The spool is so quick and power delivery is very smooth, almost look like a big NA engine.

 

Aw man, I hope that's a big foam barrier and not a concrete barrier, right where the course seems to be upsetting your car.

 

Thankfully its a filled with Hay/Straw. Thats the chicane and which blind, bumpy and high speed. A lot people flip there and that hay barrel was put there this event help "prevent" mishaps on that section. I think its slowing me down a bit since I have to brake there where as before without the barrier i only lifted.

 

Very nice car and very nice driving.

 

Flew to LA for a weekend getaway and also for a practice track day at Buttonwillow to prepare for the upcoming Superlap Battle timeattack.

The car has received a few upgrades since my last track day.
Mainly, the Ohlin DFV Flagship series (12k/12k swift springs and corner balanced by Platte Forme ag). Took a few sessions to get them ~70% dialed in. I definitely need to raise the spring rates to 14k/14k.

For much of the morning I was running a consistent 2:00.xx flat at Buttonwillow, a far gap from my goal of 1:56 which is around where the Enthusiast class time attack record sits. Posted a 1:58.8 by the last session with the shock compression turned up. After dialing in the shocks, refreshing the brakes and shaking off my rusty driving I believe I should be able to bring the time down to 1:56.xx

Now the major hold back is my braking. The Hawk HP+ pads don't completely fade with my M2 AP racing bbk, but they are not consistent enough to confidently get deep into the braking zones. My brake points were extremely conservative. I am having a hard time finding more aggressive/quality pads for these older CP5200 calipers. My rotors are also shot.

 

Just finished the Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle yesterday.

Had an interesting experience. Was not able to make it to Wednesdays test day to continue dialing in the suspension/chassis. I had originally developed my car as an "Enthusiast Class" contender. To my surprise, GTA changed the tire regulations from 140 treadwear tires to 220 treadwear. My Zii's are 200 treadwear. This bumped me up into Street Class, which allows for much more AERO, weight reduction, E85, AI, widebody, etc and 140 treadwear tires. Nonetheless, I still had a blast and managed to secure 4th place.

Edit; Forgot to mention that as per rules, I had to have a catalytic converter. I installed a high flow metallic cat in a 3 inch pettit resonated MP. It blew out after 1 session lol

Video: Only managed to get the early run which was embelished with debri and red flags. There was a bunch of dirt kicked over by Buttonhook (tight 2nd gear right hand turn) which always resulted in a slide. Jump to 7:24 to see the big slide in the sweeper


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1KY...ature=youtu.be




The Spoon team managed to break the unlimited FWD record

 

Man that sweeper looks like a lot of fun.

what make you want to get stiffer springs?

you still happy with your wheels and tire setup?

 

Car is still leaning a bit too much. I would like to lower the car a hair more also. I am being rather picky, I could still run a 1:56 as is at buttonwillow just by improving my driving. The Dunlops are good street track tires but not the best. RS3's should be about .5-1 sec faster and the new RE71r's will prob be 1.5-2 seconds faster.

I would like to buy 10.5 inch rims square and fit 285's all around. With wider RE71r rubber, stiffer springs I could run a 1:54ish. Still a far bit away from the 1:49 Street class record. Ill need to run a bunch of aero and drop some weight. Not sure I want to do that to this FD so I may just buy some 220 tread tires and run Enthusiast class next year.

 

Video looks great Armen. Running right on the ragged edge in many sections. Impressive driving!

 

Thanks, I managed to shed 2 seconds during the latter sessions by pushing it even more on the high speed sections. As Randy Pobst said, driving your car fast is driving on the limit of traction EVERYWHERE.

 

Great save on the right hand sweeper!!

 

It was fun
Im upset I didnt get my last session on video. I really got the car near its absolute limit

 

I've been struggling with the idea of making my FD a track car and ended up buying an e46 m3 for track duty. How much maintenance has been required to keep your FD competitive on the track?

 

Besides the usuals i.e oil change before each event, transmission/diff fluid every 4-7events depending on ambient temps, etc.. All is typical of any track car. My trans and carbonetic carbon lsd have been trouble free even without extra cooling (street tires help with that). Heat management is a big difference vs other cars. Not really maintenance but its an added cost for a quality vmount, big oil coolers, ducting. My engine has been the most reliable component and I have one of the simplest setups compared to some ppl on this board. PFC 14-15psi, pump gas, NO AI, old school bosch injectors, pre-mix. Power is not an issue. 350whp is plenty competitive for lower class but for higher street tire classes with Aero you could use 400whp to stay competitive with the vettes, supercharged/turbo s2k's or frs's. Cars are getting faster and lap records are being broken each year. I've been making 350-400whp last 5 years and ive never damaged my engine even without any fancy E85, Water/meth injection. I tune my car rich ~high 10's afr.

Tire wear on the FD will be 50% better vs your M3 and so is brake wear. I do dry out my tires before they wear to the bars and keeping your rubber fresh is key to staying competitive. The big boys at time attacks bring several sets to each event which is a bit ridiculous lol. Another plus for the FD is its chassis durability. We dont have cracking subframe or shock tower issues like many BMW's do. A simple diff brace/trans brace is all we need to protect the ppf. We also have the luxury of having high oem alignment adjustability.

 

You can say that again, my m3 is currently in the shop getting the floor replaced . PPI missed spring perch and trunk tears... Amazing how weak that chassis is considering its heftiness.

Thank you for the info though, I'm sure others following this thread can be more reassured about their setups with that post as well. Do you ever run at VIR?

 

Its on my bucket list to bring my FD to VIR one day. I do have my E39 M5 with me here in DC. Its no track car but I may sign up for a multi-day event this coming spring at VIR which is about 5 hours away. Im seriously scared to track the old BMW though, even if I "take it easy" which im sure will end up a drift session in that car.

 

Hey great videos!

 

Great vids! I used to go to BW a few times per year in the late 90s, and loved it. Same track configuration too, though I'm sure it took me twice as long to lap, lol. Please keep posting the track footage!

 

Appreciate the kind words everyone.


I recently converted my EWG 8374 to an IWG setup. Simply to have a more simply and durable setup given how I drive the car. Its creeping a little, im hitting 16.5ish psi on the top end on cooler days but I am tuned safely for it on pump gas. I plan on adding water injection and calling it a day. My ACT HD clutch prob cant handle anything more, but eventually ill go with the extreme clutch and try tuning for 20psi.

Car feels more responsive and faster. Sounds pretty different also.. louder on WOT (I like it) No track days for me until May/June unfortunately.

Here is a vid I took driving by Angeles Crest. Car feels good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTm9...ature=youtu.be

 

what made u want to go WI?

 

If my boost was stable at 15-16psi I wouldnt bother with WI but now I am creeping a little and its possible on a cold night it my hit 18ishpsi. Its too risky for me, even with a safe tune, so ill just throw on a basic WI kit as a safe guard.

 

Beautiful and BEAST.

 

OMG, that boost response is incredible....really makes me want to ditch my twins now :/. Very inspiring thread.

Hmm

EDIT:

In comparison, here's mine. 12 psi on stock twins, rock solid tune but maybe 300 rwhp tops and that's pushing it heat wise :/

 

^ nice driving. Wished i could find a rd like that around here with no traffic

 

Looks fun! Cars handling nice and sometimes having less power in the canyons is more enjoyable. Good driving there also