****the official who wants to race thread****

[sparky1712]

Originally posted by wahoo

hey sparky, how do you like the e46 vs. e36 m3? what color is yours...i have the 99 e36m3 cb/blk..swear that thing gets faster with more miles. A guy i know has 2 e46 m3s! A red on black convertible and a black/black coupe...it drives like a 330c regularly but man you hit that "Sport" button & its like the car took a hit of cocaine..thing is ridiculous...

jroo.....no more street racing for me..you could be schumacher out there but you catch a crack in the road or a pothole and there is a good chance you could lose the car especially at near max performance....too risky..roads suck crapola here. Stick to auto-x'ing instead

The mods you got lined up will eventually result in your car looking like the batmobile..all you need is fins! The best tires out there in my opinion are the bridgestone potenza s-03's..i have the s-02's and it took crazy effort to spin the tires cuz they are soo damn sticky! get sway bars, lighter rims, and take it from there.

Here is the future bmw lineup:

2003 m3 gtr: 400lbs lighter and 50hps more to ~390!

2005 m5: f1 race car's v10 cranking 500hp

2006 m3: the v8 from the gt3 m3 that kicked porsches ass last year in alms

2003 z5: inline 4 in a 3100lb car cranking 240hps! supposedly the best road car bmw has ever made which is tempting!

Wahoo - The e46 is definitely a different creature in comparison to the e36. The e46 defnitely feels heavier than the e36, but since we finally get the version that is shipped to Europe, the power makes up for the weight. I always felt that the e36 was missing that in comparison to their euorpean cousins. Handling on the e46 is definitely tighter and if you disengage the DSC, you can really light up your tires. Out of all the cars I've owned, I would say the e46 is probably the best handling car out there. Too bad BMW doesn't make an M3 in all-wheel drive. My color is titanium silver/light grey leather. You're right on the 'sport' button - the first time I hit that button, I literally put my passenger to the back seat.

As for tires, personally I think the best tires out there were the Michelin Pilot Sport MMX (don't think they make those anymore). I think the current Michelin are the Pilot Sports. That's what I have on mine 225/45/18 in the fronts and 255/40/18 in the rears. Racing Dynamics is currently developing a new front spoiler and sway bars and will be using my car as a prototype.

jroo - I agree with wahoo and would stay away from street racing. I would try to find a close course to test your car rather than take on the risks. I would be more concern with the other driver's ability to push their car.

[Guest jroo]

hey everyone is exaggerating about my driving. i dont take it that fast on the road, the fasted ive been is 125 on the nj turnpike before i ran out of room and hit traffic again.

when i say front strut bar, i think its the same as the sway bar you mention. maybe we just call it different things.

about the batmoblie comment. i dont think that i could get away with a turbine engine in the back, dont think that would pass the emissions test, im not too into body mods. i bought the car for its performace aspects. i would rather people think my car was stock anyway, just so they look more surpised. the only way that i would put any of those stickers or anything on my car is if they gave me parts for free. but its still my everyday car as well, so i dont want to make it a true race car and strip everything out. my friend just bought an old eclipse like 99 i think or 96, i cant remember the turbo one, just so he could hook it up and mess around with it. well, i cant really post today, so i'll get back to you guys later tonight. ive always liked porsches and 911 twin turbo would be my fav. 450 hp doesnt weigh that much. car flies. period. so, do you guys auto-x yourselves? i want details, more importantly i want in. lets roll damnit.

peace till later.

[malanee]

Wahoo and Sparky - enough shop talk. Who wants to let me drive their car????

[wahoo]

malaneee: hate to say it, but sparky's got the much sweeter ride! I want to drive! Plus mine is in the shop till monday getting tires and service...

autocrossing schedules:

near richmond:

http://www.vmsc.org/schedule.html

Homepage of Dc SCCA chapter:

http://www.wdcr-scca.org/

jroo its all about being a stealthmobile...struts usually lower suspension related..but sometimes used in place of sway bars (front and rears!) which bolt onto the top of the shock mounts in engine bay...sway bar image is too big to paste here but this is a link: http://www.dtmpower.net/featured_car/april2002/DSC_2211.jpg

[sparky1712]

wahoo - have you seen malanee's car - there's no way I'm letting her drive mine (j/k malanee - before you hop the fence and jack me).

I suppose I'll let malanee drive it since I promised that she could drive my previous car before I got rid of it. Ooops malanee.

jroo - I think (if I recall correctly) strut and sways bars are two different things. Sway bars are basically anti-roll bars (self explanatory). In your car, you have struts in the front and shocks in the rears - the strut bars are designed to stiffen the chassis of the car, basically to keep it from bending during spirited driving. This is definitely recommended for cars with t-tops or convertible.

The fastest i've ever riden in a street legal car is 190 mph (and counting). The fastest i've ever driven my car (previous) is 168 mph. After 150 mph, it's all a big blur anyways.

[Guest jroo]

so , do you guys race your cars? or keep them pretty? we should go check this stuff out sometime

[sparky1712]

I used to race cars, but now keep them pretty. The only time I race cars now is going to up to a track with some prof. instructors and polish up. Every once in a while I'll open her up.