Shock horror, E36 M3 3.2 rubbish on track

m3kuk wrote: The point about the Evo's 'soft' suspension is a good one,but it's supposed to be like that! They designed a certain ammount of 'body roll' into the handling and it's this along with the passive rear wheel steering that allows an Evo to pull 1G while cornering. The E30 was designed in a different era when sports cars had rock hard suspension,and little roll. Once you master an Evo's handling(took me 3 months)you will enjoy it so much more! As for the 'race bred' thing,my brother has a V*lva T5 Estate,I've driven it and it's rubbish,you dont drive,but set sail! But in 'race form' even this car won races in the BTCC! Maybe an E30 will be as quick on a tight twisty circuit but I think an Evo would do the 'ring faster. Steve Soper tracked about 30 'M' cars round the Top Gear track and the Evo beat the E30 by a couple of secs. Before I get cocky,the E46 M3 cab beat my car! It's just progress!

Guess you're right, just a little strange to have so much body roll in the car - feels almost wallowy. The real test will be some time this summer. Will start with some track pads and fine tune as appropriate. For some reason I never feel like driving the evo fast on the road which is part of the reason I am not as confident with the car as I would like - had it for over 6 months now.

 I'd love to see that Top Gear data - was it magazine or televised?

brybusa wrote: Its supposed to be soft becuase its a compromise BMW have built in ,they have to take into account fast road driving(but NOT track work)and being able to give a good ride quality, absorb poor road surfaces, all with differing weights/loads in the car. As I said its a compromise...more for the road than the track.

Well aware that it is a compromise car - in fact I bought it for exactly that purpose. Just seems a little tame compared even to the e46 (as a passenger at least).

Hmmm... was thinking about selling up the other day but tbh what do you change to within the budget?

May wait for e46 cars to move more towards 15-20 territory or go for something completely different.

The point about the Evo's 'soft' suspension is a good one,but it's supposed to be like that! They designed a certain ammount of 'body roll' into the handling and it's this along with the passive rear wheel steering that allows an Evo to pull 1G while cornering.
The E30 was designed in a different era when sports cars had rock hard suspension,and little roll.
Once you master an Evo's handling(took me 3 months)you will enjoy it so much more!
As for the 'race bred' thing,my brother has a V*lva T5 Estate,I've driven it and it's rubbish,you dont drive,but set sail! But in 'race form' even this car won races in the BTCC!
Maybe an E30 will be as quick on a tight twisty circuit but I think an Evo would do the 'ring faster.
Steve Soper tracked about 30 'M' cars round the Top Gear track and the Evo beat the E30 by a couple of secs.
Before I get cocky,the E46 M3 cab beat my car! It's just progress!   

Uwe, go away... I have enough to deal with right
now...

BTW- I have 2 ecu's, one with a remapped chip, 264
cam etc... that could be avaiable ;-) b4 eb.......

Hi All

Well...Im sorry to say..but what an absolute load of old guff ...an E36 M3 a hairdressers car?? rubbish on the track?? Naah...DONT THINK SO!

Although Im fairly new to the M3 owners club I have driven my friends E36 Evo at a track day in addition to the Toyota Supra I used to have. Ive also had numerous fast bikes and track dayed them all at some time (to the gent who started this thread!).

Ok, so my friend has done a reasonable amount of work on his car (suspension, ECU Remap etc) and it does have quality tyres on it from what I can remember (Pilot SLs I think?) but it was an excellent track day car even when compared to my last Jap import Supra TT.

You know what they say about a bad workman blaming his tools and all that!

If you cant go fast in an M3 you will struggle in most cars in my humble opinion....

 

CHeers

Edited by andrewc

Uwe said

"When the brown cancer has taken my E30 away
from me I will transplant the S14 into that, just to
prove a point!"

As i can't seem to sell my old engine, i have been
considering keeping it now, and next year getting a
early e36 LHD plenty in Germany for £700-£800 and
doing just that, or even a Compact ...

tyres make and type can help under/oversteer.
i had some (cant remmember make ) tyres on my old car and got massive amounts of understeer, changed them to pilot sports and WOW could not believe the difference massive grip and well balanced .
tyres are what is between you and the floor so why so many people forget about tyre make and type. and blame other things.
some people say the E46 m3 brakes are rubbish on track but i have had no problems yet.
mine is all standard.

Well yes you can modify anything and make it work on the track.

I think the point is the E30 M3s left the factory far more suited to track work than the E36s did.

 

Well,

Some intresting thoughts and similar feelings. I would never track my E36 for the very reasons that have been posted. It was never meant to be a track car, whereas the E30 was a designed to go racing with.

One needs to think as to what the car was orginally designed for, as to how well it will perform on track. A heavy weight motorway cruiser is not going to be nimble around corners, and will strain braking components with repertive heavy braking. Its also can be simple, courses for horses.

Long motorway trips, comfort, refinement etc = E36

Sprints round tight corners, track work, back roads, driver enjoyment = E30

See you on the 22nd at Brands, and off to the Ring the following morning. Life`s great.

Regards,

Dave.

Excellent...Add a pair of bucket seats,harness and a roll cage for me please!

Ive stuck the date in the calander, thanks again.

PS..I also lurk around the e30zone (used to have a 325)and often meet up with some of the e30 lads @ the Ace Cafe..So give us a shout if you pop down to one of the meets down there

lancelott, whats the full spec of your car mate?