TC535i
08-13-2006, 11:06 PM
I drove my '92 318is for this... bought the car for $2600, it's been a fun project. :)
Everything showed up like it was supposed to by Thursday night, thank god. Installed the coilovers in the parking lot at work on Friday, and had time to shower before getting to my 4pm alignment appointment. Had the car set up to my specs... wanted whatever camber I got in the front (non-adjustable), and about .5 degree less negative in the back. Slight bit of toe in up front, and a little more in the rear. Took it to Stokes Tire in Santa Monica, and the tech John Jr. took care of me. After a little confusion after I got back when he was just finishing (he had me slightly toed out up front, I wanted a little in), we finalized on some numbers, I got a printout, and drove away happy. With the coilovers set about halfway down in front and full low in back (not all that low on 600lb springs), I did -3 degrees camber on each front wheel with just a touch of toe in, and -2.5 degrees camber out back with a little more toe. Great guys, owner races, they'll take care of you just how you want.
Buttonwillow Saturday was a goddamn blast. Even tho my brakes were totally cooked, I was still able to drive it reasonably hard and get to know the new suspension setup. I tried running firmer adjustments on the shocks up front, but that ended up giving me some oversteer exiting sharp corners. Set em both to around 1/2 firm, and it felt pretty good... need to dial out the sway bars tho, a little softer in the rear I think.
I was talking to a guy with an E46... this thing was crazy. 240whp supercharged/intercooled 325, gutted interior, welded roll cage, full-on touchscreen data aquisition. This thing told him how fast he was going in each turn, all sorts of info. Phenominal setup, the guy was an engineer, did it all himself. Take a look at his website... especially read the entry for Aug 11/12 at Buttonwillow.
http://www.vsengineeringtrack.com
Anyhow, I heard the organizers were lending out lap timers, and I'd never really known what kind of times I was running, so I asked to borrow one and he helped me set it up. Ran it on my session around noon or so. Afterwards, I couldn't figure out how to get it to read back times, so I went to ask him. He pulls up my lap times and starts flipping thru them... best one I pulled was a 2:21.69 or so. I asked him how that compared to the faster cars, and he looked confused. Turns out the best time he ran out there all day was a 2:20.241. I guess the free-eighteen held its own alright! :D
I was pretty much neck and neck with a yellow Elise. If I let him by, he couldn't get past me... if he let me by, I couldn't pull from him. Turns out those things are about the same hp I'm putting down (he had maybe 5-10 more, probably even more as my s/c heatsoked), and weigh 1000 lbs less. He thought my car was an M3, he had the best look on his face when he found out I was actually making less power than him.
All in all a great day, save a few agricultural expeditions. :p Twice I had no brake, and the last time, I was looking at the lap timer, and looked up as I was running out of track. My pads are TOTALLY shot (about the width of a quarter), and I'm gonna need to step up from the Ultimates to a real performance pad, I was smoking the Ultimates within 2 laps. Probably a Hawk HP10 or something. Maybe stainless lines, and I REALLY need a rebuild, the fronts are definitely dragging. Thinking about a 330 upgrade, dunno if I want to drop the cash tho. Gotta flip my tires too, the outsides are totally rounded and lumpy, the insides have a great sidewall/edge and lots of rubber left.
Cliff Notes: Driving fast is AWESOME. The free-eighteen is decent, for an overweight, underpowered beater.
Everything showed up like it was supposed to by Thursday night, thank god. Installed the coilovers in the parking lot at work on Friday, and had time to shower before getting to my 4pm alignment appointment. Had the car set up to my specs... wanted whatever camber I got in the front (non-adjustable), and about .5 degree less negative in the back. Slight bit of toe in up front, and a little more in the rear. Took it to Stokes Tire in Santa Monica, and the tech John Jr. took care of me. After a little confusion after I got back when he was just finishing (he had me slightly toed out up front, I wanted a little in), we finalized on some numbers, I got a printout, and drove away happy. With the coilovers set about halfway down in front and full low in back (not all that low on 600lb springs), I did -3 degrees camber on each front wheel with just a touch of toe in, and -2.5 degrees camber out back with a little more toe. Great guys, owner races, they'll take care of you just how you want.
Buttonwillow Saturday was a goddamn blast. Even tho my brakes were totally cooked, I was still able to drive it reasonably hard and get to know the new suspension setup. I tried running firmer adjustments on the shocks up front, but that ended up giving me some oversteer exiting sharp corners. Set em both to around 1/2 firm, and it felt pretty good... need to dial out the sway bars tho, a little softer in the rear I think.
I was talking to a guy with an E46... this thing was crazy. 240whp supercharged/intercooled 325, gutted interior, welded roll cage, full-on touchscreen data aquisition. This thing told him how fast he was going in each turn, all sorts of info. Phenominal setup, the guy was an engineer, did it all himself. Take a look at his website... especially read the entry for Aug 11/12 at Buttonwillow.
http://www.vsengineeringtrack.com
Anyhow, I heard the organizers were lending out lap timers, and I'd never really known what kind of times I was running, so I asked to borrow one and he helped me set it up. Ran it on my session around noon or so. Afterwards, I couldn't figure out how to get it to read back times, so I went to ask him. He pulls up my lap times and starts flipping thru them... best one I pulled was a 2:21.69 or so. I asked him how that compared to the faster cars, and he looked confused. Turns out the best time he ran out there all day was a 2:20.241. I guess the free-eighteen held its own alright! :D
I was pretty much neck and neck with a yellow Elise. If I let him by, he couldn't get past me... if he let me by, I couldn't pull from him. Turns out those things are about the same hp I'm putting down (he had maybe 5-10 more, probably even more as my s/c heatsoked), and weigh 1000 lbs less. He thought my car was an M3, he had the best look on his face when he found out I was actually making less power than him.
All in all a great day, save a few agricultural expeditions. :p Twice I had no brake, and the last time, I was looking at the lap timer, and looked up as I was running out of track. My pads are TOTALLY shot (about the width of a quarter), and I'm gonna need to step up from the Ultimates to a real performance pad, I was smoking the Ultimates within 2 laps. Probably a Hawk HP10 or something. Maybe stainless lines, and I REALLY need a rebuild, the fronts are definitely dragging. Thinking about a 330 upgrade, dunno if I want to drop the cash tho. Gotta flip my tires too, the outsides are totally rounded and lumpy, the insides have a great sidewall/edge and lots of rubber left.
Cliff Notes: Driving fast is AWESOME. The free-eighteen is decent, for an overweight, underpowered beater.