My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by admranger

This is the hot setup for removing broken fasteners:

Mac Tools left handed drill bits and extracting set

I got my set off eBay and it cuts through studs like a hot knife through butter.

Wow-----that looks serious! I'm so annoyed, I'm tempted to hit the buy button! haha!

Right now, I believe the solution is to go to 14mm. Plans are already underway. Gonna go the Rogue Engineering route.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Wow-----that looks serious! I'm so annoyed, I'm tempted to hit the buy button! haha!

Right now, I believe the solution is to go to 14mm. Plans are already underway. Gonna go the Rogue Engineering route.

I was lucky when I broke a stud at Willow Springs (wife was torquing wheels and said "this one feels funny"). By a stroke of luck, the guy next to me had that exact kit in his trailer. Took 5 minutes to change the stud out. Didn't even need the extractor as the LH drill bit unscrewed the stud when the drill bit broke through the back of the stud.

Bought the kit on eBay when I got home from the track.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by admranger

Nice lap and you likely have a 1:50 in you and the car, no problem.

LOL flappy paddle mid-corner downshift gear changes. Shouldn't work but they do. Do you just snap the paddles back to the gear you want and it shifts at a random time when the revs hit the right spot or did you purposely shift in the middle of the corner? Can't do that with a manual box...well, you can, but you don't make it to the next corner since you've spun out! Handy feature though and definitely saves time.

(hehe I almost missed your edited post!)

It's not random. The paddle shifters are supposed to shift when you pull the paddle. However, the computer decides if it's appropriate. Let's say you were doing 80+mph in 3rd and tried to downshift to 2nd. The car would ignore the request completely. Even you slowed down, it would not remember the request.

From my videos, I get comments about downshifting mid-corner all the time from MT guys. It's clearly a sore issue. This is the beauty of the dual clutch system. You can downshift ANYWHERE and the balance of the car is maintained, and the revs are kept high, so when you exit a corner, you're not slogging out of low RPMs. Yay DCT! But it's not perfect----DCT is 50lbs heavier than MT.....and it overheats.....and sometimes under stress it double upshifts....and the OEM DCT pan system is prone to oil starvation under high G's.......boo DCT...... I mean, if I have to be totally honest, the DCT system installed in my car was not made to do what it is doing. I am stressing it far more than the factory intended. And it has done really well over the years. So----yay DCT!

[admranger]

You kids and your fancy gizmos.

[dogbone]

I forgot one other comment I had: The VoltPhreaks battery continues to really impress. After 6 weeks of being dormant, I can turn the battery back on, and the car fires up like I drove it yesterday. It's really fantastic how easily it powers the car up after long periods of sitting inactive.

Really happy with the battery.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by dogbone

(hehe I almost missed your edited post!)

It's not random. The paddle shifters are supposed to shift when you pull the paddle. However, the computer decides if it's appropriate. Let's say you were doing 80+mph in 3rd and tried to downshift to 2nd. The car would ignore the request completely. Even you slowed down, it would not remember the request.

From my videos, I get comments about downshifting mid-corner all the time from MT guys. It's clearly a sore issue. This is the beauty of the dual clutch system. You can downshift ANYWHERE and the balance of the car is maintained, and the revs are kept high, so when you exit a corner, you're not slogging out of low RPMs. Yay DCT! But it's not perfect----DCT is 50lbs heavier than MT.....and it overheats.....and sometimes under stress it double upshifts....and the OEM DCT pan system is prone to oil starvation under high G's.......boo DCT...... I mean, if I have to be totally honest, the DCT system installed in my car was not made to do what it is doing. I am stressing it far more than the factory intended. And it has done really well over the years. So----yay DCT!

That is a super impressive feature of the dct... it is not simply a shift speed advantage

If you're trying to set times you cannot time your shifts to avoid shifting while the car is loaded up with Gs. But the dct will execute the most perfect, smooth shift imaginable to avoid upsetting the car

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I forgot one other comment I had: The VoltPhreaks battery continues to really impress. After 6 weeks of being dormant, I can turn the battery back on, and the car fires up like I drove it yesterday. It's really fantastic how easily it powers the car up after long periods of sitting inactive.

Really happy with the battery.

The only thing that i don't like about the voltfreaks is it's been out for years, why no upgrades to the chemistry/cells?

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The only thing that i don't like about the voltfreaks is it's been out for years, why no upgrades to the chemistry/cells?

