[JMK007]

I recently completed my first season with my BMW 328i (F30) in NASA Time Trial D and thought I would share some thoughts.

First, NASA Pro Racing is really a great organization for those interested in HPDE, Time Trial or even full W2W racing: http://www.nasaproracing.com There are regions all over the country. For those who live in California and already track their car quite a bit, there is both a Northern and Southern Region. If you are just interested in HPDE, NASA provides excellent instruction during a fun and well-organized event. For those interested in moving up to something competitive, their time trial program is an absolute blast.

The F30 is a good sports sedan, out of the box, for HPDEs. If you are interested in competitive Time Trial events with NASA Pro Racing, the F30 is an excellent platform to start from. However, to be competitive in a competitive region, the F30 328i (and 335i) requires a quality aftermarket suspension and software tune. The 328i starts in TTD and is afforded 14 points (after taking an automatic 5 points for being a turbo) to use for aftermarket parts before moving up in class. In order to stay in TTD (rather than be bumped into TTC with the likes of race prepped Honda S2000s), there are only a few modifications you can make. Paranoid about the stock brakes on brake intensive tracks, I took 2 points for a BBK and 7 points r comp tires. I had 5 points to spend on coilover kit and camber plates (along with no points taken for a reflash) but nothing had been available on any of these fronts.

For 2013, I ran the stock suspension and no software in the Midwest Region in TTD. I finished 4th in points out of a dozen or so competitors. That does not sound bad but I was usually a good 2 seconds off the TTD winner in most events. My two main competitors were: 1) a 2012 Mazdaspeed 3 with an aftermarket tune and R comp tires; and 2) a 2009 or so fully gutted Honda Civic Si with extensive race parts and fat Hoosier R6 tires. In short, the suspension was just too soft particularly in quick transitions. Having an extra 30 or so horsepower would have also helped.

For next year, I plan on installing a quality, dual purpose coilover kit, camber plates and an aftermarket tune. My goal is to drop 2 seconds or more with this set up. Whether this will happen remains to be seen. The only currently available coilover I would consider for my needs are TC Kline's which literally just came out. However, I expect there to be a few more options by next spring including from Motion Control, Ohlins, AST, and KW Clubsport. As for camber plates, TC Kline has a set out and I'm hoping Ground Control and Vorshlag will come out with theirs soon. The reflash software tuners, however, have me really worried. I cannot do a piggy back tune and stay within TTD (because a piggy back cost 7 points). Therefore, my only hope is that Dinan, Cobb or some other reliable company comes out with a reflash for the 328i. (BMW may have one for the 328i by then but it will probably be very modest.) So, between now and Spring, I will be patiently waiting for the aftermarket community to get their act together and come out with more quality stuff for the F30.

[mocohead]

Thanks for the report! I agree the one thing we desperately NEED is a good set of camber plates. What tires were you running? Were you killing the outside shoulder in front?

Do you have the variable suspension? If so, try unplugging the electrical connector on one shock. That will put the shocks into full firm. It helps in transitions a little bit. The error code on the dash is not stored in the computer so that will not leave any trace left behind.

Also take a look at the M Sport rear sway bar. According to realoem, it is 1mm larger than the standard rear sway bar. It might help you get a little rotation.

Even with your BBK, did you get any fade?

[SergioK]

I find it interesting BMW makes both a front "M Sports" and "M Performance" sway bar but only one option for the rear, an M Sports sway bar. I guess not much to be gained back there.

Also interesting, the difference in diameter between the two M front swaybars is a meager .4mm and between all three, only .6mm! I wonder if they are different metals or shapes?

[JMK007]

Originally Posted by mocohead

Thanks for the report! I agree the one thing we desperately NEED is a good set of camber plates. What tires were you running? Were you killing the outside shoulder in front?

Do you have the variable suspension? If so, try unplugging the electrical connector on one shock. That will put the shocks into full firm. It helps in transitions a little bit. The error code on the dash is not stored in the computer so that will not leave any trace left behind.

Also take a look at the M Sport rear sway bar. According to realoem, it is 1mm larger than the standard rear sway bar. It might help you get a little rotation.

Even with your BBK, did you get any fade?

