My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Thanks!

The Tundra is great. My box is 22'. Tip-to-tip it's 26'. The trailer itself weighs about 4850 lbs. It's a 10k lbs GVW, so it's carrying capacity beyond it's own weight is about 5150 lbs. I went to a public scale and weighed the whole setup which includes 2 extra sets of wheels. The fully loaded trailer rig is around 9500 lbs.

btw, the cabinets are nice to have. It's reallllly nice being able to permanently store things easily in the trailer. I'll take a moment to point out to other people who are thinking of getting large trailers and using a 1/2 ton truck, there is some consideration required regarding a trailer's length versus it's weight. The Tundra tops out around 10k towing capacity. If I had gotten a 24' foot box with a bunch of features like cabinets and awnings, it would have begun restricting what I could put in the trailer because I'd be going over that 10000 lb limit. So, there's this mild irony that a person goes and gets a big trailer so it can hold a lot of stuff, but then the trailer itself is so heavy that the trailer's sheer weight limits what you can carry in it if you're using a 1/2 ton truck. Of course, a 3/4 ton truck makes all this a non-issue, but who wants to drive a 3/4 ton truck around? Not me….

Anyway, when I go to Buttonwillow, I have to climb from sea level in Los Angeles over the Tejon pass on Interstate-5 which is 4144' above sea level. It is a SOLID climb. The truck can maintain 50 mph up that climb. It's working but it's fine and the temp needles on the dash have NEVER MOVED------EVER. And it can get pretty hot around here in the Summer. I see in your sig that you're in Kansas. If you're not trailering through the Rockies or something all the time, the 1/2 ton is more than fine.

I HIGHLY highly (did I mention highly) recommend a weight distribution hitch and sway control. I use the Equalizer brand. It includes both. I love that thing. It makes the rig 100% stable even in super high winds. It creaks and groans a bit going around corners at slow speed, but who cares….it is incredible at keeping the rig stable.

The other thing I REALLY recommend (now that I have them) is installing air springs on the rear of the Tundra. My two spare sets of track wheels sit in the nose of my trailer box. I have a lot of tongue weight. Most regular trucks from a showroom floor will sag under that weight. My Tundra sagged significantly. It took me a long time to finally do it, but I finally put Firestone Ride-Rite air springs back there-----holy cow----that solved it 100%. And just a few weeks ago, I upped the ante by having an air system installed in the pickup truck. This Firestone 2549 air compressor system has a 2-gallon air tank that holds 150psi. It's connected to the air springs and can inflate and deflate them. I can't tell you how nice that is. I had the air springs for a year and was manually inflating and deflating them. That was not ideal. Before the air compressor, I found a compromise psi to leave them at and never touched them. But now it is AWESOME to inflate them when trailering and deflate them when daily driving the truck. PLUS, the Firestone air system also comes with a quick disconnect so you have 150 psi at your disposal at all times. Airing up trailer and truck tires used to be the BIGGEST pain in the ass. Now it takes a couple minutes. I LOVE love love this air compressor system. It has a pressure sensor that auto-fills the 2-gallon tank to 150 psi. It comes on when the pressure goes below 110 psi. It's tied into the truck electronics so it's always good to go.

I'm probably gonna run an air line under the trailer so that I can have an easy to access quick disconnect at the back of the trailer so I can use the air at track days too. The truth is I only need a couple PSI here and there at the track, so my battery powered C3 air tool has been fine, but it's not expensive to run the line under the trailer, and it's easy to connect the air on the truck to the trailer line and now you have easy air at the back of the trailer. I'll tell you what I don't want----is to wrestle 70' of air hose from the pickup truck all the way to the car that's 60' behind the truck so I can fill up 1 psi on my track tire.

Anyway, the Equalizer hitch, the Air Springs and the air compressor system is around $2000. For me, I'd say the Equalizer and the Air Springs are a necessity for a quality towing experience. The air compressor gets to be a bit of a luxury, but it really isn't. Three weeks ago, I arrived at my trailer and it had a flat…….the first flat ever in three years over towing. I did not have the air compressor yet. If I did, it would have saved me SO MUCH TIME---hours and hours. Learn from my mistakes!! Actually, I've now had two flats in the last three weeks on the trailer---one was my fault for grinding a curb, the other was a mystery. (The tires are not old.) I was worried about changing tires on a trailer. It turns out, even with my fully loaded almost-10000 lbs trailer, two floor jacks can raise it up without any trouble. I keep two floor jacks in my trailer. I highly recommend having two in there---even cheap Harbor Freight ones. One can sort of do it, but it really creaks and groans and that's never a great sound to hear…….but, two floor jacks raise the trailer easily.

