[ATLBlue]

Brakes update (upgrade?)

The Pagids RS29 pads have so far done a great job on the track but are definitely tough on the rotors and there is a lot of grinding after a few sessions.

Barber Motorsports Park has also taken its toll on the brakes: I check my rotors temperature every time I go back to the paddocks and the fronts were up to 660F vs 600F for the rears, even after a cool down lap. I have not observed any fading but I am happy I went for high temperature brake fluid and stainless steel lines.

For those of you who take their car to the track, I suggest to invest in a basic infrared thermometer like this one:



It comes handy to check how uniformly your tires are heating up, brakes temperature etc.

Knowing that I will inevitably have to replace my rotors at some point, I chose to swap them for aftermarket (Stoptech) rotors that are cheaper, just as good as OEMs and look better (black hat, slotted and 'pseudo-'drilled like the M performance rotors).

Since we had a couple of hours between two sessions, I installed the new rotors myself (one of the easiest thing you can do on your F30):







Again, not sure that there is any improvement in performance, but it certainly looks cool

[CalCarNut]

Might just have to 'track' my car and forego the 'strip' after watching your video

Thanks!

[smithf80]

What were those Merc's doing at the track?

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by SoCalDave

Might just have to 'track' my car and forego the 'strip' after watching your video

Thanks!

"Some say" that tracking your car is the most fun you can have with your pants on. I would tend to agree. Take a trackday insurance for your car and go have fun at your own pace.

The insurance is an important piece. Here's a video of what happened to me 2 years ago going hot into turn 6 at Road Atlanta. The car in front of me had just blown up its engine and lost oil on the track. Nothing I could do to avoid the crash. Thanks to the gravel pit that helped shaving a lot of speed, I did not have a scratch (the same could not be said about the car...) and the airbags did not even deploy.

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by smithf32

What were those Merc's doing at the track?

Barber Motorsports Park has opened a short 'proving grounds' track last year that Merc' uses for customer demos : http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...-addition.html

Nothing like the BMW Spartanburg track or the new Porsche track in Atlanta though.

[CalCarNut]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

"Some say" that tracking your car is the most fun you can have with your pants on. I would tend to agree. Take a trackday insurance for your car and go have fun at your own pace.

The insurance is an important piece. Here's a video of what happened to me 2 years ago going hot into turn 6 at Road Atlanta. The car in front of me had just blown up its engine and lost oil on the track. Nothing I could do to avoid the crash. Thanks to the gravel pit that helped shaving a lot of speed, I did not have a scratch (the same could not be said about the car...) and the airbags did not even deploy.

OUCH...damn....

Good idea (ins). I dragged raced my other car quite a bit..been told it was really slideways a few times although I never once worried about it while behind the wheel and just straightened it out. Saw the video..they were right..it was heading to a wall but I never blinked at the time..too focused lol. I'll run the GC at the strip just for fun but I'm going to look into taking it to a local track I think .

How bad was your car?

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by SoCalDave

How bad was your car?

All things considered, not too bad. Only the rear bumper hit the (tire) wall but the car needed a thorough cleanup to get rid of the gravel and a fresh coat of paint.

[CalCarNut]

Oh...thought it was your BMW...OUCH...not sure this is any 'better'. Still expensive for you after someone else blew up

[G30 B58]

My S2000 is my track car but cannot wait to put our 435M-Sport on the track this July.

You mentioned stretched MPSS, have you considered going up one size in tires?


OEM = Bridgestone Potenza S-001 RFT

FF 225/40/19 Diameter = 26.1", Revs / Mi. 798



RR 255/35/19 Diameter = 26", Revs / Mi. 801


________________________________

+1 = Michelin Pilot Super Sport NON-RFT

FF 235/40/19 Diameter = 26.4", Revs / Mi. 787



RR 265/35/19 Diameter = 26.3", Revs / Mi. 790


If you're running spacers you'd definitely want to scale them back some or risk bacon fenders.


Pic because:

[IMG]Untitled by jkush111, on Flickr[/IMG]

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by F32 N55

My S2000 is my track car but cannot wait to put or 435M-Sport on the track this July.

You mentioned stretched MPSS, have you considered going up one size in tires?


OEM = Bridgestone Potenza S-001 RFT

FF 225/40/19 Diameter = 26.1", Revs / Mi. 798



RR 255/35/19 Diameter = 26", Revs / Mi. 801


________________________________

+1 = Michelin Pilot Super Sport NON-RFT

FF 235/40/19 Diameter = 26.4", Revs / Mi. 787



RR 265/35/19 Diameter = 26.3", Revs / Mi. 790


If you're running spacers you'd definitely want to scale them back some or risk bacon fenders.


Pic because:

[IMG]Untitled by jkush111, on Flickr[/IMG]

Very nice and clean S2000s

As far as the tires are concerned, I have gone up 2 sizes/lower profile with 245/35/19 that are only 1.1% smaller in diameter (25.8") than what I ran before. They will work just fine with the rims and I'll see how it goes with the spacers when I get my wheels back at the end of the week.

I'll go with wider rear tires -with the size you suggested- as well when the time comes to replace them (probably soon...).

[ATLBlue]

I got a question about swapping brake pads for the tracks without changing the rotors. I wanted to share my answer here in case you asked yourself the same question...

I mounted the RS29 with 6,000 miles on the stock rotors. I know Pagid and many people say that pads may not work as well when other pads have already deposited material on the rotors but I had zero issue. I have swapped street and Pagid pads for years for the track with the same rotors.

