Dj's 1999 M3 Project

[D_Eclipse9916]

April Summit:

Two weeks between VIR and Summit Point, thank god not "much" needed to get done. The car went back to the stock MAF and Bimmerworld and I got the tune figured out and they refunded me for the MAF I had bought they said I needed for the tune. SO no harm, no foul. Car ran a bit better and was excited to get on track with the right tune and alignment. I also tore up my front pads at VIR, they were getting overheated. So now I had made a complete transgression.

1. Burned up pads as a newbie using brakes improperly
2. Learned proper braking techniques and pads worked well and held up
3. I was now pushing the braking deeper and harder, and that was fine on street tires, but when I stepped up to R-comps, it was just too much.

Now part of the issue was the pads. As pads wear down, especially in the last 1/4 of their life, you have less pad acting as a heat-sink. This means the more you wear, the less they will hold up to heat. Since I was down to the last 1/8 of pad, I think they just started to show their weakness.

I figured I would address the heat by giving the brakes a bit more help, considering my brake system was completely stock. I completely cut out the dust shields front and rear. What this does is let the back half of the rotor see fresh air as well. In order to make sure nothing else overheated, I used cooltape and a metal zip tie to cover all ball joints/tie rod boots. I brought a spare set of pads as I wanted to burn up the pfc06s completely before I ordered brand new ones (450 a set).

I know this gets boring without pics, and im sorry I will try to find the pics and edit them in.

Saturday, Summit Point: This would be my first on Summit with the car setup the way it is and first time on hoosiers on Summit. The morning sessions would be rough, everybody was off pace and clearly not setting any good times. I was over 1.5 seconds off my pace on street tires with no mods!
I had gone to Summit under the premise that I wanted to break the TTC record there as well. Unfortunately, I knew this would be a tough ass record to break. Unlike the VIR one, this record was help by RRT. RRT built this car and fielded it with a semi-pro driver. Professional prep, shop backing, and good driver...crap. Record was a 1:23.284. I was a bit worried as I didnt have a clue with what to do with the shocks/tires, and my brakes were within 1/8 of their backing plates.

The afternoon broke and times started to drop. I managed a 1:23.729 in my third session. Not too shabby. The brakes were still there and I was happy coming in. As we are pulling in, our cars go into impound. That is, they weigh our cars, and if they feel like it they can inspect (rarely do). I was not in the least bit worried as in the morning before I ran, I weighed. I came in at 3168 at a 1/4 tank of gas. I needed to weight 3175. No biggie, I fuel starve less than 1/2 a tank, so I filled the car up to the brim before each session. At 6.5lbs/ per gallon, I should be over 56+ with the additional fuel.

Pull up on the scales at a little over 3/4 of a tank. Im estimating to be at 3210+- 10lbs. I get pushed up on the scale, and...wait what? What did you say? "3168". This was my first time failing weight and im at my previosu weight despite another 7 gallons of fuel? Im confused, pull the car next to the line and go up to Kaan. I probably sounded agitated and annoyed and immediately came over and basically was like "WTF". Kaan, being that he has dealt with about 20 bajillion of the same situation (aka annoyed driver who isnt thinking clearly), states simply get back in line. I get back in line, and voila, my car reads 3220 or something like that....way over. Never the less, later that day they changed out the scales. Whatever happened, Kaan and Tech Shed handled my situation appropriatly, and I apologize again if I came off agressive. Remember, these people control your fate and are people themselves volunteering their time for you. After about 10 minutes I quickly came up to him and apologized if I acted in any bad manner.

So now that I knew I was at good weight again...I was in the lead of TTC and just went out for a good few laps. I didnt evne think about the record after my ordeal about weight. It showed, and I pulled in with a 1:23.929. It was a tough day and was not a day for breaking records (mentally, and the track was not in the best shape). Grabbed TTC win for the day and called it a success!

Another few action shots to break it up:
Saturday warmup: yeah you better give me pointbys way in advance :lol:


Pshh, what weight transfer?



You can see my Uber-expense exhaust setup (aka cut pipes from advance auto $6 for turn-downs)



Sunday morning: Temps were about right and I was feeling great, the pads looked like they had about one or two sessions, so I knew this needed to count. Go out for my first lap, 1:23.972, okay well lets do a cool lap to bring these back for a second go around, second lap: 1:25.777, okay...car feels good, now lets do this! I go for it, Summit Point gearing with my car is just about nailed on the head, bounce off rev limiter at 7200rpm in 4th right at the finish line....1:23.244....woo!!! I had the Summit Point TTC record, and heck, grabbed it from RRT as well. But I wanted a 1:22 ooooh so desperately.

Second session: aww crap, numbnuts in front of me hold up the line on my first lap, not even close, 1:27. However, you cant blame others, so I set my car up for a fast lap, or as best as I could. I get about 3/4 through the lap before catching another person outta turn 9...ugh! I just pull in right from there. Im low on brakes and I dont want to ruin my chances later in the day. 1:23.432, not bad at all, wish it had been clean...

Third session: I swore this would be it. I clicked up the front and rear shocks to hopefully slow more weight transfer under transitioning and go out. ho ho! That first lap is a mighty oversteer. I clear out the first two laps just re-learning the car. Alright, its me up front, Scott Blair in the red M3 TTC( my main competitor), and Ron H another TTC competitor all in M3s. From the start I know this is going to be an insanely fast lap, blaze off turn 10 onto the straightaway with good speed and nail turn 1/2. I come into turn 3 and with that little oversteery setup nail out another good 4-wheel drift through turn 3 and just fly down the chute, barely hanging on hard into the chute. Come through the carousel and man the front end is gripping, but where is the rear end? Turn 8, pop off the throttle half a second for turn in and go for it!!! Turn 9 is looking good, I have it set up perfectly, this is going to be it! As I hit the bump, I get a small bit of wheelspin. Typical, just power through as usual..hmm car is still spinning the rear and is taking me a bit wide....shit. I nail the front tires perfectly on the gators, but the back end is half an inch too early hitting, and throws the car. Im at ~90mph with my face towards the wall, SLOW hands, come on slow hands, it seems to hold in the slide forever and then I can feel it....theres grip...somewhere...its coming, seems to be taking forever. Finally, it seems like ages before I feel I can start feeding back to center and the car catches and comes straight. Whew! Scared the shit outta me (and apparently Scott and Ron that had been following along on their fast laps as well). I just came in..that rattled me a good bit, just one session prior a black s2000 had ate it there good. Calm down, soften up the rear and I would have to attempt the 1:22 in the last session.

Last session: Somehow yellow z06 corvette owner had managed to nail out a faster lap than me. I was gridded behind him and was annoyed, but hey, he was faster, cant argue about that! Go out, first lap, everybodys looking fast, I give yellow vette dude a bit of space before I go for it. Im pacing behind by about 2-3 seconds. We come down the chute, theres the wiggle from the vette, hard braking into 5, doesnt seem like he quite has the steering under control..oooohhh oversteer....boom! smacks inside wall. Didnt look too hard, so I stay out hoping for them to clear....after 5 laps no clear.....end of day..done.

Cant complain, grabbed TTC win both days and cleared the Summit Point TTC Record. Great Success!

Moar Pictures:

Mmmm inside curbing (oopsies):


Coming down the chute:





Next Update: Aftermath of Summit....