Just because it's car related... my track day at Buttonwillow 8/11/06

[TC535i]

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 . 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!


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. 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.

[Gayle]

I drove my '92 318is for this... bought the car for $2600, it's been a fun project.




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.


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.

That's awesome! Thanks for the detailed description. I love write ups that make it like you are there.

I thought Crazy Kim was going with you. How did she do given that she really does have an M3 engine?

The brakes sound scary. No pics of the agricultural detours?

[TC535i]

That's awesome! Thanks for the detailed description. I love write ups that make it like you are there.

I thought Crazy Kim was going with you. How did she do given that she really does have an M3 engine?

The brakes sound scary. No pics of the agricultural detours?

Kim was there in her car. She was a bit nervous at the beginning of the day. I was running her down pretty hard, and she couldn't figure out why her car wasn't pulling hard on me. I had a new coilover suspension, but even with her setup, she should have been giving me more trouble... but I kept coming thru turns and having to back off, carrying more speed than her and coming up on her fast.

She got really rattled, and started wondering what she was doing wrong... and the nervousness just added to the problem. Finally, she checked the tires... when the place had flipped em on the rim last week, they just filled em up with air... and she had forgotten about that rotation and never checked them. They were running about 44-45 psi hot, which is about 5-6 psi more than those tires like. Once she fixed that, she got more confidence in her car, and her laps got quicker. I didn't end up around her on the track later in the day, but she said she was doing much better.


Brakes are toast... I'm glad they made it thru the day, I had to back off there at the end. I need to figure out if I'm upgrading or staying stock size quick, I don't have much time left.


No pics yet, buddy with an SLR came out with us and took some pics, tho I doubt he got any of my off-roading experiences... I'll post some pics up when I get em tho.

[Gayle]

Kim is such a car babe. You lucked out with her.

When are you going back to buttonwillow?

[TC535i]

Kim is such a car babe. You lucked out with her.

When are you going back to buttonwillow?

Buttonwillow, not sure. Willow Springs may be in 2 weeks or a month, depending on other commitments, funding, etc... we'll see!

[genphreak]

Farout. Reading that makes (even) me want to go racing...

Thankz TC535!

[TC535i]

Farout. Reading that makes (even) me want to go racing...

Thankz TC535!

First trackday I ever did was in my E34...

[Martin in Bellevue]

Tim, the puget sound cca classifieds sometines sees e36 m3 brakes. Those guys are very active in upgrades. There's aguy on there now looking for brembo pads for his e36. He may have the stock stuff sitting under a workbench.

http://www.bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?f=10

[TC535i]

Tim, the puget sound cca classifieds sometines sees e36 m3 brakes. Those guys are very active in upgrades. There's aguy on there now looking for brembo pads for his e36. He may have the stock stuff sitting under a workbench.

http://www.bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/forumdisplay.php?f=10

Thanks Martin... E36 M3 swap is a HUGE pain in the ass tho. Have to change out the front spindle to run those brakes, and the rears are even worse, involving different halfshafts, diff, etc etc. E46 330 bits are a simple caliper/carrier swap... much more desireable, and pretty much the same size as the ///M stuff.

[Jeff N.]

That 318 is a momentum car. Don't hit the brakes and all will be fine.

Thanks Martin... E36 M3 swap is a HUGE pain in the ass tho. Have to change out the front spindle to run those brakes, and the rears are even worse, involving different halfshafts, diff, etc etc. E46 330 bits are a simple caliper/carrier swap... much more desireable, and pretty much the same size as the ///M stuff.