My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[kyippee]

dogbone I believe some of the people were here - I had at least 3 of my friends playing in this too

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/655036333

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by kyippee

dogbone I believe some of the people were here - I had at least 3 of my friends playing in this too

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/655036333

Yup. Serhan won both races.

He's been winning races in the Dogbone League too. He's Niacin in the standings. He's got a lot of sim racing experience---been at it for over a decade. And it shows in his consistency. Pretty amazing.

I've been debating what to do once this series is over next week. Initially, I just did this to help pass the time during quarantine. However, after talking to several participants, there is interest in continuing on with a new series. I have some ideas on how I would reshape a future series. Anyway, I'm open to organizing something new. We'll see.

[dogbone]

Let's file this one under: the best laid plans......

Time to update the status of my East Coast plans.

All the events I had originally planned on doing in May at Road Atlanta and VIR were of course cancelled due to coronavirus. Not much surprise there.

The events were rescheduled for July. I was interested in this and looked into the logistics of doing Atlanta and VIR in July and then Watkins Glen in August.

After pursuing many dead-end options of transport (because no one wanted to fly), I finally had a plan in place that allowed me to still be able to attend the events at the East Coast tracks. But.......after much consideration, I decided to cancel the whole thing and just have the rig taken back to CA. I am frustrated and sad in making this decision, but it is the right decision for my health and my family.

When I planned this trip in 2019, it was planned as an arrive-and-drive kind of thing. A transporter, who is also a full mechanic, would bring both my car and my friend's car to each track in his double stacker trailer and have them both mechanically ready to run. I had spent a lot of time on the plan, and it was intended as a once-in-a-lifetime trip across the USA. I was very excited.

If you read this thread, you know that the COTA/SuperLap portion of the trip did happen, and it was an amazing experience. It made me hungry to continue the journey.

Ultimately, here's what I was up against:

-With the original plan, I would be finished with the East Coast by mid-June. With the new plan, GTA was running the time attack at Road Atlanta on July 4th weekend.......My family was involved in a July 4th 40-person camping trip with people in the neighborhood up in the mountains of Colorado. I was really looking forward to that trip and would have to miss the whole thing if I went to Atlanta. My daughter will be a senior in high school this year. She's not going to be living with us much longer. I don't want to miss family experiences like this because I went to a race track.......

-I considered skipping Altanta to go camping and then picking back up with VIR, but then is it really worth it to go through all this effort for two tracks on the East Coast?

-My friend's car, who was on the journey with me, needed to have the engine pulled, but due to coronavirus, it has not been fixed yet. So, my friend could not continue on to the East Coast with me. Honestly, one of the main reasons to do the trip was to hang out with my friend and learn a bunch of new tracks together.

-As I mentioned, the trip was originally planned as arrive-and-drive. This was no longer possible. The new plan was to have someone drive my truck and trailer rig from LA to Houston, and then I would be responsible for the rest of the driving.........that's 5000+ miles of driving. That's a lot of hours and it's a lot of miles on my rig. Ironically, it was looking more expensive to do the driving myself in my rig, than splitting the costs in the double-stacker and having someone else do the driving......not very appealing.

-To get to the East Coast for three events would require me traveling on 6 airplane flights over the next 8 weeks......not to mention all the hotels and restaurants. I was worried about exposure to the virus......this was definitely a problem. I would also have to do 4 Uber/cab trips between VIR and the nearest airport that is 70 miles away. I was not excited about sitting in 4+ hours of Uber during these times.

-Until a few days ago, no one had signed up for Unlimited class in Atlanta. I didn't really want to be the only person in my class. Seems lame. (Now there are two AWD cars signed up in Unlimited.)

-One of the composers I work with in Sweden caught COVID-19. Let me tell you, it is nasty. He's 36 years old. Does not smoke. Has two young children 1 and 3 years old. A month ago, we finished a project together, and a couple weeks later, he tells me he had been very very sick. He suspected it might be Covid, but thought he was recovering. (His fiancée is a nurse dealing with Covid patents. They suspect she brought it home.) A couple days later, he texts me a video of him in the hospital with oxygen tubes up his nose saying he had to be rushed to the hospital because he could not breathe. We video chatted while he was in the hospital. Let me just say that I was afraid for his life for two days. He was f**ked up. After a week in the hospital, he recovered and was released. Man, I do not want that shit.

So, with all these things in my head, I decided to cancel everything. I asked my friend if he would be willing to consider doing the whole trip again next year. He's on board as long as his schedule allows it. So, that's what we're dreaming about now------doing the trip in 2021.

For the rest of 2020, I'm hoping to get my car back into spiffy shape and hit some CA tracks late in the fall or early winter. I hope it's a bit safer to travel by then. It would be fun to attend SuperLap Battle at Buttonwillow and maybe some Bimmer Challenge events.

