Poll: Coils or Turbo

[i_love_cars]

So after the government comes in and taxes the shit out of me and I get my half-bonus, I'll be left with enough to blow on a mod or two. Some of that is spoken for and I'm definitely setting aside money for track time in 2015 (already signed up for Blackhawk on June 29th, discounted rates for Monday!). I'd like to do 3-4 events this year. 

I'd like to do 1 mod for the 1er and can't decide between coils or a new turbo. I'm polling the community for reasoning because I'm weak and if left to my own devices I would just do both and say fuck it. I'm trying to stay in the 2k-2500 range, and both coils/turbo are right about there. 

My thoughts behind the turbo: the car is my summer DD, so I would get daily enjoyment out of more horsepower. This does me little good at the track though. Pretty situational that I need that much extra power i.e. the back straight at RA. My other dilemma is that if i'm running a different turbo, I feel inclined to spray meth as well. So I'd have to pop for a meth kit as well as a JB4 for meth control (currently i have a cobb v2). I quickly see the cost getting up to $2k including those parts (i install myself so ignore labor). Not planning on running E85 - my main goal is to have a more efficient turbo than a stock N55 provides, and to be able to get to about 400 hp easily. I was really happy with my N54 at 380 hp and didn't feel the need for much more. Sadly the N55 turbo just doesn't flow as much air as the N54 twins, so even with FBO + meth + e85 almost no one is even hitting 400 on an N55. I really feel I need the turbo to get there comfortably. Another thing is I still need to install my downpipe which is sitting in the garage - it would be a convenient time to swap a new turbo in. 

My thoughts behind the coilovers: car is already got a good posture from the factory, but I do love these cars lowered and again, as a DD I look at it every day so the aesthetically pleasing aspect of it counts for something. But performance on the street is negligible compared to the track - my struggle lies in that I will only probably do 3-4 events this year where I would actually take advantage of the performance gains from coilovers. I was disappointed at Blackhawk last year with how soft the car felt. Now, admittedly part of that was tires with shitty sidewalls and I probably was braking later than I should have for a stock 135 so I had to toss it more which led to more body roll. But again, we're talking 3-4 days a year. There is also a cost I would have to incur to flatten out the edge of my driveway a bit because I already scrape my carbon splitter in front when I back out. Lowering the car anymore will surely crack the lip. This will bring my total cost up to probably 3k

If anyone has any other thoughts to consider that I haven't already, post away, otherwise please vote on my next mod !

[suspenceful]

Take out the N55 and replace it with an N54

...and buy coils.

[i_love_cars]

i briefly considered this but at ~4k for a used N54, plus the other conversion requirements of ECU, harness, downpipes, shit adds up quick. given that my goal for the car is around 400 hp rather than 500+ because pure straight-line speed isn't that important to me, it seems not so worth it   would be a fun project though

[patsbimmer1]

I'm going to have to say coilovers.  The turbo would be awesome but I think you would get more "ah ha" moments from the coilovers.  What I mean by that is that moment you come into an on ramp a little too quick and the car just sticks!  Or coming on the throttle a little sooner than usual when you exit a corner and the car just sits flat.  Those are the moments in the car that will keep a smile on your face.

[B C]

Ive thought about this for a bit and this is a tough choice.

Do you have an idea of what turbo you would put on it?

[i_love_cars]

patsbimmer1 said:

I'm going to have to say coilovers.  The turbo would be awesome but I think you would get more "ah ha" moments from the coilovers.  What I mean by that is that moment you come into an on ramp a little too quick and the car just sticks!  Or coming on the throttle a little sooner than usual when you exit a corner and the car just sits flat.  Those are the moments in the car that will keep a smile on your face.

that's actually a good point. I am a big proponent of coming into on-ramps hot. I also get a lot of enjoyment giving it the beans when coming out of turns on the street - the LSD made it way more predictable doing that, but coilovers would probably help a lot more for stability. 

Snap said:

Ive thought about this for a bit and this is a tough choice. Do you have an idea of what turbo you would put on it?

Well that brings up the difficult part of this discussion. As it sits, PURE Stage 1 would be the go-to. It's very well-reputed by N55 guys that have it, and they have a much better reputation than Vargas with their Stage2 offering, and Rob Beck I think is still in development phase for a turbo upgrade on the N55. PURE is close to finishing their Stage 2, which will be 2500 bucks + core, compared to 1000 bucks for Stage 1. 

No idea yet what the results will be from the Stage 2 though. What I do know for sure is that if I'm running even the Stage 1, my peak target for boost would be 16.5 on 93 octane and meth. The Stage 1 loses efficiency beyond 20 psi, but to run 20 psi I'd have to be running E85 mixture and there's no gas stations near me that sell it. It's kindof a deal breaker for me. I probably wouldn't buy a Stage 2 kit because the boost would require me to run E85. 

I think if I went with coilovers instead of the turbo, I would still wire up a meth kit this winter for a few extra ponies in 2015. I'm still on Stage 1 Cobb tune, so once that downpipe goes in and I can go to Stage 2...throw in meth and it'll be a good kick power wise.