My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[mikerunt]

Originally Posted by Gmark958

Maybe it's time for a transmission upgrade?

Drenth…..

[///Mobbin]

This is a fun idea. Didn’t OG Shark try this on one of his cars?

[mikerunt]

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

This is a fun idea. Didn’t OG Shark try this on one of his cars?

I think a few people have been successful at this point. I know AR Motorsports has been successful, Bend Cal worked with OG on his. I went down a deep rabbit hole on this and have all the components needed in terms of quotes.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Motorsport is a journey. Mine had a pause in it. That’s ok. Just another challenge in the journey. I’m just thankful that the car has been working. If there’s any mod projects in the future, it’s probably to add lightness.

yep, currently in a pause myself. hah

i wish i had the time to work on other people's cars... i'd be the american rwb guy. sucking down coors lights and drilling holes in cars.

[okusa]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

yep, currently in a pause myself. hah

i'd be the american rwb guy. sucking down coors lights and drilling holes in cars.

Pretty sure that project will be limited to your own vehicles

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by mikerunt

I think a few people have been successful at this point. I know AR Motorsports has been successful, Bend Cal worked with OG on his. I went down a deep rabbit hole on this and have all the components needed in terms of quotes.

the driftworks guys put a drenth into their S65 E30. obviously super custom all around.

[kolosy]

Hey dogbone what classes does your cage work for? I’m getting my cage designed right now and trying to figure out what I can/can’t do. I see you have it tied in to the a pillars, what about other body points (other than the main 6)?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Hey dogbone what classes does your cage work for? I’m getting my cage designed right now and trying to figure out what I can/can’t do. I see you have it tied in to the a pillars, what about other body points (other than the main 6)?

I can't say specifically what class my cage would work for as I don't race wheel-2-wheel. I only do time attack and HPDE. It was built in 2015 to meet the NASA spec. It's a fairly basic 6-point cage with gussets on the A-pillars. Plinth boxes were used on the main hoop, but not in the footwell area. Probably the most unusual feature of the cage is the NASCAR-style door bars. I wanted bars that flared outwards to the skin of the door, as opposed to the common X-configuration that just goes across the door opening. I rarely see NASCAR door bars on other cars at the track, but I think it was absolutely the way to go. None of the shock towers were tied into the cage. And the cage does not penetrate the firewall.

Global Time Attack, NASA TT, SCCA TT, 7 PCA chapters around the country and all other organizers have been fine with the cage. In fact, no governing/inspection entity ever even made a single comment about it.

What kinds of competition do you plan on doing with your car?

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I can't say specifically what class my cage would work for as I don't race wheel-2-wheel. I only do time attack and HPDE. It was built in 2015 to meet the NASA spec. It's a fairly basic 6-point cage with gussets on the A-pillars. Plinth boxes were used on the main hoop, but not in the footwell area. Probably the most unusual feature of the cage is the NASCAR-style door bars. I wanted bars that flared outwards to the skin of the door, as opposed to the common X-configuration that just goes across the door opening. I rarely see NASCAR door bars on other cars at the track, but I think it was absolutely the way to go. None of the shock towers were tied into the cage. And the cage does not penetrate the firewall.

Global Time Attack, NASA TT, SCCA TT, 7 PCA chapters around the country and all other organizers have been fine with the cage. In fact, no governing/inspection entity ever even made a single comment about it.

What kinds of competition do you plan on doing with your car?

Thanks, that’s helpful. Part of my issue is that I’m doing this build without a specific class in my sights. Realistically I don’t think I’m going after w2w, but rather tt/ ta events. Scca is bigger in the Midwest than nasa, so probably need to focus on those. Good to hear that you’re not having issues there.

When you were building your cage, did the builder have an opinion on the nascar bar s bends being close to the center of the span of the bar? I asked for nascar bars and my guy wants to send them through the b pillar instead of around.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by kolosy

When you were building your cage, did the builder have an opinion on the nascar bar s bends being close to the center of the span of the bar? I asked for nascar bars and my guy wants to send them through the b pillar instead of around.

We never had a conversation about the structural integrity of the NASCAR bar bends. From a conceptual standpoint, part of the NASCAR bar structure's strength comes from the bars being connected by those three vertical pieces. This "webbing" makes the system stronger than just an individual bar. In a more hardcore build, they would have a third horizontal bar placed at the bottom of the door frame and welded to the frame along the bar. Then, you would connect all three with a bunch of vertical pieces. This would make the "web" quite a bit stronger. Something like this:


I'm not a structural engineer, but I don't know if I would want to punch large holes or cutouts in the B-pillar in multiple places for multiple tubes. The pillar just doesn't seem very wide to me to be potentially weakening it like that. But, if somehow that was deemed the best solution, I would very much want the main hoop somehow solidly tied-in to the B-pillar to reinforce it.

