My E90 M3 Dedicated Track build (with pix!)

[dogbone]

Anyone here speak Chinese?

Someone commented on one of my videos in Chinese and the online translators aren't making much sense of it.....

Here's what they wrote: 真的牛批

Google translate says: Real cow batch
Bing Microsoft says: Real bull Batch.

hehe----anyone care to clarify what that means?

From this vid:

[cngo]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Anyone here speak Chinese?

Someone commented on one of my videos in Chinese and the online translators aren't making much sense of it.....

Here's what they wrote: 真的牛批

Google translate says: Real cow batch
Bing Microsoft says: Real bull Batch.

hehe----anyone care to clarify what that means?

From this vid:

There last word is a typo, which is why the translation is nonsense. It's basically slang for "f*cking amazing"

[roastbeef]

my google search came back as this;
pretty close to what you look like trailering in into the paddock.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by cngo

There last word is a typo, which is why the translation is nonsense. It's basically slang for "f*cking amazing"

Haha! Thanks for that!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

my google search came back as this;
pretty close to what you look like trailering in into the paddock.
[IMG] https://pic4.zhimg.com/v2-4eaa2473d8...3_1200x500.jpg [/IMG]

hehe yeah, the Benjamins are definitely just flying out the back of my dirty black trailer, and no doubt I have Supreme Dog chillin' in the front seat with with his shades on!

[okusa]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

my google search came back as this;
pretty close to what you look like trailering in into the paddock.

No no no. Opportunity lost. The correct response was "roughly translates to 'my great grandma's rickshaw would have run circles around you.'"

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by okusa

No no no. Opportunity lost. The correct response was "roughly translates to 'my great grandma's rickshaw would have run circles around you.'"

Haha! Yes he totally missed out.

[dogbone]

I just wanted to give a quick shoutout to the boyz at Racewerkz Engineering (builders of my cage). They're doing something pretty cool.

Casey Dennis (owner of Racewerkz) formed a team with Jeff Bader and they're racing in the Blancpain/Pirelli GT World Challenge series this season. The first race is at COTA this weekend.

They committed to the Ginetta G55 platform and they're gonna race in the GT4 West Pro/Am class. Their team is called USRD (US Racing Development), and they're car #5.

The G55 doesn't have a huge foothold yet here in the USA, but it's a pretty interesting car. Very light because it's a tube chassis. They had to add quite a bit of ballast to conform to the series specs. Even with weighing it down and putting a restrictor in, the car is still moving really well during their testing. It put down some solid times at Willow Springs recently.

They actually have two of the G55 cars. Apparently, the second car can be rented.....hmmmmmmmmm hahaha!

Anyway, it's not everyday that a guy like me knows a team in a series like this, so I will be interested to watch and see how they do. The series consists of 10 races. It'll be streaming live on YouTube. Check it out!

[leo95se]

The guy who runs SCDA lives near me and is entering that series with the ginetta as well. Hope the platform takes off, it’s an impressive car!

[ThunderMoose]

Originally Posted by leo95se

The guy who runs SCDA lives near me and is entering that series with the ginetta as well. Hope the platform takes off, it’s an impressive car!

Elivan? Good dude!

[OG Shark]

Originally Posted by dogbone

I just wanted to give a quick shoutout to the boyz at Racewerkz Engineering (builders of my cage). They're doing something pretty cool.

Casey Dennis (owner of Racewerkz) formed a team with Jeff Bader and they're racing in the Blancpain/Pirelli GT World Challenge series this season. The first race is at COTA this weekend.

They committed to the Ginetta G55 platform and they're gonna race in the GT4 West Pro/Am class. Their team is called USRD (US Racing Development), and they're car #5.

The G55 doesn't have a huge foothold yet here in the USA, but it's a pretty interesting car. Very light because it's a tube chassis. They had to add quite a bit of ballast to conform to the series specs. Even with weighing it down and putting a restrictor in, the car is still moving really well during their testing. It put down some solid times at Willow Springs recently.

They actually have two of the G55 cars. Apparently, the second car can be rented.....hmmmmmmmmm hahaha!

Anyway, it's not everyday that a guy like me knows a team in a series like this, so I will be interested to watch and see how they do. The series consists of 10 races. It'll be streaming live on YouTube. Check it out!

Getting ready to head out with the family to COTA to watch practice today. Paddock access is supposed to be awesome & I have two extremely curious rugrats that I will probably have to leash up to keep from sneaking into the cars. We will definitely have to check out the USRD setup.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by jktx

Getting ready to head out with the family to COTA to watch practice today. Paddock access is supposed to be awesome & I have two extremely curious rugrats that I will probably have to leash up to keep from sneaking into the cars. We will definitely have to check out the USRD setup.