They don't have the vph900 anymore I think it got replaced by the 950 or something... but why fix something that isn't broken?

[slicer]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The only thing that i don't like about the voltfreaks is it's been out for years, why no upgrades to the chemistry/cells?

Are you sure they have not upgraded? I don't know if they have or have not but I would not assume they have not. The names have changed and the storage capacities have increased over the years. I would assume that was due to upgrades.

Side Note - I bought one VPH750 new and Volt Phreaks has upgraded it to a VPH900, and now a VPH1200. He charged me for one of the upgrades but they other may have been for free (can't remember for certain). The second upgrade may have happened because I was having some minor issues and I sent in the battery. Customer service with Volt Phreaks has been excellent.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

That is a super impressive feature of the dct... it is not simply a shift speed advantage

If you're trying to set times you cannot time your shifts to avoid shifting while the car is loaded up with Gs. But the dct will execute the most perfect, smooth shift imaginable to avoid upsetting the car

It's interesting to see DB's shift points. I have DCT and still avoid shifting mid-corner for fear of upsetting the car. I also tend to be in higher gears than he is. I suppose the latter is partially due to the supercharger but overall I could be more aggressive with my gearing to maximize my acceleration and power out of the corners. Thanks for posting DB - I will experiment with my shift points.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

They don't have the vph900 anymore I think it got replaced by the 950 or something... but why fix something that isn't broken?

Originally Posted by slicer

Are you sure they have not upgraded? I don't know if they have or have not but I would not assume they have not. The names have changed and the storage capacities have increased over the years. I would assume that was due to upgrades.

Side Note - I bought one VPH750 new and Volt Phreaks has upgraded it to a VPH900, and now a VPH1200. He charged me for one of the upgrades but they other may have been for free (can't remember for certain). The second upgrade may have happened because I was having some minor issues and I sent in the battery. Customer service with Volt Phreaks has been excellent.

I am actually not sure they haven't upgraded, so that was my assumption

I guess if the model numbers have changed it shows they are changing it up as the new chemistry becomes available

I certainly believe in the 'don't fix what isn't broken' but in the case of batteries there are decent changes from year to year, so buying 5 year old tech is not attractive

Maybe I'll have to get one of these...

[roastbeef]

It is an excellent part. Not only do I recommend them, but I would 100% buy another one.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by slicer

It's interesting to see DB's shift points. I have DCT and still avoid shifting mid-corner for fear of upsetting the car. I also tend to be in higher gears than he is. I suppose the latter is partially due to the supercharger but overall I could be more aggressive with my gearing to maximize my acceleration and power out of the corners. Thanks for posting DB - I will experiment with my shift points.

hmmm----not sure I follow your logic about why you're in higher gears. I still have stock gearing; I haven't messed with that. Let's say the supercharger, aero, suspension, tires and brakes allow me to go faster than some other car that does not have all of those things. That should allow my car to reach higher top speeds before entering corners, right? So, if my car is achieving higher top speeds, wouldn't my car potentially be in higher gears as I'm approaching corners?

A track like Chuckwalla is also funky because it doesn't really have many traditional corners. It has a ton of rounders where you need to be on the gas throughout the rounder or your speed fizzles out. So, I jump to lower gears and keep the revs high so that I can maintain speed in the rounder, but more importantly, the revs are high so I'm immediately ready to launch as the rounder is finishing. (Yeah, that doesn't build any heat at all.....)

This weekend, I was actually having the thought that with these latest lap times I'm doing, my stock gearing is not really the best for Chuckwalla CW. The places I have to up-shift are not ideal. Of course, I would never modify my car for Chuckwalla, but the thought of the gears not being ideal was definitely in my head.

The other thought I had while I was driving (sheesh, I need to stop thinking and just drive!!) was that the pavement is really starting to age at Chuckwalla. It's getting darn bumpy out there in places due to the wide cracks in the pavement.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

I am actually not sure they haven't upgraded, so that was my assumption

I guess if the model numbers have changed it shows they are changing it up as the new chemistry becomes available

I certainly believe in the 'don't fix what isn't broken' but in the case of batteries there are decent changes from year to year, so buying 5 year old tech is not attractive

Maybe I'll have to get one of these...

Reliability was my primary concern. The chemistry of the battery was secondary to me. Racewerkz said they had installed quite a few of them and had zero problems.

