A race bmw 316, m10, s14, m20, turbo, na, its been the lot!

**Roadsport** · 02-01-2010, 22:49

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Any updates on this one Graham?

**Graham** · 02-01-2010, 23:07

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

ok i've actually done something now, i've bought and fitted some eccentric wishbone bushes, these give several degrees more caster and have allowed me to reposition the top mounts to take some camber out, bringing teh camber back from 2.5 degress to 1.75 which should suit my wide tyres and very stiff springs better.

i also took out the spacers that sat between the inner wings and top mounts which has dropped the ride height by another 10mm, ive been gradually dropping the ride height, but am very limited as to how low i can go as the underside of the inner wings sit VERY close to the tyres i dont think i can go much lower theres only just over an inch of clearance, check out the pic with the spanner to give some scale

unable to find a good shell at the right price i've removed the old cage leaving only the extensions that pick up on the front struts, when the origonal cage went in it was a right nightmare, it didnt fit and due to the way the reinforcing plates that go under the main hoop were designed it was impossible to weld all the way round the tubes in the roof with cutting holes in the roof and its supporting framework, now as teh new cage is basically a simplified version of the old one from the same manufacturer i will have the same problem, so i've decided to redesign the feet and have totally cut out the old cage mounting feet, leaving big enough holes that the cage will drop right through teh floor so i can weld the top of the cage properly then jack it into place and put the feet back in.

fitting the cage also requires holes cutting in the panel between the rear seat and boot, last time i made the smallest possible incission, which made life very difficult, this time i've cut huge holes, as when putting it back together it doesnt make much difference whether i weld back in large or small plates

**david_white** · 02-01-2010, 23:24

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Nice bushes. Are they universal or specific to E30s. I could do with something like that on the sierra.

**Graham** · 02-01-2010, 23:30

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

E30 specific dave, they are the rear ones for the bottom arms which are basically "L" shaped

**Roadsport** · 02-01-2010, 23:30

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Looks like you have your work cut out for you. But then again loosing weight is always hard work.
I see you're running full slick tyres. So I guess you can find grip with the rear suspension set very stiff. On a semi slick tyre like mine that rear wheel travel would not be adequete.
Have you tried it this low

**Graham** · 02-01-2010, 23:36

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

thats a front tyre, the front has 700lb spring is vertually solid even with the massive grip from 245 slicks, ive run it 10mm higher than that, so we will find out later!

the rear does have a lot more travel, although i think i will have to mod the rear arches again as it sits too high at the rear now and i have some more mods in mind for the rear beam which will allow me to lower it more without ending up with excessive rear camber

**Roadsport** · 02-01-2010, 23:48

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Originally posted by david_white

Nice bushes. Are they universal or specific to E30s. I could do with something like that on the sierra.

Could you use Escort adjustable TCA's and compression struts?

**Roadsport** · 02-01-2010, 23:50

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Originally posted by graham bahr

thats a front tyre, the front has 700lb spring is vertually solid even with the massive grip from 245 slicks, ive run it 10mm higher than that, so we will find out later!

the rear does have a lot more travel, although i think i will have to mod the rear arches again as it sits too high at the rear now and i have some more mods in mind for the rear beam which will allow me to lower it more without ending up with excessive rear camber

I assumed it was the rear suspension you had trouble with. I always had. Different car tough.
Are you having trouble turning it in or why are you lowering the front?

**Graham** · 02-01-2010, 23:58

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

more turn in is always good, the main reason im lowering it more is that over the years it has grown to look a bit like a 4x4, having gone up in wheel dia several times so its now on 18inch wheels, without the sledgehammer grunt of the turbo motor its struggling at bit in terms of top end speed, brick like areodynamics is mainly the reason for that but the rideheight wont of been helping.

**Roadsport** · 03-01-2010, 00:09

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Don't want to sound cheeky or know it all but do you really need that big tires? 18" dia and 245mm in widht? Sounds lika a Camaro tire.
I mean if you could manage with smaller ones the car would have less of a rolling resistance, lower ride height and lighter. Could help you with the top speed too.

**Graham** · 03-01-2010, 00:58

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

to get a decent choice in tyres you have to run either 16 or 18 inch if you ask dunlop which is best for my car (which i did) they told me to use 18's, smaller would be lighter but in practise its hard to over tyre a car and the tyres do work, last year i pushed other competitors that in theory should of been way faster.

when you think that 700kgs peugosts and 500kgs mini's are now running 225 wide mine arent that big consisdering my car at its lightest weighed in at 879.5kgs

**Roadsport** · 03-01-2010, 09:48

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Blimey you guys run on big tires. But its hard to comprehend since the class and series you race in is unknown to me. By the numbers I'd say this is some sort of super saloon monster race car clas. 240bhp, 880kg's 18" 245 slicks...phew...sounds like serious racing to me.

I used to run 15" 225 Yokohama A048 on 220hp 950kg Escort with no problems. We have three classes: A, B and C. A beeing the fastest. I run in class B.
Only the Class A one ton monster power turbos run on 245mm tyres.
Now with the new engine and 80kg weight loss I'm thinking of perhaps going with 205's. In the front at least. Would lower my nose by 10mm without ruining the suspension geometry.

**Graham** · 03-01-2010, 12:02

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

we have 5 classes A-E, A being practically unlimited, 550-1000 bhp, around 1200kgs and 4wd, class E typically 170-190bhp and 850kgs

with the turbo mine was class B

its now D,

cars are basically production saloons, and still use production shells, engines and suspensions but with practically unlimited mods,

to make my car really really competitive i need to loose 40kgs AND find another 20bhp

**Roadsport** · 03-01-2010, 13:30

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

So bring out the fiber glass molds?

You're now running 100bhp per litre right? That is already quite impressive from an 2.4 engine. You need to get serious to get another 20 out of it. Have you got any plans?

**Graham** · 03-01-2010, 13:58

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Originally posted by Roadsport

So bring out the fiber glass molds?

You're now running 100bhp per litre right? That is already quite impressive from an 2.4 engine. You need to get serious to get another 20 out of it. Have you got any plans?

only allowed to use fibre glass for removable panels,

re engine, year 240bhp from 2467cc so yes its pretty dammed close to 100per litre, i doubt i'll see anything like another 20bhp from it without a major amount of redesign and testing, etc, but as appart from the rear half of the exhaust its as i built it, i recon i can tweek a bit more from it, i cant see that at the first attempt i got everything spot on

A race bmw 316, m10, s14, m20, turbo, na, its been the lot!

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