Commander Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 The Cups are on, but, it's forecasting rain for Friday, so may end up putting the RSRs on and shoving the Cups in the boot... we'll see. Need to fix the bugger first again anyway! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 It's too hard to re-write everything, so coolant saga is here... http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=128545 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 sheesh matey hope you get it all up and running in time for tomorrow! On the plus side weather round Leicester way tomorrow is a looking a lot better now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 2210hrs and its FINALLY working. Will update on the details over the weekend - need a kip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMballistic Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 2210hrs and its FINALLY working. Will update on the details over the weekend - need a kip! Just read the thread on M3 Cutters, ...this picture says it all... What a palava. Glad you got it sorted and good luck with the track day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Where to start?... At the last track day (Abingdon) I discovered / realised a few things, but the main one was cooling. The coolant temps were getting well above 100 so something needed to be done - air con removal. The air-con rad and fans sit in front of the engine radiator, so the hope was that by removing the air con bits, the car would stay cooler. So I ripped out all the air con and went for a test drive a few days before the Mallory Park track day was due. Fail. Balls! Smoke everywhere and coolant leaking in to the cab. After much faff, heater-matrix and fan assembly all removed. Time for another test drive. Fail. More balls, and the track day is now 'tomorrow'. Some time plugged in to the diagnostics, on google, and trying to think things through and I realise that when I put the intake plenum back on, I made a mistake and some jubilee clips were obstructing the throttle actuator. So, dismantle the whole intake assembly (which is a lot harder on an e46 m3 than a HR 350z), re-do all the clips, job's a good'un. Finished just after 10pm, the night before Mallory Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veilside z Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Hope all went well with the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Mallory Park Never been before, I didn't get enough sleep the night before (excited about the track day, worried about the car repairs I'd done), and slightly concerned that they'd sold 60 spaces for a track that's only 1.3miles long... It wasn't looking great if I'm honest. You can forget about all of those worries though, the car was A1 and Mallory Park is brilliant! There are really only five corners and you use your brakes three times a lap, but every corner is different - usually some weird combination of camber change, multiple apexs, and/or changes in undulation. It's a bit like a mini Donnington really, and I will definitely be going back. The only weird thing about Mallory is that the paddock is inside the circuit and there's no real escape road - they just close the circuit every now and then for a minute so people can escape. Petrol on site was £1.55 / liter, quite expensive, but the food and cafe were decent enough, there's loads of places to spectate from and the staff were nice. Big thanks to the marshals, as ever. Here are some gash notes I made about the track... We did the standard '3 sighting laps and then in', before transferring to Open Pit. I got a little carried away on my first stint and did half a tank of petrol in one go, having just brimmed it at the on-site petrol station. I probably did about 35 laps in that one go based on the fuel usage, but I'm not really sure. Here's a comparison of some laps on my second stint from Harry's lap timer - the best was a 56.4, but for most of those laps I was stuck behind either a 996 GT3 or one of the many Caterfields that were knocking around. I averaged about 58seconds a lap, which is plenty consistent enough for me. I need to find about 6 seconds a lap if I want to be competitive in a race series, which should be fairly easily do-able, especially with practice, weight reduction, cage, springs, brakes, etc... and bigger balls! After the changes I've made to the car since my last track day at Abingdon (air con out, more sound-proofing out, lighter wheels, upgraded tyres from 255 595RSRs to 265 Cups), I wanted to see what difference it all made. Engine cooling is much improved, with the needle sticking nicely at the half way point regardless of how hot the weather got, how hard I drove it or how much traffic I was slip-streaming behind. Happy days! Grip levels on the Cups are another level, and they just don't go off at all. Brilliant tyres. I went out on 23PSI cold and they did take a couple of laps to warm up, but bloody hell they're good. Perhaps a bit too good really, because the increased grip levels exposed the next problems on the car - springs and brakes. On the 595RSRs I can make the ABS kick in at around 85-ish mph if I really want to, but on the Cups it won't kick in until about 70 (no, I don't rely on ABS on track, it's just used for an easily understandable reference here). I'm already running brembo 6-pots with Pagid RS29 pads / RDB 600 fluid - there wasn't a hint of fade ever, I think I'm just asking too much of them now. There's not much more weight to get out of the car, so I need to see what my options are - grippier disk/pad combo, or upgrade calipers? Not sure... The other thing that the new tyres exposed was the springs... Trail braking in to the first big long right hander (and the second one after that as well actually), the front right compresses waaaay to much for my liking. Don't get me wrong, it was enough to get round the corner faster than the guy in the 996 GT3, but still, I can feel it happening and I can't help but wonder if stiffer springs would keep all four wheels better connected to the black stuff. This wasn't really a problem on the 595RSRs because they're not as grippy so the forces acting on the car are less. All-in-all, a brilliant day out... watch this space for updates on brakes, springs, etc! