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

[Graham]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

prior to race two i wound about an inch and half extra ride heignt into the o/s/r which reduced the alarming amount of camber in that wheel, it had rained really hard that morning, the car was full of water so i took the unusual step of removing all the rear windows meaing plenty of ventalation and no steaming up,

i like most of the field went out on wets, it wasnt raining but the track was pretty damp, and there was a stream running acros the track at the bottom of paddock hill bend,

its fair to say that most drove well within thems selves and conditions, althoug my car still didnt feel right it wasnt as bad as the day before now whether that was down to conditions my rideheight adjust ment or simply that we were all lapping 5 second off a dry pace i'll never know, i picked off a good few cars, exiting druids found myself once again part of a 3 car gaggle, this time i was in the middle but safely accerlated past the cars on either side, taking another car or two roound a packed graham hill, including pushrod king, who i didnt leave a great deal of space (although i thought it was enough), i think nose chopping was the experssion nick used afterwards, following another safety car intervention for cars spining at druids i had a good dice with a cossy for a bit until i got up the inside of him coming onto the straight, there wasnt much space there i can tell you i recon i was only an inch off the grass and two away from the cossy, i pulled away and ended up with steve dann, 1.8T golf for company, i had legs on him out of the corners towards the end of the straights his turbo power was eating me alive, i could of probably kept steve behind me, but wasnt feeling that confident in the cars handling and decided not to risk trashing things or cooking my wets as the track wasnt wet enough to keep thenm alive if i pushed hard, soon after steve had passed i had alex ribbins (pinto powered mk2) behind me and just pushed enough to keep him there, although after a bit he dropped back sharply, i later found hed lost 4th gear,

so there we go last race of the season and i'd finished in 15th i think which was a lot higher up than my starting position

[4drmatt]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

good write up as usual, well done on the result. sorry to hear about the coming together though.

[Graham]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

so the seasons summery,

2 rolling road sessions
1 test
11 practisces
22 races
2 dnfs, 1 bad visability, 1 broken gear selector
3rd in class for dmn,10th overall
2nd in class intermarque
5 class wins
2 class 2nds
5 class 3rds
numerous 4ths
etc etc
i broke a clas lap record at lydden, although dont hold it because richard lowered it even more
gained 10bhp, although i would of had that at the start of the season if i haddent of had to make do with what i had rather than bying a new exhaust
lost 50kgs of weight out the car,
learned to drive again and change the setup to suit a non turbo engine

it has been an absolute fabulos season in terms of the quaility of racing i've had,
i few lows but a lot more highs, making probably my best season ever, all in an overweight under powered car,

i must say thanks to all those who have helped or supported in some way, even if its only in coming 2nd or 3rd to my racing habit, now where do i sign up for next year ........

[Dan]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

excellent stuff graham
think you said when you made the decision to go back to an NA setup you wanted to have dueling races and be stuck right in the thick of it. i dont think you could have got it any better, certainly seems that way from my persective, been a great read

look forward to the winter rebuild tweeking and next season

[dangerousdave]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Glad to hear you got what you wanted out of this years racing graham, roll on next year with even more of your cost effective developments

[david_white]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

and i dare say in the cold light of day he too probably now wishes he'd let the corner go, but ultimatley it has to go down to being a racing incident.

Yeah, I wish you 2 had made it through surtees too, I was having a decent race as well and wouldn't have ended up with a fiesta sat on my lap

Hope you don't have too much trouble finding an arm, its a shame you and Richard were scuppered like that, never a good way to end the year but at least all of the damage is easily repairable.
I can't remember a final meeting at Brands where there wasn't big damage on a few cars, bit of a shame but I guess everyone just pushes that bit harder

[#90]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Hi Graham

Good write up and i have to say a fantastic season......I'm sure if someone had offered you the results at the start of the season you'd have taken them.

I think you achieved just what you wanted to - race finish's and wheel to wheel racing

I've thought about our moment at surtee's about a million times over the last few days and have to agree that i should of let it go / but the speed at which you appeared did suprise me into making a split second decision / and possibly not the right one.......