I was interested in LiteBlox. The tech behind those batteries seems very nice. But less people seem to have them, and I think they needed to come out of Germany. I think they were maybe a bit lighter than the VoltPhreaks, but I'm not fighting for grams on this car. And, isn't the LiteBlox a bit more $$$ too?

6lbs for a reliable battery is pretty darn good in my book. I've even been told you can jump the battery if necessary. Just do the hook ups in the engine bay, not at the battery directly.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dogbone

hmmm----not sure I follow your logic about why you're in higher gears. I still have stock gearing; I haven't messed with that. Let's say the supercharger, aero, suspension, tires and brakes allow me to go faster than some other car that does not have all of those things. That should allow my car to reach higher top speeds before entering corners, right? So, if my car is achieving higher top speeds, wouldn't my car potentially be in higher gears as I'm approaching corners?

A track like Chuckwalla is also funky because it doesn't really have many traditional corners. It has a ton of rounders where you need to be on the gas throughout the rounder or your speed fizzles out. So, I jump to lower gears and keep the revs high so that I can maintain speed in the rounder, but more importantly, the revs are high so I'm immediately ready to launch as the rounder is finishing. (Yeah, that doesn't build any heat at all.....)

This weekend, I was actually having the thought that with these latest lap times I'm doing, my stock gearing is not really the best for Chuckwalla CW. The places I have to up-shift are not ideal. Of course, I would never modify my car for Chuckwalla, but the thought of the gears not being ideal was definitely in my head.

The other thought I had while I was driving (sheesh, I need to stop thinking and just drive!!) was that the pavement is really starting to age at Chuckwalla. It's getting darn bumpy out there in places due to the wide cracks in the pavement.

I'm not sure I follow my logic either. I was initially thinking that you would be faster in 3rd gear than me due to the extra power but the reality is that gearing and RPM are a function of speed and power has nothing to do with it. Brain fart.


Side Note - I am typically far more conservative with my gear choices. My theory being that I want to keep the car cool. The other consideration is that you are running tires with far higher grip (I was on A052 last weekend). You can run in that XXhigherXX Lower gear without fear of losing traction. Thoughts?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by slicer

Side Note - I am typically far more conservative with my gear choices. My theory being that I want to keep the car cool. The other consideration is that you are running tires with far higher grip (I was on A052 last weekend). You can run in that higher gear without fear of losing traction. Thoughts?

As far as being conservative, that’s fine. Ultimately, it all depends on why you are out on track. If you are out to make sure you get every moment of a 20 minute session, then backing off the car and driving mellower is great. If you are attempting to achieve the maximum lap time that your car can do, then you cannot stay up in higher gears. The RPMs will be too low and you’ll be slogging out of every corner. For example, at Buttonwillow, you cannot exit Turn 2 (Off-Ramp) in 4th gear and expect maximum results. You need to punch that car down to 2nd gear and try to launch up that hill while managing your grip. You could go up in 3rd and it will be easier, but you won’t get that launch up the hill. 4th—-forget it.

Regarding your last statement of higher grip tires, again, I think you are thinking
about this backwards. Higher gears like 6th and 7th gear on DCT require less grip to maintain traction when exiting a corner because the power is attempting to push a larger gear which is more difficult. A high grip tire allows you to stay in a lower gear like 3rd and really get on the gas and maintain grip. Launching out of a corner in 2nd or 3rd gear with high grip tires is fantastic. The car takes off like a rocket with less wheel spin. But you still need to manage the throttle. You can’t just mash mindlessly if you have a lot of power.

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Regarding your last statement of higher grip tires, again, I think you are thinking
about this backwards. Higher gears like 6th and 7th gear on DCT require less grip to maintain traction when exiting a corner because the power is attempting to push a larger gear which is more difficult. A high grip tire allows you to stay in a lower gear like 3rd and really get on the gas and maintain grip. Launching out of a corner in 2nd or 3rd gear with high grip tires is fantastic. The car takes off like a rocket with less wheel spin. But you still need to manage the throttle. You can’t just mash mindlessly if you have a lot of power.

I wrote my statement incorrectly - that's exactly what I'm trying to say (I mistakenly wrote 'higher' when it should of been 'lower'). A higher grip tire will allow you to go into (or stay in) a lower gear with less fear of losing traction from throttle input.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by slicer

I wrote my statement incorrectly - that's exactly what I'm trying to say (I mistakenly wrote 'higher' when it should of been 'lower'). A higher grip tire will allow you to go into (or stay in) a lower gear with less fear of losing traction from throttle input.

