SCCA Track night: MSR Cresson

Posted on August 4, 2016 by chamba002

Another fun day at the track. This was my first time racing at this track and was pretty far drive from Houston (4hrs). I racked up about 800 miles part of which was because I stayed overnight in Austin. Even though I track once a month I joined the novice class becuase it is my first time here. I was thinking the track would be pretty empty since its was 102 degrees outside. Surprisingly I counted 11 cars in the novice class, and was actually less drivers in the intermediate and expert class.

When I got there, the covered garage was filled! Grudgingly I unloaded all my tools and tires in the Texas sun. I did leave my tires and tools in the shade, at least there was room for that. The silver Lexus IS300 is actually pretty fast in the straights, I later found out it was LS swapped! The track day included 3 sessions, each being around 20 mins. On the first session, I was behind the IS300 when it started smoking bad with the smell of burning metal. Soon afterwards it smoked very badly and pulled over to the side of the track. Then session was black flagged and required everyone enter the pits. We waited roughly 10 mins for the track workers to clean up the spill and I found out the IS300 blew a power steering hose. Thankfully we were able to get back on the track to complete our first session.

This Jaguar was just cruising on the track top down. Not that Im saying its slow at all but you could tell the guy was just out there to have a good time. Its about the experience.

Mini Cooper on Bridgestone RE-71R. I’ve seen a lot of people run RE71Rs on the track and autocross. They say its better then the RS3. I need to try those out.

The 2nd session went through without problems and I got in a friendly competition with the Mustang Shelby GT350R. These days you always see jokes and memes how bad mustangs handle. Even on YouTube, just a simple search and you can find videos of drift and burnout fails of mustangs. I got to hand it to Ford making a track oriented car. The GT350R could never pull away from me but I couldn’t pass it either. We were evenly matched and pushing each other to the limit. This was the hardest I pushed myself and the M3. The last couple laps my tires got too hot and grip fell off. I had to back off and let my tires cool but thankfully the checkered flag was waving. After the session we shook hands on a great race. Unfortunately, which seems to happen often, my memory card was full by my 2nd session and the epic battle wasn’t recorded.

This was the GT350R I had a friendly battle with. Definitely sounds like a roaring V8, and the owner recently bought it! Still has the paper plates! For those of you that don’t know the Mustang 350R here is a little info:

After such an adrenaline filled session, on my last and 3rd session I just played it chill and didn’t go to hard on the M3. I was shifting early and using 3rd gear on 2nd gear corners. That session went on without incident and was great. The 350R did catch up to me but I let him pass, I know he probably wanted another duel but sometimes if you go over the limit that when bad things happen. After the 3rd session, the sun was setting and was just that perfect lighting to take a picture.

Lady driven Porsche boxer was in our run group.

Lots of V8 today.

Mustang Cobra is supercharged with pullies and tune. The car is mainly used for drag racing but the owner still had a good time at the track.

This truck was a complete custom build, tube chassis, modified frame and with a supercharged V8. Unfortunately it only did one session becuase trucks are not allowed on the circuit. Look good though, like the rat rod look.

You get a good mix of cars in the run groups which makes things more interesting.

Four bangers were also out too.

I thought this S2000 was on Hankook TD but its was rolling on Ferderal tires… I wonder how they feel at the track.

Big Wang.

Harrys Lap timer was working seemlessly and I managed to clock 01:31.53 seconds, which I have no idea if thats fast or not. But it felt good just being out there.

Heat cycled Hankooks did a really great job. They only over heated once because I pushed too hard on my 2nd session and grip fell off. It handled the abuse in the 102 degree heat.

MSR Cresson consists of high speed long sweepers, late apexes with a few tight twisties (aka the rattle snake). The track isn’t terribly fast, but I managed to hit 100mph on the straights. With shorter straights and longer sweepers, the track isn’t harsh on the brakes compared to COTA or Harris Hill. You can with the amount of brake dust after my last sesson. What I really did like was how smooth the track was. The track is well kept and very close to gas stations, some even offering racing fuel. I’ll be back again.

TE Thursday

Posted on August 4, 2016 by chamba002

TE37 is like a white shirt…. Goes well on anything.

SCCA track night Harris Hill

Posted on July 16, 2016 by chamba002

Ever since my first track day at COTA, I’ve been going to track events once a month. But this will be my first time at an SCCA track night event, and I wish I knew about these events sooner. Its like HPDE except its a lot cheaper, with fewer sessions and you learn at your own pace without an instructor.

