Shock horror, E36 M3 3.2 rubbish on track

lancelotII wrote: I can well imagine its an emotive subject! 22nd May? Would that be just be an evening ?..If so, what time would I need to be there? Are you on the full circuit? Thats enough questions for now.....         Sorry, June 22nd, Track normally opens at 5pm and it's on the Indy circuit, which is nice.

Right, so if I ask for half a days hols on the 22nd you'll def take me for a whazz on the track?...and then go out for a spin on the back of my Hayabusa?!...Road or track!

__Andy__ wrote:   Any ideas?  Have I bought an overweight hairdresser's car in the mistaken belief that a bit of development was done on the racetrack? Andy

Sell it and buy an E30!

lancelotII wrote: brybusa wrote: I know the e36 M3 has much more power, however, everything ive ever read on the e30 M3 says what an awesome track day car they are...Which seems logical as the e30 was built to win races and the E36 was a "just" a performance road car, right? How much better is the E30 over the E36 on the track?   This has been discussed many times before and normally is a fairly emotive subject. The purists love the E30 (like me.. ) However, in stock form it still exhibits similar characteristics to the e36, it will understeer, the brakes are ok, but won't last for ever, but in terms of balance and feel it's in a different league. The steering is sublime (BMW still haven't made a car that steers as well). The engine is less powerful than the e36, but you don't need to slow down so much for the corners, it's all about carrying speed momentum and commitment. For a comparison why not join us at Brands on the evening of the 22nd, I would be pleased to chauffeur you around for a couple of laps, after that you can draw your own conclusions.....

I can well imagine its an emotive subject!

22nd May?

Would that be just be an evening ?..If so, what time would I need to be there?

Are you on the full circuit?

Thats enough questions for now.....

I don't think my brake problem arose from them running too cold judging from the putrid stench of brakes on fire every time I came in :)

If those rubber pipes are past their best, when filled with 200 degree brake fluid they will swell and take up my pedal travel rather than put the pads onto the disk, I am certain braided hoses would solve the long pedal I was getting. 

If the pedal was firm but I was having to lift myself off the seat standing on it to slow down, then I'd accept a pad/disk problem.

I might consider getting braided pipes, or alternatively take your suggestions -- brake like a pussy from hundreds of meters away just to maintain an equilibrium, then spend a bit of effort sorting out the understeer with tyre pressures.

Andy

I know the e36 M3 has much more power, however, everything ive ever read on the e30 M3 says what an awesome track day car they are...Which seems logical as the e30 was built to win races and the E36 was a "just" a performance road car, right?

How much better is the E30 over the E36 on the track?

I was commenting to the missus last week after hurling it through some roundabouts/corners/straight bits near my place, it's amazing how such a competent road car could disappoint so much on the track.

Like this morning 0430 start Norwich->Sunbury ~140miles by 0615.  In total comfort, 26mpg, arrive refreshed.

Try that in the Caterfield.

Andy

Andy, I know how you feel,

I have a background in bikes and made the move over to another "fast" car a couple of years ago and got the biggest bang for my ££ I could afford.

An Imprezza turbo, what a let down, awful brakes, loads of under steer, poor direction change at speed, wallowy, all could be put right to a degree, but at what cost?

I couldn’t believe what I was driving after all the hype id heard and read about them…I guess if you had come from a hot hatch or similar you’d be impressed

Ive never driven a road going “sports” car that had what I would call decent brakes from the factory, so I think your observations are correct from my experiences.

Even the E46 M3 CSL gets stick over its brakes and theres one lad on the BWMCC forum who seems to change his E39 M5 brakes every other week

Most “sports” production cars have failings in one or more of these areas’s as they come out of the factory.

Maybe worth investing in some aftermarket gear or braided lines/fluid change as a minimum…

I couldn’t get over the disappointment ,so settled for a “normal” car and went back to my bikes, the real deal , as they come out of the factory with very little of the compromises that a production car has

A state of the art engine/chassis/suspension/brake/tyres and up to constant abuse with no need to start throwing ££££££’s at them for fast road/track work.