Oh yeah, and the OEM BFGoodrich Rugged Trailer T/A tires on the Tundra lasted 37000 miles, even with all the towing I do, which I thought was great. I was good about getting the tires rotated every 5000 miles.

oh and one more thing…..haha….damn I could go on forever…….make sure you have a good quality electric tongue jack……especially if you use a weight distribution hitch because you're going up and down, up and down…..my big-ass trailer, which I bought used, didn't have one. I could not even fathom how the hell they were using this thing without an electric tongue jack…..

Hope that helps.

That is great info! I really appreciate it.

I'm leaning towards a 20' trailer and no cabinets/etc since I have no place to store it at my house. I don't want to go back and forth between storage.

I think your E90 is pretty damned cool looking! I'm thinking about getting out of my E46 M3 into an E90 M3 for the track. I'm holding off right now on getting an E90 and I'm trying to find a way to keep both. This thread will be a ton of help.

If I do get an E90...it would be just like yours! IB, no sunroof, DCT.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

That is great info! I really appreciate it.

I'm leaning towards a 20' trailer and no cabinets/etc since I have no place to store it at my house. I don't want to go back and forth between storage.

I think your E90 is pretty damned cool looking! I'm thinking about getting out of my E46 M3 into an E90 M3 for the track. I'm holding off right now on getting an E90 and I'm trying to find a way to keep both. This thread will be a ton of help.

If I do get an E90...it would be just like yours! IB, no sunroof, DCT.

No problem! Yeah if you can park a trailer at your house, that would be awesome. Parking at a facility is a pain in the butt. I have to do it.

Anyway, I love tracking the E90 M3. Yeah it overheats when it's hot but it is damn fun to drive. I get in other people's track cars and I'm not even remotely envious of what they have.

There's a thread on vehicle weights. I posted a few thoughts over there about how to keep losing weight from my gutted/caged car. I figured it would be good to have those ideas in my thread too. So here's my thoughts about vehicle weight and where I can go from here on my build:

My gutted, full cage, full aero, supercharged E90 M3 is 3250 lbs with no fuel, no driver. (I just weighed it a few days ago at Racewerkz.)

I have estimated that it would take about another approximately $10,000 from here to lose another approximately 200 lbs: [All following measurements are approximate but should be in the neighborhood.]

-carbon doors (115 lbs loss from my current gutted doors)
-carbon trunk (7 lbs loss)
-carbon roof (10lbs loss)
-carbon hood (12 lbs loss)
-Lexan rear window (11 lbs loss)
-thinning of wiring (10 lbs loss)
-removal of dash/center console (15 lbs loss)
-super light weight battery to replace my MiniCooper battery (21 lbs loss)

$10000 for 200 lbs equates to $50 per pound. Doing that would put the car around 3050 lbs.

From there, one could consider dumping the VF supercharger which is around 100 lbs. That would solidly put you under 3000, but it would be a bummer to lose all that power. Not sure it's worth it. Let's put it this way, a 3050 lbs rear wheel drive car with full aero, 295 square R-comp tires and 560 whp would definitely give people a run for their money!

[bigjae1976]

You'll lose more than 10lbs with the wiring...you'll be surprised

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

You'll lose more than 10lbs with the wiring...you'll be surprised

Of course, that would be great. The more the merrier when it comes to weight loss! But I'm just trying to be realistic with the numbers.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

You'll lose more than 10lbs with the wiring...you'll be surprised

Does the thin wiring compromise safety - aka, not thick enough to carry amperage demand and risk of fire?

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by dogbone

No problem! Yeah if you can park a trailer at your house, that would be awesome. Parking at a facility is a pain in the butt. I have to do it.

Anyway, I love tracking the E90 M3. Yeah it overheats when it's hot but it is damn fun to drive. I get in other people's track cars and I'm not even remotely envious of what they have.

There's a thread on vehicle weights. I posted a few thoughts over there about how to keep losing weight from my gutted/caged car. I figured it would be good to have those ideas in my thread too. So here's my thoughts about vehicle weight and where I can go from here on my build:

My gutted, full cage, full aero, supercharged E90 M3 is 3250 lbs with no fuel, no driver. (I just weighed it a few days ago at Racewerkz.)

I have estimated that it would take about another approximately $10,000 from here to lose another approximately 200 lbs: [All following measurements are approximate but should be in the neighborhood.]

