Laps, Inc. Autobahn cc
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That's weird...I have the bimmerworld race exhaust which is VERY close to the body being 3.5" in diameter...never had a melting issue. Do you have the heatshields back there?
For brakes, I don't think EBC carries any high temp pads. You can go with PFC PF08s or Pagid Yellows for a pad that lasts a long time. Or PF11s if you want a lot of bite and torque. Of course there are other brands.
You really won't overwhelm the OEM brakes until you start running sticky r-comp tires as long as you have good high temp pads and fresh brake fluid.
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I do have the all the oem heat shields. My exhaust is coming straight from section two... no muffler no cat (plus some flames). Going to have king quote me on an idea I have to keep the sound and flow, but move the heat.
Ebc does make pads, I just would have to check on the size. Ill check into the pfc as well. Have you run those before on a high speed track?
I think next year ill run r-compound. The stoptech stg two held up very well with stock non csl rotors, but once I tire up past the star specs I have a feeling ill need more bite. Ill probably go with ate blue for fluid once I do that as well. A big learning curve on the setup and maintenance for long hard track days...
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He's a good friend of mine. That bad boy is very quick...especially for the $$. I'm lucky my M3 is not my daily... it sucks as a daily now...lol What else needs to be done to get it ready?
At minimum tires, better pads, and a stronger clutch
On the list is fender flares, extra set of tires and wheels for track use, half cage, sportier seats, ceramic coating of manifold and downpipe components, shrouding of intercooler, oil cooler, and radiator along with a larger radiator, EGT, oil temp, and oil pressure senders to be logged, camber plates, larger brakes, and some additional chassis bracing (custom made lower x-brace and side rail stiffeners)
How is the low end torque on the S54? I imagine its just fine due to the displacement and VANOS, but it IS a high rpm engine
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I do have the all the oem heat shields. My exhaust is coming straight from section two... no muffler no cat (plus some flames). Going to have king quote me on an idea I have to keep the sound and flow, but move the heat. Ebc does make pads, I just would have to check on the size. Ill check into the pfc as well. Have you run those before on a high speed track? I think next year ill run r-compound. The stoptech stg two held up very well with stock non csl rotors, but once I tire up past the star specs I have a feeling ill need more bite. Ill probably go with ate blue for fluid once I do that as well. A big learning curve on the setup and maintenance for long hard track days...
They can't sell Super Blue anymore=(
From what I have seen Ate Type 200 is exactly the same but just amber in color.
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I do have the all the oem heat shields. My exhaust is coming straight from section two... no muffler no cat (plus some flames). Going to have king quote me on an idea I have to keep the sound and flow, but move the heat. Ebc does make pads, I just would have to check on the size. Ill check into the pfc as well. Have you run those before on a high speed track? I think next year ill run r-compound. The stoptech stg two held up very well with stock non csl rotors, but once I tire up past the star specs I have a feeling ill need more bite. Ill probably go with ate blue for fluid once I do that as well. A big learning curve on the setup and maintenance for long hard track days...
I would take a look at the Motul RBF600. Higher boiling point than the ATE blue. The only drawback being it is not as accessible as the ATE.
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At minimum tires, better pads, and a stronger clutch
On the list is fender flares, extra set of tires and wheels for track use, half cage, sportier seats, ceramic coating of manifold and downpipe components, shrouding of intercooler, oil cooler, and radiator along with a larger radiator, EGT, oil temp, and oil pressure senders to be logged, camber plates, larger brakes, and some additional chassis bracing (custom made lower x-brace and side rail stiffeners)
How is the low end torque on the S54? I imagine its just fine due to the displacement and VANOS, but it IS a high rpm engine
That is a huge list. Looks like a pretty expensive list as well. Are you thinking about a bolt in half cage or a custom cage? I've been going back and forth. Most competitions won't allow the bolt in cage, so it makes it almost just for show... But I know it does provide structure... and a place to bolt the harness to. Do you have increased engine bay cooling with the turbo set up?