Harris Hill is about a 30 min drive from Austin, with elevation changes and long sweepers. My friend Jason, with his track oriented Miata was able to join in on the action. It was our first time at this track, so we joined the novice group. Thankfully there were only 7 cars in the novice class. Probably the Texas summer heat might be to blame for low number of cars but I wasn’t complaining. I hate to race in a crowed track.

SCCA track night is $150 which includes three 20 min sessions. The novice class also gets paced laps before the beginning of the first session, and drivers meeting between sessions. Luckily SCCA does offer discounts and I was able to get $25 off. The people are pretty chill and its about having fun in your car. You get to experience what a track day in a chill atmosphere. You don’t get an instructor, but in the paced laps, the lead car shows you the preferred line. I still like HPDE becuase they offer instructors and more track sessions (5), but the price sometimes is too much for some people. SCCA track night just makes it more affordable to the general public.

Unfortunately my lap timer was acting up and I wasn’t able to time myself but I still had a blast. My first impression was this track is slow but its decently fast. I was able to hit 110 mph on the straights with no brake fade! The stock M3 brakes are more than capable for track use. The only time I had brake fade was at COTA with stock brakes, Im pretty sure if I get track pads and higher boiling point brake fluid then it wouldn’t be an issue. I can really feel the g forces in the long fast sweeper. Harris hill is mainly a 2nd to 4 gear track. The only thing I didn’t enjoy so much was how bumpy the track was. My suspension isn’t super stiff, but if you are not careful the bumps could upset your car and lose control. I didn’t run into any issues, but it was a rough ride that my helmet would occasionally hit the roof. During the drivers meeting, the SCCA track host gave us pointers around the track which did help avoid some of the bumps. By my third session, I was pushing the car harder and I really enjoyed the capabilities of the M3. I will be back again.

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Dreaded Bleeder Screw

Posted on July 15, 2016 by chamba002

Since I do a track event once a month, and its the middle of Texas the summer. I knew I would be racing in 100 degree plus heat. I was nervous about about overheating during my next track day at Harris Hill. With my M3 hitting 60k miles, and just a week before track day, I took my car to ABR Houston for a coolant flush. Unfortunately the plastic bleeder screw is fragile and can break easily, which is what happened on my way home after the leaving the shop. My low coolant light came on midway driving home. I immidiately added distilled water from a nearby grocery store and the low coolant light never came back on. But when I got home and opened the hood…

Looks like the expansion tank spilled coolant everywhere! I was totally bummed and worried that I wont be able to make it for my upcoming track day. I let the car cool down and called the guys at ABR Houston. The service advisor informed me that some coolant did spill out during the radiator flush but when I first popped the hood to add distilled water the amount of spilled coolant was minimal. I didn’t really worry but I started thinking…. It only got worse when I arrived home after adding distilled water. I didn’t overfill the expansion tank since there is a bevel that tells the max level. You could still see the fresh coolant around the bleeder screw.

After letting the car cool and being all bummed about what happened I started to wipe the dried coolant from the engine bay. As I was wiping the expansion tank the top of the bleeder screw came off!!!

Worse case scenario, I have a partial screw that is stuck in the expansion tank. I did some research and found out that the plastic bleeder screw is known to break easily. I called up ABR Houston and spoke to Alex about the situation. Alex, the shop owner, was nice enough to drive from his shop to my apartment in downtown, and this was during rush hour! Alex was able to remove the broken bleeder screw with a left handed drill bit. The left handed drill bit catches on screw and which enables the screw to turn counter clockwise. The broken bleeder screw was replaced with an aluminum bleeder screw that wont break. So I was able to make it to my track day and race without any issues. The guys at ABR Houston know how to work on BMWs and really take pride their work. ABR Houston also did my engine bearing replacement the beginning of this year. VAC coated bearing with ARP rod bolts and no problems so far.

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Tire review: Hankook RS-3

Posted on July 15, 2016 by chamba002

In a couple of months I would have been tracking the M3 for one year. So far I have been through Michelin Pilot Super Sports (PSS), Nitto NT05 (2 sets) and now Hankook RS3. In terms of grip and track use I would rate Michelin Pilot Super Sports #3, Nitto NT05 #2, and Hankook RS3 #1.

Now the NT05 and RS3 are both in the 200 treadwear category. I was planning to buy my 3rd set of NT05s but I wanted to change things up and see if I could tell a difference with tires of the same treadwear. From what I can tell, it’s a big difference. The RS3 is slightly more expensive then the NT05s but its was something worth trying out at least once.

