The Cart Before the Horse: Spec 3 Build

[Jake]

Looked good in the video, although I agree with what you say about inputs. Smooth those out and you'll probably find a little time, or feel better at the least. What are you going to do about the rubbing?

Re: synchros - less of an issue on track as there's no real need to slam gears. Make sure you're deliberate and it ought to hold on for a while longer. Good that you have another transmission though.

Excited to see this out at VIR next weekend!

[Senor_Taylor]

I'm going to probably remove the fender liners and that should stop the rubbing.

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[Goodspeed]

Great vid, & car in general. Excited to see this project really take off once you get on track. I'll be at Summit I'm sure to see you shake this down & snap some pics.

Was that the Frederick lot? Lol that dip in the middle. I did one there & then said nahhhh. Around and around you go! It's crazy how rare decent auto-x lots are for this region.

[Senor_Taylor]

So, what's my checklist for VIR?

I'll be bringing:
2 sets of wheels and tires: All seasons and R Comps.
Extra brake pads
Maybe some oil?
I have a gas can. Should I bring that? Do people wait until they have a trailer to bring gas?
Jack, simple tools, impact gun
Helmet, GoPro, gloves

Anything else? This is such a big change from bringing the GTI, I want to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.

[Jake]

Don't bother with a gas can, you'll just stink up the car IMO. I never bothered until I was towing.

Bring oil and water/coolant. A roll of paper towels and glass cleaner is always helpful in the mornings.

I ended up buying one very large plastic tub from Home Depot that could fit all of ^ that so it was easy to unload and weather tight.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Oil/Brake fluid
Extra Brake pads are good
If you are running HPDE, fill up the tank to the brim before getting there. It's expensive at the track. If you are staying trackside, gas is nice, but it's saving you roughly $1.5-2 a gallon. So let's say starting with a full tank, you use 1/2 a tank at 8 gallons a session for 6 sessions. 6x8 = 48 - 16 starting, 32 gallons x $1.50 = $48. Is it worth it to bring your own gas cans for $48 of convenience? Plus the likelihood of you burning 8 gallons every 30 minute session is pretty low. More like in the $30-50 range for savings a weekend. Since racers go 10 times a year, $300-500 and having the trailer seems like an easy way; but for DE it might not.

Bring Jack/simple tools/impact gun/torque wrench/tire pressure gauge/2 pack of shop towels

Chairs, make sure you aren't that guy uncomfortable. I no longer have a 36' trailer storing 50 chairs. I will only be bringing 3 total chairs and we obviously need two. I had to throw away one or two folding chairs from use and the other tan metal chairs were a PITA to bring with the RV.

I advise a canopy if you can (I need to remember to buy one too) and sunglasses/suntan lotion.

Gloves, I hate gloves with leather wheels. Might want to see which one you like better.

[Senor_Taylor]

Awesome, thanks! Need to remember the chair.

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[Kaan]

my econobox goes through a lot of fuel. when it was in "street mode" it would do one day on a tank... when I got faster and the trans was upgraded, I needed 5 extra gallons. now I need about 7 gallons every 40 min session (i'll be at the pumps by Friday afternoon since I don't have that many cans... and comp school sessions are long)

canopy and chairs are key for me. but we hobo camp so its a given.

I bring tools, oil, brake fluid, etc. but I also have a truck to haul it all in. Jack, jackstands, wood to protect the pavement, etc.

we also pack food and water for the entire trip. if we get hungry or didn't pack enough, we can buy more.

[Senor_Taylor]

First weekend in DE2 and first weekend in this car was a success. I packed up the car Wednesday night and headed down Thursday to work. Packing all of my gear in the car, included 4 tires in the trunk, and I didn't even need to use the passenger seat. The car is a lot better than the other BMWs I've owned so the drive down wasn't too bad, just uncomfortable from the lack of seat padding, stereo, sound deadening, cup holders, etc.