-carbon doors (115 lbs loss from my current gutted doors)
-carbon trunk (7 lbs loss)
-carbon roof (10lbs loss)
-carbon hood (12 lbs loss)
-Lexan rear window (11 lbs loss)
-thinning of wiring (10 lbs loss)
-removal of dash/center console (15 lbs loss)
-super light weight battery to replace my MiniCooper battery (21 lbs loss)

$10000 for 200 lbs equates to $50 per pound. Doing that would put the car around 3050 lbs.

From there, one could consider dumping the VF supercharger which is around 100 lbs. That would solidly put you under 3000, but it would be a bummer to lose all that power. Not sure it's worth it. Let's put it this way, a 3050 lbs rear wheel drive car with full aero, 295 square R-comp tires and 560 whp would definitely give people a run for their money!

How would this impact weight distribution? From what I recall, you had a lot taken out of the rear which you had to make up for with aero downforce.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by redpriest

Does the thin wiring compromise safety - aka, not thick enough to carry amperage demand and risk of fire?

Thinning the wiring means removing wiring that is no longer needed because those functions are not in the car anymore.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by redpriest

How would this impact weight distribution? From what I recall, you had a lot taken out of the rear which you had to make up for with aero downforce.

The doors are the biggest part and they come from the middle of the car, so it would be the best kind of weight to lose. The rest would be fine--- a little from the front, mid and rear.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by dogbone

The doors are the biggest part and they come from the middle of the car, so it would be the best kind of weight to lose. The rest would be fine--- a little from the front, mid and rear.

I guess it's also worth noting that you would NOT want to consider doing carbon fibre doors unless you had a full cage. It would not be safe at all, even with a rear 1/2 cage/roll bar. You NEED the full cage's door bars to replace the OEM safety in the doors. The carbon doors literally weigh 4-6 lbs each. No safety in those.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I never heard of anything like that. Sounds interesting. I don't have experience with custom fabrication other than having a muffler fashioned for my car…..Since I already have the do88 in hand, I plan on trying that. But I wonder what else those guys could do……..thanks for the heads up.

in case you wanted to take a look.
http://www.griffinrad.com/PDFs/customTemplate.pdf

[burnrbr]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Yeah I'm pretty curious about these DCT temps too. We'll see if I can get the Stack gauges to arrive in time for Laguna. Not sure if they'll make it.

It's been fun sharing my experiences in this thread. I'm glad people have found some of it useful. I'll keep updating it. Actually, I've been wanting to post about an interesting experience/outcome I had at Chuckwalla on May 1st while time attacking. It involves DSC-off vs. Euro-MDM. The results were surprising. I'll try to post that soon....just been busy....

Good luck with your install! Do you plan on running a temp gauge? That Macht Schnell gauge boss makes it super easy.

No plan for a temp gauge right now, but definitely down the road.

[apexkingjusto]

Sorry if I missed it but what class are you running? If build to run as many classes as possible

[apexkingjusto]

By the way haven't seen many if any e9x GTS cars yet. Curious how they do, think gts4 maybe a good place for them.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by apexkingjusto

Sorry if I missed it but what class are you running? If build to run as many classes as possible

If you're asking about wheel-to-wheel racing, I don't race wheel-to-wheel, so I couldn't tell you what class it would be in. I really have no experience on that topic.

I do Time Attack with the car. Given the current configuration, I can run in Limited Class with some organizers if I run certain tires. However, I just accept the fact that I have to run in Unlimited class if I want to run with my fastest tires.

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Thinning the wiring means removing wiring that is no longer needed because those functions are not in the car anymore.

In my E46, there's a fused cable which runs from the trunk to the fuse box. I just installed the trunk fuse inline with the battery cable and then powered the fuse box with a cable where the battery cable bolts to the firewall. Saves another 5lbs.

Not 100% sure if the E90 is setup the same way...but might be worth an experiment. 5lbs of weight loss for free.

If you're willing to relocate the battery, you may be able to run a smaller gauge battery cable. I calculated I can run 6ga wire for the batter by reducing the cable length by 3 ft. Less and smaller cable equals more weight savings.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

In my E46, there's a fused cable which runs from the trunk to the fuse box. I just installed the trunk fuse inline with the battery cable and then powered the fuse box with a cable where the battery cable bolts to the firewall. Saves another 5lbs.

Not 100% sure if the E90 is setup the same way...but might be worth an experiment. 5lbs of weight loss for free.

If you're willing to relocate the battery, you may be able to run a smaller gauge battery cable. I calculated I can run 6ga wire for the batter by reducing the cable length by 3 ft. Less and smaller cable equals more weight savings.

hehe when it comes to electrical, I stay far far away from that. I close my eyes and start writing checks to professionals because that topic is a complete mystery to me.

