[Anthony235]

Might post video later when I have time.

My best at Big Willow is a 1:33.7 in my Evo X.

Took the m235i out for its first track day at Big Willow. Car felt great! Actually felt faster than the Evo, but only managed a 1:34.1. By the time I got really comfortable with the car the winds picked up. Think the 20mph winds against the fast straight cost me a 1:33.x time. Also think I had a better brake pad in the Evo.

LSD will be in my future soon.

Not too bad for 200 treadwear street tires and no aero.

Think the RWD makes it seem faster. Definitely more fun with the RWD though

[walnuttea]

Great pics, loving the wrapped roof

[Anthony235]

Video added:

[Anderw]

Great pictures and video car looks great

I am curious I see you said you are selling your 18x8.5 et45 fronts and running A square setup , are you now 18x9.5 et45 square? If so could elaborate on any fitment issues (if any) up front and what tire/size are you running!

[zipphreak]

I hate you west coast folks! 27 degrees today and dropping like its cold!

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Anderw

Great pictures and video car looks great

I am curious I see you said you are selling your 18x8.5 et45 fronts and running A square setup , are you now 18x9.5 et45 square? If so could elaborate on any fitment issues (if any) up front and what tire/size are you running!

Yes, 18x9.5 +45 255/35/18 square.

To get it to fit my setup (others people setups may very).

KW Clubsport coilovers
Eibach shorter front main spring (I also went with a higher spring rate than KW)
20mm front spacer
No rear spacer
Front fender is rolled (not sure if it's needed, but I preemptively did it)

3* front camber
2* rear camber

Spacer is needed for my setup to clear the front suspension/remote reservoir. I actually have a 27mm (15mm+12mm spacer) spacer in there now as an emergency stop gap because the 15mm spacer I had in there was not enough. 20mm should be the in this week so I can test clearance, but I expect it to be the minimum size needed for my setup.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by zipphreak

I hate you west coast folks! 27 degrees today and dropping like its cold!

68 degrees for us

[Anthony235]

6th fastest lap of the day. Not bad for a fake M car.

[kd0t]

Nice setup! What spoiler is that?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by kd0t

Nice setup! What spoiler is that?

Just the M Performance one.

[kd0t]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

Just the M Performance one.

interesting! it doesn't look like it from the pics.

[Pparana]

set the suspension up for that track and you will trim a few seconds no problem.

Car may be too low (below roll center) Check LCA angles to make sure there not negative.

LSD is a must, your in a sailboat with no sail.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Pparana

set the suspension up for that track and you will trim a few seconds no problem.

Car may be too low (below roll center) Check LCA angles to make sure there not negative.

LSD is a must, your in a sailboat with no sail.

Suspension actually felt great. Car is almost stock height. May do end links later.

Car could use LSD; not sure I will do it though.

It's a fast lap time for that track either way. I'm relatively happy with it. The biggest issue was the 20mph winds that day. Many guys were 2 seconds off their normal pace.

M4 boards are allowing m2 and m235 times in their track section. You guys should list your times.

[Pparana]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

Suspension actually felt great. Car is almost stock height. May do end links later though.

Car could use LSD; not sure I will do it though.

It's a fast lap time for that track either way. I'm relatively happy with it. The biggest issue was the 20mph winds that day. Many guys were 2 seconds off their normal pace.

M4 boards are allowing m2 and m235 times in their track section. You guys should list your times.

Track days are not really racing or time trials, people get into pissing matches over times, it is kind of silly. If the car feels fun, and you are having fun that all that matters.

My modded 2r is on par (+/- a second or two) with about anything that I have driven on track sans a gt3, viper or c7 gran sport that is street legal in time trials. Street tires are the equalizer in high-end sports cars, tires give up well before the car.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Pparana

Track days are not really racing or time trials, people get into pissing matches over times, it is kind of silly. If the car feels fun, and you are having fun that all that matters.

My modded 2r is on par (+/- a second or two) with about anything that I have driven on track sans a gt3, viper or c7 gran sport that is street legal in time trials. Street tires are the equalizer in high-end sports cars, tires give up well before the car.

OK. You should setup your suspension. Probably knock a few seconds off no problem.

[Pparana]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

OK. You should setup your suspension. Probably knock a few seconds off no problem.

haha, yeah I was not trying to be mean, you have club sports, if you are going for flying hot lap times, you can dial them in for each track, you mention the pavement felt choppy and rough on runoffs, you can adjust the dampening and slow rebound to compensate smooth out the car. With your spring rates (stiff) and the wheel and tires, (low profile) they prob. need to be pretty low on low on rebound for those conditions.


That suspension has soo much adjustability from KW it can be a bit overwhelming. You should play with it for a day or two on track keeping a log and making changes to see how they feel to you. You can get a baseline setup for street driving. Suspension setup is an art, has to be done for conditions and to drivers liking.

We even change the damping and rebound during endurance races at drivers swap depending on the driver or weather change.

That track, time comes in high speed, a few additional mph out of exit will trim a few seconds. I would set the car up for high-speed stability and sacrifice the few mid-low speed corners, they come after high-speed straights anyway. BMW chassis are better at mid-high speed stability.

If your not too keen on the lsd, have you done the swaybars?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by Pparana

haha, yeah I was not trying to be mean, you have club sports, if you are going for flying hot lap times, you can dial them in for each track, you mention the pavement felt choppy and rough on runoffs, you can adjust the dampening and slow rebound to compensate smooth out the car. With your spring rates (stiff) and the wheel and tires, (low profile) they prob. need to be pretty low on low on rebound for those conditions.