Hehe As long as we’re on the same page now, then we’re good!

[Richbot]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

The only thing that i don't like about the voltfreaks is it's been out for years, why no upgrades to the chemistry/cells?

The chemistry doesn’t get much better in the real world yet on the scale of an accessory battery like ours . The news you’re hearing about EV’s getting better is more about heat and power management and powertrain as it is about batteries getting hugely better.

[dogbone]

I decided last minute to attend a track day at High Plains Raceway (HPR) here in Colorado on Sunday with my street/daily driver Space Gray 2009 E92 M3. The track hosted an open lapping day. My wife was pushing me out the door to go do it (bless her heart! ). Seriously, it was her idea. hmmmm she never does that.....is she trying to get rid of me??

Anyway, I had never driven HPR. And I've never been on track with this E92 M3. So, it was a day full of new curiosities. These days, to go to the tracks in CA with my blue E90 is quite the logistical endeavor with flights, hotels, trips to race shops for maintenance, other errands.....it can be a bit demanding and time consuming. I was laughing because I packed the car Sunday morning and drove there in an hour---got there just after 10AM....Driver meeting was at 10:40AM and the track went hot at 11AM. I would say that's quite a bit less logistics. One of my CA track buddies always complains about all the early morning crap associated with track days. When I told him the schedule, he said, "that's my kind of track day!!!!" Anyway, the day was setup with 2 run groups---fast and slow, 30 minutes each, all open passing. Worked fine.

I guess I should talk about the E92 M3 first and how it's setup. I bought the car used in the Fall of 2016. (It had a few things done already.)
-It has stock power, no engine mods as far as I know. No bolt ons, no tune. I did put in GTS-DCT software because I like how that downshifts super smooth on my blue car. People around here say that you can lose up to 20% of horsepower at 5000 ft altitude vs sea level. I don’t know if that’s true, but it's a bummer if it is true.....
-Stock suspension with Eibach lowering springs. It rides pretty harsh on those lowering springs.
-A valvetronic exhaust----don't know the brand----might be a one-off.
-I installed my old AP Racing (Stillen) kit. And for track, I use Cobalt Friction pads--XR2-front/XR3-rear.
-For track, a set of Apex Arc-8 9.5" square. The tires are old 265 Pirelli scrubs left over from my track car. All four rims/tires fit in my E92 back seat.

So, brakes and tires are the main performance upgrades from stock. I don't consider lowering springs an upgrade. They are probably a downgrade when it comes to performance.

Let's talk about High Plains Raceway. I think two things that define HPR are:
1. Elevation changes - lots of ups and downs.
2. Blind hilltop turns - man, if you don't know where you're going, well, good luck to ya.

Usually, before I go to a new track, I watch a bunch of videos to get the flow and idea of the track into my head. Well, I didn't do that here. I literally committed to going at 11PM the night before, lined up all my gear and went to bed at 1AM and didn't watch a single video. We'll see how that turned out below. Anyway, HPR is a solid track with quite a few good challenging sections. The full course is about 2.5 miles. They did a repave in Oct 2017 on all the turns. That was nice. Some of the berms are pretty tall. The long back straight is a bit bumpy. As far as amenities, it's fairly primitive. The bathrooms are either mini porta-potty structures ( ) or a trailer that has bathrooms, but the trailer was closed and had a sign that said it would re-open in the Spring when the water wouldn't freeze and ruin the pipes....Hey, IT'S SPRING!!! Let's get that shit open! (see what I did there?) Food comes from a trailer----hey that wasn't open either.....Apparently, I'm the only idiot who didn't know there would be no food......yay first timer!! (I had granola bars and water just in case.) The offices are in a trailer. There are no fixed building structures aside from some car ports. Something completely new for me is that corner workers don't wave flags at you. There are LED panels that light up with various solid colors or flash various colors or light up a checkered flag. It was fine. The track says they like the light system because they have 14 of them around the track, compared to maybe 4 or 5 corner worker stations waving flags, so drivers can be more aware of current track conditions. Ok, I can buy that reasoning.

How did the day go? hehe Let's just say I hit a couple snags. I was the only person who needed a tow truck to get home....ok ok I'm jumping ahead. I'll start at the beginning.

