Current state of affairs

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by PrimeBMW

These are quick change bars. Just slide it out and then slide a new one in. At the moment I have two bars but the goal is to go stiffer and stiffer so that we can run softer and softer spring rates.

where does the balance lie between softer springs and a stiffer swaybar? is it as simple as as soft of springs as you can go with a swaybar to control weight shift? are the dampeners pressurized to support some of the weight of the car?

[PrimeBMW]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

where does the balance lie between softer springs and a stiffer swaybar? is it as simple as as soft of springs as you can go with a swaybar to control weight shift? are the dampeners pressurized to support some of the weight of the car?

That is a good question. We will just have to test and see. The dampers should be able to handle the range.
My race engineer worked on an ex e46 M3 PTG car. It had what I call a "medium" widebody. The front springs were in the 400-475 lbs range and the rear was in the 200-275 range! And a very stiff front sway bar. I can't imagine we will get that soft but you can imagine there is more than one way to go fast. We will try the soft spring rate route.

[PrimeBMW]

She fired up today. Most of the car is being re-wired but we are very close. Next will be the alignment rack, dyno then shake down.

[PrimeBMW]

Last week was a busy one.

The guys had to finish up some wiring. There was a lot of decisions made/locations for various accessories that needed to be moved for greater access. (Originally we were going to have a passenger seat for joy rides).

Alignment rack.

Dyno: The dyno did not go as smoothly or produce the power that i was expecting. Now there may be some adjustments and some ways to free up the drive line but the power out of the box was just okay.

Testing/Shake down: I have a AIM MXG dash with many sensors tied into it. The entire day we were chasing a low fuel pressure warning. Plus the car was hesitating. Just as a precaution we turned up the fuel pressure and it seemed to help lessen the hesitation but as the day went on happened more often and in more places on track. In the end we this it is just the fuel pump as it has been sitting for a year with race gas in it. Fingers crossed that is the simple and easy issue.

New front AP Racing Essex BBK and finding the correct brake bias. I have a tilton pedal box and all that is adjustable. Bias, timing, boosters. The bias is adjustable inside the car. I think we are getting close.

The guys installed the large front sway bar (no rear sway bar) and front springs lower than my street car.

The AR Motorsport guys (John and Martin) were extremely pleased with the progress we made. However on a personal note i was not able to just drive and work on getting used to the car. Plus we were on old Yokohama slicks with an unknown number of heat cycles on them. So it was a bit frustrating that i was not able to put in some quick laps without a warning or hesitation. Given all the issues the car was able to achieve an additional 8-9 mph on the straights.

It is at this time i have to remind myself that the development of this car has just been restarted. So many things are new that it is unrealistic to expect much at this time. In all likelihood it will take the entire season to dial the car and myself into the car.

[PrimeBMW]

Forgeline and AP Racing Essex kit. Some of the best!