nocab72

I have heard nothing but good about the HT-10's. Might also want to consider Performance Friction their 06 compound. It is a race endurance compound. I would rip through a set of PFC01 pads in 20 sessions (4-5 days), the PFC06 compound lasts me almost 2x that, costs the same and has similar torque with just slightly less initial bite. Since brakes in my opinion are the most important component of a race car I run Castrol SRF brake fluid. At $80 a liter it aint cheap but I know I'm not gonna boil it and it doesn't need flushed near as often as lesser fluids. Kyle

HPDE3 or TT. Does great lakes region permit pass anywhere in HPDE3?

Drove Mid-Ohio the first time earlier this month, LOVED the track, planning to head back for the NASA event July 23-25. Since it is such a haul for me from DC (9hrs towing) I'll be driving all 3 days. Anyone from Columbus planning to be there? Kyle

If anyone is interested in a nice simple setup that provides essentially the same data overlay on video w/out the hassle of sync'ing data and video after the fact, check out the new SmartyCam from AIM. http://www.smartycam.com Kyle

Suspension: AST5100's w/ 450f / 600r springs, stock sway bars front and rear. Camber: -3.4f / -1.8r Tires: 275/35/18 Toyo R888's all around (square setup). Car weights 3,075lbs with 1/4 tank fuel and no driver. Goal is to get it down to 3000lbs including driver. -- The data overlay is basic stuff, the detail of data analysis you can do with the traqmate and traqmate software I'm using to capture and review data is very good. Although after seeing the AIM systems stuff the GrandAm guys use I've got my eye on an AIM EVO4. I separately video using a GoPro HD camera and sync with data afterwards. Here is a sample of the traqmate interface and what you are looking at: top left: load multiple sessions for comparison, in this I have one of my sessions and one of my girls sessions up, picked fast lap from each session. top right: brake & turnzones map, showing green as accelerating, black as maintenance throttle or coasting, red as breaking (adjustable thresholds) bottom shows Lateral G's, Accel/Braking G's and velocity over DISTANCE (not time) so you can easily compare two different speed cars side by side what they are doing at the same point on the track. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Traqmate_Sample_Analysis.jpg

3 best laps from the weekend May 7,8,9 running with Potomac PCA - Club Course Configuration - Chicane before Keyhole. Kyle

New personal best lap - over a second quicker than when I was there a month ago, no changes to the car, driver improvement. 1:26.2 followed by 1:25.8 in video.

One more -- together in action! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/His_and_Hers_M3s_action_fullsize.jpg

9 track days completed this year toward my 60 day goal. Just returned from a 3 day PCA event @Mid-Ohio (late last night), wow, what a great track (it was my first time driving it). Wanted to post a few updated pics from a few weeks ago of the #72, and throw a few pics of the #67 sister car in as well, my girlfriend Mary drives the #67. Wheels on both cars are ApexRacing ARC-8's 18x9.5 +35 all around. BMW guys if you are looking for light, strong, low cost wheels, check then out. We've pounded on them pretty hard and they are holding up well after a combined 18 days. #72 (AST5100's, -3.4 degree neg camber front, -1.8 Rear, 275 R888's). http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-22-web.jpg #67 (Stock Suspension, Mad Russian Camber, Dunlop *Spec Sport 265's) Could use a 5-10mm spacer in the rear to widen track & for cosmetics. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/Mary-Shenandoah-15-web.jpg #72 from rear (I think I have a 5mm spacer in the rear in this shot, but not needed for clearance) http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-55-web.jpg Together http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/Mary-Shenandoah-14-web.jpg #72 In Action http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-28-web.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-32-web.jpg #67 in Action http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/Mary-Shenandoah-43-web.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/Mary-Shenandoah-44-web.jpg #72 Interior Shots Still have dash so it looks pretty ;-) (they are both SMG cars) http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-50-web.jpg Seats and Harness http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Summit%20Point%20Shen%20-%20FATT%20-%2003-Apr-10/SummitPointShenadoah-53-web.jpg

RENTED! Thank you to all who expressed interest.

