First track event with e30 = success! pics and vid inside

[etxxz]

interesting i was wondering about this last week while at thunderhill.
know to the soft setting, car auto extends. Knob to the stiff setting, the car will squat and stay down, lift very slowly by spring force. I can't imagine that being good. Knob half way i'll get a halfsie of the stiff and return. works well.. but i'm looking to get coilovers.. real ones.

[Wh33lhop]

I think you should start with a GC-Lock before you go crazy with that other stuff. Also, switch to sports seats if you don't already have them (Levent from Guten Parts + Service can hook you up). With sports seats and a CG-Lock, you'll be fine.

I tried one of these out briefly in my friend's 318is, it was a good idea but I've been able to replicate its effects just by moving my seat back an inch or two, pulling the seatbelt as taut as I can and locking it with a quick jerk, then moving the seat forward again. As an added bonus, that method also keeps your torso planted.

interesting i was wondering about this last week while at thunderhill.
know to the soft setting, car auto extends. Knob to the stiff setting, the car will squat and stay down, lift very slowly by spring force. I can't imagine that being good. Knob half way i'll get a halfsie of the stiff and return. works well.. but i'm looking to get coilovers.. real ones.

Unfortunately Konis tend not to be linear in their adjustability. Most of their functional range of adjustment is in the final full turn from full firm.

[Fusion]

I do that belt trick on track days also and it's awesome. Except I click, pull tight, jerk lock, bend forward to hold it and move the seat one click forward so I'm closer to the wheel (in comparison to daily driving). Its a little uncomfortable at first but soon you get to know the benefits.

[etxxz]

Unfortunately Konis tend not to be linear in their adjustability. Most of their functional range of adjustment is in the final full turn from full firm.

but there is a notable difference nonetheless.. and its the only way i can get them to extend. I'm thinking the shocks are bad. At full stiff, If i jump on the back bumper, the car will squat, and remain there, raise very very slowly. You don't want this at the track oh no sir!

[hpde30]

Thanks everyone for all the input and advice.:D

That list of known weak spots is great. I thought I had a real issue on my hands with the fuel smell, but turns out it was just a sender gasket on the top of the tank. I wound up replacing all the rubber lines around the fuel filter "just in case" cause when it comes to fuel you don't wanna mess around. I also thought I broke my rear swaybar mount, but somehow the end of the bar popped out of the endlink and was just hanging there. that might be why the car was understeering so badly. :)

My next event is this weekend (October 8-9) with Del-Val PCA and we're running the Thunderbolt course @ NJMP... should be interesting. Another instructor buddy of mine will have his E36 M3 there (bone stock sans Z1's & carbotech xp-10s) and I'm curious to see how close i'll be able to hang with him. Its a 2.2 mile track with about 13 turns. I know I can't do anything about the straight parts but I'm hoping I can atleast keep him in my sights thru the twisties. I'll be sure to report back with pics and vids.

[Emre]

If you were running NJMP-Lightning, I'd say you had a good chance. A well-balanced momentum car like the E30 is perfectly suited to that circuit.

But NJMP-Thunderbolt is quite different in character. It's a track that really rewards raw horsepower and grip, especially if they delete the chicane (which I'm sure the PCA guys will do).

Still, it should be fun.

[hpde30]

I'll be at lightning with BMWCCA Oct 17-17th too :D

I think my buddy is like a high :38 at TB without the chicane. Spec e30's are a tad slower than that and I'm a FAR stretch from a spec e30 cars abilities so I'm just hoping to keep him in my sights and not get lapped. I'm not above spinning him out or intentionally blocking him from getting around me though, rubbin IS racing as they say, lol.

[hpde30]

Post NJMP - Thunderbolt update:

Car ran well. I was able to expose a weakness in my current setup and I'm sure it won't surprise many of you... I NEED CAMBER. lol. The car is chewing up the outside edge of my tires because there is such little camber up front and POSITIVE camber in the rear. I also have a HUGE amount of body roll. I saw a video of my car from behind and it looks like I'm about to roll the thing on its roof, lol.

I also need a new fuel tank for sure. I thought just the fuel lines were suspect, so I replaced them, but once I started pulling some G's the fuel started to leak from the top of the tank. I'm going to order a new tank this month and start hunting for a spec e30 suspension, swaybars and some camber plates. If anyone has a lead on a nicely priced setup LMK please.

Other than those two things everything was awesome. I ran 10 sessions in total and was able to talk to a few other E30 people at the track to pick their brains. I was running harrys lap timer on day two and by the end of the day I was turning consistant low 1:47's. Slow I know, but for comparison there were a few spec e30 cars running in the 1:40 range, so I have some catching up to do. I'm sure once I get the suspension sorted out and maybe go with the Spec e30 tires instead of these street tires I'll shorten the gap some.

[kts]

Sounds like a very productive weekend.

And nice laptimes you were running. I couple of seconds is definitely due to the streets tires vs the RA-1s that the Spec E30 guys use, or at least it should be something like that. It would be interesting to see what they would run in your car/on your tires.

I know on the autox courses around my area the R comp guys are usually 1-2 seconds faster then the street tire folks and that's on 50-60 second courses. (All of this is still pretty apples and oranges though since it's hard to compare an autox course to a track but there are definitely some seconds lost with the tires.)

