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      11-07-2012, 02:40 AM   #17
splitsecond
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Drives: 135i
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Location: St. Louis

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2008 BMW 135i  [0.00]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freon View Post
I'll preface this by saying nothing magical happens when you hit a perfect 50/50. The car is only a few points off from the factory. Lowering the weight of the entire car still helps acceleration, braking, and cornering. I'm not even sure 50/50 is "perfect". I'd probably rather have slightly more weight over the drive wheels.
Yeah, I don't think anybody said that 50/50 is "perfect." That's why Porsche still puts their engine in the back.



Quote:
ER has a front widebody kit that is available in dry carbon fiber that will shave a few pounds plus let you run wider tires in the front. It's pricey, but what do you expect? You shouldn't be worrying about 2-3% weight distribution if you aren't running 265-285mm front tires already.
Yeah, we mentioned that a few times in this thread. I agree that the benefit of wider tires is much more significant, but part of the reason I'm thinking about weight distribution is so that it can help me decide which widebody kit to buy. If 20 lbs off the front-end (which will shift you from 52.3% to 52%) won't make a noticeable difference, then I won't spend the extra money for a carbon fiber frontend... of course, CF will still help you lose overall weight, but I think there are lots of other things that are more cost-effective for overall speed.


Quote:
I would not recommend replacing the factory crash beam in the front unless you have a purely race-only track car with a cage and whatnot. At that point, you can also remove the air conditioning, which is many pounds of aluminum, the pump, line, all the coolant, etc., and the stereo, and probably gut the dash, remove the airbag, and soforth.
Agreed, but I don't think anybody suggested that possibility...


Quote:
In reality, something tells me the people who are worrying about weight balance in this thread don't have any other more worthwhile upgrades yet. You should get a wheel and tire package, a tune, M3 suspension upgrades, coilovers, etc. way before you try to make up that few percent of weight distribution up. Those will return you a much faster car for far less money that some obtuse goal of having a particular weight balance number.
FYI, I already have lightweight wheels, upgraded suspension, JB4 with other supporting power mods, sway bars, etc. The only thing left over is M3 suspension upgrades, which is also on the list.


I think I might not have been clear with my initial intent. I didn't mean to say "a magical number will make my car go faster." I meant to say "while I'm in the process of doing other things to my car, how helpful would it be to also try to aim for that magical number?" For instance, I'm avoiding heavy subwoofers because of the increase in overall weight, but if the improvement in weight distribution might have a secondary benefit, it might be nice. And if 20 lbs of weight distribution was useful, I might spend the extra money to get a CF widebody kit and/or hood.

But anyway... an interesting discussion regardles.
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2008 135i Montego Blue sport pkg, premium pkg, Logic 7 sound, iDrive/Nav
Mods completed: JB4+ & FBO || LSD || BMW-P suspension + F/R sway bars || 18" Breyton GTS-R || M3 front bushings || Vogtland camber plates || BMW-P rotors + Stoptech pads |||| Acquired, not installed: BMS WW Meth kit || Logic HVI intake || Mishimoto OCC |||| Shopping for: Summer tires
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