Post Track Day Report

[rzm3]

Went to Texas World Speedway and ran 8 sessions this past Saturday. This was my second time at the track and I felt very comfortable driving there with the M3, which performed beautifully (for a street car). Here are a couple observations/thoughts:

1) Although the M3 is a sports car, the suspension is too soft for spirited track driving. One thing I noticed is that the car takes quite some time to settle after, say, hard braking. I took a ride in an instructor's race prep'd E30 M3 and that car handled brilliantly with minimum body lean and roll, even passing a race-prep'd Ferrari at the corners.

2) I ran 255/35/19 and 295/30/19 PS2s, and they worked very well for street tires. Although they started screaming after they got hot, the grip remained consistent throughout the day. Nonetheless, I feel I have pushed them to the limit. Next time I would definitely get some competition/track tires. Hoosier seem to have a good selection.

3) The brakes (all stock) worked very well. There was a slight bit of inconsistency with the pedal travel at times but nothing major. When braking at high speed after a long straight from around 130mph to 80 mph they felt a little bit lacking... but at the rest of the corners they worked very well. I will probably get some BMW-approved competition pads soon.

4) The car is wonderfully forgiving. Thanks to the balance chassis and MDM, I was able to recover from some pretty serious oversteers. This is the beauty of the M3... what a wonderfully balanced car!

5) 'Normal' power setting worked best for me. As T Bone discussed before, the 'Power' and 'Power +' are a bit to sensitive to the driver input and may sometimes upset the chassis.

In sum, I am very happy with how the M3 drove on the track on a 80 deg + day. Every instructor who drove my car used the word 'balanced' to describe the chassis, and I was finally able to appreciate it on the track. Next time I am going to have upgraded brake pads and tires to push the car's and my limit further.

As great as the M3 is as an all-arounder, I feel it may be too 'soft' for the track when one really starts to push the car. This is why perhaps all track nuts would have a dedicated track car. But at this point I am going to stick with the best all-around sports car in the world... until I win the lottery A CSL version from BMW that is more track-focused would be appreciated as well.

[swamp2]

Good post. Do you have EDC and did you give the Sport setting a try? IIRC BMW have stated that EDC = normal is the fastest at the track but this may very well be for a track with lots of bumps and other chassis upsetting features like the N'Ring. On a smooth track in very good condition Sport may be faster.

[rzm3]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Good post. Do you have EDC and did you give the Sport setting a try? IIRC BMW have stated that EDC = normal is the fastest at the track but this may very well be for a track with lots of bumps and other chassis upsetting features like the N'Ring. On a smooth track in very good condition Sport may be faster.

Yes. I used EDC 'sport' at all times. In comfort or normal there is even more body roll.

[Green///Hell]

SInce it would be your third time, I think brakes would make a world of difference for you but just try and pick a not overly aggressive track pad to learn more with
As for tires I think you could prolong the use of PS2s. Its hard to outdrive them, but if you're not a really good driver you will scrub off some speed and heat them up quickly. I'd say to hone your skills here before getting a Rcomp tire
But if you do go with the RCOMP stay away from hoosier until you get better. If you're not an experienced driver you will trash that tire very quickly and it wont last you too long. Stick to something like the BFG R1 of NT01 which are much more forgiving very fast and good learners. I think it will be a very long time before you outdrive any of these choices, it just sucks that they only last about 3-4 events

[lucid]

Originally Posted by Panda///Monic

Stick to something like the BFG R1 of NT01 which are much more forgiving very fast and good learners. I think it will be a very long time before you outdrive any of these choices, it just sucks that they only last about 3-4 events

Are you saying BFGs won't last more than 3-4 events (days?)? I have 4 days on them, and they did lose some grip on the 4th day, but I suspect that has more to do with me trying higher pressures that day. They do have more tread left.

P.S. Good to hear you had fun rldzhao.

[bigjae1976]

I assume you went with the driver's edge. What run group were you in? What did you think of it? I liked it a lot, worth every penny. Its a good balance between track/class/maintenance/rest time.

I ran it clockwise last Nov, lots of fun. That sh1t is scary when you are going down the front straight at 140mph and then you go down a pretty bumpy hill right into the carousel. A guy best described it as "scary fun".

That course seems to be pretty hard on brakes. After the front straight, you have to go through the carousel and then brake pretty hard 2 turns later on the 180 going across the infield. On my 330Ci, I went from 3/4 pad left on the fronts to about 1/8" from the back plate. There were 2 other guys that literally ran out of brakes.

[rzm3]

I was in blue, but also ran in green since I couldn't make the Sunday session.

