Car: N55 135i MHD Stage 2+ shelf tune
Track: Palmer Motorsports
Configuration: CC
Lap Time: 1:52.730
Tires: 255/40-17 Hankook Z221 (C31) & 275/40/17 hankook Z214 (C51)
Brakes: Stoptech sport front and M3 OE brakes Rear
Suspension: 6k/16k OE front sway & E92 M3 rear sway
Weather: 58F and overcast/rainy
Video:
Spent the first ~5-10min just trying to get heat into these hard compound tires (C31 compound is meant for 90f+). They never really picked up more than 2psi pressure or heat across the entire 20min session. Final lap was by far the best grip and it showed on the clock. I am confident I can drop another 3-4s off this time on a sunny 70F day. I also made a ton of changes to the car this past winter and really had to re-learn my driving style.
Lots of heavy trail-braking in this video to keep the car stable. Tossing the car too hard into corners seems to be bottoming out the rear suspension and upsetting the car but with the trail-braking it was extremely well planted even with low tire grip. I need to shorten my rear strut length to increase bump travel, but I am not so sure the car will react well to having less droop travel. Teh E92 M3 bar seems to be picking up the inside wheel more than before.
Overall, I felt way more in control of the car in that my INPUTS were dictating the cars behavior and balance. In the past, I was kind of just tossing the car into corners and POWERING through them with the throttle (lots of tire wear and slow on the clock). With this setup, I can't really apply throttle until I begin unwinding the wheel (of course maintenance throttle is used).
Not too many other videos of 135i's running Palmer it's an amazing track! I've seen the fully fitted SEMA RAZE/Revosport 1M run it in around ~1:48 (I need some 305 wide tires too lol). Here is also a vid of another 135i doing it in 1:52.79. Not sure if either of them are on the forums:
Some more awesome video on this track of an M2 and a 1M running it in around ~1:53 (starts around the 15 minute mark):