1st time on the track. Need help!

[BMW Marc]

Well I finally took my M3 with 93000 miles on the track for the first time this weekend. It was a porsche bmw joint event drivers education at Moroso.

Holy Ship! I can not believe how awesome my car handled. I passed every porsche in my group with the exception of one turbo who I caught in the curves but left me on the straights : I was in the green group which is for beginners, but considering some of these were race only cars I was kickin rear. My car is a bone stock 97 M3 that has had nothing done with the exception of an airbox. It has much to do with the driver and not as much the car as I thought initially. I was worried that I would have been embarrassed by being the slowest of the cars but that was not the case.

Here is where I need help.

1st question

I drove with my instructor in his 930 turbo and there is a world of difference in all areas, but the brakes in particular seemed alot more solid. When braking from 155 to 90 it was much more solid than my car. What would you recommend for improving the brakes in my car? I have contacted two shops. They both recommend crossdrilled rotors with braided lines on the front. They started naming brands, does anyone have recommendations for brands of rotors and/or pads?

2nd question
I have been told that in order to take advantage of my airbox and engine I should program or replace the chip in my M3. One shop: Active Autowerks states thay make their own software and it is the best. Another shop recommends a shark injector stating that it is a safe upgrade with adding power. I do drive my car for daily use and would like to know the benfits and disadvantages of each. The shops are always biased, and I want to do what is best for the car as well as my driving fun. Does anyone have the shark injector? What about the chips?

3rd
I am trying to do all of this on a small budget. These shops want to do superchargers, turbos, and as much billing as they can get I am not interested in doing that much to my car,,,,yet. Please let me know which items will give the most benefit for the least amount of dollars.

Thanks.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

#1 bang-for-the-buck improvement:
Driver Improvement. Get out there and do more events. As many as you can get to. Your car is probably capable of a good bit more than you have gotten out of it so far, but you have to learn how to extract that.

Don't take that as a slur on your driving abilities--it's just that, if your name isn't Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna, driver improvement is the best thing you can do to your car.

Cross-drilled rotors won't really do anything for your stopping distance. Going to more aggressive pads will, up to the limit of traction of your tires. Race-only pads tend to work very poorly until they get very hot, so your first couple of corners on the warm-up lap tend to be a bit scary at first. But they work very well indeed when hot! I have heard good things (a while ago, my info may be outdated) about Porterfield pads, and nearly as many about some of the Hawk ones. Some people really love Pagid Orange compound, while others dislike them.

The cross-drilling can help avoid fade by helping get the hot gases from the pads out and getting more cooling air onto the rotors and pads. Ducting cold air directly to the center of the rotor will help more than that.

I have a buddy with a ~96 M3 that he tracks regularly. He says he has learned to live with warped rotors, because one day at Laguna Seca will warp new ones just as easily as old beat-up ones. I figure that will improve if he gets some good effective brake ducts, but I don't think he has yet.

Old brake fluid boils a lot more easily than fresh. Six-month-old fluid is too old in many (early) cars; I'm not sure how well an M3 puts up with it. Fresh fluid is the general rule.

Another thing for more effective braking is to get larger diameter rotors. But this is a pretty major change and may require you to get larger wheels as well.

I recommend getting either a set of "street/track" pads or a dedicated set of track brake pads, flushing the brake fluid with a quality fluid (e.g., ATE Super Blue, ATE Typ 200, Motul, Ford HD, etc.) before every event, and making sure that the stock hardware is in good shape. Those are relatively budget-friendly and should at least be a pretty good help on keeping your brakes until the end of the run group.

--DD

[spinner]

Dave gave some good advice. Seat time is one of the best cost effective "upgrades" you can invest in. Next on the list is a good set of brake pads. I like PFCs and Hawks. Good fluid is a must (ATE, Motul & Ford HD). Increase cooling to the brakes. Your stock brakes are very very good - learn to use them properly. Once you have worn out your current set of tires, you can get a good set of street/track tires or a dedicated set. Don't touch the motor. Just do the suspension right. Be smooth and you will get faster.
Have fun

Paul
97 328i
87 Carrera

[Wayne 962]

We just installed a Brembo brake kit on a 318ti, and the performance difference is phenomenal! Of course, this 318ti only had solid front radiators.

We used the kits found here:
http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/performance/DWKS_performance.htm

The performance improvement won't be as much for your car, as you already have good fronts, but they will definitely be a good improvement.

As for power, chips are the cheapest way to get good instant HP. However, watch for overaggressive chips that will cause detonation in your engine, and force you to run super-high octane fuel.

There's lots I could recommend to do with a 318 or a 325, but your M3 is already so well equipped (as proved this past weekend), that anything significantly more would indeed be much bigger bucks!

-Wayne