So, here's to the scientists that are busting their asses to find cures and vaccines! I hope they can come through with something awesome that helps us all get back to living our lives!

Now, I'm busying myself with prepping for the camping trip. We did a test setting up of the tent today and made sure there's enough room for a full-on queen size air mattress!!! It fits!! My 50 year-old back that's been through a lot of hours of physical therapy is done sleeping on a fricking Thermarest.......I want to sleep like a baby on this damn camping trip.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!!

[rTrackM3]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Let's file this one under: the best laid plans......

Time to update the status of my East Coast plans.

All the events I had originally planned on doing in May at Road Atlanta and VIR were of course cancelled due to coronavirus. Not much surprise there.

The events were rescheduled for July. I was interested in this and looked into the logistics of doing Atlanta and VIR in July and then Watkins Glen in August.

After pursuing many dead-end options of transport (because no one wanted to fly), I finally had a plan in place that allowed me to still be able to attend the events at the East Coast tracks. But.......after much consideration, I decided to cancel the whole thing and just have the rig taken back to CA. I am frustrated and sad in making this decision, but it is the right decision for my health and my family.

When I planned this trip in 2019, it was planned as an arrive-and-drive kind of thing. A transporter, who is also a full mechanic, would bring both my car and my friend's car to each track in his double stacker trailer and have them both mechanically ready to run. I had spent a lot of time on the plan, and it was intended as a once-in-a-lifetime trip across the USA. I was very excited.

If you read this thread, you know that the COTA/SuperLap portion of the trip did happen, and it was an amazing experience. It made me hungry to continue the journey.

Ultimately, here's what I was up against:

-With the original plan, I would be finished with the East Coast by mid-June. With the new plan, GTA was running the time attack at Road Atlanta on July 4th weekend.......My family was involved in a July 4th 40-person camping trip with people in the neighborhood up in the mountains of Colorado. I was really looking forward to that trip and would have to miss the whole thing if I went to Atlanta. My daughter will be a senior in high school this year. She's not going to be living with us much longer. I don't want to miss family experiences like this because I went to a race track.......

-I considered skipping Altanta to go camping and then picking back up with VIR, but then is it really worth it to go through all this effort for two tracks on the East Coast?

-My friend's car, who was on the journey with me, needed to have the engine pulled, but due to coronavirus, it has not been fixed yet. So, my friend could not continue on to the East Coast with me. Honestly, one of the main reasons to do the trip was to hang out with my friend and learn a bunch of new tracks together.

-As I mentioned, the trip was originally planned as arrive-and-drive. This was no longer possible. The new plan was to have someone drive my truck and trailer rig from LA to Houston, and then I would be responsible for the rest of the driving.........that's 5000+ miles of driving. That's a lot of hours and it's a lot of miles on my rig. Ironically, it was looking more expensive to do the driving myself in my rig, than splitting the costs in the double-stacker and having someone else do the driving......not very appealing.

-To get to the East Coast for three events would require me traveling on 6 airplane flights over the next 8 weeks......not to mention all the hotels and restaurants. I was worried about exposure to the virus......this was definitely a problem. I would also have to do 4 Uber/cab trips between VIR and the nearest airport that is 70 miles away. I was not excited about sitting in 4+ hours of Uber during these times.

-Until a few days ago, no one had signed up for Unlimited class in Atlanta. I didn't really want to be the only person in my class. Seems lame. (Now there are two AWD cars signed up in Unlimited.)

-One of the composers I work with in Sweden caught COVID-19. Let me tell you, it is nasty. He's 36 years old. Does not smoke. Has two young children 1 and 3 years old. A month ago, we finished a project together, and a couple weeks later, he tells me he had been very very sick. He suspected it might be Covid, but thought he was recovering. (His fiancée is a nurse dealing with Covid patents. They suspect she brought it home.) A couple days later, he texts me a video of him in the hospital with oxygen tubes up his nose saying he had to be rushed to the hospital because he could not breathe. We video chatted while he was in the hospital. Let me just say that I was afraid for his life for two days. He was f**ked up. After a week in the hospital, he recovered and was released. Man, I do not want that shit.

So, with all these things in my head, I decided to cancel everything. I asked my friend if he would be willing to consider doing the whole trip again next year. He's on board as long as his schedule allows it. So, that's what we're dreaming about now------doing the trip in 2021.

For the rest of 2020, I'm hoping to get my car back into spiffy shape and hit some CA tracks late in the fall or early winter. I hope it's a bit safer to travel by then. It would be fun to attend SuperLap Battle at Buttonwillow and maybe some Bimmer Challenge events.

So, here's to the scientists that are busting their asses to find cures and vaccines! I hope they can come through with something awesome that helps us all get back to living our lives!