As for the Spec E30 suspension stuff Turner had a kit with it that seemed to be a bit cheaper than buying it all separately.

[E-Thirty]

Post NJMP - Thunderbolt update:

Car ran well. I was able to expose a weakness in my current setup and I'm sure it won't surprise many of you... I NEED CAMBER. lol. The car is chewing up the outside edge of my tires because there is such little camber up front and POSITIVE camber in the rear. I also have a HUGE amount of body roll. I saw a video of my car from behind and it looks like I'm about to roll the thing on its roof, lol.

I also need a new fuel tank for sure. I thought just the fuel lines were suspect, so I replaced them, but once I started pulling some G's the fuel started to leak from the top of the tank. I'm going to order a new tank this month and start hunting for a spec e30 suspension, swaybars and some camber plates. If anyone has a lead on a nicely priced setup LMK please.

Other than those two things everything was awesome. I ran 10 sessions in total and was able to talk to a few other E30 people at the track to pick their brains. I was running harrys lap timer on day two and by the end of the day I was turning consistant low 1:47's. Slow I know, but for comparison there were a few spec e30 cars running in the 1:40 range, so I have some catching up to do. I'm sure once I get the suspension sorted out and maybe go with the Spec e30 tires instead of these street tires I'll shorten the gap some.

I envy your track time. How full was the tank? If it was anything below half and you're on some sticky tires, you might be dealing with fuel starvation due to the lack of proper pickup. You'll have to get creative on how to solve that issue, but there are people on here with that kind of experience. I know there was a thread on it, if you try searching, as I'm too lazy.

[Don Stevens]

hpde30,

Glad to here it went well. E30s are remarkbale cars.

Being seven seconds of the mark of SpecE30 guys on stock suspension, stock seat, and street tires sounds darn good. I have a SpecE30 car, I was always one of the fastest guys in the DE setting (I have been active for 25 years), and I am often several seconds off the fast SE30 guys. Particularly at a track I have not been to before. The fast SE30guys are really good.

You'll be able to pick up 4-5 seconds with equipment but those last few seconds, especially the last few tenths, will be really hard to get to. Keep at it and be patient.

Don

[hpde30]

Sounds like a very productive weekend.

And nice laptimes you were running. I couple of seconds is definitely due to the streets tires vs the RA-1s that the Spec E30 guys use, or at least it should be something like that. It would be interesting to see what they would run in your car/on your tires.

I know on the autox courses around my area the R comp guys are usually 1-2 seconds faster then the street tire folks and that's on 50-60 second courses. (All of this is still pretty apples and oranges though since it's hard to compare an autox course to a track but there are definitely some seconds lost with the tires.)

As for the Spec E30 suspension stuff Turner had a kit with it that seemed to be a bit cheaper than buying it all separately.

I should have offered one of the spec e30 guys a seat. I agree it would have been interested to get their input/feedback and see how they do compared to me.

I took a look on turners site and see the spec e30 setup for around $800.xx. Does anyone have it cheaper than that?

I envy your track time. How full was the tank? If it was anything below half and you're on some sticky tires, you might be dealing with fuel starvation due to the lack of proper pickup. You'll have to get creative on how to solve that issue, but there are people on here with that kind of experience. I know there was a thread on it, if you try searching, as I'm too lazy.

re-read the post, dude. I'm not on sticky tires, I'm on street tires. I don't have fuel starvation issues, I have a fuel leak somewhere around the tank. I think you just looked at the pictures and skimmed the thread. ;)

hpde30,

Glad to here it went well. E30s are remarkbale cars.

Being seven seconds of the mark of SpecE30 guys on stock suspension, stock seat, and street tires sounds darn good. I have a SpecE30 car, I was always one of the fastest guys in the DE setting (I have been active for 25 years), and I am often several seconds off the fast SE30 guys. Particularly at a track I have not been to before. The fast SE30guys are really good.

You'll be able to pick up 4-5 seconds with equipment but those last few seconds, especially the last few tenths, will be really hard to get to. Keep at it and be patient.

Don

Thanks for the props Don. I don't like to bench race but I am curious to see how I compare to the field once I have a proper setup. The car is done as far as track time goes for this year until I fix the fuel leak and address a couple other small issues. I'm probably going to pull the trigger on a spec suspension setup too. My 'justification' is that I'm chewing up the outside tires and more camber will SAVE me money since the tires will last longer... yeah, that makes perfect sense. :nice:

[Don Stevens]

The camber kit is not too expensive.

Go to spece30.com to read about fuel starvation issues. Lots of guys have had, and cured, that problem. The advice they can provide should save you a lot of time.

Contact DriveGear (Philly area and spece30 racers/suppliers) for service. They are very good guys.

Don

[E-Thirty]

Haha, didn't even skim the thread, I just barely read the last post... Bored and working a late night shift makes one act silly. :p

[kts]

I took a look on turners site and see the spec e30 setup for around $800.xx. Does anyone have it cheaper than that?

The kit I was thinking of is this one which is about $1350 - http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-41...nsion-kit.aspx

Has pretty much everything you need. Just add camber plates and various bushings and you'll be set.