S54 with my set up has plenty of low end for what I need, but yeah, like the M's of old (in light of the I-6TT set ups) it really doesn't wake up until you pop over 4-5K. On the track its about managing your revs. Which, once I get and post the videos you'll probably see I didn't do that great of a job of lol. I spent most of my time just trying to learn the lines and the car balance rather than anything else. The track was completely new to me, so I had no idea where anything was for several laps.
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I would take a look at the Motul RBF600. Higher boiling point than the ATE blue. The only drawback being it is not as accessible as the ATE.
I use to use the Motul RBF600 in my old car... cough... rsx type s (hopefully no one saw that one). That car has some absolutely terrible brakes. All that said, it got me into high revving motors more, so I can't complain. I really should give that another shot though. King usually has tons of that stuff on hand.
I'm hoping to bleed my brakes and see if my pedal comes back. Crossing my fingers that my pads and tires have one more track day in them.
They can't sell Super Blue anymore=(
From what I have seen Ate Type 200 is exactly the same but just amber in color.
I didn't know that about the ATE... I've used it a lot of higher end cars and really liked it. Thanks for the heads up.
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That is a huge list. Looks like a pretty expensive list as well. Are you thinking about a bolt in half cage or a custom cage? I've been going back and forth. Most competitions won't allow the bolt in cage, so it makes it almost just for show... But I know it does provide structure... and a place to bolt the harness to. Do you have increased engine bay cooling with the turbo set up?
S54 with my set up has plenty of low end for what I need, but yeah, like the M's of old (in light of the I-6TT set ups) it really doesn't wake up until you pop over 4-5K. On the track its about managing your revs. Which, once I get and post the videos you'll probably see I didn't do that great of a job of lol. I spent most of my time just trying to learn the lines and the car balance rather than anything else. The track was completely new to me, so I had no idea where anything was for several laps.
I would be leaning towards the bolt in cage + modifying the mounting plates for more shear area so they wouldn't just punch through the floor in a rollover.
Increased engine bay cooling...... hmmmm
welp.
I went with an M42 (E36 318i) radiator to clean up the engine bay a bit.
sooo, I have a 4 cylinder radiator, on a 6 cylinder car, with a turbo.. yeeeeeeeah.
I did upgrade the oil cooler to a 19000 BTU unit (I estimate the stock cooler to be ~5000 BTU). I calculated that 31000 BTU would be required to be absolutely safe for oil temps on my engine, but I did a bar and plate cooler and mounted it directly behind the kidneys so I just want to get the sensor and log oil temps on a hot day around a track to see what else I may need to do.
A larger radiator is a no-brainer for track duty. That one is unavoidable. I am sure I could get away with what I have now but I want rock solid reliability where the car is hardly breaking a sweat.
Looking forward to the videos! I know I would be absolutely lost on any track without instructor guidance. A lot of the braking points and lines were a lot different than I would have expected them to be when I went to BFR
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Can you run the bolt in for competition or are you not planning on doing that?
The only reason I mentioned the engine bay cooling is that aftermarket turbo or HP increase usually leads to heatsoak in the engine bay and/or in the intake. It also stresses the components. A lot of people use block off metal sheets as shields. They also find ways to direct air flow through the engine bay to help with that as well. You have pics of the setup?
Oil cooler, bigger radiator... that is huge stuff. When it comes to tracking, you're 100% right... overbuild only hurts the budget once. Destroying the car hurts the budget continually and much worse...lol You doing custom shrouding? Sounds pretty cool. I might have to look into that to direct some air flow. I measure my intake air temps and I'm usually only 11-22 degrees above outside temps. Racing I'm usually not over 100, but I'm sure with better flow I could get that down a few and squeeze some more hp out of it (and make it last longer).
Even with an instructor, it's so tough to remember a long track with lots of turns. How did you like BFR? That's on my list for 2014.
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For brake fluid, I'd recommend titanium shims and OEM BMW DOT4 brake fluid. That stuff is actually pretty good and its not too expensive.