Now, I'm busying myself with prepping for the camping trip. We did a test setting up of the tent today and made sure there's enough room for a full-on queen size air mattress!!! It fits!! My 50 year-old back that's been through a lot of hours of physical therapy is done sleeping on a fricking Thermarest.......I want to sleep like a baby on this damn camping trip.

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!!

Man, what a crazy world it is right now. A lot of moving parts, but it sounds like the right call to me. Those tracks are not going anywhere. Time will fly by and next season will be here before you know it. I hope you’re friend is okay. That’s is terrible, sorry to hear that. Covid-19 is very real. My wife and I are in healthcare and we see covid patients not infrequently. The hospitals treat it very serious, and I pray society doesn’t continue to get too lax on staying safe. But I know it’s hard not to try and get back to normal.

Enjoy camping in Colorado. Sounds amazing. Also, Happy Father’s Day. Today is my first to celebrate!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by rTrackM3

Man, what a crazy world it is right now. A lot of moving parts, but it sounds like the right call to me. Those tracks are not going anywhere. Time will fly by and next season will be here before you know it. I hope you’re friend is okay. That’s is terrible, sorry to hear that. Covid-19 is very real. My wife and I are in healthcare and we see covid patients not infrequently. The hospitals treat it very serious, and I pray society doesn’t continue to get too lax on staying safe. But I know it’s hard not to try and get back to normal.

Enjoy camping in Colorado. Sounds amazing. Also, Happy Father’s Day. Today is my first to celebrate!

Congrats on your 1st Fathers Day! We had a nice day today. Went hiking up in the mountains and then came back and cooked steak and salmon on the grill.

Yeah, I’m at peace with the decision. Not happy about it, but I feel like it’s the correct course of action. Now I have more time get better at all the tracks in the sims!

[Shmelgy]

Get your ass over here and come to Laguna Seca July 18th with speeddistrict

[kyippee]

dogbone really sorry to hear about your colleague's illness... that's rough

On the bright side, I've recently been to Buttonwillow, Thunderhill 5-mile, and Laguna Seca (today/Sunday) and they all had comprehensive processes for risk control. Laguna Seca took it the most aggressively, and were extremely active in making sure everybody was wearing a mask unless they were actively eating, or not in their car. People were kicked out for disobeying. I felt quite comfortable about risk in that environment.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Shmelgy

Get your ass over here and come to Laguna Seca July 18th with speeddistrict

I would love to, but the car won’t be back in CA until at least August. I also saw an email from Speed Ventures that they picked up a 105db day at Laguna in August. Argh!!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by kyippee

dogbone really sorry to hear about your colleague's illness... that's rough

On the bright side, I've recently been to Buttonwillow, Thunderhill 5-mile, and Laguna Seca (today/Sunday) and they all had comprehensive processes for risk control. Laguna Seca took it the most aggressively, and were extremely active in making sure everybody was wearing a mask unless they were actively eating, or not in their car. People were kicked out for disobeying. I felt quite comfortable about risk in that environment.

I have no concerns about being at a track. It’s all the travel stuff to get there that makes it tough. My M3 here in CO needs some work before it can get on a track. I’m eager to get that done so I can visit High Plains Raceway soon.

[//steve\\]

Who did the tuning for your car?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by //steve\\

Who did the tuning for your car?

Tuning for engine? The engine is supercharged. European Auto Source in Anahem, CA installed the kit. It's a VF kit. The tune is still VF. All internals of the engine are original stock except the rod bearings. Those were replaced once by EAS.

If you mean tuning in some other way like aero or suspension, you'll have to be more specific. No one has holistically tuned the whole car---as in, I turn over a stock car and a few months later a fully built racecar is given to me. Everything was done piece by piece and I dialed the car in slowly over time----learning as I go.

[//steve\\]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Tuning for engine? The engine is supercharged. European Auto Source in Anahem, CA installed the kit. It's a VF kit. The tune is still VF. All internals of the engine are original stock except the rod bearings. Those were replaced once by EAS.

If you mean tuning in some other way like aero or suspension, you'll have to be more specific. No one has holistically tuned the whole car---as in, I turn over a stock car and a few months later a fully built racecar is given to me. Everything was done piece by piece and I dialed the car in slowly over time----learning as I go.

Engine tune is what I meant. Thanks!

[dogbone]

Week 10 of Dogbone Racing League is complete! And with that, the series has come to an end.

First, I want to thank all the guys who drove in the series. I put this on to have fun, and I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone. Chatting on Discord has been a great time. We picked up one more new driver this week. b4hand jumped in. I was able to actually meet b4hand at COTA/SuperLap in Feb. He came out to COTA to check out the SuperLap scene and say hi.