And, maybe I don't understand, but wouldn't going through the B-pillar interrupt the door structure and function? I think you may face some challenges with the doors.

If the bar bends are a concern, perhaps one could design a third horizontal bar at the base of the door, weld it to the cage and frame, and then put a bunch of vertical connections amongst all three bars. That would have to be strong as heck. But, I'll say it again----I'm not a structural engineer, so consult an expert.

[dogbone]

Let's file this one under: keep trying......

I went to CA this weekend to test the car with the new stock clutches in it, and unfortunately the transmission was still not working correctly---still slipping, and the DCT overheated after a few hard laps. About the only thing it could be at this point would be a pump buried deep inside the transmission. It's not generating enough pressure. Apparently, the entire transmission would need to be disassembled to get to the pump which is not the direction we're going in now.

A few years ago, I bought another DCT. We tried it at the time, but the clutches in that transmission were slipping too. We're betting that it was the clutches slipping and that the pump is ok, soooooo we're gonna put the SSP clutches in that transmission and see if it works. I would be gobsmacked if the pumps in both transmissions were bad.....that would be crazy.

Anyway, if that doesn't work, then the car will be down for awhile while I try to figure out how to get a working transmission going again.

We'll find out on Buttonwillow's new "The Circuit" track this weekend! Oh yeah and it's two days of Bimmer Challenge this weekend, so---no pressure or anything!.....hahaha

[///Mobbin]

Good thinking on the DCT swap and best of luck this weekend!

I just started tracking a DCT M2 Competition btw, enjoying it.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Let's file this one under: keep trying......

I went to CA this weekend to test the car with the new stock clutches in it, and unfortunately the transmission was still not working correctly---still slipping, and the DCT overheated after a few hard laps. About the only thing it could be at this point would be a pump buried deep inside the transmission. It's not generating enough pressure. Apparently, the entire transmission would need to be disassembled to get to the pump which is not the direction we're going in now.

A few years ago, I bought another DCT. We tried it at the time, but the clutches in that transmission were slipping too. We're betting that it was the clutches slipping and that the pump is ok, soooooo we're gonna put the SSP clutches in that transmission and see if it works. I would be gobsmacked if the pumps in both transmissions were bad.....that would be crazy.

Anyway, if that doesn't work, then the car will be down for awhile while I try to figure out how to get a working transmission going again.

We'll find out on Buttonwillow's new "The Circuit" track this weekend! Oh yeah and it's two days of Bimmer Challenge this weekend, so---no pressure or anything!.....hahaha

Have you considered going to a sequential transmission?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ///Mobbin

Good thinking on the DCT swap and best of luck this weekend!

I just started tracking a DCT M2 Competition btw, enjoying it.

Ah, so do you still have the E92? Or are all your efforts now going into the M2?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by slicer

Have you considered going to a sequential transmission?

No.....the car is old now. I'm just trying to keep her running, which has been no small task..... A big custom fabrication/install project like that is just not on the table. I love the car---I was just admiring its beauty while at the track last weekend! The Interlagos Blue still gleams in the sunshine! But it's on its 3rd motor now. It's on its second round of transmission problems (and most likely will be on its 2nd transmission). It's on its 2nd suspension setup, 2nd aero setup, 2nd brake setup, 2nd round of control arms, 2nd diff, 3rd steering rack.......It's been crashed twice---a mild fender bender on the street in 2014, and into a tire wall at VIR in 2022.

I'm a realist. I'm just trying to enjoy the car for what it is---an aging production sedan that's still capable of producing decent lap times. For almost 10 years, she's been one of the quickest (perhaps the quickest) E9x M3 in the country. Now, some new E9x M3 builds are coming to fruition that will most likely unseat her times. I'm good with that. I applaud anyone who is willing to push the platform to new heights. But it's taken 10 years before people committed enough resources to build an E9x M3 that can best what we put together back in 2015. So, I'm very proud of what this humble build has done over the years. EAS, Racewerkz Engineering, Minicorsa and Honest Assembly Garage have poured their souls into making this car work. Titan-7 and Sparco have been willing to support me and the car. It's really been an amazing experience with this car. And let's not forget about the community of people I've met due to this build thread. Over 800,000 views and 3600+ responses. Amazing.

And I'm still setting new personal bests with it---set 2 new times this winter at WSIR and Chuckwalla. And if the car works, I'll do my best to put down a decent lap at the new Buttonwillow Circuit course. So, hopefully it ain't over yet!

But, I do believe the days of doing major fabrication projects with this particular vehicle are over. Maybe I could do a few things to add more lightness, but that would be about it.

