Had a fun weekend out at Bimmer Challenge. Missed the first two rounds, but it was nice to be back with the gang, and really nice not to be back at Buttonwillow.
I didn't do much prep.. I mean, just about none. This was my second day on the 18x11 / 295/30 A052 setup and I have to say, after driving all the way to Chuckwalla, they felt amazing on the much smoother / flowing sweeper track, compared to Buttonwillow. My car setup felt much better, too. Still had some major high-speed understeer, and for some reason, despite zero'ing out the wing a while ago, I never thought to lower it significantly. I probably took 3-4" out of its height, left it around 0*, and in doing so, brought a lot of balance back to the car. Testing at Buttonwillow on my old 275/35 RE71RS setup would have more conclusive findings, but I'm optimistic. Still, I want to design something better for the front, but I'm lazy and don't want to deal with that right now.
Speaking of tires, I'm at a bit of a crossroads. Data says the 295/30 setup is just slower overall compared to the 275/35, as far as Buttonwillow goes for sure. I just run out of gear, and I lose speed the entire run up to Sweeper. So, I either try to run a taller tire, go back down to 275s, or, swap my stock FD back in. Not sure what the move is... Open to opinions.
Anyway -- took home 2nd place in B2, losing out to a properly setup M4 GTS that makes 490whp/500tq, has SPL arms and was running 305f/325r Goodyear 3R's... Yes, it's heavier than mine, but that combo was dominant at Chuckwalla and I couldn't match the pace. I didn't have it easy in the fastest session (session 2), being stuck behind the worst dudes, wasting the prime window of the tires for 4 straight laps, and having sand all over the track at an important corner exit that cost an additional .6-.8 sec. SO, without these things, maybe a 1:53 would have been possible, especially on fresh tires. I need more seat time at Chuck, and I'm committed to running it more often.
Here's an 8 minute video that will make you want to throw your computer out the window. Enjoy.
My buddy Andrew's crazy E46, somewhat twinning.
