My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[Kelse92]

My other half is a Porsche mechanic. He has a client who bought a .1 GT3RS affectionately named the "party girl" as he got a good deal buying it because it had catless headers and was not able to be sold by the dealer it got traded into.
He had some connections and bought the car "cheap" as-is and began modifying it...

He installed for him: Tractive Coilovers with DSC controller, harness bar, belts, full aero package, and 100 octane tune. Car flys around our local track (Eagles Canyon) doing 1:56's on a set of A7's (For reference, the TT3 Prepped e9x do ~2:00 laps here)

Guess what? The car is kind of a handful to drive now and all of the aftermarket bits don't fit or work perfectly and have compromises, some have broken, etc... So at the end of the day that car is mostly parked in his garage and the purpose-built factory racecar he owns is his main track car now and he enjoys it much more.

Lesson is, at the end of the day we're all building our Street cars to go on track and aftermarket parts and track abuse complicate things. It's part of the fun in making the car faster but also can be the main source of the frustration. You can avoid a lot of that with choose your flavor factory-built racecar, but those have compromises too in entry-cost and more frequent service intervals. We're all in the same boat with this hobby, the real question boils down to how often you want to go on track and how much you want to spend.

[derbo]

mmmm Franklins. I remember pre-ordering in April for Memorial day pickup and I ordered like 4lbs of meat for my wife and I...lol safe to say we were full.

[Jive]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

My other half is a Porsche mechanic. He has a client who bought a .1 GT3RS affectionately named the "party girl" as he got a good deal buying it because it had catless headers and was not able to be sold by the dealer it got traded into.
He had some connections and bought the car "cheap" as-is and began modifying it...

He installed for him: Tractive Coilovers with DSC controller, harness bar, belts, full aero package, and 100 octane tune. Car flys around our local track (Eagles Canyon) doing 1:56's on a set of A7's (For reference, the TT3 Prepped e9x do ~2:00 laps here)

Guess what? The car is kind of a handful to drive now and all of the aftermarket bits don't fit or work perfectly and have compromises, some have broken, etc... So at the end of the day that car is mostly parked in his garage and the purpose-built factory racecar he owns is his main track car now and he enjoys it much more.

Lesson is, at the end of the day we're all building our Street cars to go on track and aftermarket parts and track abuse complicate things. It's part of the fun in making the car faster but also can be the main source of the frustration. You can avoid a lot of that with choose your flavor factory-built racecar, but those have compromises too in entry-cost and more frequent service intervals. We're all in the same boat with this hobby, the real question boils down to how often you want to go on track and how much you want to spend.

Well said. And a good reminder that street cars are just that, street cars. A GT3 cant hold a candle to GTD class 992 (or M3 to a M3 GT2, etc.), despite what the marketing says.

[Redd]

Originally Posted by Kelse92

He installed for him: Tractive Coilovers with DSC controller...

Speaking of TracTive coilovers, someone offered me a set for E9x M3 at a discount. They're Ohlins TTX money. Anyone got any feedback on them?

[dogbone]

Arrived safely at Chuckwalla this afternoon. Took route 70W. Had to make my way through some light snow in the mountains. Actually left a day early due to impending weather, so I ended up splitting the drive into two days instead of my original plan to do it in one day. Quite sure leaving early was the right call—-Winter has definitely hit the CO mountains in the last few days.

The 1000 mile drive took 15 hours 20 minutes including stops. The diesel truck continues to impress. Was able to do the speed limit at any point in the trip including any mountain pass. Drove 630 miles today and only stopped once for fuel. Given the 10000lbs of trailer weight, I am really impressed with the diesel truck.

Anyway, I get to chill out and recover tomorrow, and then hopefully put down some hot laps this weekend.

[admranger]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Arrived safely at Chuckwalla this afternoon. Took route 70W. Had to make my way through some light snow in the mountains. Actually left a day early due to impending weather, so I ended up splitting the drive into two days instead of my original plan to do it in one day. Quite sure leaving early was the right call—-Winter has definitely hit the CO mountains in the last few days.