PS. btw, I'm getting old too! hahaha I'll be 55 in less than 2 weeks!

Here was the car and sunset at Buttonwillow this past weekend:

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dogbone

No.....the car is old now. I'm just trying to keep her running, which has been no small task..... A big custom fabrication/install project like that is just not on the table. I love the car---I was just admiring its beauty while at the track last weekend! The Interlagos Blue still gleams in the sunshine! But it's on its 3rd motor now. It's on its second round of transmission problems (and most likely will be on its 2nd transmission). It's on its 2nd suspension setup, 2nd aero setup, 2nd brake setup, 2nd round of control arms, 2nd diff, 3rd steering rack.......It's been crashed twice---a mild fender bender on the street in 2014, and into a tire wall at VIR in 2022.

I'm a realist. I'm just trying to enjoy the car for what it is---an aging production sedan that's still capable of producing decent lap times. For almost 10 years, she's been one of the quickest (perhaps the quickest) E9x M3 in the country. Now, some new E9x M3 builds are coming to fruition that will most likely unseat her times. I'm good with that. I applaud anyone who is willing to push the platform to new heights. But it's taken 10 years before people committed enough resources to build an E9x M3 that can best what we put together back in 2015. So, I'm very proud of what this humble build has done over the years. EAS, Racewerkz Engineering, Minicorsa and Honest Assembly Garage have poured their souls into making this car work. Titan-7 and Sparco have been willing to support me and the car. It's really been an amazing experience with this car. And let's not forget about the community of people I've met due to this build thread. Over 800,000 views and 3600+ responses. Amazing.

And I'm still setting new personal bests with it---set 2 new times this winter at WSIR and Chuckwalla. And if the car works, I'll do my best to put down a decent lap at the new Buttonwillow Circuit course. So, hopefully it ain't over yet!

But, I do believe the days of doing major fabrication projects with this particular vehicle are over. Maybe I could do a few things to add more lightness, but that would be about it.

PS. btw, I'm getting old too! hahaha I'll be 55 in less than 2 weeks!

Here was the car and sunset at Buttonwillow this past weekend:

I hear you on all of the above; especially the age thing. We all have limited time to enjoy this young-man's sport! It's impressive that you have poured so many years and accomplished so much with the e90. Maybe it's time to grab something new?? There are great options out there today. A few years ago I picked up someone else's Fall-Line built E46. It already had an S65 swap with Drenth Sequential trans. It's definitely a lot cheaper to buy one already completed and build off of that. There's also no substitute for a factory built race car. I have had the privilege of driving a 992 cup. Obviously another price point but wow. You can't go wrong as long as you are enjoying the hobby! Have fun and stay safe!

[dogbone]

Let's file this one under: New pavement....yay! Old pavement.......booooooo!

EAS finished up the transmission swap this week, so I was able to participate in Speed Ventures' Bimmer Challenge today. Thanks to Charles at SDC for helping me get on track briefly on Friday to test the transmission. It's accelerating well, but I think the tune on it is too mellow. I'm used to aggressive downshifts and rev matching. We'll have to look into that, but at least the car is drivable.

Based on everything I was seeing regarding the new Circuit track, I was hoping to do a 1:46. But as the day unfolded, I was finding that I might be able to do better than that. Ended up with a 1:45.9 with still more room for improvement. It was good for fastest lap of the day. Just nipped a Corvette by just under a tenth.

I've been asked several times today, "do you like the track?" For my tastes, the track does not invite you to drive at the limit. The area around the track can be very punishing. So, I don't like that about it. But the new pavement is great. The course layout is generally interesting, but again, I'm not encouraged to push in a number of places because I simply don't want to go off.

Got one more day out there tomorrow. Let's see if we can improve a bit in the cool AM.

Anyway, I'm really tired---long day. Perhaps I can write a bit more later. For now, here's the vid:

[jmeenach]

Shiiii that layout looks fun! Can't wait to try out the new circuit at BW.

[dogbone]

Let's file this one under: Alright alright---it's a cool track.

I've had a day at home to digest the Speed Ventures weekend at the new Buttonwillow Circuit track. It was a pretty dynamic weekend. I enjoyed it.

It's funny, the start/finish line grid worker kept coming up to my car while I was in the grid throughout the weekend and kept asking me what I thought of the track. At first, I was a bit noncommittal about it ("It's interesting"). As I mentioned in my last post, I felt the track did not invite experimentation----something that the classic track absolutely does. Most of the classic track is structured in such a way that you can go off track without many problems (if the dirt is dry). The Circuit is clearly more punishing in many places if you go off. So, my mindset about a Buttonwillow track has been one way for a long time. I guess I was resisting accepting the concepts of the new track. But as the weekend wore on, I got more into the flow and the ideas of the new track, and I have to say, by the end I was enjoying it. I just needed to accept the fact that I needed to stay within certain limits, and that going off at this Buttonwillow track is not a great idea. I did go 4 wheels off twice, and 3 wheels off once in the spots where you can do it without much drama (outside of Turns 3, 7 and 8).