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Thruxton I went on a fairly rare day at Thruxton a little while ago now but didn't get round to writing about it. As usual before a track day I took the car out for a few b-road blasts just to check everything was ok - and it was I woke up at the crack of dawn on the big day, fired the car up and it sounded like a dog! After some laptop-based diagnostics I established a misfire on Cylinder 4. To work out if the problem was spark plug or coil pack I swapped the pack over with Cylinder 3 to see if the problem moved with it... it did. A quick trip up to my local Euro Car Parts in Abingdon and some money later I had the car back up and running, but obviously now running pretty late! The TDO was great about me being late and they got me briefed up just in time for me to be the last car on the last set of sighting laps... talk about cutting it close! I'd never been to Thruxton before, didn't even look at the track layout or watch any YouTube videos - pretty well just rocked up not knowing what to expect. What a track! The up/down undulation is huge over the course of the circuit and there are no straights anywhere - it's corner, corner, corner, corner, corner - screw one up and it punishes you for aaages! Just brilliant... nice and wide, fair amount of run off for most of it, and extremely technical. I think I did about 60 laps over the whole day and I can safely say I didn't do a single perfect lap... not even close! Coilpack problems aside, the car was good. The 6-pot PBMW / RS-29 / RBF600 brake setup continues to be beastly, even on 265 Cups. The engine oil & coolant temps both remained spot on since removing the air con and refreshing the coolant. I (the Driver) continue to be the limiting factor in the car, with 'slower' cars absolutely destroying me in/out of Church corner. I only had one real brown-pants moment when the rear went at full throttle through Village - I caught it before anything serious happened but it scared the fork out of me and took a good while for me to build my speed back up to the same pace through that corner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted October 27, 2015 Author Share Posted October 27, 2015 Since Thruxton, my tax ran out so I've had it SORN'd while I get round to sorting the MOT - hopefully get that done this week. I'm a bit nervous about it - I've never tried to MOT a track day car before so I just hope they don't fail it on some technicality I've overlooked. MOT aside, next up is Silverstone on Monday 16th November. I'll be there in the M along with my brother in his e36 m3 and a mate on his first track day ever in an RX7 (with freshly re-built engine, lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 MOT passed - picked up a couple of advisories but nothing I don't already know about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted November 6, 2015 Share Posted November 6, 2015 Missed the last two updates but all is looking good - I spent many a happy drift day at Mallory. Gerards is a mighty corner (1/3 mile) and I still remember the first time I went round the whole thing sideways, the Devlis Eyebrow is always a bit of fun when on the limit too Silverstone will be good, which circuuit are you doing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 6, 2015 Author Share Posted November 6, 2015 Silverstone - Full GP Circuit :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Silverstone GP Circuit First time here - surprisingly long circuit with plenty of corners to learn! Good fun though Managed a 2.41 theoretical best (based on three best sector times) and 2.44 actual best. The long sweepy corners are less daunting then they used to be (likely due to experience gained at Thruxton). I did have a couple of brown-pants moments but they were all minor - no spins, crashes, etc... Largely due to either cooking the tyres and out braking myself, or due to going in to the first right handed by the pits a liiitle bit too quickly. I didn't get any photos, but there was lots of exotica there - fezza, every Porsche you can imagine, radicals, BMWs, GTR, etc. Some well driven, others less so! The M continues to be better than I am, though I am sloooowly getting there with it :-) Next up will hopefully be Donnington. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) Here's some data from my 2.44 lap; Edited November 17, 2015 by Commander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 sounds like a good day! Any videos of any sessions? We're still yet to do Silverstone, might aim to book it in for sometime next year. my goal is to drive all the current BTCC tracks - have done 5 (Donington, Snetterton, Oulton Park, Rockingham, Croft) still got 4 to do (Brands Hatch, Thruxton, Knockhill, Silverstone) would be good to try and go on the same day sometime, I know your M3 will be way faster than our 328i, but interested to see just how much faster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 No video from my car I'm afraid. I think my mate in the RX7 had his GoPro running so I'll see if he publishes anything. Hopefully I'll be lots faster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 A true 130 on track is FAST, your work seems to be paying off mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) No video from my car I'm afraid. I think my mate in the RX7 had his GoPro running so I'll see if he publishes anything. Hopefully I'll be lots faster! oh for sure any track with any kind of straight you'll leave our lowly 190bhp for dead. but I would be interested to see if we can at least hold onto your coattails in the corners! when we've been on track with M3s in the past they've normally been full interior road cars, so we can keep in touch mainly through braking later and cornering faster, but you've got both those areas sorted, as well as having nearly twice the power! Edited November 17, 2015 by brillomaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) oh for sure any track with