The 1000 mile drive took 15 hours 20 minutes including stops. The diesel truck continues to impress. Was able to do the speed limit at any point in the trip including any mountain pass. Drove 630 miles today and only stopped once for fuel. Given the 10000lbs of trailer weight, I am really impressed with the diesel truck.

Anyway, I get to chill out and recover tomorrow, and then hopefully put down some hot laps this weekend.

So you came through Vegas? I must have missed you stopping by the house for a pit stop.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by admranger

So you came through Vegas? I must have missed you stopping by the house for a pit stop.

You know----on long trips like these, I just follow Waze and don't really analyze where it's taking me. But in this case, I was surprised that Waze took me right into the middle of Vegas onto Martin Luther King Blvd. I figured I would skirt past the city, but no. If I didn't have the trailer, I would have stopped at a nice restaurant in one of the casinos.....I was laughing with my wife that I was tempted to pull up in front of the Venetian with the trailer and say, "Here's $100. I'm getting a bite to eat. Can you guys just keep it here in the porte cochere?" hahahaha

[admranger]

Originally Posted by dogbone

You know----on long trips like these, I just follow Waze and don't really analyze where it's taking me. But in this case, I was surprised that Waze took me right into the middle of Vegas onto Martin Luther King Blvd. I figured I would skirt past the city, but no. If I didn't have the trailer, I would have stopped at a nice restaurant in one of the casinos.....I was laughing with my wife that I was tempted to pull up in front of the Venetian with the trailer and say, "Here's $100. I'm getting a bite to eat. Can you guys just keep it here in the porte cochere?" hahahaha

Well, if you need a stop on the way home...I am planning on doing my first brisket in the new outdoor kitchen. Small 14 pounder, so I might have scraps available.

Old town LaQuinta has nice places to eat if you're staying near there.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by admranger

Well, if you need a stop on the way home...I am planning on doing my first brisket in the new outdoor kitchen. Small 14 pounder, so I might have scraps available.

Old town LaQuinta has nice places to eat if you're staying near there.

Smoking your first brisket? Excellent! Good luck! I have really been enjoying learning to smoke meats this summer.

[dogbone]

Let's file this one under: You've talked about it, but have never done it until now.

Attended the PCA San Diego at Chuckwalla CCW this weekend. They always put on a nice event. They have lots of rules and regulations, but it's fine. Keeps the events moving forward efficiently.

After almost 10 years of tracking, you get to the point where new personal bests get harder and harder to come by. For example, my best lap time at Buttonwillow is still from Feb 2018. These days when you set a new personal best, you're usually scrambling for tenths of seconds---unless something dramatically changes.

Chuckwalla is an interesting case to look at because they put new pavement down last year, so everyone was picking up serious time. I set a significantly faster new personal best last year with the new pavement. Well, ok---it was grippier pavement. Makes sense.

But this year, I took off another 2.5 seconds from my personal best of last year. This is a ridiculous result as far as I'm concerned. And it could have even been closer to 3 seconds if I hadn't screwed up Turns 6/7 on my fast lap. Lost about 0.4 sec screwing up that turn understeering and then sending the ass out.

The question is----why was I so much faster this year given that the pavement was the same---if not a bit worse this year. Was the car setup---new aero, better spring setup the reason? I would say that the current setup is better than last year when the new MCS had too stiff rear springs, so I believe the setup helped. But still-----almost 3 seconds??? Something else had to be going on.

The best answer I can come up with is-----this year, I fundamentally drove the track differently than I have in the past. For years, I have talked about how Chuckwalla is a pure momentum track. You do not need power to be fast at Chuckwalla-----you need to be light. However, looking back on my previous visits, I was not driving Chuckwalla in a momentum way. I was still approaching turns in a more traditional way of braking hard and really bringing the speed down. In essence, I was over-slowing the car before turn in. Then, I'd be mid-turn wishing I was going faster, but now it's the wrong time to get on the gas because the car will most likely just plow away from me. Last year on my last hot lap, I got a taste of braking less and entering with more speed, and it was instantly a personal best.