This was a funny day for me because I'm so used to having a trailer. Going back to the old way of packing the car to the gills with gear was a blast from the past. So, I get to the track and it’s the old clown car routine——I pulled so much crap out of the car that people walking by would ask me if I really was able to fit all that in the car. First task: install race pads and swap track wheels on the car. Great. No problems. Done.

First session: Well, I can tell you, that not watching any videos was a huge mistake. The first session was just embarrassing. I was in the Fast group, and I was so slow, so confounded by all the blind turns at the tops of hills, people passing me left and right and then I missed a turn and ended up in the mud just before the front straight…….I’m sure everyone was dazzled with that first session. I know I was.

Second session: Ok, got my act together and started learning the track. Followed a Porsche GT3 around and was keeping up fine. It was entertaining using him as a rabbit. The GT3 was pitted near me and we had chatted at the beginning of the day about my newness there. I don't think he was overly happy that a newbie was somehow keeping up---and in an M3..... In this session, I remembered to open the valves on the exhaust. Great.

Third session: As I was leaving the pit for this session, I tried to open the valves on the exhaust again (they default to closed on startup). Oops. Not working...... Was in traffic the whole session. While chasing an S2000 with aero, I got my fast lap. But I was getting held up on the straights by him. So, my fast lap was in traffic. During the third session, after the fast lap, the car dropped into limp mode----rev limiter drops real low, car shifts into 7th gear and the top speed is like 20 mph. Argh. Bring it into the pit. Turn it off. Turn it back on. Limp mode gone. Ok.......

Fourth session: Go out----first hot lap. Same limp mode. Come in. Check codes. Clear codes.

Fifth session: Go out----first hot lap. Same limp mode. Come in. Check codes. One code has repeated. 27E4: Underpressure pump Mastervac plausibility.

That's it. Day over. Pack up. Start leaving the paddock------limp mode. Shut the car off. Restart. Keep driving to the track exit-----limp mode. Restart. Turn onto the highway----limp mode.......turned the car around and parked at the track entry.....called a tow truck. Bummer....

Thoughts on driving the E92 M3 on track:
-I'll start by saying DSC was off the entire day. Lateral movement in this car is in slow motion compared to my track car. Going in, I had wondered if not having any aero would require some adjustment, but it was fine.
-Stock power at altitude (5000ft)-----I'm used to a lightened supercharged car at sea level---around 550whp. Let's say the stock power at sea level is 350whp, and then at 5000ft altitude you lose 20%......so this car might be running 280whp at altitude?? I hope no one is offended when I say 280whp is just sorta boring on track in a full weight M3.....ok, maybe I gained a few hp by running 98 octane.....but still, I was ready to nap on the 2000 foot long back straight.....
-Balance---The 50/50 balance of an OEM BMW is a very nice thing. The rear is predictable. My supercharged track car is so light in the rear that it can be twitchy at low speeds if you gas it too hard. I actually had to specifically tell myself to get on the gas harder out of corners because the tail was very stable. In fact, the car from a balance standpoint was a highlight of the day.
-Suspension----so---uhhh stay off the berms at HPR if you have stock suspension and lowering springs. Yeah, that's no good at all. I tried attacking a couple tall berms and bounced off of them. No good. If I stayed off the berms, the car was generally ok. Hard braking was generally fine from a suspension standpoint.
-Speaking of braking - I just love that old AP Racing kit. With the Cobalt Friction pads in there, I was able to pound the brake zones as hard as I dared on my first day there. Braking was another highlight. To be clear, I didn’t find the limits of braking in the 2 1/2 sessions I was able to run. That will take more time.
-The Pirellis were old but still fine to run. Not massive grip, but not bad grip. Just fine.
-Sitting in an OEM seat and seat belt was one of the most startling differences from my track car. Once you get used to being secured by a 6-point harness in a nice race seat, sitting in a leather seat and sliding around is jarring and unpleasant. So, there I was, back to bracing my left leg against the door, and yup the outside of my left knee is sore today. Might have to look into one of those harness solutions. I was always against them without a roll bar, but I just don't want to brace my knee......that just sucks. It doesn't even really work anyway.
-Sound/Volume--hehe---the E92 is so quaint and silent compared to my E90 which is a raging monster by comparison.

