Got my car corner weighed

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  • JGood
    R3V OG
    • Jan 2004
    • 7959

    #1

    Got my car corner weighed

    87 325is
    No A/C
    No interior, just a dash and race seat
    Sunroof still installed, power windows still in place
    AutoPower 4-point roll bar
    Nothing in the trunk
    No tar anywhere
    Stainless headers, single 2.5" exhaust w/ cat and muffler
    15x7 Kosei K1's with street tires
    3/4 tank of gas
    160lb driver
    spec e30 suspension


    85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
    e30 restoration and V8 swap
    24 Hours of Lemons e30 build
  • blueapplesoda
    E30 Mastermind
    • Dec 2005
    • 1904

    #2
    thats nice and light. maybe try cramming a spring pad to balance out the front end. My Spec miata's initial corner numbers were very similar percentage wise, and when we balanced it out to like 51% 49% and adjusted to correct ride height at all four corners, the handling of the car greatly improved, lap times improved, and the overall feeling of the car was much better.

    if i recall correctly, my e30 had like 200# more than any other corner on the passenger front, w/ a total weight of 2900 with driver + 1/2 tank of fuel, autopower roll bar, full interior, sparco seats, no tar, full a/c, and all the nice turbo bits.

    since then, i have not corner balanced my car, but i purchased a set of longacre scales. Have yet to use them on the e30 though haha.

    All-Red/MHW style Professional Tinted Tail lights
    PnP EMS, fuel injectors, wideband o2 systems

    Comment

    • jlevie
      R3V OG
      • Nov 2006
      • 13530

      #3
      The cross weights are excellent, but the rear is light. That is going to make the car prone to oversteer and reduce the effectiveness of the rear brakes. Adding ballast to the rear (up to 236lb) between the shock towers is going to improve handling and braking.
      The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
      Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

      Comment

      • JGood
        R3V OG
        • Jan 2004
        • 7959

        #4
        Originally posted by jlevie
        The cross weights are excellent, but the rear is light. That is going to make the car prone to oversteer and reduce the effectiveness of the rear brakes. Adding ballast to the rear (up to 236lb) between the shock towers is going to improve handling and braking.

        The car oversteers very bad. I have to drop rear pressures about 6psi lower then front. When I had stock sways, I disconnected the rear. That got the car more neutral. I just installed 22/19 bars, so I'll have to see how it reacts now.

        I'm using HT-10 fronts and HPS rears. The rears lasted probably 20 track days, the fronts only last about 4. So they definitely aren't doing much.

        Would you recommend putting weight into the car to make it more neutral? Would it have enough of an effect to lower lap times, even being heavier?
        85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
        e30 restoration and V8 swap
        24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

        Comment

        • E30Kaiser
          E30 Mastermind
          • Mar 2008
          • 1790

          #5
          I would try and make as much of that weight that is added be parts, such as a wing, strut bar, etc. and then start adding ballast.
          "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time"-Colin McCrae

          Comment

          • straight6pwr
            No R3VLimiter
            • Sep 2004
            • 3450

            #6
            fiberglass hood, delete power steering, etc too lighten the front up a little?

            Comment

            • rThor432
              No R3VLimiter
              • Feb 2007
              • 3907

              #7
              Originally posted by straight6pwr
              fiberglass hood, delete power steering, etc too lighten the front up a little?
              Yeah, I wonder how much more weight can come out of the front, if you want to nit-pick it to get it closer to 50/50. My S52 car was very close to the weight of your car (2,455 without driver and 2,606 with me in the seat) and I managed 54/46 F/R with 1/4 tank of gas. After that I removed more A/C related stuff and insulation that was unneeded. More gas would have helped my case tremendously.

              But then again, your car is pretty well stripped down. Might be time to add ballast, as others have mentioned.

              Great numbers by the way. Gotta love those cross-weights.