So, this year, I approached Chuckwalla lecturing myself to brake less, enter with more speed and hopefully hang on. It's not easy to change your driving style, but on Saturday, I worked hard to adapt my driving style---trying to really enter with a ton of speed. It was working. And the car was holding in the turns. In fact, the car felt GREAT at Chuckwalla this weekend. I felt I had SO MUCH control over the car. It was really responsive. And even with this experimenting, I never dropped a wheel into the dirt.

There were 6 six sessions on day 1. By session 3, I rolled a 1:49.2 which was a new personal best. It got hot---into the mid-90s. In the last session of the day when it was blazing, I still rolled a 1:49.4. I was very happy with that. I felt like I was really tossing the car in at much higher speeds. I was hopeful that in the cooler air of Sunday, I could at least get into the 1:48s. The AIM data was showing the virtual best from 5 track segments as a 1:48.2. So, I was hoping that Sunday AM, if I put on better tires and have cooler air maybe I could do a 1:48. Well, it turned out much better than that.

Sunday first session, I have my better tires on, it's 67ºF and first hot lap is 1:48.5. Yay! Try another lap---1:49.1 (in traffic---was on a 1:48.0 pace until the last two turns). Take an off lap. Then try again---1:47.9. Oh my gosh. I was so happy. Took two more off laps to cool the car down. I could feel the pieces coming together. I was driving confidently. The car was acting very predictable. So, I just kept pushing harder---braking less and less and entering the turns faster and faster. After the two off laps, I decided to try one more lap---hoping the checker flag would not come out. Get going on the lap and I was all over the car. The AIM was showing me with the predictive lights that this was by far my best outing. By turn 6/7, I'm in 1:46 territory. I fly into the turn 6/7 combo and the car understeers towards the edge of the track----entered with too much speed. I try to correct and then get back to gas and then ass steps out. I was quite angry with myself, but stayed on it. According to the data, I lost 0.4 sec in the turn compared to other laps.....Ran 1:47.2. I was happy with the lap time, but sad that I just gave away a 1:46.....ah well.

I was laughing at myself that I was going to be embarrassed to post video of a personal best lap with a glaring error in it. Really? This is the best you could do? hahaha

Anyway, I think the setup work we've done to the car over the last year was definitely a factor in improving my time. But I think I have to give most of the credit for time gain to approaching the track differently. I've always called Chuckwalla a momentum track, but I never drove it as a momentum track. The thing is---I don't really have a momentum car, and aside from Big Willow, I don't really drive momentum tracks much, so I just don't think I ever had the right mentality.

In the end, what this really has me looking forward to is Buttonwillow. I have not driven at Buttonwillow with carbon doors, MCS or Zebulon aero. I am very very eager to get back there and see what it possible. I hope that I can improve on my time from Feb. 2018. Ironically, it's virtually identical to the time I set this weekend at Chuckwalla----1:47.24 at Chuckwalla and 1:47.21 at Buttonwillow. I am hoping to change that in a month.

As far as my results at the PCA event, I was able to put down the fastest lap of the weekend and I won the time trial. There was a beautiful Radical out there. But he was only on his 3rd day with it and seemed to be having some issues with the car----he spun several times. He was saying it wanted to spin every time he touched the gas. I wondered if the diff might be acting funny. That thing weighs 1800 lbs...holy cow what a machine that is. Once he's up to speed with that thing, he will be untouchable. There was a 718 Clubsport out there with a coach as well. That thing sticks to the ground real good on new slicks. He seemed to be hanging behind me effortlessly. Anyway, I was happy that I could put in a good showing with my BMW at a PCA event.

I'm glad to have the car back in CA for the Winter. Was fun to see old friends and hang out and put down some laps!

Here's the PB lap with the mistake of pushing too hard....

The sunrises and sunsets in the Chuckwalla Valley can be so dramatic. On Sunday AM, the sunrise was fantastic, so I moved the car to an empty spot in the paddock and captured this full walk-around. Thought it was worth posting.