Doing EVERY race is partially dependent on sponsors, but we definitely will be at Mid-Ohio in June! Kyle

Already pop'd both front stock duct holes out, but real ducting and a BBK are in my future. Although, last year at some tracks I had a hard time keeping *enough* heat in the PFC01 compound pads to keep them in their effective range. Didn't have the problem with the PFC06 compound. My guess is the M3 stock calibers + PFC01 pads were almost too much brake for street tires (Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec). Won't have that problem this year on R-Comps. My favorite brake pad configuration was PFC06 in the front and PFC01 in the rear. Added a bit of rear brake bias, really helped while I was learning to trail brake and kept the rear end planted under heavy braking. With stock suspension car had a tendency to waggle the rear end under hard braking, especially down hill. Kyle

Eric, I only have the utilities in my name between renters so I can't really give you a solid answer on that one since the house is empty/heat low/minimal water use (but check your PM's I know someone who would, previous renter who you know). I haven't been allowing pets (cats/dogs/birds/pigs/goats, etc) since my first renter in the place (back in 2004/2005 dogs/cats trashed the place and I had to redo ALL the paint & carpet after they vacated) but I do allow human pets Saw your other post: Fenced in back yard, lots of room to run around & play. Neighbors put up with me pulling in with the RX-7 at 2am after Friday/Saturday night fun, they don't mind a bit. Probably should expect a couple of them to stick their nose in the garage to see what you are up to when you are out working on the car because they are car guys too. Kyle

I had been wavering between doing a simple 4pt rear only cage or full blown 8pt. After several long discussions with Barry from RRTRacing, I decided to go with the 8pt cage, do it once and get it over with. Step 1 was to gut the interior and measure for the cage: http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage1-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage2-sm.jpg Then weld in mounting plates, you don't want your cage pipe punching through the chassis! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage3-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage6-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage9-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage12-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage13-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage14-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage15-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage17-sm.jpg Test fit http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage19-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage21-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage20-sm.jpg finally weld in and paint http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage46-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Cage47-sm.jpg

I did buy a HANS for myself already, but I'll take a look at the DefNder neck brace, thanks for the pointer! Oh, you can count on it, picked up two HD GoPro's last fall, unfortunately they didn't ship until after my last 2009 event. We ran the cameras in the RRT Racing (http://www.rrtracing.com) Grand-Am car at Dayton last month, AWESOME quality! BTW: On the side I do ECU Tuning & Data Analysis (car & driver) as a member of the RRT Racing Team pit crew, they are based out of Sterling, VA just 30 minutes from my house!

The BMW chassis has been prone to cracking front and rear subframes (search BMW subframe class action). Knowing the chassis was going to be exposed to higher forces than a stock car on the street I made these a priority. Without reinforcement plates you could end up with cracks in your subframe http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/gallery_e46M3sf_010906.jpg or worse it could tear out completely like this poor souls did http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/gallery_e46sf_011306.jpg Here are the subframe re-enforcement kit components from Turner Motorsports Front http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/susp_e46_sf_reinf_lg-1.jpg Rear http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/reinf_e46_subframe_lg-1.jpg and here they are welded into place. http://www.rrtracing.com did the work, beautiful! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0005-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0006-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0013-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0014-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0015-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0016-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0017-sm.jpg http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/DSCF0018-sm.jpg

Having done what I felt were the minimal safety, braking and handling mods during the 2009 season, the 2009/2010 winter was going to be first year offseason major mods. Suspension Time to ditch the street capable but "too soft for the track" M3 suspension. I chose the fully upgradeable AST 5100's (upgradeable to double adjustable 5200's or triple adjustable 5300's) and Vorshlag camber-caster plates. These will keep the tires on the ground where they can GRIP! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/AST5100s.jpg (For those of you who know your BMW's, you'll recognize these as 5100's for an E36 because I couldn't find a good picture of the E46 5100's) Wanted adjustable camber in the rear to complement the suspension, Turner Motorsports had race developed, highly recommended Adjustable Rear Camber Arm Kit. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/camberarms.jpg Light Weight Wheels Light weight but strong wheels were purchased from APEX Racing, their newly designed ARC-8 in Hyper Black. 18x9.5 all around to be wrapped in 275/35/18 r-compound stickiness. 18x9.5 +35et Hyper Black http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/ApexRacing_ARC-8_2.jpg Other color Choices for the ARC-8's (Mary chose Hyper Silver for her Silver M3) http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/ApexRacing_ARC-8_4ColorSamples.jpg Seats, Harnesses & HANS Pushing the car through highspeed corners with the stock 3point safety belts results in sore knees from bracing yourself against the side of the car and wasted energy, before you even consider the lack of safety a 3 point best provides during a high speed impact or rollover. Since we will frequently be going twice the speed typically done on the street, a proper harness belt setup was my desire. You can't just bolt in a 6point racing harness with stock seats though, nor can you get a 6 point harness w/out a harness bar or cage to attach it to. That means racing seats and ultimately a cage (See Feb Build Update for Cage Pics). I headed off the OGRacing's store front, remembering they have many racing seats on display so I could sit in various styles and pick one I liked but more importantly that fit me properly, width & height. I ended up choosing the RaceTech 4009 seats, Schroth Hybrid III for HANS Belts and a lightweight (Carbon Fiber) HANs device. RaceTech 4009 http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/RACETECH-4009-FIA-FIBERGLASS-RACING.jpg Schroth 6Pt Racing Harnesses http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/Hybrid_IIIH.jpg Carbon Fiber HANS Device http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/E46%20M3%20Build%20-%20Black/HANS-DEVICE-PROFESSIONAL-SERIES.jpg