              Comment

              • JGood
                R3V OG
                • Jan 2004
                • 7959

                #8
                I'm not looking to spend money on losing weight at this point. Not in the budget. And I don't want to remove P/S. I don't feel I have the control I need on the track without it. I've tried it both ways several times. Especially since I have the e36 rack. There's not too much "extra" stuff under the hood. I took out everything I didn't feel was necessary for a reliable car that gets driven to the track.
                85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                e30 restoration and V8 swap
                24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                Comment

                • Skafrog
                  E30 Mastermind
                  • Oct 2003
                  • 1730

                  #9
                  I'll counter Jim's post.
                  You look at any highly prepared e30 in the country, and they are light as hell in the rear (65/35 distribution, sometimes worse). If your car oversteers, then stiffen the front bar, or disconnect the rear bar. If you aren't playing in a spec class, then get the car as light as possible, and tune the suspension to work around your "terrible" weight distribution. If you don't, you wont be winning much, and that's the hard fact.

                  NASA MidSouth TT Director / GTS2 #018
                  Mods: Coastal PS Fluid, 10w40 Oil
                  Future Mods: Bosch Micro-Edge Wiper Blades, Painter's Tape, Spark Plugs, Freezer for Nutty Buddys, Adam Nitti CD's

                  Comment

                  • JGood
                    R3V OG
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 7959

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Skafrog
                    I'll counter Jim's post.
                    You look at any highly prepared e30 in the country, and they are light as hell in the rear (65/35 distribution, sometimes worse). If your car oversteers, then stiffen the front bar, or disconnect the rear bar. If you aren't playing in a spec class, then get the car as light as possible, and tune the suspension to work around your "terrible" weight distribution. If you don't, you wont be winning much, and that's the hard fact.

                    This was my mindset. I can get the car to grip as-is, and I would think that would be faster then adding 200+ lb to make it neutral. That's a lot of weight...

                    I'm not in a spec class, so I can do whatever. I'm running NASA TT currently.
                    85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                    e30 restoration and V8 swap
                    24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                    Comment

                    • jlevie
                      R3V OG
                      • Nov 2006
                      • 13530

                      #11
                      There are other things you can do to get better weight balance w/o adding ballast. like stiffer front springs relative to the rear and thick spring pads to raise the front. I'd also throw a weighted spare tire (say 50-80lb) in and see what that does. If you can shorten each brake zone by 50' your times will improve. And not oversteering in the corners lets you carry more speed through the corner. When a corner leads onto a long straight that is more important than it might seem. Even .5mph more out of such a corner can yield 5-8mph more at the end of the straight, which in turn can be several tenths in lap time.
                      The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
                      Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

                      Comment

                      • JGood
                        R3V OG
                        • Jan 2004
                        • 7959

                        #12
                        Would raising/stiffening the front really make a difference? I was under the impression that jacking corners doesn't make a huge difference for front-rear static balance. I didn't mess with it at all on the scales as far as adding weight or anything, now I'm starting to wish I would have.
                        85 325e m60b44 6 speed / 89 535i
                        e30 restoration and V8 swap
                        24 Hours of Lemons e30 build

                        Comment

                        • jlevie
                          R3V OG
                          • Nov 2006
                          • 13530

                          #13
                          The amount that you will change front/rear height w/o screwing up other aspects of handling won't make a huge difference, but you can use that to shift weight from the front to back.
                          The car makes it possible, but the driver makes it happen.
                          Jim Levie, Huntsville, AL

                          Comment

                          • 2002maniac
                            R3V Elite
                            • Feb 2005
                            • 4260

                            #14
                            M42 swap

                            Comment

                            • nando
                              Moderator
                              • Nov 2003
                              • 34827

                              #15
                              I really need to do this! but my 6" springs are too long, I'd have to jack with my ride height and I don't want to do that. I should order some 5 or 5.5" springs and get it over with..
                              Build thread

                              Bimmerlabs

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