[jid2]

So here's the summary of where the car is now.

Suspension
MCS 2WR dampers, rear non-coilover
600 lb front (6" x 2.25" with helper)
900 lb rear springs (8" x 60mm no helper)
Ground Control race camber plates and articulating rear perches
Power flex race top mount for rear shock
Bimmerworld adjustable front swaybar links, set short
Hotchkins swaybars front and rear
Bimmerworld solid rear subframe mounts
SPL rear toe arms, with eccentric lockout

Brakes
Bimmerworld stainless lines
Motul RBF600 Fluid
PF Z54 big brakes in the front, PF012 pads for track, and PF street pads for daily driving
Ferodo DS2500 rear
No ducting or anything at this point


Wheels and Tires
Apex ARC 8 18x10 +25
Removed TPMS sensors and coded them out
Pirelli 265 65 18 DH slicks
Macht Schnell extended wheel studs
10mm spacers front and rear

Engine and drivetrain
BE Rod bearings and ARP bolts
New OEM motor mounts
CSF radiator
Refreshed OEM cooling parts
Rogue underdrive pulley
AFE Intake
Bimmerworld power steering reservoir
Alex Alpine stage 1 tune
Euro MDM
GTS DCT tune
Completely stock exhaust

Exterior
Ebay GT4 splitter
APR GT250 wing 61"
Ebay side skirts
Raceseng Towhook

Interior
Bimmerworld billet pedals
Scroth Quickfit Pro harnesses

I've been driving the car to work pretty much everyday (when I wasn't working on it) for the past eight months. Through the process a few parts have come and gone from the car. Because I'm sitting in stop and go traffic for about 3 hours and 90 miles a day I need the thing to be pretty civil, while still being fun to drive at the track. As I mentioned earlier, the BW motor mounts really killed the refinement of the car. When I went back to OEM mounts the difference was shocking. Really happy I went back to OEM. I've also tried some exhaust that didn't work out. I had the Bimmerworld race exhaust, just the axle back section on the car for a month or so. It was just way to loud in the 1500-2000 RPM range. It was deafening in those zones, although it was nearly silent at freeway speed. So I went back to stock for now.

The suspension has been great. As others have said the MCS suspension is pretty civil. The combination of race camber plates and the solid rear sub frame bushings do transmit some clicks and pops every now and then, but it's tolerable. The 600/900 spring rate isn't bad at all, especially given how heavy the car is. I drive to work with the compression settings at 1, or dialed all the way down and it feels pretty similar to stock ZCP setup.

The combo of the PF street pads and DS2500 rear is great for daily duty, no noise and seems like better than stock dust.

Generally speaking I think the decision to not strip things down like the trunk, and putting solid bushings everywhere has maintained a comfortable street setup.

So let's talk about track stuff now!

Here's the starting setup:
Front swaybar 2nd from softest setting
Rear swaybar full soft
175 psi canister pressure
Front shocks: 7 comp, 7 rebound
Rear Shocks: 6 comp, 7 rebound
Front Alignment: -3.2 camber, caster whatever, .10" toe out total
Rear Alignment: -2.0 camber, zero toe
Ride Height measured from lower lip of ARC 8 wheels to fender lip. Front: 23" Rear: 22.25"
Tire pressure: 35-36 psi hot.

I haven't done a track day in 6 years - had a third kid, sold my EVO and then I got really into CNC machining. So I had some serious driving rust to shake off along with figuring out the car. I've now done two track days with the car, and am really happy with how it turned out. With my mediocre driving the setup has been pretty perfect at this point. The car is extremely neutral, well balanced and pretty dang easy to drive.

Here are some thoughts on things.

The suspension is on the softer side of "performance", there is still some body roll and weight transfer - but it works. It provides really good traction over bumpy surfaces, sucks up curbs and doesn't destroy your kidneys. Looking forward to moving into making some tuning adjustments.

Brakes are working well, no overheating, steady pedal. I don't think our local tracks are super hard on brakes though. The initial bite on the PF012 pads isn't the strongest ever, but this car is heavy and these are endurance pads. There is good modulation with them as well, overall torque is not the absolute best but again these are endurance pads.

This is my first time on take off Pirelli DH slicks. I've run the old Continental slicks before and they were amazing. My first session out on the DH's the car had a massive vibration coming from the right side of the car. I went two laps and came in worried there might be a loose wheel or something. Checked everything and all was tight. I was thinking it was the random rubber on the tires and the fact they hadn't been really up to temperature in a long time. Next session the vibration was even worse - but I decided to put in a few laps and see if things got better. Eventually things did get better and the major vibration went away - but things never got smooth. These tires really pickup rubber. The grip was great but they always felt a bit rough. Maybe I'm running them with too much pressure? I was between 35-36 psi hot. The car wasn't skating around, and with some of the roughness I though I shouldn't lower the pressure. But I've seen some run these more around 30 psi hot?

I've got the rear wing trimmed to a pretty flat setting, and the high speed balance feels about right. Based on my last car I know that a 5" splitter can be balanced out with pretty shallow angle of attack from a large wing. So that is working good for now and I'll start tweaking at some point.

Oil temperature seems to sit at the hash mark above 210 while on track, is that what everyone else sees? Shifting was good at this point. The car isn't stupid fast under throttle - which was something I wanted after coming from my EVO which ripped your faces off and sent you into corners a full gear higher and faster than most people knew what to do with.

I drove with MDM on, I figured with so much "new" it was a good place to start. It was getting pretty involved in a few corners at each track. I plan on switching it off here at some point soon and learning the car without it.

Overall - really stoked. Car is good on the commute and a blast to throw around the track. I'll post some other stuff on whats next down below.