I let Jake take the car out on Friday and he said it felt very good, which got rid of a lot of fears I had and instilled the confidence in me to really go out and rip on Saturday. My instructor was amazing and really let me push in a lot of places. I knew the line from the GTI, so I picked that up quickly again, but I was not expecting so much grip and so much braking. Having a purpose built car makes the whole experience a lot better and I was able to learn/improve a lot more since I'm not being held back by stock brakes and all seasons. The first day went well, with me only needing to point by the V8 cars in the straights, and otherwise had a lot of room and open track to play around on.

During my third session, a very intense vibration developed and I came back in to find that my right rear tire had separated belt from rubber and had a huge lump on the inside. This is likely due to this being a budget build and me running Toyo RA1s made in 2011. I ran around the paddock asking everyone for a tire to buy and eventually someone from Spec 3 let me borrow one of their rain tires to use for the last session. I then did some more walking around the paddock after the day ended and found a Spec 944 guy who sold me a full set of Ra1s for cheap. Unfortunately, those were even older (2008 manufacture date). I woke up very early Sunday morning and was the first at Phil's Tire service to drop everything off to get swapped over and chatted up someone dropping off some $erious rubber. They had a set of Toyo RRs (2017 Date) with plenty of life left they were tossing and they just gave them to me. They are not the exact size I run, but close enough, but I didn't have the time to get those swapped onto my wheels so I stuck with the old RA1s.

I did one session on the 3 2011 tires and the 1 2008 tire I bought and shaved off even more time. My instructor was silent throughout as I worked on getting Oak Tree figure out. By the end of the session, I was taking turn 3 at 70 mph indicated (speedo may be off a bit), the uphill esses flat in 5th at around 100 mph, and exiting oak tree at 60 mph. I compressed a lot of braking zones and got the zone at the end of the straight down to braking at the 1, which was a big improvement. My instructor told me he thought I was ready for DE2 solo and was about to sign me off for the rest of my sessions, but I discovered another one of the 2011 tires had developed the massive lump, causing vibration and a hard pull to the right and I was then out of tires and out of options as the guy I borrowed the wheel from had already left. I packed up knowing that I put down some good times and feeling confident that I may progress to DE 3 at some point this season, however I'm not in a hurry to not have awesome instructors helping me improve. I'm bummed that I had to quit early as I felt like I was really shaving off time every lap and making great improvements, but I'll settle for a major incident free weekend.

My current plan before April is to try to lose more weight from the car. It weighed in at 3170 with a full tank and me in it. Also, I'm going to swap those Toyo RRs onto my wheels and try to sell the 6 RA1s I have left to recoup some money if I can. I'll do a nut and bolt on the car and she should be good to go.

[*insertusernamehere*]

Now thats good stuff, fuck yeah! Looking forward to watching you and the car grow, congrats on the first weekend with the car, it looks good.

[Jake]

Knowing you were coming from a (capable, but) skittery GTI on all-seasons made me so happy to take this out and feel how good it was by comparison. Yes, the GTI has the magic differential, but you will develop so much more as a driver with this 325i. I think the brakes and level of grip are good for where you are at, and will remain a good option for a while longer.

Good call switching to the newer Toyo RR, I hate the idea of you running around on 10-year-old RA1s. I understand this is a budget build in some ways, but skimping on the four small contact patches that keep you stuck to the asphalt as you fly through South Bend isn't a great idea. Those RRs should last a while, even if peak grip is gone after a few more HCs.

A/C delete saves 40 lbs and sunroof delete saves another good chunk. The tar on the floor is another 35-40. I waited until cage time to delete the sunroof on mine (metal panel gets welded in place, you remove cassette and motor). In the interest of keeping it reasonably street-friendly to drive to events, keeping the A/C and sound-deadening tar on the floors is probably a good idea for now. Where are you thinking you can lose weight now?

Glad to see you out there in a solid car!!

[Senor_Taylor]

I'll probably trim some wiring out if I can. Remove the factory amp, maybe delete cruise control and some other things like the sunroof motor. Nothing in particular, just keep going over and removing.

I'm buying a spec 3 exhaust for like 30% of the regular price, but I'll probably wait to put that on.