Awesome! Definitely check in with those guys. They’re very friendly. I believe they said they’ll have the second G55 out on display.

Have fun!

I was supposed to go to Buttonwillow and do Bimmer Challenge this weekend, but the weather is going to be terrible, so I’m skipping. I’m looking forward to Chuckwalla mid-March with Speed Ventures.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by leo95se

The guy who runs SCDA lives near me and is entering that series with the ginetta as well. Hope the platform takes off, it’s an impressive car!

Ah very cool. Yeah, I think I counted three G55’s in the lineup.

Spoke to Casey briefly this morning. He said the car feels really fast. They’re excited. They were on their way to get all the credentials for everyone this AM.

Cool stuff! Wish I was there to check it out.

(Back when I was younger I used to do tech crew for 24 hour mountain bike racing. Everyone else got to take naps but I was always grinding through the night fixing bikes in the dark, cooking, keeping batteries charged for the headlamps, keeping everyone on schedule, running strategy. Had fun doing that stuff back then. The principles are all the same for endurance car racing.)

[Richbot]

I'm trying to get an enduro seat lined up for this year to do something different. Very amateur compared to anything IMSA or WTCC but it's just so fun and I haven't done a round the clock or even a pit-stop race in AGES. Totally differnt and much more "real world" mindset to the TT/Sprint race mentality that is all about maximum attack

The Ginetta seems like a fantastic platform. There's nothing like a tube chassis for light and low-cost repairs

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Richbot

I'm trying to get an enduro seat lined up for this year to do something different. Very amateur compared to anything IMSA or WTCC but it's just so fun and I haven't done a round the clock or even a pit-stop race in AGES. Totally differnt and much more "real world" mindset to the TT/Sprint race mentality that is all about maximum attack

The Ginetta seems like a fantastic platform. There's nothing like a tube chassis for light and low-cost repairs

Very cool! If you sort it out, check back in and let us know what you're doing! Or wait-----does this mean you're bored with SRF already???....You need the adrenalin to last longer!?----a 24-hour kick?!

[Richbot]

Already...I've had the damn thing for 10 years how much more committed do I have to be to not be considered promiscuous?!

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by Richbot

Already...I've had the damn thing for 10 years how much more committed do I have to be to not be considered promiscuous?!

10 years?! haha I thought maybe you'd only done SRF for a year or two and were looking to branch out.

What are you waiting for then!? Get on it!! Let's hear about this 24-hour Endurance Racing!

[dogbone]

Went to Chuckwalla this weekend on both Sat and Sun with Speed Ventures. It was a weekend of ups and downs. I had tech issues that ended both days early. But I fought some of them off enough to get the result that I wanted. There were no competitions this weekend. Just went out to have fun and hang out with some friends.

I approached Saturday as a practice day. I wanted to get back in the flow of the track. And then Sunday, I hoped the first session could be my best chance of the weekend to go for a new personal best. The weather was around 60ºF in the AM and 80º in the PM.

Saturday started fine. Got in the groove, and on the second session of the day, I ran 1:53.7——within 0.1sec of my best. Was feeling good——having fun. Decided to swap some tires around for the 4th session, and——I had a broken stud—it broke inside the hub…..Ok, no big deal, I’ve had these before. So I jump in there and start trying to deal with it. The damn thing just would not come out. Steve from EAS was there and jumped in, and although I had a bunch of tools——torches, stud pullers, grinding tool trying to etch a notch into the stud——-we got it to budge just a tiny bit and then it locked into place. SO FRUSTRATING. I keep a spare hub in my trailer. So, I pulled the damn hub off there and put in the spare. I missed my last session of the day. So, I looked forward to Sunday, where I hoped in the first session with the cool air, I could make a run for a new best.

Sunday rolls around. I went out first session, and I rolled a new personal best: 1:53.2 on Pirelli scrubs——0.4 sec faster than my previous best. It wasn’t the prettiest driving, but it was enough. The first half of the track, I was driving a bit ham fisted, trying to push the car as hard as I could. Compared to my previous best, I lost a quarter second in that first half of the track. But I pulled it together for a decent second half of the track as I exited the Slide area (Turn 9). I tried again during my second session, but didn’t drive clean. On my third session, I ran into another tech problem—one I could not do anything about. On my first hot lap, I exited the Bowl and lost most of my power, and I could hear a screeching sound every time I pressed the gas pedal. I immediately exited the track. Came into the pits. Looked under the hood. Everything seemed fine. While standing outside the car I pressed the gas pedal and I could see the air intake hose completely collapsing flat when I pressed the gas. Ugh…..day over. This supercharger air intake is such a damn problem……I am now forced to focus on a fix.