EDIT: The drive back from Chuckwalla to West LA to drop the trailer off and fly home was ridiculous. It's a 3 hour drive that took 4 hours 45 minutes. There was a 30 mile backup on I-10 for no apparent reason other than they closed one lane for about 1/4 mile near the 10&60 split. A 30 mile freeway backup.......I mean c'mon.....I almost missed my flight. Ran up to the gate in the middle of boarding. SoCal traffic lives up to its reputation....unfortunately.

[roastbeef]

gabe, your car was faster because it was "doping." spending time at 5,000 feet in colorado and then coming down to california getting all the air it wants.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

gabe, your car was faster because it was "doping." spending time at 5,000 feet in colorado and then coming down to california getting all the air it wants.

haha now I just need to give it some EPO, testosterone and HGH to complete the doping cocktail!

[roastbeef]

there is an open buttonwillow day on 12/04 with racecarparty and a couple 105db days at laguna on the weekend of 12/11. i should have most of the crap on my car and hoping to make those dates.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

there is an open buttonwillow day on 12/04 with racecarparty and a couple 105db days at laguna on the weekend of 12/11. i should have most of the crap on my car and hoping to make those dates.

(fwiw, the Speed District website says that the Laguna days are 103dB. Would love to go, but don't know if I can make the schedule work.)

[dogbone]

Couple small updates:

I forgot to mention before Chuckwalla that I started using the new Core4 lug nuts with the floating seats that prevent galling. They feel different when you tighten them. With one-piece solid lug nuts, you can feel the tension between the surface of the nut and the wheel. Now, it feels really different when you tighten the lug nut. I'm going to 120 ft lbs, and it feels like I'm tightening it quite a bit more to get to the click on the wrench than I did before. Very interesting. Anyway, ran them without issue at Chuckwalla. I've also bought a longer torque wrench because I'm going to so much higher torque than I was on 12mm studs. My old torque wrench was only 18" long. The new one is 24". Needed the extra leverage.




Let's file this second one under: c'mon man, what took so long?

Ever since 2015, when my car got louder with the current exhaust setup, I've always worn ear plugs---cheap rubber ear ones. While they do an ok job of blocking sound, they frequently figure out a way to loosen. Not ideal given that I use my ears for a living.

Recently, I was at the audiologist, so I inquired about custom-fit ear plugs. It didn't take much convincing to go for it. They inject a molding material into each ear and then send the molds out to get ear plugs fabricated. I'm eager to get the final results. I hope they're better than the rubber ones (they ain't cheap....). I don't know if they will arrive in time before Buttonwillow.

Here I am with the mold stuff solidifying.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

The custom ear protection is a god send. Totally worth it!

[admranger]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Let's file this second one under: c'mon man, what took so long?

Ever since 2015, when my car got louder with the current exhaust setup, I've always worn ear plugs---cheap rubber ear ones. While they do an ok job of blocking sound, they frequently figure out a way to loosen. Not ideal given that I use my ears for a living.

Recently, I was at the audiologist, so I inquired about custom-fit ear plugs. It didn't take much convincing to go for it. They inject a molding material into each ear and then send the molds out to get ear plugs fabricated. I'm eager to get the final results. I hope they're better than the rubber ones (they ain't cheap....). I don't know if they will arrive in time before Buttonwillow.

Here I am with the mold stuff solidifying.

I had some made for me when I shot skeet competitively. Still have them and will wear them to loud sporting events or when I’m out using the chainsaw on the family farm (under ear muffs as well). Well worth the investment.

[dogbone]

Glad to hear that people dig the custom ear protection. Definitely looking forward to it.

(btw, admranger, I flew back to CO after Chuckwalla. The rig is staying in CA for the winter. Would love to meet you someday! Maybe when we return to Spring Mountain at some point.)

[dogbone]

One more minor topic to chat about: jump packs for when you have dead batteries.

A couple years ago, I bought a generic jump pack from O'Reilly Auto Parts....kinda big, not a ton of power, and can only do one jump and then needs to be charged again. It was not great, but it was [barely] enough to deal with a couple situations in the last couple years. Anyway, I never really looked into the topic of these things. I just had a random not-very-great one.

