135i Race Car Project Thread - 1Addicts.com riding on board

[Olivier_TFE]

Hi Scott,

Did you have any mecanic problem with your 135i?
All right?

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by Olivier_TFE

Hi Scott,

Did you have any mecanic problem with your 135i?
All right?

Other than the brembo sourced front brakes not being quite up to the task and managing the engine temperature (as the car has gotten faster, we have to run the heater on full blast to keep the water temp down), mechanically so far nothing has broken.

[scottn2retro]

Between Road Atlanta and Willow Springs, the car was on display in the AAPEX hall during SEMA week in Las Vegas

[scottn2retro]

Ralph finished his National Championship season at Willow Springs after a year of setting 6 new H-Stock track records. Not too shabby.

[Trier Germany]

Awesome story! Great build wish you the best of luck on the upcoming season.

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by Trier Germany

Awesome story! Great build wish you the best of luck on the upcoming season.

Thanks. We'll be working with Eibach this year to see what kind of improved suspension we can develop for the car.

[tbird]

Racing Noob here with a question.

Are you going to be in any race that is close to South Florida? Homestead or Orlando or Daytona? I would absolutely love to see that car on the track!

Thanks.

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by tbird

Racing Noob here with a question.

Are you going to be in any race that is close to South Florida? Homestead or Orlando or Daytona? I would absolutely love to see that car on the track!

Thanks.

I don't anticipate going to Florida with it unless a BMW Club Oktoberfest race is there in the next few years. This year, the big race is at Road America in Wisconsin. I don't know the O'fest locations for the years after that. If we get our Grand Am Cup racing effort going, we'll be in Florida, but with an e90 sedan.

[tbird]

Ok. Too bad, it would be nice to see a 1 on the Homestead or Sebring tracks. So far, an E92 M3 and a 6Series.

[scottn2retro]

Hi All -

You'll read about it in an upcoming issue of the Roundel, but in the March races at PIR, Ralph struck again in the wet.

It had been raining all morning, and with full tread Nitto NT01s, Ralph had put the 135 on the pole during qualifying. But then for the hour or two before lunch, it poured like back when we were at Watkins Glen. Just a desert deluge. It stopped raining before the cars took the track for the afternoon race, but there was runoff water everywhere on the track (rivers going across the track in some spots). Again, on the full tread NT01s, Ralph was able to take the field win (with a stock class car!) in the Sunday afternoon race.

Weather was great on Saturday

[larryn]

That's AWESOME, Scott!

I often think about (and continue to feel bad), remembering having to leave that Sunday at about noon at the Glen.. taking the Chapter's canopies with us in the pouring rain.

That car and Ralph are animals in rain!!!

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by larryn

That's AWESOME, Scott!

I often think about (and continue to feel bad), remembering having to leave that Sunday at about noon at the Glen.. taking the Chapter's canopies with us in the pouring rain.

That car and Ralph are animals in rain!!!

No problem - we loaded up under the front straight grandstands like a lot of other people. The problem at WG was, even with cover overhead, there was so much water running across the surface of the parking lot, it didn't matter. So under the grandstands was about the only place with dry ground.

As we continue to evolve the car, we're trying this year with no rear sway bar. So we took the grinder with a cutting wheel (still was a PITA to get out) and removed the rear sway bar. Our thinking is, it is so small, it's not doing a lot to keep the car from rolling over, but when it does body roll, it will just try to lift the inside wheel. So we'll see if this helps keep both rear wheels down better (and Ralph has the ability to drive a car with a lot of body roll and still go fast)

So out with the 'Paper Clip' rear sway bar (look at the diameter compared to the end links)

[scottn2retro]

For the upcoming races at Buttonwillow (April 17/18), we're going to be trying Titanium pad shims from Ti Speed:
http://www.tispeed.com/
135 Front shims:
http://tispeed.com/index.php?main_pa...products_id=92

[Olivier_TFE]

Very interesting!

Do you think we can put it with the pads Brembo or Project Mü, or only with the Hawks?

The rear shim 135i does not exist?

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by Olivier_TFE

Very interesting!

Do you think we can put it with the pads Brembo or Project Mü, or only with the Hawks?

The rear shim 135i does not exist?

The shim is generic and can be used with any pads. The rear brakes don't really need them.

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by Olivier_TFE

Very interesting!

Here are comments from driver Ralph Warren after using the Titanium backing plates at Buttonwillow and Auto Club Speedway:


“With the TI Speed backing plates installed, we noticed overall improved braking performance in the H-Stock 135i car immediately. With one of the heaviest and most powerful cars in BMW CCA Club Racing, brak performance is very important to us. Although our Hawk DTC-70 brake pads handle the heat quite well, we now have less fade, lower caliper temps, shorter braking distances, more driver confidence and the pads last longer.”

[xbook]

Scott,

I saw you guys set up over in the Club Racing garages, but I was so busy with Tire Rack school & Car Control, I just couldn't break away and say hi. I saw your driver pulling off of the track after Race 1 and he was pumping his fists. Did you guys win? How did the whole weekend go for you guys?

[Olivier_TFE]

Thanks, Scott!

I'll go to put them in my car...

[scottn2retro]

Originally Posted by xbook

Scott,

I saw you guys set up over in the Club Racing garages, but I was so busy with Tire Rack school & Car Control, I just couldn't break away and say hi. I saw your driver pulling off of the track after Race 1 and he was pumping his fists. Did you guys win? How did the whole weekend go for you guys?

Any weekend we can come home from Cal Speedway with the cars in one piece is a good weekend. I have always said that if I can build a car that can withstand Cal Speedway, it will hold up to any other track that we see.

I think Ralph was encouraged by how the car was handling and the brakes holding up. We already have the class track records there and it wasn't a good weekend for trying to set new records, but it was a good weekend as we learn more before going to Road America in August.

[scottn2retro]

Hi guys -

In between PIR and the races at Buttonwillow and Cal Speedway, Ralph took the 135i to the opneing of the new Chuckwalla Raceway in Desert Center in California. Could be a scenic track:

[scottn2retro]

More from Cal Speedway:

[Olivier_TFE]

Nice! Nice!