Performance mods for track cars

[V8mate]

Anyone experienced fitting/using one of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

PITA to set up? Worth the money?

[RLK500]

If you are building a race car, it's a must. For road use, forget it. Generally easy to fit in a race car as you normally have ripped out all the superfluous crap. If you do take the plunge, do a few dry fits first, to get the position of your reservoirs sorted, they need to be accessible for bleeding/refill (sounds obvious.......) Bench bleed the cylinders before you fit the pedal box, this saves a ton of agg. when you come to the first bleed of the whole system.

HTH

Roops

[V8mate]

Thanks roops; they sound good but I think they'll be a way down the priority list.


Next question: Camshafts.

This firm supply high performance camshafts for my M52 motor.

http://www.xlraceparts.com/e36z3-non-m3-camshafts-...

There's an option between extending the dwell on the intake or exhaust side, though: 252 Intake or 244 Exhaust.

Why would you want to chose between these two? Why would you want an extended dwell on the exhaust rather than the intake?

[Big Al.]

Title changed as requested.

[V8mate]

Cheers Al

[sniff diesel]

V8mate said:

This firm supply high performance camshafts for my M52 motor.

Be carefull with XLraceparts. They changed ownership last year and wouldn't honor any orders place with the previous owners. I had to do a credit card chargeback in the end to get my money back.

As for cams, I seriously wouldn't bother as you'll get a far bigger bang for buck going for a 328i engine. As luck would have it I might know of one for sale :

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2075505.htm

[Conor D]

Out of pure curiosity, how much does a paddle shift system generally cost?

[edb49]

Conor D said:

Out of pure curiosity, how much does a paddle shift system generally cost?

Depends on the gearbox; if you've got a sequential box (like a bike one or Sadev) you could get away with £3k. If you want to get a standard road car upgraded, triple or quadruple that for everything you need to change.

[sniff diesel]

edb49 said:

Conor D said:

Out of pure curiosity, how much does a paddle shift system generally cost?

Depends on the gearbox; if you've got a sequential box (like a bike one or Sadev) you could get away with £3k. If you want to get a standard road car upgraded, triple or quadruple that for everything you need to change.

I've heard of anything from about £6k to £12k mentioned:

http://www.drenth-gearboxes.com/

[TheEnd]

There is the BMW SMG kit, but you'd have to
a)need to find one that someone has removed whilst it still works, and grab it before it gets split to fix a queue of waiting cars,
and
b)pray every night that'll it'll work in the morning.

[LaurenceFrost]

TBH for a track car, save all the money you were going to spend on the engine, and spend it all on the chassis. You will get so much more out of the car on that basis.

To put things into perspective, I know a guy who added 40% more power to his car and went 1 second faster a lap.

He then played with spring rates, and took the car for a chassis setup, and went 3 seconds a lap faster.

[HVAC MATT]

Best performances mod for a track car is the driver (me inclueded). www.carlimits.com is a good start. they run big group days at £50 a pop or 4 people days at £200 a pop. I felt very humble after my first day as I was doing some things wrong that now just seem plain common sence. The run days in essex and near bristol.

NOTE. Im one sided as I am hooked on the group days 6 or 7 this year already

[git-r]

Spot ona dvice about carlimits! Having done a few days there I now know I can't drive!! But enjoy learning how to drive so much.... I have improved a lot tho, far more than modifying my car anyway...

Not sure how st my times are but they have def improved.. 59 secs on bottom track and 47 on top.. on both tracks I'm at least a couple of secs quicker than I used to be without touchimg the car...

Really good advice about modding the driver before the car

Lol doesn't answer your question.. please ignore the above if your L.Hamilton!

[V8mate]

V8mate said:

Camshafts.

This firm supply high performance camshafts for my M52 motor.

http://www.xlraceparts.com/e36z3-non-m3-camshafts-...

There's an option between extending the dwell on the intake or exhaust side, though: 252 Intake or 244 Exhaust.

Why would you want to chose between these two? Why would you want an extended dwell on the exhaust rather than the intake?

Can anyone shine any technical know-how type light on this?