Track Build (Weight Reduction, HPDE)

[spxxx]

Had fluid over heating issues at GTA last weekend so I've gone crazy with coolers. Car is at my Indy getting new OEM turbos right now while the UPS deliveries pile up.

Running with Nasa next weekend at Thunderhill, hope the new cooling cores keep the car happy.

[spxxx]

Pics of my sexy new cooling tools

[mabrahams]

The CSF rad is the same dimensions as the stock unit?

[Ginger_Extract]

Originally Posted by mabrahams

The CSF rad is the same dimensions as the stock unit?

No, core is larger. About 25% more volume, IIRC. Exact dimensions are on their site. It's a great unit, my water temps haven't gone over 205F (t-stat value) since installing it years ago.

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by Ginger_Extract

No, core is larger. About 25% more volume, IIRC. Exact dimensions are on their site. It's a great unit, my water temps haven't gone over 205F (t-stat value) since installing it years ago.

Great to hear, this combined with the 10 row tranny cooler and 34 row oil cooler should be sufficient... If not I'm selling my E46 and picking up an E9X M3 since they're so cheap now.

Just swap my upgrades over to the M3 and DD the 135.

[spxxx]

Also... Running Nasa this weekend at Thunderhill sunning the turbos are done, will be fun to see how this compares to the TT3 crowd.

[spxxx]

Spent the weekend with Nasa at Thunderhill, this was my first weekend with Nasa and first time at T-hill in over a year... Nasa is definitely a different experience than most other casual HPDE groups. It's pretty intimidating as you're surrounded by fairly hardcore racers and although it's getting better there is still somewhat of a snobbish attitude / ego battle in the paddocks.

I got my provisional TT license to run but was delayed getting my official dyno to class my car and ended up running with HPDE4. Saturday was pretty hot and was a good test of the CSF radiatior + 34 row oil cooler combo. What an amazing setup, oil temps didn't pass 255* and coolant was steady at 220* all weekend - happy to provide more info on the oil cooler but it's dead simple.

HPDE4 ended up being a pretty slow group so I dealt with traffic all weekend but my 2:03 on Saturday would have gotten me 3rd in TT3 and my 2:02 would have been a solid 2nd place for Sunday running MHD OTS Stage 2 91 octane tune which is around 350whp (3350lbs race weight). This would be right around the TT3 power to weight ratio with my point adders for street tires and my car being a pig. The contingency prizes would have been cool but still a fun weekend and super happy with how the car ran at Thunderhill since I haven't been there in over a year.

I'll get some pictures and videos up later this week!

[ajsmithvmi]

What front lip is that? I know the front bumper is the 1M but that lip looks sweet.

Also, what kind of hood?

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by ajsmithvmi

What front lip is that? I know the front bumper is the 1M but that lip looks sweet.

Also, what kind of hood?

Front lip is from eBay... Honestly it was supposed to act as the air dam between the splitter that I will be mounting as it's brittle plastic. I went 4 off at turn 14 Thunderhill and it was totally destroyed... This was a ~40mph corner so I'd think twice about the splitter unless you're putting a larger splitter below it or your car is fairly high. I think I paid $150 for it.

The hood is stock from a Tii concept build that some dealer was trying to sell. Marco ilikebmxbikes gave me the hood a while back so I could hack it up. I assume there's less lift and better cooling now but I don't have any solid data points.

[Mr. Pharaoh]

I saw you out at T Hill! I stopped by your paddock spot and spoke with the older gentleman who called himself "the pit bitch". I'm wanting to do race car things with my 135i as well, but unless I get a new daily, dual duty is my only option for now. Nice build so far and good luck with your future runs. You planning on running NASA at Sonoma next month?

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pharaoh

I saw you out at T Hill! I stopped by your paddock spot and spoke with the older gentleman who called himself "the pit bitch". I'm wanting to do race car things with my 135i as well, but unless I get a new daily, dual duty is my only option for now. Nice build so far and good luck with your future runs. You planning on running NASA at Sonoma next month?

Hahaha that's my dad, he mentioned that another 1'er stopped by! Bummed I wasn't there to chat with you. I should be at Sonoma, I've actually never run there before so it should be a good time. I'd love to run there before the Nasa event but that's unlikely.

I definitely feel the pressure to run wheel to wheel when at a Nasa event, really makes me want to build up the E46 M3 or build a Spec46 car. I think I might get bored with Spec30 or Spec Miata power on a regular HPDE weekend so the M3 might be the way to go and just run a restrictor plate for GTS racing (this definitely won't happen until next year though).

[1mang]

You can add me to another 1er at Thunderhill on Sat but parked in the skidpad lol for the light festival. I saw you from turn 11 with all that traffic you were in...

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by 1mang

You can add me to another 1er at Thunderhill on Sat but parked in the skidpad lol for the light festival. I saw you from turn 11 with all that traffic you were in...

Nice! I heard that the light festival was kind of a shitshow due to the wind. I wanted to stay and watch it but didn't want to risk the traffic afterward.

Sunday was much worse in regards to traffic, there were a ton of driving school cars mixed with spec racecars in HPDE4 which seemed pretty dangerous IMO. Guess the elusive 1:59 Thunderhill lap will have to wait

[1mang]

Originally Posted by spxxx

Nice! I heard that the light festival was kind of a shitshow due to the wind. I wanted to stay and watch it but didn't want to risk the traffic afterward.

