Project 'Modern E36' - My 2009 BMW 128i

[Jake]

Mileage: 48,980

Given my schedule the past few weeks (busy at work, Summit Point, VIR, moving and then NJMP), I elected to bring the 128i down to VIR and just run pace laps in it. And then Felton IM'd me and said "you're winning TTD based on points for the season, if you keep driving, you'll stay ahead. You just have to turn a lap each day."

And the 128i is a TTD car. So... in theory, I could have thrown a transponder on the front of a black 128i that looked suspiciously like mine, turned two very slow laps each day, and giggled like a little kid the whole time I was doing it.



After theoretically turning some laps, I might have been handed a 3rd-place plaque on Saturday night, because only three of us showed up for TTD and thus, my stupid-slow lap times earned me a participation trophy

So, how does the 128 handle VIR? Eh, about as you'd expect a 100% stock car with tall-sidewall'd tires to handle it. Power is more than adequate (they dyno at 208 rwhp) and everything else is... stock, and soft. Suspension is a bit soft, there's too much body roll goin' on, the 340 TW summer tires howl if you even think about cornering hard, the rear subframe bushings are squishy and give the rear end a nervous feel through turns, and the stock seat lets you move around a lot. The brakes are good though.

Apologies to Dave, Justin and Garrett, who had to push the silly thing up on the scales on Saturday for impound. With me in the car, it's right at 3,400 lbs. What a porker.

I suppose the whole point of this exercise is to show that everything that makes a sporty car so great on the street, makes it not great enough on the track... and there does come a time when you out-drive the stock car's abilities. If I'm doing that, I guess I've learned some things since I started the track thing a few years back. So, yay!

Here, watch me take a 2:41 lap:

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