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      06-30-2017, 12:37 PM   #89
lowside67
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Canadian Nationals 2017



Last weekend we had our Canadian Nationals autocross event, our largest local event that we hold in Vancouver. The format is 3 runs on each of 4 courses over 2 days with the cumulative time determining the winner. We had 110 competitors - not much different than our usual numbers, but most of the novices that would normally show up did not and were instead replaced with folks traveling from Washington and Oregon and neighboring provinces in Canada. We had 7 drivers in the STX class for the weekend.



The additional front camber has been a game changer, the car simply works much better. We only had one event to test though since adding 0.7 degrees of additional negative camber, so the car is still relatively "unrefined" and we spent the weekend trying to achieve some shock settings we were happy with. We rolled the car on the scales - 3,032lbs at race weight. Considering the car has stock seats, exhaust, brakes, and battery - I am not surprised. I am targeting 2,950 next season.

(Photos from the test and tune event - hence two drivers)



We had some challenges this weekend - cones and temperature. Cones are cones, I just need to drive better, but the temperature was killer. It was about 90F and with two drivers in the 128 on RE71Rs with only 3-4 minutes between runs, despite spraying and doing our best, the tires were absolutely dead by third runs. It was only by the fourth course that I actually was able to get the discipline together to set a fast time on run 2 - the previous ones I had dirty second runs and then a slower clean third run.



As you can see, it was a good weekend overall for us in the 128 with a 1-2 finish out of 7 drivers. However, I included the "scratch" column to show that there was a lot more time on the table for us. Just continues to reinforce that I need to drive better! Looking forward to the Packwood National Tour next weekend - 17 drivers currently registered in STX.

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      06-30-2017, 09:07 PM   #90
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Just looking at pictures, what are you running for rear camber? Seems to go positive under load.
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      06-30-2017, 10:04 PM   #91
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I think that's just an optical illusion - I am running -2.2.

Mark
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      10-23-2017, 11:40 PM   #92
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Packwood SCCA National Tour 2017



... was, to summarize, not a great event for me. I always look forward to this event, the drive down and the event is held in a stunningly beautiful part of the Pacific Northwest. It's in a small town with no cell phone service that seems to triple in population when the National Tour is in town. It's all good stuff, except for, you know... my driving. Cones, cones, cones everywhere!

Complete Results from SCCA

The car is definitely having some issue with rubbing the front tires that is annoying, although perhaps not actually a performance impediment. It got us through Canadian Nationals just fine but is distracting as it's loud when you hit the right type of bump and I wish I had a solution for it. Actually I do - it's cutting the fenders and running DSP - we'll see about that.



With names like Steve O'Blenes, Annie Gill, and Chris Thorpe there was no shortage of experience and driving ability among the 20 drivers in STX.

Day 1 was tough - I ran a 45.7 on my first run, which ended up being my only clean run. I had a 45.5 +2 on my second run and in an attempt at a hero third run managed to go off-line and out in the marbles, for a 47.0 +2.

Steve ran a 44.0 in a borrowed to set the fastest time on day 1, closely chased by Annie Gill in the same car at 44.2. I finished day 1 in 8/20 and was 1.9 seconds back of the lead.



While I wasn't having much luck with the cones, I was in good company - STX was responsible for a lot of cone deaths over the weekend.

Day 2 didn't start much better for me with a cone on each of runs 1 & 2 (45.3 and 45.2), leaving me just one run to get it done. Luckily I managed to get it together and ran a clean 44.598 on my last run - a good time which I was happy with.

Steve ran the fastest time for day 2 (now back in his own RX8) at 43.8 with Annie nipping at his heals with a 43.9. My time was good for 4/20 on day 2 about 0.8s back from Steve.



At the close of the weekend, I finished in 7/20, one out of the trophies. At 2.5s out of the lead, it's a weekend I'd like to forget. My codriver didn't hit a cone all weekend but was having a hard time with finding the pace he had at Canadian Nationals and finished in 15th (without hitting a single cone I may ad).

It's been a tough adjustment in the past year - my time off has not done my driving any favors and to go from being very competitive to off the pace has been a bit emotionally challenging. It's fun to drive no matter what, but this is SRS BZNS autocross after all!



I had an opportunity to do an event in a CM Formula F and the fun factor is truly off the charts - I recommend you don't do this unless you are prepared to have regular cars wrecked for you. After that day, I was hooked and spent the rest of the season driving "Groot" the Van Diemen with its owner Phil.

For 2018, I am going to do a full season in Groot and we intend to make it to Crows', Packwood, and Nationals. I am not saying the STX build is "done" - I have some new springs on order for the front and am going to add a little rear camber as Ryan mentioned earlier. But the plan is to just enjoy this great car in 2018 for what it is - competitive and capable, but just a damn great street car.