Not sure if EBC makes them but you want high temp racing pads. Street pads work using friction and pressure. High temp racing pads use heat to make the friction material stick to the face of the rotor. This is why it is so important to bed in track pads so they work properly. By bedding in the pads, you transfer a layer of pad material onto the rotor and increase the "stick".
If you plan to keep the car, plan to keep taking this car to the track...I'd consider investing in the BBK now. Long term, it will save you money. From a safety perspective, you are much less likely to smoke your pads and boil your brake fluid. Lots of racers get by with OEM brakes but I'd rather have a little overkill in this department.
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Do you run a bbk? Did you have the csl size rotors?
Im good with bedding etc. Im pretty stout on the shade tree. I know I need more aggressive pads, but im wondering if the csl upgrqade will be sufficient on the rotors. again, truth be told my drilled rotors and upgraded pads/fluid held up very very well. It wasnt until the last laps and a full day cool down that I noticed how bad they got. Im sure the pads got fairly shaved and that dropped the fluid, which ill test with a full bleed. I know ill want more brake, but im really dreading the price of the bbk. At the same rate, I dont like to go cheap on important stuff. Id like to find out if anyone is running csl/comps with upgraded pads and getting decent results. The power of the brakes is great as is, I just want to make sure im getting good hot lap reliability. Also looking at cooling ducts. Read some good results from those. Autobahn was about 4 sections at around 120mph, so there would be good cooling...lol
Ill be looking on ebc's and hawks sites to see what the specs are for thier bmw applications. Im waiting until I get my exhaust figured out. Have an appointment at king this friday to see if they can turn my idea into reality. The sound of that I-6 with a straight pipe is very addictive. Once I get that done ill figure out if I can rig the bumper back on or get a replacement for a decent price.
Then, ill bleed the brakes and see where I stand. Do you know the boiling point of the oem? I assume thats what youre running? What speeds are you hitting consistently and how long are your runs?
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I have a stoptech BBK on both axles. For the E46 M3, they have the same ST40 caliper and rotor discs on both axles. So I've rotated pads once and still have the same prs of track pads I started with over a year ago. Same rotors too...consumables last a lot longer.
Not sure of the boiling point but I've used OEM brake fluid at Circuit of the Americas where there is a 140mph straight going into a 40mph turn. Also Texas World Speedway with an average speed of over 80mph.
Right now I'm using Stoptech RBF600 which is pretty much the same as Motul RBF600. I bleed every 5-6 months...probably could go a lot longer but I have to meet tech inspection requirements (brake fluid no older than 6 months)
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prs = pairs. lol
I have 4 piston stoptechs. I used PF01s in the rear and Stoptech SR34s on the front...they are basically the same pad. Not great for street driving but they'll get you to and from the track.
The AP Racing BBKs are a step up from the Stop Techs. Primary advantage is I believe most of the APs have better pad knockback resistance than the Stoptechs. Not a huge deal though. I love the stoptechs because they make pad changes so easy.
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Just a heads up for anyone thinking of going 1/2 cage bolt in and wanting to do track days, starting next year PCA ( porsche club of America) is no longer allowing 4 point cages, racing seats, half gutted cars in the advance groups, YOU MUST HAVE A FULL CAGE/ RACE CAR, and I can tell you know that if PCA is doing it with in the next 2 years BMWCCA and others will follow, now it's just a rumor floating around but I guess PCA is going to test this at there next event to see how people react to it, so mod accordingly and read the newest rules for the events your attending, I was instructing at the ITR EXPO at RA in June, and only instructors and advanced group could run slicks, HPDEs are going to get tighter and tighter on rules as cars are getting faster, Just a heads up, my car currently has a 1/2 cage and I'm going to full NASA cage this winter.
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So not even regular street cars? I don't see that happening for HPDEs...that would kill off their advanced groups and in turn kill instructor and racer development, a lot of which happens in the advanced run groups.
PCA might be able to get away with it but I don't see BMWCCA filling up advanced run groups with that policy.
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