I do now! :thumbup:

During the 2009 season I forced myself to keep the M3 as stock as possible. The M3 is a great platform for the track, a very "happy" and balanced car which needs little modifications to make it ready for serious HPDE events. My goal was to do minimal upgrades and "learn how to drive the car as it is". 98% of going faster during your first season is DRIVER UPGRADES...those come in the form of class room instruction and seat time with an experienced instructor. During 2009 Build Upgrades included: Performance Friction 2Piece Rotors These 2rotors allow you to keep the hat and simply replace the rotor when it becomes worn. Initial cost is a bit higher and buying a 1 piece rotor&hat but over the longer haul by only having to replace the rotor component and reusing the hat rotor consumable cost is lowered. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/M3/Performance-Friction-2-Piece-Direct.jpghttp://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/M3/Performance-Friction-2-Piece-Dir-1.jpg Racing pads are a must once you start going quicker on the track. Stock rotors on any production car are setup to operate with high levels of "bite" even when they are cold, but used again and again to pull a car down from high speeds stock pads overheat causing brake fade and will eventually boil your stock brake fluid. Racing Pads operate efficiently at much higher temperatures ... the kinds of temperatures you find when you are really working the brakes hard. Image the energy it takes to slow a 3000lb car down from 140Mph to 40Mph. Brakes take that energy and turn it into heat... now that's HOT! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/M3/pfcboxandpads.jpg I have tried both the PFC01 and PFC06 compound pads. The PFC01 is a very aggressive pad with a lot of bite. The PFC06 pad is nearly aggressive but is touted as an endurance pad ... The PFC06 seems to last QUITE a bit longer than the PFC01. Also with street tires I had some issues keeping enough temperature in the PFC01 to keep them in their optimal operational range, didn't have that problem with the PFC06. Racing Brake Fluid With higher brake pad and rotor temperatures in a track environment upgrading your brake fluid so it won't boil is a must. If you boil your brake fluid, air bubbles are left in your brake lines and will leave you with a soft brake pedal, or worst case a brake pedal that goes all the way to the floor w/out slowing the car at all! The reason for this, fluids don't compress much, air compresses A LOT! The force that squeezes the pads onto the rotors requires pressure in your brake system, w/out pressure or with air that compresses in your brake lines you don't get much squeeze on the rotors from the pads. Not a situation you want when you are headed into a low speed corner coming down the main straight on the racetrack! http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/M3/CastrolSRF.jpg I chose Castrol SRF. It's one of the best and has one of the highest boiling points of any brake fluid. At $80 liter it better be good! Stainless Steel Brake Lines As you can see, keeping pressure in your brake system is critical to the operation of your brakes. Most cars come with rubber brake lines, rubber when it gets hot will stretch or bulge. Replacing the rubber brake lines with Stainless Steel lines keeps this from happening and contributes to a good performing brake system. http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/M3/Stainless_Steel_brake_lines.jpg Square Tire Setup The E46 M3 like most commercial cars comes from the factory setup to understeer. Manufactures do this because they believe understeer is "safer" and easier to control and correct when it occurs, it is also more predictable than overstreer. Understeer is when the front end of the car feels like it is getting pushed to the outside of the turn. Basically the car is not turning as sharp as you have the wheel turned due to lack of traction. Understeer is easy to correct by a) slowing down a bit, or b) opening the wheel so you are turning less. The stock setup of the E46 M3 causes the car to understeer both when entering a corner and when exiting. On the track that becomes a nuisance and a performance limiter unless something is changed. One of the easiest ways to compensate for the undesirable and excessive understeer setup of the E46 is to replace the front wheels and tires with the same size wheels and tires you are running on the rear of the car. Trackers call this a "square setup". Instead of 225/45/18 sized front and 255/40/18 sized rear tire (staggered setup), you end up with a 255/40/18 sized tire setup on all four wheels. The extra grip provided by the 255 tire compared to the stock 225 does a good job of eliminating a lot of the factory understeer and really makes the car feel good on "turn in" (when turning into a corner). -- Other than some minor cosmetic enhancements those upgrades above served me very well for my first season, I would recommend anyone new to HPDE with an M3 consider the same upgrades.