At Chuckwalla, my friend's E90 M3 would not start. I said, no big deal. I'll just use my jump pack. Well, my jump pack couldn't start his car......what the heck..... The guy in the RV next to us said he had a jump pack. He goes into his RV and returns with the tiniest damn thing. I have a usb phone charger pack bigger than that thing. I was like wtf is that thing gonna do??? I tell ya what it did......it fricking started the M3 like it had a fresh battery in it! I asked him, so now do you need to charge it? He said no, you could do a bunch of jumps with it. Amazing. I'm thinking do I live in the stone ages???? Well, I guess the answer to that question is yes.

His jump pack was a Scosche brand jump pack. I ordered it immediately. ($130 on Amazon) Amazon Scosche



Then, after thinking about it a bit more, I said I should have one in Colorado at all times, but I should also have one with my rig in CA--especially given that it sits in CA for long periods. The diesel truck could sit for weeks or months, and sometimes the track car needs a boost because I have some electrical issue at the moment where the tail lights stay on all the time. (During covid, my Tundra pickup sat in LA for so long, a friend would go start it occasionally......it would barellllllly start.) But someone was telling me that a diesel can present its own challenges for jump starting and needs more juice. So, I found this bad boy that can start a 10L Diesel engine and it's still not very large: Hulkman



So, I went from the stone ages to some pretty awesome jump pack tech here in the last couple weeks.

Something to consider with these jump packs: You cannot fly on commercial jets with either of these packs. It would have been tempting to try to just have the Scosche and fly with it and also use it as a usb charger, but you are only allowed to fly with 100 watt-hour batteries and the scosche is 180 watt-hours and the Hulkman is double that. So, no flying.

Anyway, for most people, I think the Scosche would be quite enough. And at $130, it doesn't break the bank. And it's so small, it would easily fit in anyone's gear bag.

I have always had jumper cables in my trailer, and I will continue to leave them there, but I hope I never need to pull them out ever again.

And boy does it feel good not to be in the Stone Ages of jump pack tech anymore.

[SYT_Shadow]

Welcome to the 21st century!! The first time you see one of these little guys work it seems like magic!

Their biggest inconvenience is what you mention: they can't be taken on a plane

For the diesel, have you considered a solar battery charger? I haven't used one myself, but the idea seems simple enough. You put the solar panel on the dashboard and it trickle charges the battery

[e92BMW///M3]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

For the diesel, have you considered a solar battery charger? I haven't used one myself, but the idea seems simple enough. You put the solar panel on the dashboard and it trickle charges the battery

I wouldn't call it the latest technology but I had good luck with the Battery Tender version of this setup on an old Jeep with a nagging battery drain from a temperamental CD player that would sit (outside) for months on end through the winter in NJ. No idea if from a cost perspective it is better/worse than your current setup, though.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

For the diesel, have you considered a solar battery charger? I haven't used one myself, but the idea seems simple enough. You put the solar panel on the dashboard and it trickle charges the battery

A couple thoughts there:
-I bought a truck cover to protect the truck while it sits for long periods of time. Putting the panel on top of the cover would not be ideal mainly because the truck sits in a parking facility and people steal shit. I had a solar panel that was loose for the trailer and it was stolen. (Now it’s hard-mounted on the top of the trailer and you don’t see it.) I’ve had other small things taken there too. Super annoying. So while I probably could sort out a solar panel on the dash, the cover would be a problem.

-the diesel truck has two 12-volt batteries. The dealership recommended that I disconnect the batteries if leaving it somewhere for long periods of time. I honestly don’t know if I’m up for that task. I looked in the engine bay. That didn’t seem like something I can pull off in a couple minutes…..Usually I’m running my ass off to ditch the truck and trailer in the parking lot and get to the airport.

Heck, event the cover is a problem from a time standpoint. This last trip to Chuckwalla, I got to the parking lot so late because of the traffic, I didn’t have time to put the cover on.

Anyway, I’m hoping the jump pack will cover my ass if the batteries in the diesel are depleted due to sitting for long periods.