The trick is to clean your rotors from pad materials before swapping them. A common trick is to use your track pads for this: track compounds are fairly abrasive when they are cold, so you just mount them on your car a few days before heading out to the track and simply commute with them. In normal driving circumstances your track pads will not heat up much and stay in 'abrasive' mode, removing the transfer layer of your street pads. You are then ready to bed your track pads and I try to follow Pagid's recommended procedure (although the 112 MPH part is not obvious if you are not at the track ) :

1. BREAKING-IN
(creating a perfect contact-pattern between rotor and brake pad surface)
10 stops with low pressure and low temperature from 150 km/h (90 MPH) to approximately 80 km/h (50 MPH). Distance between each brake stop approximately 600 – 800 meters ( 600 to 800 yards).

2. HEATING-UP
(Warm up in order to initiate some core heat in the whole brake system)
A sequence of 5 stops with medium to high pressure from 180 km/h (112 MPH) to approximately 60 km/h (37 MPH) with maximum acceleration between the stops. After the last stop cool down for 3 minutes with the speed preferably not higher than 100 km/h (62 MPH).

3. RECOVERY STOPS
3 to 5 stops with low pressure from 150 km/h (90 MPH) to approximately 80 km/h (50 MPH). Distance between each brake stop approximately 600 – 800 meters ( 600 to 800 yards).

After your trackday, leave the track pads for the trip back home or the next day and it will clean up the rotors again. You then just reinstall your street pads.
In brief, cleaning the surface of your rotors is the secret and taking advantage of the more abrasive nature of cold track pads works well.

The RS29's have proven to do well on my stock 335i brakes and show little wear after 3 trackdays. They surely are tough on the rotors and brakes may end up grinding, but without consequences on performance and it will go away after the track. As you may have read I switched to aftermarket rotors as a preventive measure to mount OEMs back when I sell the car. Meanwhile, i'll use the same set of rotors for the street and the track.

I hope this helps

[ATLBlue]

Now we all can afford an i8, fully electric and no waiting list!
Sometimes I wish I was still 4 year old...

[ATLBlue]

0.001 hp mod

I love the sound of my AWE exhaust, but I definitely wanted to hear a bit more induction noise, so I got myself a simple K&N filter:



My quick feedback is DO NOT BUY IT

I was not expecting the slightest bit of extra power (and there is not), just a bit of sound (there is some), but the fitment was very bad and I had to trim the edges to be able to close my airbox properly

I am not concerned about oiling my MAF as, despite hearsays, I never had any issue on my other cars (and cleaning the MAF is really easy).

[ATLBlue]

A friend of my son did a photoshoot of my F30 last night. More to come, this is just a teaser...



Thanks Jason Luong Photography

[Livfast335]

Originally Posted by ATLBlue

0.001 hp mod

I love the sound of my AWE exhaust, but I definitely wanted to hear a bit more induction noise, so I got myself a simple K&N filter:



My quick feedback is DO NOT BUY IT

I was not expecting the slightest bit of extra power (and there is not), just a bit of sound (there is some), but the fitment was very bad and I had to trim the edges to be able to close my airbox properly

I am not concerned about oiling my MAF as, despite hearsays, I never had any issue on my other cars (and cleaning the MAF is really easy).

Did you get the right one? I did the same mod on my car, and it was fun, drop and play. I even swiss cheesed my airbox, if you want to look at my mod thread.

[ATLBlue]

Track pics orgy

Not sure how much is too many... so I am posting a lot of pictures of my track weekend at Barber Motorsportspark

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by Livfast335

Did you get the right one? I did the same mod on my car, and it was fun, drop and play. I even swiss cheesed my airbox, if you want to look at my mod thread.

I double checked the K&N website for the F30 335i reference # and the filter I received, and both mention the same K&N part number (33-2997)
I emailed K&N explaining my issue. I know I should have returned the filter, but while I was at it, I just wanted to get done and trimmed the edges. Still, I like clean installs and this is not one. I'll check with the dealership if I can easily find a (cheap) replacement airbox cover -for the day I sell the car- and may go swiss cheese style as well, maybe just drilling a few holes on the side.

If you have the time and still have the K&N box, it would be great to check if your filter part number was also # 33-2997

Thanks!

[ATLBlue]

Eradicate the steering column rattle

For several months, I have occasionally had a rattle in the steering column when the road was not smooth enough or at certain rpm with a cold engine.

It turns out that the culprit is the steering column cover and fixing the issue is very straightforward:

-Just pop up the steering column cover by inserting a flat screwdriver or thin trim tool right above the turn switch and the wiper switch and lifting (be gentle so you do not break the multiple clips)

-you will notice 2 small pegs on the top of the steering column that are likely to rattle against the cover. Apply any kind of adhesive material on top of the pegs that will ensure a softer contact. I just used a few pieces of electrical tape

-you may also want to add a little bit of weight/make the cover less prone to vibrate. I applied a few layers of felt tape at two places on the inside of the cover

-clip the cover back in place and you are done. The whole operation does not take more than 10 minutes.



This is a bit of an empirical fix, but it worked fine for me. I have not had a single rattle over the last 500 miles

[thatryan]

Where do you get the felt tape?

[ATLBlue]

Originally Posted by thatryan

Where do you get the felt tape?

Home Depot (hardware aisle), Lowe's or craft store. They carry multiple sizes and shapes (this is simply the adhesive stuff you put under your chairs, table or furniture to avoid scratching a hardwood floor).

[ATLBlue]

Two more night pics. Not the best quality/color rendering but not enough to stop me from posting.

[Livfast335]

That last picture looks so nice with the drop.