Sunday was much worse in regards to traffic, there were a ton of driving school cars mixed with spec racecars in HPDE4 which seemed pretty dangerous IMO. Guess the elusive 1:59 Thunderhill lap will have to wait

It was okay when first few launched then winds started to pick up. Eventually people got frustrated and started to light theirs up whenever (without fire marshall approval) or they wouldn't light up at all! So if you missed the initial launch, the secondary ones weren't as "nice" since it was more sparse. It was a cool experience but I wouldn't do it again. Traffic was pretty bad leaving from the skidpad and overflow/dirt parking lots. I just straight up waited in my car and reviewed pics/videos until it cleared up...took about 1.5 hours just to get out of the park.

I've done NASA at Thunderhill years ago....just too many race cars combined with HPDE....I prefer NCRC! Which btw, are you going to Laguna Seca on Memorial Day?

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by 1mang

It was okay when first few launched then winds started to pick up. Eventually people got frustrated and started to light theirs up whenever (without fire marshall approval) or they wouldn't light up at all! So if you missed the initial launch, the secondary ones weren't as "nice" since it was more sparse. It was a cool experience but I wouldn't do it again. Traffic was pretty bad leaving from the skidpad and overflow/dirt parking lots. I just straight up waited in my car and reviewed pics/videos until it cleared up...took about 1.5 hours just to get out of the park.

I've done NASA at Thunderhill years ago....just too many race cars combined with HPDE....I prefer NCRC! Which btw, are you going to Laguna Seca on Memorial Day?

Got it, I've been wanting to go to one of those lantern events for a while and had no idea it was going on until Saturday afternoon.

I do love NCRC though. They're the first group I ran with and 've been running with them for 2.5yrs. I've had great experiences with them but occasionally I feel like seat time is limited (+ traffic) due to overbooked run groups.

[Mr. Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by spxxx

Hahaha that's my dad, he mentioned that another 1'er stopped by! Bummed I wasn't there to chat with you. I should be at Sonoma, I've actually never run there before so it should be a good time. I'd love to run there before the Nasa event but that's unlikely.

I definitely feel the pressure to run wheel to wheel when at a Nasa event, really makes me want to build up the E46 M3 or build a Spec46 car. I think I might get bored with Spec30 or Spec Miata power on a regular HPDE weekend so the M3 might be the way to go and just run a restrictor plate for GTS racing (this definitely won't happen until next year though).

Yeah bummer indeed. Perhaps I will see you at Sonoma then. I personally LOVE Sonoma. I'd race there every weekend if I could. My car wont be ready by then but my buddy and I will be there with his E46 M3. He runs in ST4. And I agree 100% about spec E30 and Miata. Just not my cup of tea. Spec E46 would be the way to go if looking to do Spec racing.

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pharaoh

Yeah bummer indeed. Perhaps I will see you at Sonoma then. I personally LOVE Sonoma. I'd race there every weekend if I could. My car wont be ready by then but my buddy and I will be there with his E46 M3. He runs in ST4. And I agree 100% about spec E30 and Miata. Just not my cup of tea. Spec E46 would be the way to go if looking to do Spec racing.

Yeah I'm way too much of a tinkerer to run a spec class. I need projects and new things to build / modify or I get really bored.

Glad to hear about Sonoma, I've only heard great things about the track. Just found out that Exclusive Track Days is hosting a test and tune day on an upcoming Tuesday but I'm not sure if I can swing it.

[spxxx]

I did an aero thing.... Built a fairly functional front splitter with dibond chassis mounted to the subframe. Total cost (eBay air dam $150 + DiBond $50 + aluminum brackets $15 = $200ish + 2hrs of time) - it's super low so I hope it holds up to the high speeds at Willow.

Heading to Willow Springs for my first time ever, hoping my tires hold up and I don't poop myself on T9. Big Willow on Friday and Streets on Saturday.

[spxxx]

The first photo is somewhat of an illusion as I parked it right up to my garage which is a few inches higher than my driveway. It's still low!

Stoked to see what I can do with better aero, unfortunately I wasn't able to get 275s in time so I'm still on 265s.

Will report back.

[mKilgore]

That style of lip on the 1M front has always been my favorite. Are the holes in the lip actually holes? Are you using them to direct air anywhere?

And are you using the splitter just to create a flat bottom underneath the engine bay? You might notice some effect with smoothing out the airflow under the car, but it would be even more effective at producing front downforce if you left a larger "lip" protruding from the splitter. Of course this is dependent on what your class rules say, if you have any. Its hard to tell how far the splitter sticks out from where it attaches to the lip.

[spxxx]

Originally Posted by mKilgore

That style of lip on the 1M front has always been my favorite. Are the holes in the lip actually holes? Are you using them to direct air anywhere?

And are you using the splitter just to create a flat bottom underneath the engine bay? You might notice some effect with smoothing out the airflow under the car, but it would be even more effective at producing front downforce if you left a larger "lip" protruding from the splitter. Of course this is dependent on what your class rules say, if you have any. Its hard to tell how far the splitter sticks out from where it attaches to the lip.

Right now they're not connected but I have 2in ducting and some flanges that will duct to the brakes along the control arms.

[Gangplank]

Great to see west coast. I used to do motorcycle track days at t-hill. :-). What configuration are you running?