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07-07-2008, 09:21 AM | #1 |
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How does the 135i Track?
Ok - so we all know, or should know, the 135i has tons of torque - great for real world driving but, how does the car perform on the track? Does the "lack" of top end hurt this car's sporty feel on the track? Has anyone even tracked their 135 yet?
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07-08-2008, 07:12 AM | #4 |
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the car is a ball of fun on the track but coming from an E46 M3 the car does fall flat on its face about 6500 so you just need to shift around 6750. if you ring it out to 7000 you loosing time in anything higher than 2nd gear.
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07-15-2008, 01:59 PM | #7 |
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The 135i is a capable track car.
To make it a VERY capable track car, it needs the following... - Larger front tires to help eliminate under-steer. - Front negative camber plates. - Proper track-ready brake pads. (except for WSIR) To really take the next step, a complete removal of the sunroof system is necessary. The car is heavy and especially top-heavy. You'd have to pull the headliner, take out the entire tray & motor assembly, and graft in a new skin - made properly with skill on a wheel. Kind of shame to do it to such a nice car but it's an easy graft, blend and paint for any decent shop. Probably about a $1200 job. You could always get a Canadian non-sunroof skin and have that installed - more $$$ but really the nice way to go. We'll have our race car at Buttonwillow this weekend if anyone wants to swing by and say hello. We're number ...135 :roundel: -Ralph Warren PS. I hear the Evolution Racewerks car will be at Cal Speedway this weekend. A bit of an easier drive for the So Cal folk. Good luck guys!!! I want to check out that oil cooler system they have. We were OK in the WSIR heat, we'll see about Buttonwillow this weekend.
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07-15-2008, 09:29 PM | #8 | |
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Right on the money. Doesn't hurt to widen the track of the car too. The car is quite narrow (it's 3" narrower than the 335i).
Oh and there's also that RV battery in the trunk. We ditched that for a 15 lbs dry cell. Are you guys running software or does your class prohibit it? The car runs a lot hotter with the extra boost. We did not have any issues last time we were testing out at Buttonwillow (stock power). However it was a pleasant 85 degrees last time and it should be over 100 degrees this weekend just like we were experiencing at Willow Springs. Good luck guys! Take it for the 1ers! Quote:
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07-16-2008, 05:21 PM | #9 |
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Hi Fred -
We run in BMW Club Racing H-Stock and can do software, but it can't be a piggyback - we're just waiting for the right time/place to get the Dinan product in along with their oil cooler. Problem for us is we're already close on weight - without changing out the sunroof. So by the time we do lighter wheels and a different passenger seat, we may not need to worry about swapping the battery. We had a ball watching our car with no software yet drag racing higher classed cars on the front straight at WSIR.
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07-17-2008, 08:08 PM | #10 | |
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Hey Scott,
You guys should check out our upgrades we did on our 135i from last weekends issues. I'll post pics after this weekend if everything goes good. If you guys are interested, maybe we can help you guys out :wink: Weight restriction in class? That sucks. I'm about to pull everything behind the front seats out as Redline Time Attack Street Class rules allow so :biggrin: I wish the front straight was longer. Quote:
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07-17-2008, 08:26 PM | #11 |
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Fred, will FMIC alone combat the high temperature with a tune? I haven't run my car with a tune yet, but I know even with standard tune the engine oil is over 130 degrees celsius! What else are you doing to combat this?
I agree with the wider front track. When I brake hard from over 205kmh, the car snakes a bit. I am assuming that the wider track will help this. When are you developing the caster kit? |
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07-17-2008, 10:50 PM | #12 | |
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Will they let you guys swap out the sunroof?
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07-18-2008, 04:39 PM | #13 |
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Try a front strut brace (I think one is already available through as a Performance catalog part). That helped tremendously on my E46 with high speed braking stability.
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07-23-2008, 12:30 AM | #14 |
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Yep, nothing like a square setup to help reduce understeer :biggrin:
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07-23-2008, 10:23 AM | #15 |
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Might need more rebound in the rear shocks. Just my experience with JRZ race shocks.
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07-24-2008, 11:41 PM | #16 | |
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We're still trying to combat the oil temp issue. Still not resolved. We put 2 huge oil coolers, one on each side, still overheating the oil.
If your car is snaking while braking, you might want to check your rear toe alignment. The prototype camber kit is about 90% done. I was hoping to finish them before the 2 events we've just had to test them, but now it'll have to wait until we go out testing in a few weeks. Quote:
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07-24-2008, 11:44 PM | #17 |
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Yes, we're allowed to swap out the sunroof. Robi is already planning on pulling the roof and switching it with a non-sunroof roof (Canadian model). I'm guessing he got the idea from you guys :biggrin:.
We're going to hold off on it until we do the roll cage. It'll make it 1,000 times easier for me to weld the cage with the roof off. |
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07-25-2008, 01:31 AM | #18 | |
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Well, I already have a hardtop headliner for that job (if you want a headliner). Waiting until you do the roll cage isn't a bad idea, but watch out - there is a precise order in which to do things. You don't want to just take the roof out first.
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07-25-2008, 02:02 AM | #19 |
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Did you guys already swap the roof?
Yeah, I'm well aware that lifting the roof structure will loosen up the top of the chassis. Also that after welding, the cage may shift and the roof may not fit. Especially since my style of cage building is to make it as close to the chassis as possible this may be a problem. My plan is to build the cage before I lift the roof. Weld up as much as possible of the cage as well as gussets to the chassis. Then, once the cage is 95% finished, lift the roof skin to weld the top of the cage where I wouldn't be able to reach. This way, I would not need to build large pedestals for the cage base or drill a hole in the floor (not my style) to drop the cage and then plate it. This would allow me to easily make perfect, sound welds on the top of the cage. Then put the new roof back on. |
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07-25-2008, 02:06 AM | #20 |
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Hehe, reminds me of this SRT4 rally car we built.
The car rolled 3 times at a rally. Cage held, roof was destroyed. We had to weld in a new roof skin and structure. |
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07-25-2008, 10:02 AM | #21 |
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No, the chief stewart wouldn't allow it. I had bought the headliner in preparation. But the part numbers also exist for the roof bow and hard top skin. Arrival time for the roof skin was also going to be a problem for us in making that May 31st weekend.
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08-28-2008, 05:53 PM | #22 |
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What modifications would you recommend to make the 135i more fun on the track yet keep it a nice daily driver?
Can the 135i handle pretty good with just wheel and tire upgrades? I've read that putting same size tires on all four wheels would help remove the understeer. What is the widest tire that you can fit up front with the stock suspension and no fender rolling? It seems from the fit thread in the wheel forum that anything over 235 might rub. I'm currently looking to buy a 135i as a daily driver (about 90 miles per day) and do 4-6 HPDE days per year and maybe a few autocrosses. I'm currently driving an RX-8 and I've done around 25 track days with it over the past few years while also using it as a daily driver. Anybody care to speculate how much faster a stock 135i would be on the track when compared to an RX-8? |
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