Tonight's race was pretty insane at the start. I can't even remember half the stuff that happened, but it was adventurous. tsk94 had the series fully in hand prior to tonight's race, so there wasn't any tension. In fact, the whole podium was largely locked prior to the race, so the atmosphere was social the whole night----even during the race. Steve Lee and Ti-Jean had a really good battle going late in the race. Always fun to hear that going on over Discord. tsk94 won both qualifying and the race. He has by far been the most consistent driver across all 10 weeks.

Congrats to tsk94 for winning the series!
SYT_Shadow took a solid 2nd. Very nice!
Andrew Lim took 3rd.

Here are the final results:


Looking to the future: As this series was winding down, I started asking everyone if they were done with this, or if they wanted something to keep going. Many participants indicated a desire to keep racing. So, I will organize another series. I've tried to learn from this first series, and I'm going to change things up a bit. The way it seems to be shaping up is:
-the new race series will be a 4 week series. I believe this keeps things fresh.
-we will race only once a week on Wednesdays. I'm trying to avoid other series if possible.
-we will switch up cars. I think the next car will be an E92 M3 race car.

I'm thinking about changing the name to Dogbone Racing Series, so I can call it------DRS.

[CarJunkie]

MASSIVE thanks to the dogbone and driftflo (from another thread) for all of the info, which I am still digesting.

I am looking to replace my diff unit during the next offseason for my 1M track car which sees occasional street and backroad cruising, but never in bad weather. This thread has been a huge help in deciding what direction to go and I will probably go with the OSG with a similar setup to the one described here.

How has it held up over the past 4 years? Any issues at all or change in function?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

MASSIVE thanks to the dogbone and driftflo (from another thread) for all of the info, which I am still digesting.

I am looking to replace my diff unit during the next offseason for my 1M track car which sees occasional street and backroad cruising, but never in bad weather. This thread has been a huge help in deciding what direction to go and I will probably go with the OSG with a similar setup to the one described here.

How has it held up over the past 4 years? Any issues at all or change in function?

Glad you came on to say hi!

The OS Giken diff has had zero issues since Dec 2015. I simply replace the diff fluid with the OS Giken fluid every 18 months or so. Done.

I look at the AIM data periodically to see how the diff is working. All good.

[CarJunkie]

Awesome, thanks.

It seems diffsonline and turner are nearly identical in pricing. Did you opt for either or both of the the bearing polishing services?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

Awesome, thanks.

It seems diffsonline and turner are nearly identical in pricing. Did you opt for either or both of the the bearing polishing services?

I bought the diff unit from Turner. But remember, you want the custom setup, so you don’t want a generic unit shipped to you from Turner. They just send a P.O. to OSG in CA. You go on the the OSG website and fill out their form, and they custom set it up to your car. Cost $150 I believe. TOTALLY worth it.

Dan at diffsonline sold me some bearings.

Didn’t do any polishing. Not sure what that is.

[dogbone]

Hi Everyone.

I have organized Dogbone Racing Series #2! DRS July 2020! The racing is on the PC version of Assetto Corsa.

Anyone is welcome to race with us. The server can hold up to 16 cars. (PM me if you want to join.)

The series will be 4 weeks.

Here's the schedule:

1. COTA - July 8
2. Watkins Glen - July 15
3. Laguna Seca - July 22
4. Spa - July 29

We will race at the same time: 7PM Pacific, 8PM Mountain, 9PM Central, 10PM Eastern.

The points system:

1st - 50pts
2nd - 40pts
3rd - 35pts
4th - 32pts
5th - 30pts
6th - 28pts
7th - 26pts
8th - 24pts
9th - 22pts
10th - 20pts
11th - 10pt
12th - 8pt
13th - 6pt
14th - 4pt
15th - 2pt
16th - 1pt

See ya Wednesday!

[dogbone]

Yikes, I forgot to mention that we will be switching cars for this new series. We will be in the E92 M3 GT2 with Soft compound tires.

People indicated they wanted to try a different car, so we'll give the GT2 a shot. hehe I find it extremely hard to drive. I don't think it has ABS.....But, I'm terrible at driving sims, so don't go by me.

COTA and the M3 GT2 are all setup and ready to go on the server.

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Yikes, I forgot to mention that we will be switching cars for this new series. We will be in the E92 M3 GT2 with Soft compound tires.

People indicated they wanted to try a different car, so we'll give the GT2 a shot. hehe I find it extremely hard to drive. I don't think it has ABS.....But, I'm terrible at driving sims, so don't go by me.

COTA and the M3 GT2 are all setup and ready to go on the server.

Argh I'm going to miss the E92 GT2!!!!!!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by OG Shark

Argh I'm going to miss the E92 GT2!!!!!!

What? Why?

[OG Shark]

Going to be bouncing around your neck of the woods since they are still letting us Texans in for now