Your description of what you did could have been written in Russian and I would understand about the same amount! But it sounded good!!

[dapopa9]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I went to Auto Club Speedway on Sunday and had a really nice day. I have never been to ACS with gutted interior, roll cage and aero. Big surprise------the aero is incredible there!

Great ACS write up. I finally gave in and put aero on my Z06. After reading your previous write-ups of how much time you were able to knock off at all the tracks once you added the aero I had to do it.

I ran ACS a couple weeks back with NASA and holy cow what a huge difference!! The aero make a ridiculous difference there. I used to be sliding up the embankment on 1-2 now the car is so planted it feels like I could go through there full throttle. I can't wait to get out to BW, WSIR, and Chuckwalla and see how much time I can cut off my non-aero times.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by dapopa9

Great ACS write up. I finally gave in and put aero on my Z06. After reading your previous write-ups of how much time you were able to knock off at all the tracks once you added the aero I had to do it.

I ran ACS a couple weeks back with NASA and holy cow what a huge difference!! The aero make a ridiculous difference there. I used to be sliding up the embankment on 1-2 now the car is so planted it feels like I could go through there full throttle. I can't wait to get out to BW, WSIR, and Chuckwalla and see how much time I can cut off my non-aero times.

Sweeeeeet!!! Glad it's working out for you!

Wait a minute-----no playing coy here. What was your old best and what lap time did you do with the aero at ACS?

[dapopa9]

Last time out with no aero on new tires I had ran a 1:44. This time with aero on tires that had about 8-10 heat cycles on them I ran a 1:41.

i think I ran a 1:52 or 1:53 on NT01's with my M3

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by dapopa9

Last time out with no aero on new tires I had ran a 1:44. This time with aero on tires that had about 8-10 heat cycles on them I ran a 1:41.

i think I ran a 1:52 or 1:53 on NT01's with my M3

Very nice!! That's moving! Do you have video?

At the Speed Ventures weekend, Stephanie Cemo ran a 1:42 in her Vette and a Viper ACR also ran 1:42. The Speed Ventures guys announced in the morning driver meeting that the ACR could run 1:38 so watch out for it……hehe

Anyway, if you don't mind, check back in here as you get to other tracks and let us know your results. I would love to hear what the aero does for you at the other tracks.

What tires are you on these days?

[dapopa9]

Running Hoosier A7's ..315/345 18's. I'm pretty limited on tire selection with those sizes. I shoot video with a GoPro but usually never take the time to watch it or take it off the SD card.

[dogbone]

Had a nice day today at Laguna Seca. The SpeedSF guys were nice. Weather was beautiful---mid 50's. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Ah---Monterey in June. But I digress.

As I've continued my journey of driving with DSC-off, I have slowly been building my confidence. My positive experience at Auto Club a couple weeks added another piece to the puzzle. I decided I would drive Laguna DSC-off, and it worked out well. I have to say, coming out of the final turn (11) without traction control-on was a revelation. Being able to get on the gas quicker is literally a kick in the pants! Jumping out of that corner in 2nd gear, the car takes off like a rocket. Very cool.

I was able to knock 2.6 seconds off my previous best at Laguna. Ultimately, I ran a 1:36.4. This continues the trend of knocking 2-3 seconds off of every personal best at every track I go to now with full aero, R1S and DSC-off. The SpeedSF guys had a Time Trial Challenge. I was able to capture the fast lap of the day. Of course, it was a 90db, so truly fast cars have a hard time going there because they're too loud. I was happy that putting the stock exhaust on allowed me to run under the limit without much hassles.....I short shift going up Turn 5, but honestly I don't even know if it's necessary.

The day started on TD's with 3 sessions on them. I ran a 1:38.7, which at the time was a new personal best. I started cautiously since it had been awhile since I'd visited Laguna. I switched to brand new R1S for the second session to scrub them in. During the scrub session I ran a 1:37.2 without any trouble. Those tires really do feel fantastic when new. Third session was the Time Trial. The first hot lap was a 1:36.4. 2nd lap, I was pushing too hard and overdrove the corners. The third lap, I was running 0.3 quicker than lap 1 until the Corkscrew. For some reason, I couldn't slow down the car in time for the left turn into Corkscrew.....bummer.

The aero continues to amaze me. Every track that I visit for the first time with full aero, it's just amazing how the car holds. However, it is worth noting that Turn 3 really understeers even with the aero. You just gotta be patient there.

Here's the video: In the video, you'll see the car shift from 3rd gear to 5th gear while I'm in the Corkscrew. Sometimes my car does that. With a single press of the paddle, it up-shifts two gears....annoying. I believe it's the supercharger software.