NORCAL UFO autoX Feb 24

[Steve49841]

I think last year I ran my car in E Prepared and got my clock cleaned by a guy in a Neon, like I said it's just for fun.

[SLOroadster]

I was going to run EP a couple years ago since really, that is closer to where my car belongs. I found the timing chain pieces on the magnetic drain plug and that ended the season right there. It also cost me the season in Vintage stock in the Alfa since I missed the first race of the season for that class since I was running another class. It would have been a showdown that I likely would have won because the 510 that has owned that class broke late in the season and they didn't finish out the last races (not that they had to since there were no other cars in the class) I'm not sure if Dennis and Peggy will bring Pinky the 510 out this year or not. My guess is no, they will stick with their "lawn dart" Formula car.

Its an interesting group of cars that comes out and runs with us. Here are some random shots I've taken of other things running over the past few years.




The lawn dart mentioned above...


























Guess which one was the fastest...

I miss this car.


Will

[Steve49841]

In the "guess which one is fastest pic" if the E30 is a real M3 I would probably pick it for an AutoX. Weight and agility is the name of the game when doing the cone dance. On the open track those other cars might put the old Beemer in the rear view however. I hang with a couple of guys that vintage race Alfa's and they are great cars. My goal this year is to put them in my rear view with the roadster, ha, I hope they don't read this....You showed some great pic's of people having a good time...thanks.

[SLOroadster]

In the "guess which one is fastest pic" if the E30 is a real M3 I would probably pick it for an AutoX. Weight and agility is the name of the game when doing the cone dance. On the open track those other cars might put the old Beemer in the rear view however. I hang with a couple of guys that vintage race Alfa's and they are great cars. My goal this year is to put them in my rear view with the roadster, ha, I hope they don't read this....You showed some great pic's of people having a good time...thanks.

Yes, the E30 M3 is real, its sitting in my garage Its the replacement for my Alfa. Speaking of racing Alfas, a well sorted roadster should be able to run away from pretty much any Alfa, however its not the case and I have no clue why. The 2L Nord motors can't make the power a U20 can. A full blown 10/10ths hand grenade motor is good for about 220 hp. That would be for a full SCCA race motor that may or may not make it through a race without blowing a headgasket. Still, I've watched a 1600 spider up and run away from me in a straight line. It was a well driven and well sorted car, but to this day I have no clue how he got a 1600 to produce that sort of power. Granted, he didn't have a windshield creating drag. That said, I had a lot of fun with a 1600 GTV. We were pretty evenly matched and swapped positions a couple times. I wish I had the $ to go play on the track again this year.

Will

[Steve49841]

My roadster had a fresh built motor in it when I bought it but I don't know what kind of power it makes. Last year I could stay with the Alphas but I had issues with the carbs that we have discussed in the past etc. For this season I did the JB Weld/vent mod you talked about, added new Koni adjustables and switched from a 4:88 to a 3:90 gear plus a bunch of other stuff so we shall see. My race car previous to the Roadster was an E30 and man I loved driving that car. I'm sure you are familure with NASA, I think their time trial program is good value if you have never considered it. Simple tech inspection, minimal safety gear, pretty much open track and nice helpful people.

[SLOroadster]

My roadster had a fresh built motor in it when I bought it but I don't know what kind of power it makes. Last year I could stay with the Alphas but I had issues with the carbs that we have discussed in the past etc. For this season I did the JB Weld/vent mod you talked about, added new Koni adjustables and switched from a 4:88 to a 3:90 gear plus a bunch of other stuff so we shall see. My race car previous to the Roadster was an E30 and man I loved driving that car. I'm sure you are familure with NASA, I think their time trial program is good value if you have never considered it. Simple tech inspection, minimal safety gear, pretty much open track and nice helpful people.

I have the roadster for track fun. The M3 is the daily driver/backup autoX car. I'd be interested in taking it out on the track at some point, but its just too nice of a car to risk getting punted by someone else.

As for racing an E30 M3, I'd be curious to see how one would do prepared to the current WTCC specs against the current cars. I watched them at Sears Point last year and they weren't all that fast. The M3 still holds its own in SCCA and NASA roadracing so in that respect, its still pretty impressive. Against the newer E36,46 and 92s, I think it would really depend on the track. A shorter tighter track would possibly give the E30 an edge over the others. The others are all heavier, and while they do have more power (the E36 is only up I think 20 hp, and that can be countered with a set of the Sport Evolution cams and a chip remap.) they just aren't as nimble. The guy with the white E92 does beat me when he runs R compounds, but on street tires, I can beat him. I can put the E36s away even if they are on R compounds in an autoX. The E46s again are big and heavy so they lack the ability to turn well. On a big track such as Thunderhill, yeah, the E46 and 92s had better blow the doors off the E30, the 92 has almost twice the power. Still, I think tires and brakes would come into play much sooner for the heavier cars. They will run away on the straights, but half an hour in, I think the race will start to even up a bit.

Its kinda funny how the M3 grew in size, but the rear spoilers shrank.


Here are a few shots of my car.





Will

[Steve49841]

Not getting punted is a big deal when you have a nice street car. NASA is fanatical about car control and passing zones in their HPDE and Time Trial events. I started with a Z06 Corvette and did 10-12 events with them and never saw an incident. However, the main thing I learned from this was I didn't need to be in a Z06 so along came the E30 and eventually the Roadster. The pics of your M3 show a very nice car, I particularly like the one in front of the SR-71, both are very well engineered machines. My daily driver is an E46 Sportwagon which I use as my AutoX backup/rainy day racer, and you are right it takes a lot to make an E46 go fast. If I were you I think I would leave the M3 as a driver and take the Roadster to the track. Besides the Roadster is easier and cheaper to run and maintain the M3.

[SLOroadster]

Not getting punted is a big deal when you have a nice street car. NASA is fanatical about car control and passing zones in their HPDE and Time Trial events. I started with a Z06 Corvette and did 10-12 events with them and never saw an incident. However, the main thing I learned from this was I didn't need to be in a Z06 so along came the E30 and eventually the Roadster. The pics of your M3 show a very nice car, I particularly like the one in front of the SR-71, both are very well engineered machines. My daily driver is an E46 Sportwagon which I use as my AutoX backup/rainy day racer, and you are right it takes a lot to make an E46 go fast. If I were you I think I would leave the M3 as a driver and take the Roadster to the track. Besides the Roadster is easier and cheaper to run and maintain the M3.

Oddly enough, I'm finding the roadster and the M3 cost about the same to operate. The M3 does have a few items that are stupidly expensive (distributor cap and rotor along with the plug wires.). I agree, the M3 is not the track car. The pic of the M3 in front of SR-71 #960 is one of my favorite pics of the car. My licence plate pays tribute to both of them. They are both the best for what they were designed for. I've put 18K miles on the M3 since I got it in December of 2011 and it hasn't missed a beat. I've had to address quite a bit of differed maintenance that the previous owner either failed to have done, or was told it was done and not done. Still, the more I drive it the better it runs. I had the same thing happen with the Alfa and the roadster so it doesn't surprise me that much.

Will