The results of the weekend were better than I expected. My 1:45.3 was the fastest lap of the weekend until an AMG GT3 Raw Spec was trailered in around lunchtime on Sunday. He did a 1:42 on restricted 450hp power with a passenger. The owner said the car can do 800hp NA. Sheesh. The thing sounds BEASTLY.

Anyway, I was duking it out with the Corvettes on Saturday. The Corvettes had a Corvette Challenge going on Saturday, so they were going at it pretty hard. Our Bimmer Challenge was setup to include sessions from both Saturday and Sunday in the results. The first 4 sessions from Sat, and the first 3 sessions on Sun counted to the competition. My Saturday time of 1:45.9 was 0.1 sec faster than the fastest Corvette.

A Corvette spun on the front straight in front of me on Sat AM. I captured that dynamic moment on video. The car did not hit the wall, but he was darn close. He said one of his rear wheels dug into the dirt and saved the car from the wall. According to him, it still was a couple thousand bucks in damage. The Corvette had over 1000hp. He said the turbos kicked in too hard too fast with tires not fully warmed up, and around the tail went.

On Friday evening, while putting on my good Pirelli DH tires for Saturday, I discovered something was loose in the front passenger-side wheel assembly. When you grabbed the wheel, there was play and a clunking sound. Initially, I thought it was the hub. I thought, that's fine---I have spare hubs. So, I removed the caliper and rotor, annnnnnd it wasn't the hub. Before removing the rotor and caliper, I had grabbed a couple control arms to see if anything was loose, but nothing felt loose on those first attempts. What I think was going on was that the rotor and caliper were heavy enough to make it impossible to feel the clunk while they were attached. Once they were off, and I realized it wasn't the hub, I started grabbing the control arms again, and one of them was clunking. The bolt on the subframe was not tight. It wasn't loose, but it wasn't tightened to spec. Once I tightened it, the clunk and play were gone. Phew.

This was the scene Friday night. But I'm glad to say that I still made it to dinner with Charles from SDC and a few other guys at the BBQ joint!


The new Circuit track's turns are really exposing a weakness in my car---fuel starvation in certain types of corners. For whatever reason, my car was really having fuel issues with the turns there. In fact, in my last session, I was down to 1/8th tank, which usually is ok, but after Turn 4, the car basically conked out, and I couldn't restart it. I sat on the track until the session was over and had to be towed in. I was worried something was wrong with the car, but I put some gas in it, and it roared to back to life......so annoying. I asked EAS today about possible solutions. Steve mentioned something about a surge tank. I've asked him to look into it for this platform. We'll see.

Notes on turns at the Circuit: I thought I'd talk a bit about the turns on the new track. I know there are starting to be some turn-by-turn YouTube vids, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts. Hopefully someone will find them useful.

Overall note: late panic braking at this track doesn't seem to be the greatest idea. The turns don't seem to reward a car that's in a stitch with the rear end up in the air. Getting the braking done efficiently and having a car in a balanced state seems to be the way to go.

Turn 1 - The turn itself is fairly vanilla. A long flat straight leading into a very predictable braking zone, and a fairly generic right turn with good grip. Nothing about the turn itself is overly challenging. What's challenging about the turn is that there's a wall in front of you in the braking zone without much runoff, so your brakes better be ready to go. And the wall follows you in the turn, so if you lose it mid-turn, the wall is waiting for you with virtually no runoff as the wall ends. And then there is the matter of the track entry lane that is at the exit of the turn. There's a white blend line that you're not supposed to cross. The event organizers are very clear----DO NOT touch the blend line or you will be black flagged---session over. What a weird and terrible design......anyway, you just need to get the braking done efficiently on the straight and sort of coast the turn and make sure the car is collected and gripping before getting back on the gas, and then I was basically driving right to the blend line with the car under full control.

Turn 2 - Important: DO NOT LATE BRAKE Turn 2. This turn comes up on you faster than you think it will. Ask me how I know......my goodness, I almost went off the far side of the turn twice. Yuck. If you get in trouble with braking too late, the uphill aspect of the turn will probably save you from going off the far side, but the lap will be hosed.

Turn 3: I watched a lot of people go out wide left before turning right into this turn. I don't seem to agree with that approach. I went straight at the berm on the right side and then made my way tight around the corner. In my mind, the turn is slow, so I didn't really see the point of making the track any longer just to try to straighten out the exit. When people would do the wider turn in front of me, I would do my tighter approach and be in their bumper by the end of the turn. I'm all ears if someone else has a better approach.

