So i finally got a chance to test out my new setup over 2 days on the track! Some background on the suspension mods:
M3 sway bars, front and rear
M3 wishbone,tension rods, guide rods, front and rear
M3 rear subframe bushings
AST 5100 - front 450 Swift springs, rear 850 AST springs
Vorslag Camber plates
Quaife 3.46 (4th gear top speed 129 @ 7k RPM)
Stoptech Trophy brakes, 355 front and 345 rear
Wheels are APEX ARC-8 18x9” square
Tires: 265/35/18 Dunlop z1 starspecs
Alignment settings:
Front: -3.2 Camber, 0 Toe
Rear: -2.4 Camber, 1/16 Toe
The first session the car was pretty floaty and not confidence inspiring but then I realized I had the dampers set to about 5 clicks from softest for street driving. I quickly set everything to max and softened up the rear to 1 click from max and….. the car quickly transformed into a dream to drive… It’s ridiculous how balanced this setup was, how crisp turn in was, and how well it performed at the limits. In the sweeper the car is completely neutral making it extremely easy to throttle steer. The best way I can describe it is, the car handles much like a go-kart. The feedback from the car pretty much told me exactly when the rear would slip out and where to point the car. Transitions in the esses were almost immediate. The weight shifts to one side then settles nearly instantly and back to the otherside. High curbs or bumps in the track were soaked up by the dampers easily when under medium to high throttle preventing any upsetting of the car.
I think the only part that can be improved is the compression settings under heavy breaking. The car is a little bit nervous coming down from high speeds off the straights on hard breaking. Of course I only have the 5100s and so I don’t have any compression adjustment but for my skill level now it’s more than fine
. Once I get better I always have the option to upgrade to a 5200 or 5300 setup.
About the tires, they were really great in giving sound feedback at their limits and just gripped and gripped. Halfway through the day in 100F weather however started to make them feel greasy but still very controllable at the limits when it actually did let go.
Overall Im extremely satisfied with my new setup. The car handles beyond my capabilities and really sets me up to learn more about carrying speed through the turns. I spent most of my time trying to enter in the turns faster and faster as I quickly learned that I was far below the limits of the car. I think I can push the car another 5-10mph faster into the turns but sometimes it’s plain scary.
On the street the car is great. At full soft it feels too floaty/underdamped for my taste so I usually run 5 from softest. I would have to say that it is only slightly less compliant than stock on runflats but definitely tolerable and worth the tradeoff for the track performance. If I ever were to change cars in the future, one of the first things I would do is get the exact suspension setup
.