threads. The car was supposed to have debuted with a 3.1 M20 stroker but clearance issues with the Schrick 304deg camshaft and a trackday deadline forced me to put the old 2.7 engine together. As a result, I started a separate thread for the car as a 2.7 engined track toy.

3.1 original thread

http://www.e30clubsa.co.za/forum/index.php?showtopic=1118

2.7 thread that I have recently started updating concurrently with this thread

http://www.e30clubsa.co.za/forum/index.php?showtopic=6577&st=0&start=0

The e30clubsa forum requires you to be a registered member to view threads. Those two threads should answer most questions, if not, feel free to ask.

[craz azn]

Wow, I don't post much, but this was worth to comment! Awesome sounding M20 man! Keep up the good work.

[Andreas]

Here is a video that I compiled of the ZOC Hilldown time trial event held on the 25 Apr 2009. I had brand new front tyres on the car (215/17 versus the previous 225/17) and was a bit unsure about the grip - tyre's releasing agent and all that. I was a few seconds off the winning pace and have small hopes for winning the ZOC 4-stage event in June 09 with this car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhyt4SS4OUU (avail in HQ)

For those brave enough to tackle with MEGAUPLOAD, I have uploaded a very high quality (960x540 pixels, 95 MB) video for you guys to download onto your PC. The site seems to only allow one download at a time ; all South African users seem to have the same IP address as far as MEGAUPLOAD is concerned.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BTQZ485N

Every one of my runs was littered with mistakes but I think even if I put together the best sections of all my 4 runs, I still would not have won the day.

[Andreas]

... But there were a few places where you could have distanced yourself to get a better drive out of the corners and passed them on the the straights.

I tried this next time but it was still not enough, the Golfs / Opels will do anything to prevent a BMW pass - I'll put some videos up soon.

[einstein57]

That yellow rabbit was pretty damned quick. He did a great job fighting through the traffic. But i understand not wanting to be too aggressive with the kind of traffic you had to deal with. Taking the inside line could prove to be disastrous. But there were a few places where you could have distanced yourself to get a better drive out of the corners and passed them on the the straights.

[Ray Smoodiver]

Sweet car mate! Love SA E30's (I've got a 325iS Evo 1 :D )

[gearheadE30]

Good lord there are some scary drivers out there... Sweet car though.

[PaintPro21]

the turn in didn't bug me as much as everyone having poor track out techniques. pinching off exits and the like.

[Andreas]

aa man can't wait to track roebling road in two weeks!!!!!!! this is an awesome vid, you got that braking down so well just barely chipping the tires. great driving. 2:48 got flames from the 5-series ; /

Thanks.

The Alpina B3 now has a boosterless brake setup with a Tilton pedal box that allows me to easily adjust front to rear brake bias. Front : floating 330mm AP Racing disc with 4 pot AP Racing calipers. Rear : E46 M3 disc (328mm) with E46 M3 rear caliper.

[Andreas]

agreed, it was surprisingly quick around a track that you'd think would suit a smaller, more nimble car. Gotta love the flames coming out the 540 tailpipe too. I love the Alpina, it sounds and looks great

The 540i has an adjustable KW suspension and handles exceptionally well. Also uses 265/18 semi slicks and has a custom BBK.

[Andreas]

Agreed

You (if you were driving the e30) should work on taking a little later apex's, you were early pretty much throughout the video.

It's also hard to tell if you are rev matching your downshifts, I don't think you are, you should also try to work on that.

In turn 1 the car prefers approaching the apex sooner ; turning in later you end up on less grippy line plus the tracks drops down (corner is a bit downhill) faster. When I first overtook someone on the start / finish straight and ended up starting the corner from the inside, I was worried but surprisingly, it worked out well.

Turn 2 is tricky and I have battled for exit grip in other cars. The line I took with the Alpina allowed me to accelerate hard from the apex onwards whereas I used to have to wait much longer. Notice how I catch up to the 540i there.

Turn 4 is actually more like two turns together. Initially it is relatively sharp (for the approach speed) and then eases up considerably. I find myself wishing for more power ; once the tight part is over, I could use more power to accelerate through the remainder of the turn. As it is now, I just try to straighten it out as much as possible to avoid scrubbing speed.

I will try turning in later for some sessions next Wednesday and see if I can improve lap times. Thanks for the observation, I hope that I can use it to improve lap times. I am chasing another E30's lap time at that circuit - he (racing driver) does a 1:12.7 and I managed a 1:13.9 on my first outing. He drives the TuneTech car seen on the other video that I posted from Kyalami - see link on page 1 of this thread.

To see the TuneTech car (Winfield livery) in action, check out this video. Carrying a passenger in the E46 M3, drops lap times by 3 seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_qLW8FWoZI