This Tuesday a friend of mine asked me if we were interested in bringing Green Hell to the famous Autobahn Country Club for a private test day, I found I was unable to say no. The chance to shake down the car for the first time since it was supercharged in a private, closed environment was just too tempting to resist!
Many questions were going through my head as we got in the car to drive to Autobahn Country Club- how difficult will it be to put down the 600 some horsepower provided by the ESS Supercharger kit? Will the car stay cool with the newfound power? Even without these questions, the alignment was still brand new, the Hawk DTC-60 pads housed in Brembo’s GT kit completely untested in a track environment, and we knew that much of the car’s behavior would be completely different.
Arriving at Autobahn, we soon realized we were in for much more than we anticipated. The paddock was full of absolutely fearesome cars like Ryan Gates’ Nitto Tire and AMS sponsored Evo X, the Cobb Tuning R35 GTR, and many other creations from top name tuners across the US. Luckily, Friday was still considered a “members only” day, and we were one of only about 5 cars actually running on the track.
As we began to put the M3 through it’s paces on Autobah’s south course, we immediately developed an immense confidence in the ability of the hardware at our disposal. The limit of the M3 was so staggeringly high. The engine, even with the ESS Supercharger kit installed never wavered in it’s ability to stay cool, lap after lap after lap. 20 minute sessions were flying by with literally no increase in coolant temperature or loss of braking power. Even the NT05 tires felt absolutely fantastic throughout the day, as they fought the car’s 600 horsepower for control.
The car felt so fantastic on Friday that even though we had only intended to have a relaxing Friday afternoon track session at Autobahn, it was absolutely clear that with a car that worked this well, the Redline Time Attack event simply could not be missed! At about 6pm, we called back to the shop, ordered some fresh engine oil and brake fluid, and got ready to spend a couple of hours prepping the car. Thanks to our friend Greg at GT Motoring, we were even able to make the car look the part by adding some vinyl to represent the car’s sponsors!
Passing tech at the event was an exercise in creativity- the car’s undertray was 1” too low for Street class, and because we had signed up so late on Saturday morning, raising the car was not an option as we could not realign the car, and removing the undertray was also impossible, as that would seriously hinder the car’s cooling ability. We chose to place the car into the only class that would take it- the Drift class! This class has the same rules as the Street class, except there is no height requirement. We were finally on our way.
In all, the Time Attack weekend was a great time. Autobahn was a truly beautiful facility as always, the car ran flawlessly, and we spent quality time at the track with many of our close friends. The car also clocked a great time- a second off from the other car in Drift class- another supercharged M3!
Thanks to the staff at Autobahn, Brembo, ESS Tuning, KW, Sparco, Challenge and Eisenmann for all of their help in making this car an absolute blast to drive at the track!