With my brand new RS3 mounted, I recently had a track day to test them out. The levels of grip on the Hankook surpassed the grip of the NT05. Unfortunately my lap timer wasn’t working properly so I wasn’t able to get any data. Hopefully next month at MSR Cresson I’ll be able to acquire data. Subjectively, once heat cycled, the RS3 griped a lot better than the NT05. I felt more confidence to push the car harder after every lap. The tire warms up quickly usually after a couple of laps and the grip is just constant! I felt more g forces on the corners compared to the NT05. I didn’t have any sidewall scrubbing or overheated tries. The road noise of the RS3 is about the same as the NT05, I didn’t really notice a difference, but then again I do have a loud exhaust. Looks wise the RS3 isn’t aggressive looking as the NT05 but its something I can overlook. After tracking on the RS3s I don’t think I’ll ever go back to the NT05s. Don’t get me wrong though, the NT05 preforms well on the track. Its NOT a terrible tire at all, but if you are looking to upgrade to something better in the same tire category, then the RS3 would be a good tire choice.

Learning Levels of Grip

Posted on June 12, 2016 by chamba002

Recently my last track day, the forecast called for thunderstorms. This was a good thing because I wanted to feel how summer tires fair in the wet when you are really pushing the limit. I was on worn out Nitto NT05, and on the dry they are great tires. This is actually my 2nd set and the cheapest 200 treadwear tire for my size. I would like to thank Alex from http://www.street-form.com/blog with the dope pics!

Unfortunately I didn’t have a tent for my tools and spare wheels so those got soaked. At least I didn’t need to use them. Out on the track its was a challenging to drive clean and being careful not to go off course.

What I learned racing in the wet:

1. Don’t go all out in your first run….. I noticed people at the track tend to go all out when its the beginning of the session. For me, thats not how I do it. How can you run if you can’t crawl, right? If you go balls to walls on the first run, you have a higher chance of spinning out or worse crashing becuase you are not familiar with the course or track surface. I like to go smooth and steady first and learn the course before I really push it. Slowly increasing speed and braking later with each run. You got all day, whats the rush.

2. Nitto NT05 work well in the rain even in when its worn out! I thought I was going to be all over the place but for the most part my car felt stable and grip was there. There is a long sweeper on the course and I was thinking the NT05 wont be able to turn in the wet but it gripped! I was even adding gas to the sweeper to see if it would understeer but I got oversteer, which isn’t a bad thing. I want oversteer instead of understeer becuase you can turn the car in better and can control it better (if you get it right). When the tires did loose grip, it was still predictable and progressive. The NT05 gave me confidence to push harder. I never had a sense that I was all over the place.

My tires my before track day

My tires after tack day. They wore out pretty fast even in the rain, but I was running nonstop with a couple of 15 mins rest sessions.

3. You can’t go as fast compared to the dry… Duh. I know it sounds dumb and common sense but to actually experience this is something that you really understand. The grip is very low in the wet and its something you have to account for. Your braking comes in sooner, than in the dry, and the pedal modulation is more sensitive to your input. I was learning to control the tires from spinning too much or sliding out of control. Hydroplaning is a big thing to watch out for and trust me when it was pouring, like cats and dogs, it felt like those tightrope walkers. One wrong move and its the end. You have to find that very small window of grip because too much or too little gas, brakes or steering can send you out of control. The faster you go, that small window of grip becomes even smaller. Yes is did go off course a couple of times but that is becuase of driver error and not the car. Here is video of me learning the course then losing it but luckily managed to stay on course.

4. A wider tract makes a difference! So last week before this event I went on to a autocross and I took off my spacers, because I was worried of rubbing. Well since it was raining I didn’t want to get wet removing my spacers, so I kept it on. I can tell the 15mm spacer made a significant difference. The 15mm spacer in the rear made the car feel more stable and planted than without the spacer. I was feeling this in the rain, what more when its dry!

Managed to get 0.8g in the wet! I honestly don’t know how accurate that is but I was using my iPhone for my car telemetry.

5. Its okay if your car gets dirty. Maybe I should pull up to Wekfest like this….

My fastest time I manage to get with a semi wet track:

Throwback Miata

Posted on June 9, 2016 by chamba002

3 years ago when I was slammed and recently bought a Miata. Sure changed a lot since then…. Then last year selling her becuase she kept on breaking down.

Natsukashi Garage Miata from chamba002 on Vimeo.