any kind of straight you'll leave our lowly 190bhp for dead. but I would be interested to see if we can at least hold onto your coattails in the corners! when we've been on track with M3s in the past they've normally been full interior road cars, so we can keep in touch mainly through braking later and cornering faster, but you've got both those areas sorted, as well as having nearly twice the power! Yeah, it's definitely the corners that sorts the good drivers from the good cars... I was behind a GTR for a few laps at Silverstone - he had me on the straights but I reeled him back in under braking and in the corners. Let battle commence! Edited November 17, 2015 by Commander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 Donnington tomorrow - looks like a wet start then dry for the remainder. As ever, I left my pre track day test drive until the day before and found a problem. Lots of rear-end clunking. Jacked it up and found a nut had come off the 'inner' end of a rear camber arm. It's impossible for the bolt to come out, but no nut meant lots of play. The nut in question is a special one - it has a lug off the side so you can slide it in to its (very hard to reach) position, then the lug acts as a stopper so you can tighten from the bolt end because you can't get a spanner to the nut. Anyway, amateur metal work skills to the rescue! I found a normal nut that would fit, then cut a bit of 0.5mm sheet to size, drilled a hole through one end then welded the lot together. Clearly I'm a crap welder, but it did the job and surprisingly it fit first time! Onwards to Donny! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) Donington is brilliant! Best track I've ever been to, bar the 'ring. Weather was a mixed bag, it rained overnight and was cold and cloudy on the morning so the track started wet but dried, albeit slowly and unevenly, as the morning wore on. By lunch time it was dry and I was really getting the hang of it - it's not often I get to overtake other M3s or any Caterhams That was, until I found I'd worn through the rest of my rear pads a LOT faster than I expected and the sound of metal on metal, combined with going waaay deeper in to a corner than expected, signaled the end of the session, but conveniently right before lunch. I had loads of tools with me, but no spare pads, so the mission began to find somewhere open on a Sunday afternoon who sold brake pads to fit an M3. It turns that that while this is difficult, it's not impossible, and after ringing 5-6 places I found on Google, some random side-street shop 25mins up the road saved the day. I returned with my £24 pair of pads (that's £24 total, not each, lol) and got them fitted. They used to be bluestuff's, but now they're just flat bits of metal. It rained over lunch, got colder, and never really stopped spitting at all so the PM session was waaay slower, especially as the MPS Cup tyres I was driving on were down to their last 2mm or so and I'm scared of crashing! I had a few power-on traction issues, especially coming out of the old hairpin and also on to the back straight... extremely greasy. Here's some notes based on the fastest (still quite slow!) time I posted from the afternoon. Edited December 7, 2015 by Commander 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 7, 2015 Share Posted December 7, 2015 That's a cracking graph mate, superb stuff I love Donny, it's a great circuit for equalising cars. I can only imagine how terrifying it must've been in the soaking wet in an F1 car, a la Senna's greatest drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Mallory Park Went to Mallory yesterday. Minimal car prep needed, just swapped out those temporary rear brakes for some new RS29s, changed the oil, filter & sump plug, and swapped the wheels & tyres for a wet setup (OEM 18s on 255width Federal 595RS-Rs). As forecast, it absolutely chucked it down the whole day. There were plenty of red flags with people spinning off, usually on the exit of Gerards or through the Esses, and lots of queues... LOTS of queues. I think they sold too many places really; waiting 10 minutes just to get out when the track is flowing isn't cool in my book. Once out on track, behavior was mediocre - as ever a few people not moving out the way and a few people doing cheeky overtakes, but no worse than any other day I suppose. It started drying up (or at least, got less wet) in the last 45minutes or so and the track sped up a lot - especially as lots of people had already left, or at least started packing up. In the dry over summer I think I was doing about 56seconds a lap on MPS Cups - yesterday I was doing about 1:19 in the pouring rain and 1:10 as it started to dry. Still lots of room for driver improvement, but happy to report that the track's best efforts to upset me were in vein... despite ample amount of power-on wheel spin and power-on over-steer, understeer at the hairpin, understeer at speed (60ish) through the devil's elbow, which is a down-hill, off-camber left hander that had a river flowing across it, aqua-planing in the braking zones for gerards and the esses, and the TCS off all day - no crashes or spins for me (came close though!) Did about 100 laps over the day. As ever, no pictures or video from me I'm afraid - here's one from in my mates RX7 though, spinning out about 3/4s of the way around Gerards. I'm the BMW that passes him as he comes to a stop. Edited January 4, 2016 by Commander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 i'm gonna hazard a guess this is a Javelin trackday? i'd imagine Mallory park have quite a strict number of cars allowed on track, seeing as its so short. and yeah overtaking can be interesting - I remember a few years back being three abreast coming into Gerrards, the straights aren't really long enough to make a move stick unless the car being overtaken backs off. although overtaking round the outside at gerrards is good fun got any plans for your next trackday? with any luck we're off to snetterton in a fortnights time, as long as it stays mild. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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