Turn 4: To brake or not to brake---that is the question. I did it both ways.....can't really tell you which was better. I think the quality and condition of your tires affects what you do here. I think if the tires are grippy and good, then no, you don't have to brake it---you just lift. If the tires aren't in prime condition, then I think a light brake dab will help set the nose and give you some turning grip and avoid the understeer which was getting worse for me as the tires were aging. For people who are comfortable left foot braking, this is a good turn for a light dab while keeping the gas going. My left foot is worthless. I tried it once in this turn and had such a laughably bad result I never tried again.....seriously, I have no left foot dexterity. It might as well be a club.....

Turn 5: This is somewhat similar in concept to the Chuckwalla CCW Bowl. It has some bank to it, but not nearly like Chuckwalla. Anyway, watch your entry on this turn. It you come in really aggressive, the tail of the car can get funky and loose. I lost the tail entirely once on entry and had to fully catch the car. Lap over. I don't know why the tail gets funky there, but it does if you're coming in hot and you want to get back to gas quickly. Good weight balance seems to be the ticket on entry here.

Turn 6: Again, do not brake late and go deep into this turn. There's no value. Get the braking done and keep it tight to the inside berm. You have plenty of exit room to work with. Exit grip is great. People were freaking out about the walls on both sides in this turn. They're of no concern. You're going slow, and you have plenty of grip to work with. Just get the braking done and keep the turn tight. And use the whole track including the flat berm (if it's dry) on the far side of the exit.

Turn 7: You run out of exit track REAL quick on this turn. It can catch you by surprise how little exit track you have on this turn. If you come in too hot, the exit is going to be unpleasant.

Turn 8: Very complicated complex. Probably the hardest turn on the track. There's no easy way to describe it, and everyone will do it a bit different. It's a two part turn. The fast line through it seems to be initially turning just a bit to angle the car toward the first part of the turn, then braking sort of lightly and brushing the berm on the right to enter, and then going deep into the turn to the far edge of the track, braking again and then carving back to the tight right to exit. Hard to describe. Easier to see in videos. Actually, in my fast lap, I don't think I really went deep enough to the far side.

Turn 9: Good grip in the braking, and the turn can carry a decent amount of speed. Take your time to keep building speed in this turn which sets you up for the final turn onto the front straight. Some have called it a throw away turn, but I'm not so sure.....it can carry some good speed. Don't just throw it away. Use it to catapult you into T10.

Turn 10: After carrying as much speed as you can muster out of T9, you'll need to get over the right to setup for 10. Most cars will not need to brake for this turn, but you do need to lift momentarily to get around it. The track is really wide on the exit, so you can shoot for the far side and keep building good speed onto the front straight.

I'm not sure when I will return to CA for the next track day. I'd like to do a bit more driving in CA before the temps start to rise and I return the rig to CO.

My fast lap:

[ninekrpm]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Let's file this one under: Alright alright---it's a cool track.

I've had a day at home to digest the Speed Ventures weekend at the new Buttonwillow Circuit track. It was a pretty dynamic weekend. I enjoyed it.

It's funny, the start/finish line grid worker kept coming up to my car while I was in the grid throughout the weekend and kept asking me what I thought of the track. At first, I was a bit noncommittal about it ("It's interesting"). As I mentioned in my last post, I felt the track did not invite experimentation----something that the classic track absolutely does. Most of the classic track is structured in such a way that you can go off track without many problems (if the dirt is dry). The Circuit is clearly more punishing in many places if you go off. So, my mindset about a Buttonwillow track has been one way for a long time. I guess I was resisting accepting the concepts of the new track. But as the weekend wore on, I got more into the flow and the ideas of the new track, and I have to say, by the end I was enjoying it. I just needed to accept the fact that I needed to stay within certain limits, and that going off at this Buttonwillow track is not a great idea. I did go 4 wheels off twice, and 3 wheels off once in the spots where you can do it without much drama (outside of Turns 3, 7 and 8).

The results of the weekend were better than I expected. My 1:45.3 was the fastest lap of the weekend until an AMG GT3 Raw Spec was trailered in around lunchtime on Sunday. He did a 1:42 on restricted 450hp power with a passenger. The owner said the car can do 800hp NA. Sheesh. The thing sounds BEASTLY.

Anyway, I was duking it out with the Corvettes on Saturday. The Corvettes had a Corvette Challenge going on Saturday, so they were going at it pretty hard. Our Bimmer Challenge was setup to include sessions from both Saturday and Sunday in the results. The first 4 sessions from Sat, and the first 3 sessions on Sun counted to the competition. My Saturday time of 1:45.9 was 0.1 sec faster than the fastest Corvette.