I also think I should have listened to DJ and not bought these all seasons since they'll never be useful at all on track. I had no confidence in my driving ability and seriously underestimated how well I would handle r comps.

I might switch back to my winter wheels and try to sell these all seasons on style 32s. It'll make the car ugly and suck on the street, but maybe can recoup some more money. I can't really afford to spend anything on the car currently. (Read: shouldn't) Hoping to find time to fix the vert and flip it soon.

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[Sijray21]

Very nice! Learning when to call it quits is a good lesson, too. Good call on the newer tires.

[Jake]

I'll probably trim some wiring out if I can. Remove the factory amp, maybe delete cruise control and some other things like the sunroof motor. Nothing in particular, just keep going over and removing.

I'm buying a spec 3 exhaust for like 30% of the regular price, but I'll probably wait to put that on.

I also think I should have listened to DJ and not bought these all seasons since they'll never be useful at all on track. I had no confidence in my driving ability and seriously underestimated how well I would handle r comps.

I might switch back to my winter wheels and try to sell these all seasons on style 32s. It'll make the car ugly and suck on the street, but maybe can recoup some more money. I can't really afford to spend anything on the car currently. (Read: shouldn't)  Hoping to find time to fix the vert and flip it soon.

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Gotcha, cool. That'll all start to add up weight-wise no matter what.

Re all-seasons... you need some good tires to drive to/from the track on no matter what. New all-seasons sound like a good idea for that. Why do you have winter wheels/tires for a track car? Sell those and run the new, safe A/S for the next however-many-years of street driving the car has in it. If you keep a set of snow tires and drive on them in the summer,  you'll just ruin those tires too given temps.

[Senor_Taylor]

Fair enough. The snow tires have been for sale for months with no bites.

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[JPolen01]

Fair enough. The snow tires have been for sale for months with no bites.

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Put them in storage and try to sell them next season. Nobody is looking for winter tires at this point.

[rherold9]

Good to see you are pushing the r-comp tires your first time out there. You won't ever go back to non-sticky rubber now. Looking forward to the rest of the season with you out there

[Senor_Taylor]

So, I got a set of wheels from a former Spec 3 guy and they have some RRs with some life on them left (and they were made this decade!) so I'll be running those this weekend. I'm going to try to get another RA1 mounted and I'll drive to the track on those as an emergency backup if needed.

The car still feels great, if not a little down on power some times and maybe a slight miss. May need new plugs soon.

I've noticed a slight clunk when changing which way the steering wheel is turned at low speeds. I've tugged on everything and I can't find the issue unless it's just the rotors sliding around since I'm not using the set screws. The car still whines, but the alternator hasn't exploded yet, and the engine still sounds like a diesel truck with it's valvetrain tapping. We'll see how long she stays together.

Running DE2 this weekend at Summit.

[Senor_Taylor]

So, my current idea for this weekend is to toss a set of RA1s in Zach's car, drive there on my all seasons, and primarily use the worn down RRs I have on my red wheels (2016 build date). If the weather gets bad or if I lose a tire, I'll use the RA1s (2009 and 2011 build date).

I'm going to sell the 205/50/15 RRs I have and possibly my all seasons and pick up a set of NEW RA1s that I can drive to the track on and use when needed. You can usually get 10,000 miles of street driving out of these and they're fastest with no tread. By the time they start to get worn, hopefully I'll be towing and these will be rain tires only.

[Senor_Taylor]

I'll keep this short since I don't like writing.

The car felt great. Drive to the track on R Comps in the Rain at night was terrifying. The car grips, stops, and turns very well, it's just stupid slow in the straights. Instructor signed off on me and said I just more seat time and otherwise. Work on consistency, looking ahead, smoother inputs, carrying more speed, etc.



Currently trying to sell a lot of things I have and don't need to finance needed stuff.

Currently looking for:
Cheap Hans
Steering wheel and hub
Better tow hook for the front

Plans before hyperfest:
Replace alternator which finally died this weekend
Try to strip more weight out, including carpet
Throw away all of these old tires and get my good RRs and RA1s mounted.