Though I have not tested them, the recently released TC Kline's camber plates look very nice: http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs...Details989.cfm Apparently, you can get up to 4 degrees negative camber. I think 2.5 or so may be a nice dual purpose setting. As you suggest, this should really improve grip and tire preservation. It should also promote oversteer on a car that understeers a bit too much for me.

I was running Nitto NT-01 245/40/18 on Apex ARC 8s, 18X9. The outside shoulder definitely has more wear than the inside. However, it is not as bad as I thought it would be. I really try hard not to scrub the fronts on tight, lower speed corners--though I occasionally screw this up by being impatient with too much entry speed.

As for suspension, I have the standard suspension that comes with the Sportline. Sport + stiffens things up a bit but is still way too soft for competitive track use on r comps. I really feel the weight transfer on certain corners, particularly during quick transitions as mentioned earlier.

As for the M-sport rear sway bar, that would cost me 2 points I don't have--meaning, after a coilover set up, I would be bumped into TTC. As for helping on rotation, that may be true. I have heard mixed on opinions on this. Others have said add a stiffer rear bar, which seems counter intuitive, but they have obtained good results. Still others say leave the sways alone and adjust balance with your shock/spring combo. To get more rotation on my stock 328i, I add a little more tire pressure to the rears compared to the front. On the NT-01s, my hot pressure target is 39 front, 41 rear.

I experience zero fade on my Stop Tech 355 6-piston front, 345 4-piston rear. This set up is probably overkill. The truth is I have no bases for comparison since I never ran on track with the stock brakes. However, having experienced bad fade before on multiple cars, I determined I will not risk this on my F30.

[utenigma]

Originally Posted by JMK007

The reflash software tuners, however, have me really worried. I cannot do a piggy back tune and stay within TTD (because a piggy back cost 7 points). Therefore, my only hope is that Dinan, Cobb or some other reliable company comes out with a reflash for the 328i. (BMW may have one for the 328i by then but it will probably be very modest.)

Hmm, I would think something like the JB4 would count as an after-market boost controller (+4 points) instead of a stand-alone or piggy back computer system (+10 on FI cars) considering that's all the JB4 modifies - it has no control over the higher functions of the ECU, just modifies signals on the TMAP, MAP and overrides the blow-off solenoid - no control over fueling, timing, vanos etc - just a boost controller.

http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/t...sification.pdf

Where are you getting +7 from - are you adding the after-market boost controller to
(*)Aftermarket or modified wastegate actuator, wastegate, or vacuum line(s) that serve to control the wastegate
actuator function or increase peak boost +3

Those 2 shouldn't be additive as one is the lesser of the other - second being something like a bleed valve, 1rst being computerized

[buildbright]

The fact that the rules give a bigger penalty for a piggyback rather then a tune shows how outdated these rules are and they need to be revised.

[JMK007]

Originally Posted by utenigma

Hmm, I would think something like the JB4 would count as an after-market boost controller (+4 points) instead of a stand-alone or piggy back computer system (+10 on FI cars) considering that's all the JB4 modifies - it has no control over the higher functions of the ECU, just modifies signals on the TMAP, MAP and overrides the blow-off solenoid - no control over fueling, timing, vanos etc - just a boost controller.

http://www.nasaproracing.com/rules/t...sification.pdf

Where are you getting +7 from - are you adding the after-market boost controller to
(*)Aftermarket or modified wastegate actuator, wastegate, or vacuum line(s) that serve to control the wastegate
actuator function or increase peak boost +3

Those 2 shouldn't be additive as one is the lesser of the other - second being something like a bleed valve, 1rst being computerized

5 pts (automatically added) for FI
7 pts for tires
2 pts for bbk

When I add coil overs, I will take:

3 pts shocks
2 pts springs

Total: 19 pts

I believe JB4 will be deemed a piggy back. But even if it is not, it would still send me into a new class, TTC, since I have no points to spare. Thanks for the suggestion though...

[JMK007]

Originally Posted by buildbright

The fact that the rules give a bigger penalty for a piggyback rather then a tune shows how outdated these rules are and they need to be revised.

Agreed - and these guys are normally on top of the latest performance methods. However, individual members on rules committee don't always agree with one another.