A Corvette spun on the front straight in front of me on Sat AM. I captured that dynamic moment on video. The car did not hit the wall, but he was darn close. He said one of his rear wheels dug into the dirt and saved the car from the wall. According to him, it still was a couple thousand bucks in damage. The Corvette had over 1000hp. He said the turbos kicked in too hard too fast with tires not fully warmed up, and around the tail went.

On Friday evening, while putting on my good Pirelli DH tires for Saturday, I discovered something was loose in the front passenger-side wheel assembly. When you grabbed the wheel, there was play and a clunking sound. Initially, I thought it was the hub. I thought, that's fine---I have spare hubs. So, I removed the caliper and rotor, annnnnnd it wasn't the hub. Before removing the rotor and caliper, I had grabbed a couple control arms to see if anything was loose, but nothing felt loose on those first attempts. What I think was going on was that the rotor and caliper were heavy enough to make it impossible to feel the clunk while they were attached. Once they were off, and I realized it wasn't the hub, I started grabbing the control arms again, and one of them was clunking. The bolt on the subframe was not tight. It wasn't loose, but it wasn't tightened to spec. Once I tightened it, the clunk and play were gone. Phew.

This was the scene Friday night. But I'm glad to say that I still made it to dinner with Charles from SDC and a few other guys at the BBQ joint!


The new Circuit track's turns are really exposing a weakness in my car---fuel starvation in certain types of corners. For whatever reason, my car was really having fuel issues with the turns there. In fact, in my last session, I was down to 1/8th tank, which usually is ok, but after Turn 4, the car basically conked out, and I couldn't restart it. I sat on the track until the session was over and had to be towed in. I was worried something was wrong with the car, but I put some gas in it, and it roared to back to life......so annoying. I asked EAS today about possible solutions. Steve mentioned something about a surge tank. I've asked him to look into it for this platform. We'll see.

Notes on turns at the Circuit: I thought I'd talk a bit about the turns on the new track. I know there are starting to be some turn-by-turn YouTube vids, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts. Hopefully someone will find them useful.

Overall note: late panic braking at this track doesn't seem to be the greatest idea. The turns don't seem to reward a car that's in a stitch with the rear end up in the air. Getting the braking done efficiently and having a car in a balanced state seems to be the way to go.

Turn 1 - The turn itself is fairly vanilla. A long flat straight leading into a very predictable braking zone, and a fairly generic right turn with good grip. Nothing about the turn itself is overly challenging. What's challenging about the turn is that there's a wall in front of you in the braking zone without much runoff, so your brakes better be ready to go. And the wall follows you in the turn, so if you lose it mid-turn, the wall is waiting for you with virtually no runoff as the wall ends. And then there is the matter of the track entry lane that is at the exit of the turn. There's a white blend line that you're not supposed to cross. The event organizers are very clear----DO NOT touch the blend line or you will be black flagged---session over. What a weird and terrible design......anyway, you just need to get the braking done efficiently on the straight and sort of coast the turn and make sure the car is collected and gripping before getting back on the gas, and then I was basically driving right to the blend line with the car under full control.

Turn 2 - Important: DO NOT LATE BRAKE Turn 2. This turn comes up on you faster than you think it will. Ask me how I know......my goodness, I almost went off the far side of the turn twice. Yuck. If you get in trouble with braking too late, the uphill aspect of the turn will probably save you from going off the far side, but the lap will be hosed.

Turn 3: I watched a lot of people go out wide left before turning right into this turn. I don't seem to agree with that approach. I went straight at the berm on the right side and then made my way tight around the corner. In my mind, the turn is slow, so I didn't really see the point of making the track any longer just to try to straighten out the exit. When people would do the wider turn in front of me, I would do my tighter approach and be in their bumper by the end of the turn. I'm all ears if someone else has a better approach.

Turn 4: To brake or not to brake---that is the question. I did it both ways.....can't really tell you which was better. I think the quality and condition of your tires affects what you do here. I think if the tires are grippy and good, then no, you don't have to brake it---you just lift. If the tires aren't in prime condition, then I think a light brake dab will help set the nose and give you some turning grip and avoid the understeer which was getting worse for me as the tires were aging. For people who are comfortable left foot braking, this is a good turn for a light dab while keeping the gas going. My left foot is worthless. I tried it once in this turn and had such a laughably bad result I never tried again.....seriously, I have no left foot dexterity. It might as well be a club.....

