E92 M3 ZCP in SCCA Solo F Street

[Richbot]

Problem: rad fan kicks on to control coolant temp before oil gets any temperature in it. Solution: Idle with towels covering the lower intake so the fan can’t pull air through the oil cooler. Warms up pretty quick that way, knocked 10 minutes off cold weather post oil change level checks. Bonus points if you’re organized enough to close the hood on a towel covering the kidney grilles. If you forget it’s there your car gets a cool cape to wear on your first run like a real live superhero

Heidy ho!

[Tommysalami]

[Richbot]

Good.

A 2014 Mustang won in Charlotte. There was only one M3 (Mean's). Sky not falling, no need to be douchey

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Good.

A 2014 Mustang won in Charlotte. There was only one M3 (Mean's). Sky not falling, no need to be douchey

M3 wasn't far behind in 2nd...apparently on Rival S 1.5?

[z3papa]

Originally Posted by Tommysalami

Well look at that. My letter is now famous. Good to hear.

[z3papa]

Originally Posted by Mach3M3

Ha. I just aligned my car today:

-1.7 camber, 0 toe front
-2.5 camber, 3/16 total in rear

plan is to start Dinan bar on medium setting.

How badly did i fuck up?

Personally, i would rather have the mid-corner grip than give up corner exit power down confidence.

That's a lot more rear camber than I run. YMMV

[Tommysalami]

You guys think the M3 has a chance for prosolo in S4, against the Focus RS?

[SkysTheLimit]

Originally Posted by Tommysalami

You guys think the M3 has a chance for prosolo in S4, against the Focus RS?

Depends on driver and weather.

We can only do our best :

[z3papa]

Originally Posted by Tommysalami

You guys think the M3 has a chance for prosolo in S4, against the Focus RS?

I agree it will depend on weather and the site in that less grippy site will give the RS a bigger advantage on launch. Once the cars are on course, I think it becomes a crap shoot. The longer the course or more pronounced the first turn is, the less of an impact the start is. I just ran two days with a Nat'l trophy winner (STU) guy in an RS in very cold/partially wet events this weekend with obviously longer courses than a pro. We split the days and were within .4 of each other both days.

[sgreer78]

FS is in S4 now?

[SkysTheLimit]

Originally Posted by sgreer78

FS is in S4 now?

[sgreer78]

Originally Posted by SkysTheLimit

I guess only having 1-2 cars in bump every time warranted that.

[z3papa]

Well I installed the Bilstein B6 EDC rears this past weekend, and have scored a pair of the fronts which are on a back order. The rear OE units were pretty easy to compress. The Bilsteins have much more pressure and ride really nice while retaining the EDC functionality. I am conceding the car will sit just a bit higher all around but am willing to accept this for higher functioning units. I suppose only time will tell.

[PedalFaster]

My first event in my new-to-me DCT ZCP is next weekend, so I have some dumb questions about the ridiculous number of different settings that I'm hoping you can answer for me:

• Should EDC be set to Normal or Sport? I've read that the car has too much compression damping in Sport. Even if Sport is the way to go in the dry, is Normal (or even Comfort) better when it's wet? I'm on the stock shocks.

• Does holding the stability control button down for three seconds until "DSC OFF" shows up turn off all of the nannies (DSC, DTC, etc.)? Are there any additional pedal dances or other tricks required to turn everything off?

• If I'm understanding the manual correctly, M Dynamic Mode (the M button on the steering wheel) raises the stability control's intervention threshold. Since I want to turn all of the nannies off anyway, M Dynamic Mode is irrelevant, right?

• Is the car smart enough to pick the right gears in automatic mode, or should I shift manually? I've got a buddy with a 981 Cayman that always picks the right gear, but it's newer tech than the E92's DCT.

• Does Drivelogic (the 1-6 button immediately behind the shifter) change anything other than shift speed? On most courses, I expect to shift once per run, so I don't really care much about shift speed, especially at local events.

• Does M Engine Dynamics Control (the Power button beside the shifter) change anything other than throttle mapping? I want to be able to modulate the throttle, and hate cars that provide most of the power in the first inch of throttle travel, so I'm thinking I want to leave this in Normal mode, not Sport or Sport Plus. Is this a bad idea?

Is there anything else I should be paying attention to? I feel like I'll need to go through a twenty-point checklist before every run -- I miss the good old days when the only settings were seat fore/aft and seat recline...

Thanks!

[z3papa]

EDC -- I feel Sport is the way to go but could see Normal in wet although I'd still run Sport and just soften/earlier on my inputs.

DSC -- just push the button. I have not found that prolonged hold such as in earlier BMW gens is necessary. No peddle dance or tricks.

M Button -- I program how I want my throttle, EDC and servtronic to the button with the understanding it would still have some DSC active. Once I then push DSC, everything but the DSC is still in place.

DCT settings -- no idea since my car is manual but I will say I instructed a student with DCT and drove his car. It hit 2nd pretty hard at whatever setting he had it set to. Hard enough to unsettle the car on an aggressive 1/2. I'd opt to tone that down some.

Drivelogic -- don't know

M Engine dynamics -- definitely stay away from Sport+. Sport vs. regular is debatable. In low traction (wet, cold or bad surface), I'd opt for regular but have run Sport for so long including the street, my foot is adjusted to it.

[CSBM5]

On my 2011.5, I program the M-button to have DSC set to off. Then when it is touched, DSC immediately switches off in addition to my other desired settings. The M-button has all the options available for each setting, so it only sets MDM mode if it is set to go to that mode for example. 6MT here too so no idea on DCT.

[Rassilon]

I set EDC in sport because it's stiffer and settles faster. I noticed the car is more willing to turn in slaloms compared to normal EDC. For DCT I recommend starting with 3 and dialing it up accordingly as the tires warm up. Cold tire + DCT 7 = instant sideways during up shift. Even in mid summer I rarely set it to 6, because having the rear of the car dancing around after upshift (and most often approaching a turn) is not worth it for the extra ms saved with the faster shift speed.

[Tommysalami]

My 2011.75 doesn't let you program the M button to set DSC off, which is annoying. For you it'll depend on which year you have.

Damping in sport has been fine in the wet for me

Once the DSC off light comes on, all the nannies are off

You don't want to use MDM. It intervenes too much. With DSC off, MDM is irrelevant.

I like shifting manually so far. Can't say I've been motivated to try it in auto, but the rear loses traction real quickly in 1st gear so I'm usually deciding when to up-shift on my own rather than letting the car do it. In general though it seems like the DCT will hold a gear for at least a little bit.

Drivelogic only changes shift speed. I use 5 usually but have dropped it to 3 if the car is getting unsettled while shifting up in a turn. That's actually been a little inconsistent for me so far (only 3 events with this car so far)

Power button is best left in normal, or whatever you're used to on the street, so that you can best modulate the throttle. Kind of like sport button on the e46.

Other thing to know: for launching, if you floor it real quick and hit the kickdown button, it'll rev up then launch. If you don't hit that button then it'll slip the clutches and take off smoothly.

[Tommysalami]

Question for DCT people: does it feel like the car lifts off the gas a little on up-shifts? My understanding when the DCT shifting was described was a smooth transition from one gear to the next, but I still feel a little lurch each time. Still smoother than with a manual, but I can feel it.

[Rassilon]

I think above certain DCT shift speed the car will power shift.

[kyippee]

Confirmed it does lift via data. It's very short but it's there. During WOT through several gears

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by kpewpew

Confirmed it does lift via data. It's very short but it's there. During WOT through several gears

Doesn't it also manage engine torque output during shifts? I seem to recall that's part of the DME programming.