About 7 years ago I took my RX-7 to Putnam raceway for a weekend event. It was awesome, but frankly scared the crap out of me. The combination of first track event, a very high HP, light weight car with not enough brakes (read into that a few brake fade scares) did make for a memorable event. However, I was able to get my "go fast" fix on the smooth, wide roads in Columbus during my time there. Now I live in VA, home of get caught going 20mph over and you are likely in for a "don't pass go, pay thousands of dollars and go directly to jail". The need for speed slowly crept up on me over the past couple of years and last year I reached my "braking" point (hahah, pun intended). Mid last summer I started shopping for a "track car", looked mostly at Porsche models (911 & Cayman) and BMWs (135i, E36 M3, E46 M3) and ultimately decided on the E46 M3. Not too fat (heavy), good hp/weight, well balanced (F to R) and forgiving, basically a very "happy" car on the track. Between July and November last year I participated in 32 HPDE track days. Yes that means I was at the track pretty much every weekend during that period. A junkie was born. For the 2010 my goals are: * 60 Track Days (for a total of 94. 32 last year, 2 in 2003) * 3 New Tracks (drove 5 during 2009 season, 1 in 2003) * At least 12 days at (VIR) (favorite track thus far) For those of you interested in building a track car I'm going to include in this thread the major pieces of my car build, as the concepts are valid regardless of car type. Most of the below build information is content that has been copied from my NocabRacing blog. Enjoy!

Hello CR! I miss you guys too!

When you get firm dates please let me know! I may be in Alabama @ Barber Motorsports April 8-10 for the Grand-Am race but other than those dates I'll be in DC. Back on topic ... need.to.rent.house

I had my VA garage floor done by Premier Garage. I would highly recommend them, lifetime warranty not to chip, crack, stain, etc. Was about $5/sqft. http://www.premiergarage.com/ Some before/after pics of the floor in this album: http://s72.photobucket.com/albums/i167/nocab72/Garage/

My Westerville house will be available for rent again starting March 1, 2010. It is a 1488 sq foot free standing house located 3 minutes from Easton on a quiet court, just off of Sunbury Rd. The address is: 4759 Richland Dr. Gahanna, OH 43230 Columbus Water & Sewer, Westerville City Schools. 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath. 2 car attached garage. Cathedral ceiling and gas fireplace in great room. Large kitchen with pass-through, newer fridge, dishwasher, oven. 1st floor master bedroom and laundry/mud room(with washer and dryer). Recent carpeting and paint. DRY unfinished good sized basement. Deck with Hot-tub (hot-tub currently needs repairs to operate though). $1050/Mo (renters to pay utilities) For those of you who don't know me, I've been a member on this board since "old skool". I used to live in this house myself (1997 - 2003) but am now living in Northern Virginia just outside DC and have held on to this property as an investment/rental. Prefer to have individuals I know or who can be vouched for as responsible renting the place which is why I am posting here first. Thank you for your interest! PM me with questions or to arrange a walk through. Kyle Google Maps Street View - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=4759+richland+drive,+gahanna,+oh+43230&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.677964,57.392578&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=4759+Richland+Dr,+Columbus,+Franklin,+Ohio+43230&ll=40.071863,-82.905909&spn=0.001394,0.001751&z=19&layer=c&cbll=40.07187,-82.906026&panoid=okgV2bwKlGHXUUhr5zLJaQ&cbp=12,20.09,,0,5

In the words of our dear friend Buick > * RIP Kenny