There is a proposal out to move this car to DSP (that I have requested), the same class that I used to run with my white E36 on the first page. If this is approved, I have a hunch that despite my best intentions about not building another SP car, I will be cutting the fenders on this car to make some room for 315 Hoosiers.

Until then, have a great winter!

-Mark
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      10-26-2017, 07:02 AM   #93
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See you at Nats next year.

Head up, STX is not for the faint of heart. If this was easy everyone would be doing it
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      10-26-2017, 09:30 AM   #94
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The close competition is lots of fun. Of course having the oddball car always makes it easy to point to the car when I am getting my ass kicked.

We had an event on Sunday up here that was pretty variable in terms of weather conditions, and my co-driver took 1st in STX and 7th PAX overall of 94 drivers. He was about 0.5s on raw time back of Pax 1st which was Ryan Clark's Cayman S (along with another 4 BS cars in the top 7)....

-Mark
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      11-07-2017, 07:21 PM   #95
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Great thread, just wanted to say I appreciate the effort you have put into detailing the progression of the build.
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      12-11-2017, 03:07 PM   #96
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Just wanted to say that I really appreciate the thorough information posted in here.

Thank you!
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      12-12-2017, 09:28 AM   #97
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Glad to see it's of interest to others! My friend and I are running the car through our winter season and it is proving to be extremely capable, we have done a bit more fine tuning and that's helping the car be easier to drive faster.

For 2018 though I am not intending to campaign the car seriously since I'll drive the formula car, I am going to move the spring rates up slightly, particularly the front. The car is very slow to transfer weight and I theorize this may be part of why we have such variable problems with the "ice mode" on ABS.

-Mark
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      01-09-2018, 09:43 AM   #98
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Looks like a ton of fun, great thread!
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      09-14-2018, 07:41 AM   #99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanDavies View Post
That's not true. Michael Carpenter picked up Kyle's old car and is actively developing it, he just isn't posting on here. He's going pretty crazy making changes to Kyle's build, so we'll see how that works out for him.

I still really like the 128 as a street car, and I'm not really going out of my way to part out the core STX stuff (power, diff, shocks) as of now, and they're staying on the car. I'll probably play around with it a little bit this year at some local events.

FWIW, I still think the 128 is the best car for the class when fully developed, it is just, well, a pretty big undertaking to get there. The cost to get it down within 50lbs of E36 weight (which is possible) is pretty staggering, and requires R&D I've lost motivation to take on myself.
Was pretty happy to see a 128i take 4th in nationals this year (STX). He is doing well with the car. James Tada is a local scca member and a fast driver, so I am not too upset he is in 1st with a brz lol. A 1M is still on the podium in A Street Prepared as well where that car has been successful (EDIT: sorry was looking at the wrong results- they took 6th in ASP. A 1M took 1st in B Street). Is an E82 a cheap car to build? No. But, it is a way more capable chassis than people claim. Just need a good driver to put the work into an E82.

Last edited by bbnks2; 09-05-2019 at 01:45 PM..
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      09-14-2018, 07:45 AM   #100
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbnks2 View Post
Was pretty happy to see a 128i take 4th in nationals this year. He is doing well with the car. James Tada is a local scca member and a fast driver, so I am not too upset he is in 1st with a brz lol. A 1M is still on the podium in A Streep Prepared as well where that car has been very successful. Are they cheap cars to build? No. Are they 10x more capable than people claim? Absolutely. Just need a good driver to put the work into an E82.
Don't cone the win they said.
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      09-14-2018, 07:47 AM   #101
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Originally Posted by Kgolf31 View Post
Don't cone the win they said.
Yes, looks like a heartbreak year for you. Didn't even see that.
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      09-14-2018, 08:42 PM   #102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kgolf31 View Post
Don't cone the win they said.
Ha - I coned the fastest run in CM on BOTH days at nats this year to end up in 3rd... I hear you!

Picking up development on the 128i again for 2019 - we are in process of buying a house and having my own garage will help immensely.

-Mark
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      09-16-2018, 08:24 AM   #103
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowside67 View Post
Ha - I coned the fastest run in CM on BOTH days at nats this year to end up in 3rd... I hear you!

Picking up development on the 128i again for 2019 - we are in process of buying a house and having my own garage will help immensely.

-Mark
I saw the 4th too and was kicking myself not not going this year. Time to start training for me.
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      09-26-2018, 05:41 PM   #104
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I'm starting to get excited for 2019 - a good friend of mine who is a very capable driver will be joining me for the season. The first round of ordering is underway - we are going to tackle three projects this winter:

1) Install race seats. Brey Krause makes some fantastic looking parts that appears to be leaps and bounds better than the traditional "plate" based systems that Macht Schnell and others offer, will be happy to report into those once they arrive.