It’s not every day that you go to a new track and drive a car you’ve never driven on track before. I was really curious how quickly I would adapt. Overall I felt that it went fine if you ignore the mud from session #1 and the limp modes. Of course, I left the day wishing I could have driven more to learn the track better. I really only got 2 1/2 sessions in before the limp modes ruined the day. As far as lap times, my fast lap was a 2:03.5 in traffic in session 3 just before the limp modes hit. I had a couple 2:02 laps going but limp modes and traffic killed those. Obviously, I have much more to learn about HPR and I believe there’s time to be had everywhere. I don’t know what’s considered a decent M3 lap time there with stock power and no aero. Perhaps someone familiar with the track can chime in on lap times.

Ultimately, I have no plans to turn this into a crazy track car. This will remain a fun daily driver that can do occasional track days around CO. But a suspension will go in. (I already have it.) I have always hated the ride quality of the stock suspension with lowering springs and I finally found a used suspension that I wanted.

Anyway, once the car is back up and running, I plan to visit HPR again soon and give it another shot. I enjoyed the little bit of driving I did, and now that I have the track's layout in my head, I'd like to build on that.

A few pix:
Beautiful day (although it was funny to see piles of snow at the edge of the paddock.) The car is still not fully unpacked here in the AM.


Don’t be jealous of my incredible AIM Solo mounting skills! Hey, it worked! Did I mention this was a last minute track day?

There are worse places to get stuck waiting for a tow truck. Might as well enjoy the scenery:




Ah, the tow truck……actually I am quite thankful that he arrived quickly—less than 45 minutes after I called AAA. HPR is very much in the middle of nowhere.


Here's video of the fast lap in traffic. You can see at the end of the back straight, I'm barely braking because I'm cruising behind the S2000. And then, you can see in the Time Diff window that the second lap was 0.5 sec quicker than my fast lap after just a couple turns---but then we all caught up with a purple Miata and that was that....and then a couple minutes after the video ends, the limp modes started......

[SYT_Shadow]

Sounds like a fun day!
Good luck with the balance of keeping the second M streetable yet track worthy. I had a pretty good setup in the second M with the Quickfit Pro harnesses, PFC front BBK and MCS 2WNR suspension.
Whenever I drive an M on track, regardless of whether it is stock with camber plates of fully modded I'm really amazed at the excellent balance these cars have.

What are you planning to do about the limp modes?

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Sounds like a fun day!
Good luck with the balance of keeping the second M streetable yet track worthy. I had a pretty good setup in the second M with the Quickfit Pro harnesses, PFC front BBK and MCS 2WNR suspension.
Whenever I drive an M on track, regardless of whether it is stock with camber plates of fully modded I'm really amazed at the excellent balance these cars have.

What are you planning to do about the limp modes?

Yeah I'm glad I went. Definitely want to drive that track again.

Did you run the Quickfit Pro with a stock seat? I have no idea how that stuff works.

So, regarding the limp mode----I looked at it today and I figured out the problem. My car has a valvetronic exhaust. As I mentioned before, I don't know the brand. I don't know if it's a commercially sold product. It might be a custom one-off. I have no idea.

Anyway, in my write up, I said that, as I was leaving for the 3rd session on track, I tried to open the valves of the exhaust but it didn't work. I didn't realize it at the time, but an airline that goes from the engine bay back to the exhaust broke and the silicon tube was dangling under the car. I saw it for the first time when the tow truck driver was putting my car on the flatbed. At the time I didn't even know what the tube was for. As I understand it (and I don't know much about valvetronic exhausts), the air line somehow helps controls the valves. Perhaps someone else could weigh in and share some info about that.

Today, I went and bought a coupler so I could reconnect the broken line. But before connecting it, I did an experiment. First, I started the car and tried to drive. Less than 100 ft later----limp mode. I parked the car back on the driveway, and then installed the coupler. I started the car and drove off without any issues. So, the broken air line was the cause of my limp modes.

What I'd like to know is, why did the line break....is it aging out? Do track speeds somehow create too much pressure in the line? And what do I do from here?.....leave my fix in place? Do I replace the whole line? I don't know. I went to an auto parts store to see if they had the line. They didn't have anything like it and said the tubing is really expensive---like $20-30/ft. Yikes. (They recommended I look into Gates brand tubing.)

So, the car runs again.....the question is do I pursue a more complete fix? We'll see....