1m @ Autocross

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by mattm

I'm still looking for lighter weight wheels matching the OEM sizes. Are the M3 offsets the same as the 1M?

I believe they are... sorry.. I am not much help... I went and bought wheels on a deal... LOL The last group buy was only on the 18x10s... At the worst though... I could pick up a set of narrower fronts and have two sets of rear tires...With my last car I had 12 of the same wheel... (Kosei K-1s) My friend Ken has several sets of wheels, and an E92M3 sedan.... so we are going to play in the driveway soon.. Like you... I'd like to put the widest set I can on the car that I reasonably can do... I also would prefer to go with a square setup... both for rotating tires... and also to reduce any initial understeer...

[M3 Adjuster]

times updated in post 19

[m3kerry]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

I was able to take my car to the Lone Star chapter autocross at Mineral Wells yesterday. We had a low turnout of 24 cars.... and I am happy to say that my car placed 3rd, 5th, and 9th...

WTF? you ask? With the low turnout... we gave everyone TEN runs. We probably could have done TWELVE actually....

Well... i drove the car to a 9th place finish with a 97.305... For those of you that attended the ofest Autocross... the surface at Mineral Wells is even more abrasive than Regions park... So I'll admit... I totally wasn't driving 100% as I could feel dollar bills flying off my tires as i drove! I also absolutely hated the SCCA style course that was designed for this event ( Nothing chaps my ass more than an SCCA style course at a BMW event ..) so I drove only 7 runs, after securing a half second lead .... I then watched the nearest competitor in my class to make sure he didn't beat me.... and he didn't.. so I saved my tires... It also didn't help that I didn't push the M button (DOH!) on my afternoon runs..

At any rate.... Since this was my FIRST autocross this year in my own vehicle... and I had borrowed rides all season to this point..... I let two friends run my car as well as I owe them both many runs.. The two friends are actually having their own unique challenge... they both run in our class E..... One (Michael) in a 135 with BMW performance suspension and the other (Matt) with an E36 M3 with aftermarket suspension... Both on street tires.... I belive both are running Direzza Star specs.. possible in the same sizes..

All three of us are committee members... and Matt and Michael figured it would be fun to see who is the better driver by sharing their cars all year. We typically run 8 runs... So they normally split runs 4 in their own car and 4 in the other owner's car... This fun challenge is to show the better driver.. and also help us confirm our points structure/placing of models in each class.


Matt started off in his E36 M3... He is a very consistent driver, and typically only drops a second during an eight run event. He drove the morning five runs in his E36 M3.. dropping from 95.770 to 94.532. In the afternoon he drove Michaels 135 for three runs... Starting out of the box faster than his E36 with a 94.282 and then to a 93.528 and then to 93.454. Finallly.. he took two runs in my car... 93.301 and then 92.549... and he felt he hadn't gotten all out of the car.

Michael drove his 135 in the morning... He has been autocrossing for about 3-4 years, but can be inconsistent. On this day, he also struggled with the course...He sufferred two DNFs, then a 97.835 and then dropped to a 97.225 in his car. Frustrated with his car, especially in comparison to Matt. who out of the box drove three seconds faster than Michael in the 135 .... Michael jumped into my 1M for all five of his afternoon runs and immediately threw down a 95.465 (two seconds better than he had done in his 135!) and two runs later dropped to a 94.309.. nearly three full seconds faster than he had driven in his own 135... the last two runs his times rose.

So .. on this 90 second course..
1) An inconsistent driver that is a 135 owner dropped 3 seconds going to the 1M..
2) An E36 M3 owner dropped nearly a second from his E36M3 to the 135 and then another second going to 1M.

Both drivers noticed a big reduction in turbo lag from the 135 to the 1M, and also indicated the differential was a major factor in the 1Ms advantage.

Tire pressures on the 1M were 36psi all around (hot). Absolutely zero science on the PSI.. just providing data.
The door sticker recommended pressures are 35psi.