Turn 5: This is somewhat similar in concept to the Chuckwalla CCW Bowl. It has some bank to it, but not nearly like Chuckwalla. Anyway, watch your entry on this turn. It you come in really aggressive, the tail of the car can get funky and loose. I lost the tail entirely once on entry and had to fully catch the car. Lap over. I don't know why the tail gets funky there, but it does if you're coming in hot and you want to get back to gas quickly. Good weight balance seems to be the ticket on entry here.

Turn 6: Again, do not brake late and go deep into this turn. There's no value. Get the braking done and keep it tight to the inside berm. You have plenty of exit room to work with. Exit grip is great. People were freaking out about the walls on both sides in this turn. They're of no concern. You're going slow, and you have plenty of grip to work with. Just get the braking done and keep the turn tight. And use the whole track including the flat berm (if it's dry) on the far side of the exit.

Turn 7: You run out of exit track REAL quick on this turn. It can catch you by surprise how little exit track you have on this turn. If you come in too hot, the exit is going to be unpleasant.

Turn 8: Very complicated complex. Probably the hardest turn on the track. There's no easy way to describe it, and everyone will do it a bit different. It's a two part turn. The fast line through it seems to be initially turning just a bit to angle the car toward the first part of the turn, then braking sort of lightly and brushing the berm on the right to enter, and then going deep into the turn to the far edge of the track, braking again and then carving back to the tight right to exit. Hard to describe. Easier to see in videos. Actually, in my fast lap, I don't think I really went deep enough to the far side.

Turn 9: Good grip in the braking, and the turn can carry a decent amount of speed. Take your time to keep building speed in this turn which sets you up for the final turn onto the front straight. Some have called it a throw away turn, but I'm not so sure.....it can carry some good speed. Don't just throw it away. Use it to catapult you into T10.

Turn 10: After carrying as much speed as you can muster out of T9, you'll need to get over the right to setup for 10. Most cars will not need to brake for this turn, but you do need to lift momentarily to get around it. The track is really wide on the exit, so you can shoot for the far side and keep building good speed onto the front straight.

I'm not sure when I will return to CA for the next track day. I'd like to do a bit more driving in CA before the temps start to rise and I return the rig to CO.

My fast lap:

wow, great recap and awesome lap times as you settled in...thanks for the commentery and shedding some light on the videos I have watched. Very helpful, planning to be there next weekend...

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by ninekrpm

wow, great recap and awesome lap times as you settled in...thanks for the commentery and shedding some light on the videos I have watched. Very helpful, planning to be there next weekend...

Have fun learning the new track! It's not everyday that we get some new pavement to experience and learn. Ultimately, I really enjoyed learning the new course. And I still have more to learn!

Also, new pavement is SO much easier on tires than old pavement, so you get the benefit of more grip AND longer lasting tires.

I've decided my schedule for the next month:
First, I need to get a GTS tune installed on the transmission because right now it's shifting lazily....gotta crisp that up! Then, I'm going to be at Speed District's Buttonwillow 13CW on the 28th. Gonna take one more crack at 13CW while the weather is still cool. Hopefully, the tires I ordered make it in time. Then, if everything is still working well, mid-March I'll do Chuckwalla CCW with Speed Ventures and Bimmer Challenge. And I think that will wrap up my winter in SoCal.

[dogbone]

Let’s file this one under: sigh—tough day.

Some days, things go your way. Other days, ummm no. Friday at Buttonwillow 13CW fell firmly into the latter category. Let’s dig in.

For many years, I have wondered if Michelin S8M 30/65/18 would fit on my car. I've run 27/65/18, but they're pretty narrow. I finally decided to give them a try because okusa was having success with some Michelin N3 30/65/18 scrubs. Once they were mounted on the rims, they looked only 1-2mm wider than the Pirelli 305. Great. I was hoping they would be super fast. (They are.) Buuut they are quite a bit boxier than DH.

The day started very promising. Weather was gonna be 50°F for the 8AM session. Decided to run the new tires right from the start because the weather was gonna warm up pretty quick.

Went out first session and the tires felt FANTASTIC. FANTASTIC!! First hot lap——finally, I will get that elusive 1:46. And I was on pace to do it——until I caught a blue M2 in the final turn and had to back off. Result: 1:47.5 (impeded). Couldn’t do any better that session. And——the whole time I was hearing quite a bit of rubbing noises. I wear earplugs, but it seemed to come from the rear. I’ve heard plenty of rubbing noises in my time, so I drove through it even though it was fairly distracting. Well……this rubbing was different. Came into the pits and found that on both rear tires, the outer edges were quite destroyed. Argh….brand new tires…. Turns out, on both sides of the car, there’s been a little metal threaded post used to attach the fender that’s been lurking under there. The DH don’t hit them, so I’ve never known they were there, but the boxier Michelins do. Casey from Racewerkz was at the track with his new McLaren Artura. He looked at the tires and said, “My on-the-record advice is, don’t run them anymore. Off-the-record….[redacted off-the-record advice].”