You did cause me to develope the car further - new front wider wheels and tyres,another rear anti roll bar and new shocks / fair play to you Graham

Anyway onward to 2010 - what class for me ??? / I'll let you all know before christmas....

Richard / Puegeot 205 / Not trick at all.....................

[Retromotorsport]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

, i have to add that i know in no way did Richard intend to take me out, ..............

Richard did say later i rather suprised him with my speed, and i dare say in the cold light of day he too probably now wishes he'd let the corner go, but ultimatley it has to go down to being a racing incident.

Hi Graham
I've thought about our moment at surtee's about a million times over the last few days and have to agree that i should of let it go / but the speed at which you appeared did suprise me into making a split second decision / and possibly not the right one.......

And that there sums it up, two of the nicest blokes you will meet in a race paddock, always willing to lend a hand or advice and both deliver some excellent racing, close racing, and after the dust settles, they are smiling and remain friends.
Well done to the pair of you.

I look forward to seeing what happens next year, with both cars, as long as you both stay out of Class D

[Graham]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

as long as you both stay out of Class D

funny you should say that gary,


actually my engine owes me too much money to not using it again next year as it is what little money i will have to spend has to go into other parts of the car and on new rubber, so unless daves or andys engine go on steroids over the winter we wont be in the same class

[david_white]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

actually my engine owes me too much money to not using it again next year as it is what little money i will have to spend has to go into other parts of the car and on new rubber, so unless daves or andys engine go on steroids over the winter we wont be in the same class

If I find a suitable crank Graham then you and Richard had better beware

[stephen bahr]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

you'll be on tv tonight dad

[Graham]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

ok no updates for a long while, mainly because i havnt done anything!

but now,

the plan!

i dont really have any dosh to spend on the car for next year, but i need to make it more competitive, this has to come through a bit of evolution rather than radical change,

the engine wiill get a bearing check and an oil change! well thats the current plan!

suspension, well im going to do some geometry tweeks at the front, basiaclly reduce the camber and add a bit more caster, this should give me a bit more high speed stability particulary under braking and should reduce the amount of contact patch lost by the inside tyre when turing in.,

at the rear apart from changing the bent trailing arm i plan some rear beam tweeks which will push the trailing arm pivots up thus dialing out some camber, i also need to find a better way of bushing trailing arms as the polybushes just arnt man enough, and will probably increase the rear spring rates a bit more and remove the rear antiroll bar thus improving traction out of tight corners

next i've been considering a reshell, mainly because i dont like the cage, theres far too much of it, it weighs in at 52kgs according to the manufacturer wheras a omp or sparco multipoint weigh 34kgs which is a big difference, and on top of that it really doesnt fit properly and because of its very poor fit there are kilo's of mig wire in it to bridge the gaps between the tubes which isnt great, its simply nasty, it would be easier to start with a new shell than fit a new cage ( current one is a multipoint) but having looked into cages the prices have rocketed since the economy took a dive and youd really need to add the price of a new shell plus all the extra prep ontop, by chance i discovered the makers of the current cage also do a more basic one at a reasonable price, which is actually the same cage but with a lot of the optional tubes deleted, so i plan on buying one of them and using it to rework what i have, it will end up with far fewer tubes, some of the lost tubing will be made up for by me tieing it into the shell as the current one is only tied in where it meets the floor or strut tops.

appart from the cage changes i'll be on the lookout for any further weight saving i might be able to find.

[Pushrod King]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

There was an e30 shell for sale on ebay recently

[david_white]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Sounds like a plan Graham, if you can get another 20 or so kilos out of the car it will help a fair bit.

[stephen bahr]

Re: A racing bmw 316, 240bhp Atmo M10

Sounds like a plan Graham, if you can get another 20 or so kilos out of the car it will help a fair bit.

20 kilos out is only another 6.6 BHP per ton though, however all in the name of progression, to next year!