FTD was a 90.679 in a Mitsubishi Evo on Dunlop Direzzas

What is the setup on the m3. If it has camber, springs, coil overs etc... And both cars are on street tires, I would think the e36 should be the better car on a scca autox course. On a BMWcca course that sections that allow 100 mph, like the last time I drove there, then the 1m should have the upper hand.

[Fundahl]

Massive low-end torque is what made my 135i so potent in its class. I think front camber plates + Hoosier A6s, CP-E downpipes and catless mid-pipes on the 1M will really make a badass autox car.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by m3kerry

What is the setup on the m3. If it has camber, springs, coil overs etc... And both cars are on street tires, I would think the e36 should be the better car on a scca autox course. On a BMWcca course that sections that allow 100 mph, like the last time I drove there, then the 1m should have the upper hand.

This course was a second gear course mostly... with a fast third gear course.
Actually.. the E36 was limited a bit by gearing, being at the top of the rev range in second... whereas the 135 and 1M can go beyond 60 mph in second gear. The E36 has coilovers, camber plates and chip.. as you would expect. And yes, I can pretty much guarantee you that the E36 owner would have said the same thing, before he drove all three cars back to back to back.... And that is of course knowing the 135.. as he has co-driven it all year.. This was our eighth event of the season.

as far as BMWCCA classing, I must say that the Houston chapter placing thje 1M at the top of Class E seemed a bit low... and after seeing the performance potential of it, we will be moving the 1M to class F immediately....

[m3kerry]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

This course was a second gear course mostly... with a fast third gear course.
Actually.. the E36 was limited a bit by gearing, being at the top of the rev range in second... whereas the 135 and 1M can go beyond 60 mph in second gear. The E36 has coilovers, camber plates and chip.. as you would expect. And yes, I can pretty much guarantee you that the E36 owner would have said the same thing, before he drove all three cars back to back to back.... And that is of course knowing the 135.. as he has co-driven it all year.. This was our eighth event of the season.

as far as BMWCCA classing, I must say that the Houston chapter placing thje 1M at the top of Class E seemed a bit low... and after seeing the performance potential of it, we will be moving the 1M to class F immediately....

I need to see if Robert will bring the e36 m3 out to the next auto cross to see this. The setup and weight should worth anything the 1m has is power. I will be really pleased if it can beat a fully prepped stu m3 with just the stock setup on a scca course.

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

This course was a second gear course mostly... with a fast third gear course.
Actually.. the E36 was limited a bit by gearing, being at the top of the rev range in second... whereas the 135 and 1M can go beyond 60 mph in second gear. The E36 has coilovers, camber plates and chip.. as you would expect. And yes, I can pretty much guarantee you that the E36 owner would have said the same thing, before he drove all three cars back to back to back.... And that is of course knowing the 135.. as he has co-driven it all year.. This was our eighth event of the season.

as far as BMWCCA classing, I must say that the Houston chapter placing thje 1M at the top of Class E seemed a bit low... and after seeing the performance potential of it, we will be moving the 1M to class F immediately....

We have the stock e9x M3 at the top of our E class as well, so I don't feel we've underclassed the 1M by putting it in E. Potential can be limited by varying the course setup throughout the season as it is rare to find one car being best at everything with exception to a modded e36 M3 coupe or Miata.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

We have the stock e9x M3 at the top of our E class as well, so I don't feel we've underclassed the 1M by putting it in E. Potential can be limited by varying the course setup throughout the season as it is rare to find one car being best at everything with exception to a modded e36 M3 coupe or Miata.

Just went and looked at your points structure.. and it looks like Houston's has been revised.. A few years ago.. our chapters were nearly identical... but currently that's not the case.. I see that the 1M is listed as 15 points higher than the 135... and three pthat makes good sense to me.. I was thinking that the points classes so strike my previous comments about E class for Htown CCA..... I definitely agree that the E9x M3 and the 1M should be about the same points level and see that the 1M is actually 3 points highter than the E92 M3 coupe.. I do however think the E90/92 with competiton package is rated a little too high.. the 1M has the same wheel and tires setup... less weight... i don't think the fru-fru EDC is a big advantage such that it would put it higher than the 1M.