trackable street car?

[CarsSuck]

As a person in a similar position, that of having no on track experience but lots of irresponsible speeding on windy byways and making farmers shit their overalls as i pass their tractor going 90, I would say just stick to basic springs and shock upgrades. I have H&R sports and blisteins and the car is capable of way more speed than I can provide.

[JRKOUPE]

track car......

track car?...........

that means so many things to so many people. 155 has great thoughts.....and alot of tothers that chimed in are right on as well. If you want the ultimate track toy then c/o's are fun, 5 lug. cf etc...........but u dont need them at all!!!!!!!!! Decide what u want and your budget......then go for it...........I run the spec springs set up but w/ konis.......and stock bars....all poly and neg 3 camber up frt.................seats, harnesses, rb.....single xhaust and chip......its a great street legal track toy.............its not very blingy.....but I can hang w/ most. I run w/ scda as well.....

[Dave]

Dont go to the track with 50% brake pads. Some Tech inspectors will fail you.

[rwh11385]

I am really learning about the car (I know the car on the street) and I want to be able to have all the settings I can, to really tweak the car into the car I need/want. I am a total track newb, and I am not afraid to admit it. This group as said (above) is a great group to be involved with. I am happy to get some real good guidance.

How is changing the settings on the car gonna help you learn how to drive it. Most people just make the settings and leave them anyway. I never changed the height on my old C/O's after the first month. If you need to change the balance of your car with conventional springs, there is swaybar tuning for that!

Worry more about things that will help you continue to track and have a good time, not things that you think will improve your time or make it more fun. Sure, a turbo you may think will make drifting or tracking way more fun, but if an old rotten heater hose blows your day will be over either way. Replace the old worn pieces and do amazing maintenaince and all of your time allowed will be on track instead of repairing your car in the pits/lot, even if you have uber trick parts on it.

Forget 5-lug, huge wheels with expensive tires and expensive to replace, or carbon fiber anything. CF will just put the spotlight on you and show you have spent more on fuh raze items than driving experience and skill.

Focus on tires (autocross-street ones) and brakes, and repeat - preventative repairs.

You'll look like a real asshole if you have a CF hood and bling wheels and keep spinning out, but will have a royal smile on your face if you car is up to hours of track abuse and you learn a lot while having fun even if the car is almost stock.

Your call on suspension. You could even buy Konis and H&R Race's, then swap the Race's for GC's if you want to go that route, or buy B-Sports if SpecE30 racing calls you. The market is pretty damn liquid it seems.




But please, make sure your car isn't going to break down. And your tires aren't dead by the end of your sessions or brakes gone. They absolutely ruin your day and is even worse if you spent $ on modding and now can't do anything. You paid for the auto-x, drift, or track event, you might as well get the full value!

[Charlie]

Nope - streetable track car for me.

I am doing the following:

GC Coil over kit with the camber adjusters.
Koni Adjustable shocks.
Front and rear strut braces (not sure what brand yet)
tree house racing cab's.
new control arms and tie rods because - well I need them anyway.
eibach front and rear anti roll bars.

Good start. The GC kit can be perfectly streetable depending on what rates you go with. If you're tuning this more for a "track" setup rather than a rollerskate autox package, you probably won't kill yourself on the street. Is this a "driven on the street sometimes" or an actual DD car? If it's DD usage, the standard Bilstein Sport/H&R sport combo is still nice. I ran it for years, never bottomed out, never killed the oil pan, and never had to cringe over potholes. It still performed nice on track with sanely sized tires. Running 225+ width would have probably showed more weaknesses with the setup, but it did fine for HPDE usage.

M3 (e30) front stut housings and all the fixings.
Rear M3 e30 trailing arms.
M3 CSL wheels.
CF hood - not sure what kind.

You're starting to get into serious money here, and I'm not quite sure what your goal is. Are you actually going to competitively drive this car? If so, going 5 lug parts and such is going to bump you out of a lot of classes, or run you way up in pts. This is definetly counterproductive with a stock motored e30. The CF hood looks cool, but isn't cheap and really doesn't knock off a ton of weight. It's pretty much a "bling" mod and not really gonna do you much on regular track days.

Roll Bar - not sure what kind.
Massive Brakes.
Exhaust not sure why kind...

Again, what are the real goals here? Roll bar on a mostly street driven car gives me second thoughts. Not saying don't do it, but you have turned your car into a 2800 lb miata with a roof at this point. Massive brakes are silly on a stock motored e30, not to mention expensive. What tracks are you looking to run at? Save for the Glen, there's not much in the NE that's really braking-intensive.

-Charlie

I am a total track newb, and I am not afraid to admit it.

You don't need to build that ballsy of a car, you will have a hell of a time setting it up with all that adjustabilty. Build a spece30 car, then when you get tired you can sell it. you will have a hell of a good time. Build a car for a class, don't build a car for a class that doesn't exist, or you will get stuck with insane cars and get whipped.

[jlevie]

I am really learning about the car (I know the car on the street) and I want to be able to have all the settings I can, to really tweak the car into the car I need/want. I am a total track newb, and I am not afraid to admit it.

I second 155///MPH's suggestion. Especially if you don't have a significant amount of seat time already. Set the car up with a Spec E30 suspension and use the money you saved for more DE's. Until your skills are pretty well honed you'll simply confuse yourself (and your instructor) with an adjustable suspension.

Another advantage of a Spec E30 configuration is that there's a good chance of having an instructor at a DE that has experience in a Spec E30. That means that as soon as he/she gets in the car they know exactly what the car is capable of and how to get the most out of the car. That's a greater advantage than you might appreciate right now, but it will help a lot in developing your skills.

[JDMpower]

I have some local guys that play at http://www.scda1.com/ and I am planning on joining.

I am really learning about the car (I know the car on the street) and I want to be able to have all the settings I can, to really tweak the car into the car I need/want. I am a total track newb, and I am not afraid to admit it. This group as said (above) is a great group to be involved with. I am happy to get some real good guidance.

[speedblind]

Rear camber/toe adjustment. If you're building SE30, you're stuck with bushings. If you're building a track car, the IE kit seems to be the favorite. Do this when you replace the subframe bushings or you'll end up having to pull the subframe all over again.

[JDMpower]

Again, why are you replacing the entire rear trailing arm? They are identicle.

I might be able to get some cheap - and I do not have a press. ;)

[Dave]

You'd think. . . but we ended up on track with GTS, American Iron, and CMC!

There were 90 cars in our race.

JP

SO I guess it was staggered start? I saw someone's video from the rainy day and I only saw little boxes . . .

[e30sd]

might be easier than changing bearings/pulling flanges.

[155///MPH]

Enough to have your own race group it looked like . . .

You'd think. . . but we ended up on track with GTS, American Iron, and CMC!

There were 90 cars in our race.

JP

[Van Westervelt]

Again, why are you replacing the entire rear trailing arm? They are identicle.

[155///MPH]

I had coil-overs on my M3 and the E30. Once I set it, I never touched it again.

As far as the "stance" is concerned, we are talking about two different worlds of cars. Mine is a race car, I didn't build it for looks.

I was suggesting the spec suspension simply because SE30 is growing substantially. If you were to sell your car down the road, it would be VERY easy to sell it as a candidate car with the spec suspension on it. If you are just starting out on track, you'll be slow with whatever you get. There is no "wrong" choice here, both are good options. However, having had both on my track car, I'd go with the SE30 suspension.