On Sunday, before the first session, a dude came over and asked if he could pit behind me and follow me on track—-use me as a rabbit. He has a brand new Corvette race build. Beautiful build. The car weighs 3000lbs, 450whp, full aero and he had sticker A7’s. (Hehe this is not the first time people wanted to use me as a rabbit.) I said sure. So, he chased me and rolled his own new personal best of 1:52.2. Nice.

After looking at the data, I know I can drive a 1:52 on scrubs, and I’m pretty darn sure I could do a 1:51 on new tires. (I always like to have something to look forward to----a future goal.)

Here’s my fast lap:

The odd story of this particular weekend was the——butterflies. Oh man…….the butterflies were out in force……and every car would hit dozens of them in each session. The front of my car was trashed with yellow butterfly impacts. At the end of the weekend, my coolant radiator had dozens of butterflies stuck to it. I’ve never seen such a thing…..



I mentioned that Steve Lee was out there on Saturday. He had a good result with his E36 M3. It was his first time driving in the CW direction. He rolled a 2:00.20. We were looking at the results from the First round of Bimmer Challenge at Chuckwalla CW last month, and it turns out that his lap time would have won B3 Class by 0.06 sec. I think that’s an amazing result for a first time going that direction.

One other interesting note—my friend who has a similar E90 M3 as me——supercharged, JRZ, AP Racing, aero, etc, had never broken a stud before. But he attended Willow Springs with me a few weeks ago and Chuckwalla this weekend. He just started using 305 Pirelli scrubs and had them on at both events and———he broke his first stud on Sunday on the same corner as me——front driver-side……I just don’t think the 12mm studs can handle the strain of the high forces……I think I’m just gonna have to figure out the most practical way to get 14mm studs on the front hubs. I’m not worried about the rear. They can stay 12mm. The Rogue Engineering conversion kit is looking like the most realistic option at the moment.

Anyway, it was a good weekend overall. I had fun hanging out, had fun driving, had a good dinner with friends on Saturday night, got a new personal best....and fought off as many tech issues as I could. And it was nice to see 80ºF temps after the blizzard conditions in Denver last week!

[slicer]

Great lap Gabe! It was nice talking to you. Sorry to hear you had some tech issues but it sounds like an overall successful weekend. I was out in your run group as a passenger in my car (I let a friend drive - he was sidelined due to tech issues with his GTR) and you flew by us in a blaze of glory

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by slicer

Great lap Gabe! It was nice talking to you. Sorry to hear you had some tech issues but it sounds like an overall successful weekend. I was out in your run group as a passenger in my car (I let a friend drive - he was sidelined due to tech issues with his GTR) and you flew by us in a blaze of glory

Hey slicer! Yeah it was nice meeting and chatting with you guys!

Blaze of glory----hahaha-----I don't know about that. But you know, that reminds me-----I've been having really good luck at Speed Ventures events lately. Pretty much everyone is very pleasant on track these days. It makes for nice events when everyone is aware of their surroundings and people are friendly about passing.

I try to be as courteous as I can. You know that Corvette guy I was talking about? When he was chasing me, he was coming closer and closer, and then I got out of the way as he was getting up on me so he wouldn't have to slow down------and that lap ended up being his fast lap.

Anyway, yeah it was a nice weekend. I had planned on going to the Bimmer Challenge at Buttonwillow a couple weeks ago, but the weather kept me away. So, it was nice to be able to get to this one. I don't think my car will be sorted out before the Willow Springs Bimmer Challenge in early April......ah well....

[slicer]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Hey slicer! Yeah it was nice meeting and chatting with you guys!

Blaze of glory----hahaha-----I don't know about that. But you know, that reminds me-----I've been having really good luck at Speed Ventures events lately. Pretty much everyone is very pleasant on track these days. It makes for nice events when everyone is aware of their surroundings and people are friendly about passing.

I try to be as courteous as I can. You know that Corvette guy I was talking about? When he was chasing me, he was coming closer and closer, and then I got out of the way as he was getting up on me so he wouldn't have to slow down------and that lap ended up being his fast lap.

Anyway, yeah it was a nice weekend. I had planned on going to the Bimmer Challenge at Buttonwillow a couple weeks ago, but the weather kept me away. So, it was nice to be able to get to this one. I don't think my car will be sorted out before the Willow Springs Bimmer Challenge in early April......ah well....

Me too actually. I was frustrated with SV in the past. Too many cars, too much chaos. Lately it as been great. I was very happy with the group there on Saturday.

[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.

BTW: 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.

Between that set and the craftsman thread chaser kit, they're both lifesavers at the track and in your home garage.

Craftsman thread chaser set