2) Build new exhaust. Currently I am running AA headers and the stock exhaust after that. The new exhaust will be a close replica of what Ryan ran on his 128... headers, to Burns 2:1 merge, to 3" Ciro race cat, to 3" Vibrant resonator, to muffler (TBD).

3) Minor suspension revisions. We will increase front spring rate for 2019 and go through the suspension to make sure all the bushings are happy, etc. I am also looking for a class legal aftermarket rear toe arm as we are finding that we cannot get as much rear camber as needed while preserving a toe value we are happy with. (We run about -2.1, would like -2.5 but then get too much toe).

Looking forward to getting into it as the parts arrive, lots of posts to come.

-Mark
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      09-27-2018, 07:11 AM   #105
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowside67 View Post
I'm starting to get excited for 2019 - a good friend of mine who is a very capable driver will be joining me for the season. The first round of ordering is underway - we are going to tackle three projects this winter:

1) Install race seats. Brey Krause makes some fantastic looking parts that appears to be leaps and bounds better than the traditional "plate" based systems that Macht Schnell and others offer, will be happy to report into those once they arrive.


-Mark
I have the Brey-Krause mounts. They are excellent. IMO, this is the only way to go. Cheaper too.
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      09-28-2018, 11:02 AM   #106
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowside67 View Post
2) Build new exhaust. Currently I am running AA headers and the stock exhaust after that. The new exhaust will be a close replica of what Ryan ran on his 128... headers, to Burns 2:1 merge, to 3" Ciro race cat, to 3" Vibrant resonator, to muffler (TBD).
When this is completed; can you draw it up. I know there were discussions on where the Y pipe and cat needs to be. I'd be interested to see. I believe Ryan's is close to Kyle's if I remembered but there might be slight variations.
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      10-01-2018, 04:03 PM   #107
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Sure - there is some implication around packaging, my intent is to basically have the merge right after the headers end; the less time with dual pipes instead of single the better from a weight perspective as well. I don't think there is a ton of option around where it goes really if you intend to have a 1-in-1-out catalytic converter like I will.

-Mark
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      12-14-2018, 03:05 PM   #108
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mabrahams View Post
When this is completed; can you draw it up. I know there were discussions on where the Y pipe and cat needs to be. I'd be interested to see. I believe Ryan's is close to Kyle's if I remembered but there might be slight variations.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lowside67 View Post
Sure - there is some implication around packaging, my intent is to basically have the merge right after the headers end; the less time with dual pipes instead of single the better from a weight perspective as well. I don't think there is a ton of option around where it goes really if you intend to have a 1-in-1-out catalytic converter like I will.

-Mark
Huge debate was had on E90post with a few people posting nonsense - the end result is stock location for the merger works best because otherwise you absolutely will lose low end torque.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showt...916863&page=29

Keep in mind, I had more power on the table with a better muffler (the PE doesn't flow much better than stock, which flows poorly) and better fueling.

Also have exhaust parts for sale for a custom setup (cheap!)
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      12-15-2018, 11:05 AM   #109
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Exhaust Fabrication

One of the items that has been on my to do list for some time has been to build an exhaust for this car. My goals were twofold: save weight and make power while still being able to meet the strict sound restrictions at our local site.

Here is the finished product, from each end:



I owe a huge thanks to Ryan who provided information and a parts list for his exhaust, which I have mercilessly relied upon for mine.

Tubing: 3" Stainless
Merge: Burns Racing 2x2.25" > 1x2.75" > 1x3.0"
Catalytic Converter: Ciro Design Racing 3"
Resonator: Vibrant 1142



To the question about weight... I opted to keep the stock muffler on a V-Band as my local site has an uber low sound level. As you can see, retaining the stock muffler means the grand total for weight loss is 3lbs (not including the weight removed from my wallet).

I didn't get a chance to weigh the stock muffler on its own, but I expect there is a 10lb weight reduction available at minimum with a race muffler. Weight is with street wheels on, etc so useful only to measure difference - this is not race weight for the car.



The sound itself is somewhat changed, but not much louder - it is clear that the muffler is the primary control on the sound level and leaving it unchanged did just that. It has a somewhat racier sound with the new resonator and cat - a mild change, but a nice improvement. For a "daily driver" this is a perfect sound in my opinion.



I have not dyno'd the car before/after but am looking forward to continuing down the road with a custom tune. I am pleased with the ability to swap back and forth between mufflers and will play with this further, but this was the project I wanted to get done as I can't do it at home myself. I'm very pleased with the fabrication work that MDA Fabrication did for me - a shout out to them, I'd happily use them again.

Cheers,
Mark
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      12-15-2018, 11:23 AM   #110
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You followed the advice of a guy with zero experience, zero proof, and zero success on how to build an exhaust?
If it works, it works.
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