05-23-2012, 07:54 AM | #1 |
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328i At HPDE Anybody?
Has anybody taken their N20 equipped cars to a track day yet?
My 335i used to overheat like crazy at the track. Hopefully the 328i will be more robust. If you have experience with this car at the track, please share your experiences. Thanks! |
06-05-2012, 02:44 AM | #2 |
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I too am looking forward to more F30 328i's getting out there and posting results. Mine won't be here for a few more months but I'll certainly be joining the discussion once it arrives
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08-21-2012, 02:01 AM | #4 |
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I took my 328i to the track a week ago or so with telemetry, fully stock and then installed h&r springs on-site between runs with a few different alignments.
The good part is that the car did not overheat with 20 minute runs and the power was decent for this type of car. Overall with 0 rear toe, a bit of toe out in the front the car was neutral and was able to throttle steer "ok" (not drifting here, throttle steering) I have the 8 speed auto which did extremely well with accurate shifts, remarkably the sport mode is relatively decent at being in the correct gear exiting corners but shifting manually gave me about 7 tenths on a 90 second lap. The bad part, the goodyear 340 wear tires suck and the brakes can barely slow the car from 100mph let alone in a reasonable distance so I wouldn't even consider better tires at the moment. Fade became consistent and didn't get worse as the day went on but the rotors are now blue and the brakes squeak. The funny part, the h&r springs carried less g-force in the longer turns but higher g-forces in chicane type turns. Overall, if you like the height go for them but not required. Lap times were about 2 seconds slower than the last time I ran a mid pack spec miata at the same track. |
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08-21-2012, 10:48 AM | #5 |
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I am having some CarboTech RP2 pads made for the 328i and hopefully some brake ducts as well. That should help the brake fade a bit...
Glad to hear there was no overheating! That was a major issue with the N54 cars. |
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08-21-2012, 11:04 AM | #6 |
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brian99997 are you in the area of willow springs or just went out for your testing? I assume this was on the smaller streets course and not the big track.
I'm a little disappointed over the news of brake fade, but I guess it's to be expected for a sedan like the 328i. Looking forward to some potential brake upgrades that don't cost a billion dollars just because it goes on a BMW..
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08-21-2012, 11:47 AM | #7 |
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Brian,
How much do you think the shit tires contributed to the poor braking and subsequent fade? Good grip equals shorting braking equals less time on the brakes equals less heat equals less fade. And let's not forget you were on street pads. Joel |
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08-21-2012, 12:59 PM | #8 |
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scskysc, correct this was streets of willow ccw which has less time between braking zones for cooling. The M kit is $2000 (f/r) and Stoptech is $3000 (fronts only) which is reasonable for a 6 piston pair coming from Porsche land of expensive stuff.
Joel, the tires are probably helpful in saving the brakes to be honest. I had to progressively apply the brakes instead of jumping on them to keep the car from triggering ABS. I planned on buying wheels for the car anyway so I will get a chance to test this theory in the next month or so on 19's and most likely hoosier r6's Here are some numbers from telemetry if it helps you guys out at all. Peak braking, first flying lap from 107mph to 69 straight line 0.909g to 0.811g and I began trail braking at about 51mph at 0.626g to 40mph. The next braking zone is 14 seconds later with only 0.442g being used. The next hard zone 18 seconds away from 94mph is 0.760g peak very briefly and then nothing over 0.628g for the remainder of that lap. nothing over 0.783g the next lap, nothing over 0.710 for the last 7 on that session. With H&R springs and free alignment, max right cornering load was 1.240g and max left load was 1.298g. Compared to a spec miata on shaved toyo ra1's, same track max right 1.547g, right 1.638g. |
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08-22-2012, 02:35 AM | #9 |
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so .... is the car track doable? lol
all of a sudden i feel like getting a low mileage e46 m3 comp package just so i can play with it at tracks only. |
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08-22-2012, 07:49 AM | #10 |
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Don't worry. It will be just fine. Once you have a dozen or so track days under your belt and are really thrashing your car like Brian was doing, you will need to make some changes. But as a beginner the car is completely fine.
The reality is that all street cars make compromises that make them less than perfect race cars. But stock BMW's do fine on the track for the vast majority of students. You will be fine. |
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08-22-2012, 01:45 PM | #11 |
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Correct, the car in fully stock form was fantastic as far as 4 door sedans go and I would recommend that you keep the stock alignment unless you really like the back of the car to move freely. The brakes fade sure, but I brake within 3 feet of the very latest point you could possibly brake to make the corner so for me an extra 10 feet is lengthy and really that is all we're talking about when I tell you those numbers.
If you wanted a full BMW race car that is very fast, E46 M3's retired from Grand AM can be had for around 40k but they are not street legal so then you need a tow vehicle, trailer and a parking spot. I had one and it was fantastic although my GT3 was about the same speed for 4x the price and I fully recommend at least driving both. |
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