That suspension has soo much adjustability from KW it can be a bit overwhelming. You should play with it for a day or two on track keeping a log and making changes to see how they feel to you. You can get a baseline setup for street driving. Suspension setup is an art, has to be done for conditions and to drivers liking.

We even change the damping and rebound during endurance races at drivers swap depending on the driver or weather change.

That track, time comes in high speed, a few additional mph out of exit will trim a few seconds. I would set the car up for high-speed stability and sacrifice the few mid-low speed corners, they come after high-speed straights anyway. BMW chassis are better at mid-high speed stability.

If your not too keen on the lsd, have you done the swaybars?

What you say is true, but you say them without any actual context of my skill, knowledge, car setup or the actual track itself. For example, show me one person that is familiar with that track that does not complain about the track conditions. Show me one video where someone is not choppy through turn 8 and I'll show you someone that is slow on that track. As for my comments on the "run off"....you do realize that is off the actual track, right?

I will not do the sway bars. I don't think this car needs them with good DA suspension. I was already 3 wheeling it. Not to mention that a sway bar may actually amplify the fact that the car has no LSD.

The only cars faster than me (top 5) were on R comps or slicks. My car setup is fine for what I have available on my car.

Originally Posted by Pparana

Track days are not really racing or time trials, people get into pissing matches over times, it is kind of silly.

I've never seen pissing matches from track time leader boards. It's usually quite the opposite and people that actually share their times check their ego at the door. No offense, but I have a feeling that the "pissing matches" you mentioned may revolve around you

All interesting comments from someone that doesn't focus on laptimes haha.

[bryan_G01]

I log time and data during DE's.

If your in an advanced group, so is everyone else.

Im about 3-5 seconds off of fully built e92 m3 race cars which i am extremely pleased with being on stock suspension and usually EBC yellows.

[SteveInfante]

Thanks for sharing your take on your car. I'm interested in how much value you place on the Clubsports. My 228 is crazy fun while still stock on track. Stock minus the crap run flats anyway. Your suspension and wheel/tire specs interest me more than anything else. Great times compared to the rest of the top 5 cars. I'm trying to get to at least 2 HPDE's next year. It would be nice to have more grip. Keep it up.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by bryan_f22

I log time and data during DE's.

If your in an advanced group, so is everyone else.

Im about 3-5 seconds off of fully built e92 m3 race cars which i am extremely pleased with being on stock suspension and usually EBC yellows.

Yes, advanced group. Most of the cars are big tire and/or aero cars. I log my time for two reasons with a transponder. 1) It's free and 2) I like to see self improvements.

I do miss my old data log and video overlay setup though.

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by SteveInfante

Thanks for sharing your take on your car. I'm interested in how much value you place on the Clubsports. My 228 is crazy fun while still stock on track. Stock minus the crap run flats anyway. Your suspension and wheel/tire specs interest me more than anything else. Great times compared to the rest of the top 5 cars. I'm trying to get to at least 2 HPDE's next year. It would be nice to have more grip. Keep it up.

I will probably only being doing 3-4 track days a year. Unless I start doing Bimmer Challenge.

Clubsports....It really just depends on what you want from the car. Are you hunting laptimes? If so, then they might be worth it for you.

I will say that Clubsports were not my first choice. I was actually going to go with BC Racing coilovers with the Swift spring upgrade. About $1200 and they come with front camber plates. I've ran them on other cars without issue.

Problem is I have a 2015 car so it has the 5 bolt top hats. Clubsports were the only all-in-one solution for me. The ROI on $3600 coilovers is not great.

Am I faster with the Clubsports Vs BC? More than likely, but again that ROI is not good.

Then you have to be honest with yourself and ask if you have the skill level to take advantage of the parts you put on the car.

From a lap time perspective you will get more results from doing away with your all season tires and going with something a more aggressive. If you swap to say an extreme performance summer tire with 200 treadwear, but your times don't improve considerably then you probably can't justify going with such an expensive suspension setup for the moment.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about my setup.

Corner balance will be after the holidays. Interested to see the total weight too.

[SteveInfante]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

I will probably only being doing 3-4 track days a year. Unless I start doing Bimmer Challenge.

Clubsports....It really just depends on what you want from the car. Are you hunting laptimes? If so, then they might be worth it for you.

I will say that Clubsports were not my first choice. I was actually going to go with BC Racing coilovers with the Swift spring upgrade. About $1200 and they come with front camber plates. I've ran them on other cars without issue.

Problem is I have a 2015 car so it has the 5 bolt top hats. Clubsports were the only all-in-one solution for me. The ROI on $3600 coilovers is not great.

Am I faster with the Clubsports Vs BC? More than likely, but again that ROI is not good.

Then you have to be honest with yourself and ask if you have the skill level to take advantage of the parts you put on the car.

From a lap time perspective you will get more results from doing away with your all season tires and going with something a more aggressive. If you swap to say an extreme performance summer tire with 200 treadwear, but your times don't improve considerably then you probably can't justify going with such an expensive suspension setup for the moment.

Let me know if you have any specific questions about my setup.

Corner balance will be after the holidays. Interested to see the total weight too.

I am going to hit at least two track days this coming year due to time. I just hate to buy things more than once. I spent some time hitting tracks in Europe while I was stationed there before I retired.

I plan to get a set of summer and track day wheels and tires. I'm comfortable driving at the limit of adhesion so I will be able to tell the difference when performance parts are added.

Thanks for the input. I have some time to decide which direction to go.