[rzm3]

Originally Posted by Panda///Monic

SInce it would be your third time, I think brakes would make a world of difference for you but just try and pick a not overly aggressive track pad to learn more with
As for tires I think you could prolong the use of PS2s. Its hard to outdrive them, but if you're not a really good driver you will scrub off some speed and heat them up quickly. I'd say to hone your skills here before getting a Rcomp tire
But if you do go with the RCOMP stay away from hoosier until you get better. If you're not an experienced driver you will trash that tire very quickly and it wont last you too long. Stick to something like the BFG R1 of NT01 which are much more forgiving very fast and good learners. I think it will be a very long time before you outdrive any of these choices, it just sucks that they only last about 3-4 events

thanks for your advice. i've heard good things about NT01. Perhaps I will give them a try.

[ace996]

Great to hear you had a good time and that all went well. I'll make a few suggestions based on your comments:

-if you spun the car twice with MDM off, on the stock tires, then you should not be moving to an r-comp tire. When you can control the car well enough to drive without the nannies, when you've moved into the advanced class, when you MUST move to r-comps because being 1-3 seconds per lap slower than your peers is driving you crazy...THEN you get r-comps. Learning to drive well with the stock tires for one season will do more for your driving than going to r-comps for two seasons, especially HoHos...as when they give up the grip in a turn, you may very well spin without much notice. r-comps also cover-up mistakes...learn to slide/slip the car well on stockers, then make the move...you'll appreciate the tires that much more then.

- r-comps will make your complaints regarding the suspension that much more pronounced. If you think the car is under sprung/damped now, then what do you think it will feel like with a set of r-comps?

- Did you change your brake fluid prior to the event or did you run stock fluid? I assume you used stock pads? If you go again, make sure you change your fluid to SRF (you'll only need to do this once per season and then bleed as needed instead of flushing with Motul600 before every event...the SRF is THAT good).
Hate to harp on the subject, but you'll be going through pads much faster with r-comps, too. On stock tires, I use SRF and Pagid Yellows up front...that's it. They are still good...half left after two events...and I've put a good 7K miles on them on the street!!! Yep, they squeak and squeal like banshees at times but I don't care...I'm always ready.

I don't mean to preach, only help, so the jist of this is -
1. stay on stock tires for as long as you can sanely handle
2. flush your brake fluid and add some track pads.
3. do more days...more days...more days

And keep having fun!!!

[dcstep]

I didn't see where he spun twice. Did you mix him up with the guy in another thread now. I do agree with all the advice, particularly waiting on the R-compounds.

The Dinan spring kit will make you a lot happier with the handling. You can go more agressive, but Dinan maintain a great street ride.

Dave

[ace996]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I didn't see where he spun twice. Did you mix him up with the guy in another thread now.

You are right!!! Sorry for that...I did cross another post into this one. A bit more commentary...

Originally Posted by rldzhao

2) I ran 255/35/19 and 295/30/19 PS2s, and they worked very well for street tires. Although they started screaming after they got hot-they are supposed to do that...they are street tires, a screaming tire is a happy tire!!!, the grip remained consistent throughout the day- throughout the day, yes...street tires will not "fall-off" one session to the next like cooked r-comps. It usually takes 'laps' for a tire to lose it's grip, but the PS2s are quite good.. Nonetheless, I feel I have pushed them to the limit. -I say this with only the best intentions...if this was your 2nd track day, then you did not use the tires to their limit. If you ran stock brake set-up, then you did not use the tires to their limit. If you were not faster than 50% of the cars in the advanced group, you did not use the tires to their limit. If those PS2s don't have blue sidewalls and crusty edges, you did not use them to their limit.
Again, no rub intended...the point is just that important.

3) The brakes (all stock) worked very well. There was a slight bit of inconsistency with the pedal travel at times but nothing major. When braking at high speed after a long straight from around 130mph to 80 mph they felt a little bit lacking... but at the rest of the corners they worked very well. I will probably get some BMW-approved competition pads soon.

4) The car is wonderfully forgiving. Thanks to the balance chassis and MDM, I was able to recover from some pretty serious oversteers. This is the beauty of the M3... what a wonderfully balanced car!With MDM on, and your 295s in the rear, you should not be having any "pretty serious oversteers". With MDM on at LRP I found it quite difficult to rotate the car to throttle steer. The only way to have a 'serious oversteer' with MDM on is from not being smooth and/or making a real mistake. Going to an r-comp tire would make that grip-breakaway much more severe...because they don't have the same level of audible warning (squealing) and when the grip goes...IT GOES.
Where a street tire will increase it's singing the closer it gets to breaking away, giving you quite a broad range of warning...the r-comp allows you to reach incomprehensibly attainable levels of grip with little sound. Often, the only time one really hears an r-comp squeal is just before they slam the wall.
Again...only meant to stress the point.

5) 'Normal' power setting worked best for me. As T Bone discussed before, the 'Power' and 'Power +' are a bit to sensitive to the driver input and may sometimes upset the chassis.-Power+ is useless, I agree that it is waaay too sensitive for proper throttle modulation. I do find the 'Power' setting to be spot on for track, though. It allows for crisp throttle response, quick throttle-blipping for downshifts without the dulled-down 'normal' setting. I don't even use the normal on the street...it's really numb.