At her prime: Slammed, lots of camber and BBS wheels.

Time in the M3

Posted on June 6, 2016 by chamba002

It been awhile posting here but there hasn’t been updates to the M3. I’m pretty happy the way it is now and I’ve just been going to track events once or sometimes twice a month.

Recently I installed my 90mm wheel studs for extra strength and it’s nice having the option of running spacers. My Project Kics racing lugs compliment the studs. It about the attention to detail

I found some 15mm FK spacers I had at my parents place when I had my old BMW before I crashed many years ago. I placed it in the rear because I wanted to be more flush to the fenders. The fitment looked good.

Couple weeks ago I went to a autocross and I took off my spacers at the track because I was afraid of rubbing. I noticed it would slightly rub in city driving over bumps and steep inclines but noting severe when I had my GTI or miata. The autocross was my first timed event. The fastest cars was running in the 27 sec range at the track and slowest cars were around 40 sec range. The cars tuned for the autocross really killed it, so I knew I wasn’t going to get to their lap times. My goal was to get below 30 secs and I would be happy. There was a CTS-V and a stock 996 GT3 running 29-28 sec range and I figured that would be a good time to get. Unfortunately 30.8 was the fastest I managed to get. The event ended prematurely after a Shelby Cobra replica took out the timer. I was short by 2 runs but honestly I don’t think I was able to get pass 30.8 because I was really pushing it.

Here is video of me at the autocross but not of the fastest time… I got soo serious in trying to get below 30 sec range that I forgot to turn on the go pro. Feel good to chip away at your times though.

My experience in drifting

Posted on March 21, 2016 by chamba002

First post of 2016 lol. Since my last post of the M3 I haven’t done much to it, except for engine bearing upgrade but more on the that on a later post. I’m here to talk about my racing adventures.

I have been out enjoying my M3 in what it was built for in the first place…. to take it to the track and have fun!

I have wanted to take M3 to the limit but in a safe controlled manner and not worry about going to jail. HPDE (High Performance Driving Education) is fun and you get to race in cool tracks but its too expensive to do frequently. More like Im able to to do that once or twice a year. Autocross is cool but they don’t allow sliding and it seems to be a more serious crowd focusing on times when you are mainly in 2nd gear. Why time yourself if you are (for the most part) in 2nd gear? I would do autocross to learn car control, I don’t really care for the fastest time. BUT autocross is way cheaper than HPDE. Then there is drifting…..

Drifting is the driving technique you not suppose to do when at the track. You are purposely upsetting the car balance to make it slide around the corner. Its the slowest way around the corner but most entertaining. Drift events are usually the same price as autocross, just more fun in my opinion.

I recently found out Houston has drift events once a month for a really good price. The first event I went to was TXDF and its $55 to drift or grip (the organizers are pretty chill) at a closed facility. Its usually all day thing and the crowd is a bunch or regular car people that want to get some seat time for cheap and car tuning. For $55 I can do that once a month! Its nowhere near as fast like COTA or MSR but still $55 versus $300-$500 every month.

TXDF is held at the Houston Police Academy track. I found out about TXDF though Facebook and it was the day of the event. They have drift events once a month so you will probably be seeing more of me there. I didn’t even bring tools or spares, I just drove the M3 and paid at the entrance. The drift course is a 2nd gear course so you can focus on gas and steering input.

Then I did Lone Star Drift Round 1, and that was more of a serious event than TXDF since its an actual completion. They do offer practice session which is the same course as the participants drift in. In the past events, they had another course for beginners but this time they didn’t have that. I actually did prepare for the event this time. I brought my tools and spare tires stuffed it in the back of the trunk.

The first corner entry is 3rd gear, and I did hit 70ish mph before braking. This proved difficult for me, because it was too hard shifting into 2nd while maintaining the slide. The S65 motor is the high revving V8; therefore, I didn’t have to shift into 3rd gear. I just focus on the gas and steering inputs. Master basics first before doing advanced stuff. The M3 felt strong and I only let the M3 rest once because I had to readjust the GoPro. By the end of the day I was connecting the corners.

I do love how the BMW M3 chassis is engineered for grip or drift. Depending on the drivers actions you can do both easily. I didn’t trailer my car, I just simply showed up and it ran like a champ! Pretty thankful because I’ve seen other cars that look like they spend way more money than I did and were having issues. The M3 is truly a car to take to the track and then the same day go do your groceries.

