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      10-12-2009, 12:01 PM   #1
MrPedals
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First track day with HOD at thunderhill

First of all, I can't believe I waited as long as I did to finally go to the track.

Hooked On Driving was a great crew to ride with and all the instructors were competent, fun people and you could tell they were having a good time out there.
Right now the car is completely stock, 2007 Z4 coupe (nope, not an M) with a sports package. It's also my daily commuter, so I can't go completely craazy with modifications. I have some lighter wheels on order, 18" and .5 inches wider than stock, so I'm just waiting for those to show up before I choose tires.
I need some help with setting up my car for future track use, and have some questions.

-Should I go with 235/35/18 tires in the front? At full compression it shouldn't rub, right?
-I feel like the cars rolls a bit much, and have been told that I should get beefy sway bars. I really liked the way the car handled at the track, so I would hate to make it "flatter" but handle worse. Any suggestions? Anyone know for sure about this? It's seems like it's a lot more complicated than the people selling the stuff would like to make it. One place will sell a suspension "kit" with 2 or 3mm thicker both front and back, while another will sell one with the back sway bar thinner.
-The stock brakes are adequate...almost. I wanted to brake harder and later, but I started to fade them so I had to back of. I've decided that I don't care about brake dust or squealing. What brake pads should I get? Track only?

I really don't have the resources or the patience to swap stuff on and off the car before going to the track so, I think I would like to run stuff that is still usable everywhere. Oh yeah, I have this really unnerving "clunk" whenever I make sudden turns left or right. Sort of like if I had a brick in the trunk...but there's nothing back there and the battery is still secured solid. Suspension???
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      10-12-2009, 07:56 PM   #2
silversprint
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I would go with Coilovers. KW V3 work great for both track and street.

Brakes best street/track pads I have ever used are the Carbotech Xp8. You should also change out the stock BMW brake fluid to Motul. The Xp8 squeal and dust but they will last longer than the stock pads and work very well on the track.

http://www.ctbrakes.com/
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      10-13-2009, 12:26 AM   #3
MrPedals
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Yeah, someone else told me the KW's were the ticket. What scares me is that there is so much adjustment, and a huge potential to make the car handle worse.
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      10-13-2009, 01:38 PM   #4
DerekSelmanRacing
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Your ft tires should be fine unless you do something wierd with your wheel offset.

I'm currently running 245/35x18 with either 9 or 9.5" Fikse wheels from the back on the ft of our '05 3.0 rdst.
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      10-13-2009, 06:51 PM   #5
MrPedals
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thanks!
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      10-14-2009, 01:29 AM   #6
silversprint
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With coilovers at least you can change the setting to make sure you get the car to where it feels right to you. If you get swaybars, specially the wrong size ones that are not adjustable, you will be stuck with whatever handling characteristic the car ends up with.

To start off get a performance alignment with the stock suspension adding more front camber to the front tires on any stock BMW can really improve handling.
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      10-14-2009, 10:11 AM   #7
MrPedals
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silversprint View Post
To start off get a performance alignment with the stock suspension adding more front camber to the front tires on any stock BMW can really improve handling.
I totally agree with you, I did that before the track day...what a difference!
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