Let’s look at the scorecard after 1 session: PB? Nope, got blocked in the final turn. Tires still good? Nope, trashed.

After staring at the tires for awhile, I decided I would try one more hot lap with the rear tires if I were to grind down those two little posts. Casey lent me a grinder.

Went out 2nd session and heard way less rubbing. But the damaged tires were on my mind and so the lap was garbage. Also, temps were in the mid-60s already. Didn’t even finish the lap. Just came in.

I decided to abandon any hopes of running fast, so I put on some old DH and went back out just to do some driving. New problem: the car was vibrating when I’d turn the steering wheel. Every time the car loaded up a little in any kind of turn, it was vibrating. It got faster as the car got faster, and slower as the car got slower. And I didn’t feel it when going straight….. I thought maybe one of the old DH was going flat or something. Checked the PSIs when I came in and they were fine……hmmmm So I switched to another set of rims/tires. Went back out, and the vibrating was getting worse. So, it wasn’t the tires or rims. What was it? Couldn’t see anything that would cause it. No control arms were loose or anything like that. (We had just done a bolt check before this track day.)

The car was undrivable at this point and it was still early, so I decided to leave the track and take the car to Minicorsa. They put it on the lift…..annnnnnd it’s the rear hubs. The bearings are bad and the wheels wobbling. Argh! I just replaced the rear bearings and hubs last summer! What the heck!

The question is: why do these keep going bad so quickly? I think this might be the 4th set of bearings going on the rear hubs…..the original bearings and hubs lasted 9 years. And they were still fine when we replaced them. It was just done out of caution/maintenance.

For now, I’m just going to replace the bearings and, if needed, the hubs. If they go bad again quickly, I guess I may have to look at replacing the wheel carriers/uprights. Perhaps the hole that the bearing presses into is not perfectly round anymore? I dunno…..this is a weird one.

I checked with Bimmerworld and Turner to see if anyone makes an upgraded bearing for motorsport for the E9x M3 platform. No one knew of any. They do make an upgraded bearing for the F chassis.

Anyway, I walked away on Friday knowing that, even with the deteriorated pavement, I could still do a 1:46. But man, talk about a goal eluding you……it’s been fascinating [yet sad] to see how, for one reason or another, the cards just haven’t lined up. I also figured out why I caught a car on my 1st hot lap. The grid boss was trying to be nice and sent me out a minute or two early. I was the only one in the grid. The problem was that I needed 2 scrub in laps for the new tires, not just one warm up lap. If I just needed one warm up, I would have been fine. Everyone started to trickle out onto the track and then there were people in front of me. So, I've learned a new lesson: in the future, don’t go out a minute early. Just wait for the grid to stack up normally and have everyone start at the same time.

On a positive note, the new remote-flashed transmission tune seemed to work well.

Next up: Speed Ventures’ Bimmer Challenge Chuckwalla CCW March 15-16. I’m looking forward to it. It should be a fun B1 competition. As a primer, a couple weeks ago at Bimmer Challenge WSIR, okusa and FK both set faster times than the time I set a month ago. I know okusa is going, but don’t see FK signed up yet. okusa has spent all winter dialing in his new E90 build. His car seems good-to-go now. FK is on an F-chassis that seems quick.

My tire situation will not be ideal at Chuckwalla. I guess I’ll run the 2 good Michelins on the front, and run my older DH in the rear. I think the DH are still decent enough. Hopefully I can be in the mix at Chuckwalla Bimmer Challenge!

Chuckwalla will wrap up my winter in CA. I may drive my rig home to CO at the end of the weekend.

PS: A note for anyone who runs 100 octane at Buttonwillow: the track keeps running out of 100 octane. They ran out again on Friday. This was the 2nd Speed District event in a row where they ran out of 100 octane pretty early in the day. I guess the 2nd track is placing higher demands on the sole gas station at the track. There’s a Chevron station being built across the street from the track, so I would guess a lot of people will go over there for 91. But 100 seems to be an ongoing issue now. I called the track and asked them what the situation was. They said they’re trying to deal with it, but that VP doesn’t take Buttonwillow too seriously because they’re small. I asked them to communicate better with event organizers. If they’re running low on 100 octane, let the organizers know so that they can communicate the shortage to the drivers before they come to the track. We all spend a lot of time and money to show up at a racetrack. For 13 years, Buttonwillow has ALWAYS had 100 octane available. It’s what we’re used to. But it doesn’t seem guaranteed anymore. So, if you run 100 octane and you’re going to Buttonwillow, I might recommend showing up with some of your own gas as a backup just in case they keep running out.