Car Shop Glow x pipe and AFE intake

Posted on October 20, 2015 by chamba002

Within the past month and Wekfest (now over after writing this) coming up, I decided to install my Car Shop Glow (CSG) x pipe and aFe intake. They were pretty much bolt ons and the only cutting required was the CSG x pipe. I didn’t have my camera with me so I used my fancy iPhone 6.

Before I could install my CSG x pipe I had to get another stock OEM x pipe, since this requires you to cut you OEM x pipe. I could have just used my stock one but if I wanted to go back to stock then I would have to source another OEM x pipe. To avoid that hassle I prepared ahead and bought a spare OEM x pipe, for super cheap, and I used that for the CSG x pipe.

The CSG x pipe gets rid of the secondary cats and the resonators which makes the exhaust lighter and more free flowing. The CSG x pipe doesn’t get rid of the primary cats, so you don’t have to worry about getting a CEL. Notice the design of the CSG x pipe, the x section is a lot longer than stock which changes the sound frequency of the V8 motor.

I took my M3 to my friend, Fernando. He opened a shop this year but unfortunately still has no electricity. But people still come to him for car work and has portable power tools to get the job done. Since my exhaust might be a back breaker without a working lift, Fernando took to M3 to his buddy at One Stop Auto.

They removed my old stock x pipe and used my spare OEM x pipe to cut and clamp on my CSG x pipe. The process was pretty straight forward.

After cutting the x pipe they filled down any rough cuts before connecting the CSG x pipe.

Then you match up the holes with the CSG logo facing down towards the ground. CSG x pipe does come with clamps to properly secure your exhaust.

Once everything is aligned you bolt everything back up.

Perfect fit and no hiccups. Looks nice good too.

Closer look look at the clamps and approximately where to cut. Everything lines up perfectly and nothing hitting or rattling.

Soo well built, like a work of art.

The install of the x pipe took about 1 hr. You can do it yourself, if you have the proper tools and longer if you don’t. Next after the x pipe was the aFe stage 2 intake. I manage to pick this one up for a good deal on the M3 forums. Most of the parts I got for the M3 was 2nd hand. Ballin on a budget right?

The kit comes with a bigger air filter and a less restrictive, more free flowing intake tube. The kit is bolt on and very easy to install. Its comes with all the hardware required for the install. The first step was removing the air box which it held on by torx screws.

After opening the intake box, you remove the stock air filter and intake tube. I wish I did a side by side comparison, but I was excited and forgot. But I can tell you that the aFe stage 2 intake is bigger and appears to be less restrictive.

With the stock intake out, I notice how well engineered the M3 is. The stock intake box has two openings: one from the hood and the other comes from the bottom left front bumper. Both channels air into the intake… That came stock! Most cars have non functioning hood scoops or grills, they are just for show. I was also able to see inside of the M3 plenum. I wanted to take a pic of the beautiful ITBs but my iPhone wasn’t able to get a clear view. Another reason why the S65 motor is so good…. it comes stock with ITBs! I would say 10 years ago you were not able to get a stock car that comes with ITBs unless it was a $100k supercar. Talk about progression. Thanks BMW.

Anyways back to the aFe intake… After the stock intake is removed, you slide in the aFe silicone coupling with the clamps.

Next is to install the aFe intake tube. I found it easier to install the intake tube without the air filter attached, to give us more space. The aFe intake is bigger than stock, therefore space is tight once fitting it in.

Next is connect the intake tube to the air filter.

As you can see, the aFe stage 2 intake is bigger than stock but fits perfectly in the intake box. I can see the design is more air flow efficient than stock.

The last step is to put back the intake cover and thats it!

With the the aFe intake and CSG x pipe combined, I didn’t notice a night and day difference with power, like if you did a tune or added a supercharger. Instead the bolt ons made the M3 more responsive, alive and sounds more aggressive especially on WOT. With the aFe intake I can hear a more noticeable induction sound, but its barely noticeable and the radio needs to be off and windows up. People were saying the CSG x pipe will drone but it really didn’t drone at all even on highway speed. Im on a stock rear muffler and I think that is what eliminated the drone. Believe me I know drone, I had a Miata that was basically straight piped to a Apex’i muffler and that droned and a stage 2 tuned MK5 GTI that had 3″ straight pipes. Instead with the CSG x pipe, its a nice 75 decibels on idle and only gets louder when you step on the gas. Thats it for now and maybe for awhile too. The M3 is really good from the factory you don’t really need to much. Maybe just more track day adventures.

Natsukashi Garage

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Author Archives: chamba002