In sum, I am very happy with how the M3 drove on the track on a 80 deg + day. Every instructor who drove my car used the word 'balanced' to describe the chassis, and I was finally able to appreciate it on the track. Next time I am going to have upgraded brake pads and tires to push the car's and my limit further.

.

[aus]

Good stuff here.
I've been told that a wet track day can really help you become a better driver. It makes you sensitive to how the car behaves near the limit, and this can then be transferred to driving on a dry track.

[jml]

Originally Posted by rldzhao

Went to Texas World Speedway and ran 8 sessions this past Saturday. This was my second time at the track and I felt very comfortable driving there with the M3, which performed beautifully (for a street car). Here are a couple observations/thoughts:

1) Although the M3 is a sports car, the suspension is too soft for spirited track driving. One thing I noticed is that the car takes quite some time to settle after, say, hard braking. I took a ride in an instructor's race prep'd E30 M3 and that car handled brilliantly with minimum body lean and roll, even passing a race-prep'd Ferrari at the corners.

2) I ran 255/35/19 and 295/30/19 PS2s, and they worked very well for street tires. Although they started screaming after they got hot, the grip remained consistent throughout the day. Nonetheless, I feel I have pushed them to the limit. Next time I would definitely get some competition/track tires. Hoosier seem to have a good selection.

3) The brakes (all stock) worked very well. There was a slight bit of inconsistency with the pedal travel at times but nothing major. When braking at high speed after a long straight from around 130mph to 80 mph they felt a little bit lacking... but at the rest of the corners they worked very well. I will probably get some BMW-approved competition pads soon.

4) The car is wonderfully forgiving. Thanks to the balance chassis and MDM, I was able to recover from some pretty serious oversteers. This is the beauty of the M3... what a wonderfully balanced car!

5) 'Normal' power setting worked best for me. As T Bone discussed before, the 'Power' and 'Power +' are a bit to sensitive to the driver input and may sometimes upset the chassis.

In sum, I am very happy with how the M3 drove on the track on a 80 deg + day. Every instructor who drove my car used the word 'balanced' to describe the chassis, and I was finally able to appreciate it on the track. Next time I am going to have upgraded brake pads and tires to push the car's and my limit further.

As great as the M3 is as an all-arounder, I feel it may be too 'soft' for the track when one really starts to push the car. This is why perhaps all track nuts would have a dedicated track car. But at this point I am going to stick with the best all-around sports car in the world... until I win the lottery A CSL version from BMW that is more track-focused would be appreciated as well.

If you ever feel crowded at TDE events, I'd recommend trying the events TWS puts on themselves. There are about half the cars and the sessions are 30min instead of 20. Same bunch of instructors at TDE, PCA, and TWS events, though managed very differently.

NT01s seem to wear pretty well at TWS if you run the hot pressure at 40 (back in paddock after a cool down lap). You'll need to flip them to get more than 4 under 2 minute/lap DE days. The E9X is probably a 1:55ish (CCW) car with rcomps and pads once I forget how much it costs, which is not too bad for 3700lbs. Not as much fun as a hard core E46 with all the fixins, but fun enough...

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by jml

If you ever feel crowded at TDE events, I'd recommend trying the events TWS puts on themselves. There are about half the cars and the sessions are 30min instead of 20. Same bunch of instructors at TDE, PCA, and TWS events, though managed very differently.

Do you have a link for contact info?

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by aus

Good stuff here.
I've been told that a wet track day can really help you become a better driver. It makes you sensitive to how the car behaves near the limit, and this can then be transferred to driving on a dry track.

This is true.

Hopefully it also gives you a healthy respect for the fine line between being under control and out of control and how little the average driver on the street really knows. In the USA the other drivers are not expecting someone to come blasting by using any car's potential.

Don't make the mistake of thinking you're now superman because you can lap fast. Take you extra margin and use it to anticipate the mistakes of others on the street and keep yourself safe.

Dave

[jml]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Do you have a link for contact info?

http://www.lsrpca.com/drivers_ed.htm
http://www.texasworldspeedway.com/pe...ng-school.html

[rzm3]

THanks guys for all the response.

Looks like I am definitely get some better pads+fluids for next session, and most likely some NT01, since they are much cheaper than PS2s.

Anyone going to TWS for the night event in August?

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by rldzhao

THanks guys for all the response.

Looks like I am definitely get some better pads+fluids for next session, and most likely some NT01, since they are much cheaper than PS2s.

Anyone going to TWS for the night event in August?

Motul 600 works great for me in my 330. Might want to check out the Dunlop Z1 SS's...they are pretty cheap and offer PS2-like grip.

I think the night event is at Texas Motor Speedway.

[jml]

Originally Posted by bigjae1976

Motul 600 works great for me in my 330. Might want to check out the Dunlop Z1 SS's...they are pretty cheap and offer PS2-like grip.

I think the night event is at Texas Motor Speedway.

Yup, that's the only venue setup for night driving.