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      08-21-2016, 10:19 PM   #1
paradoxical3
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Mid Ohio Track Report

I was pleasantly surprised by the M2 this weekend. I shared the M2 at Mid Ohio with my friend and we ran it for an open lap day on Friday (unlimited track time 8AM to 4PM), and then for a two day BMWCCA school on Saturday and Sunday where the car did six 30min sessions per day between the two of us. There were also a few extra sessions as I let some other instructor friends and a journalist drive it. The car has over 500 track miles on it in three consecutive days, and all drivers were advanced/instructor level.

Car is mostly stock. Disabled the JB4 and was running stock boost, with AMT intercooler, downpipe, and pagid rs29 pads/castrol SRF fluid. Bridgestone RE71R 265/285 on OEM wheels.

Lap Times: This car is fast. My previous track car was AWD and I have no experience with a RWD track car, but the M2 ran a 1:41.1 with my friend driving and I ran a 1:42 flat. There is plenty more in the car, as those laps are filled with mistakes. Our virtual best lap time taken by sector is 1:38.4. This is extremely fast for a lightly prepped street car on street tires. Our best times were run on day 1 in the morning due to conditions - day two we were not lap timing and it down-poured at night, making the track extremely green for day 3. I feel if the conditions were better on day 3 and we were able to apply what we learned about the car, we would have been into the high 1:30s.

Fun Factor: The car is a joy to drive. There is a bit of body roll and it requires a split second to set before some high speed turns, but it rotates beautifully. The balance of the car surely saved my ass during a tank slapper at 100mph in thunder valley.

Stock Camber: Rear is okay, front is terrible. The car needs -3.0 or better up front if driving aggressively. I want to add -.5 degrees to the rear and I will have perfect rear tire wear. Outsides of front tires are almost corded, but insides are like new.

Cooling: A non-issue at stock boost levels. We were running in 90 degree temps on Friday and since it was open lapping, we were not letting the car cool down. I would run 30min, pull into the pits to swap with my friend, and then he would run 30min. We did this all day with no issues. Oil temps hovered around 230f. I suspect if boost is raised this will become an issue.

Brakes: Pagid RS29 pads and Castrol SRF. The stock rotors and calipers are great compared to the previous generation M cars. Pagid RS29s wear decently well but do fade after 20-25min if you are leaning on them. It is manageable, but they are no performance frictions....good bang for the buck compared to other options on the car. Will probably be just fine for those who track a few times a year, but you may want to upgrade if you are an advanced driver.

Suspension: I will probably upgrade to the M-Performance coilovers, if I can find out what the spring rates are. The stock suspension is plenty capable and is actually quite good, but I would like it to be a bit quicker in transitions. I feel it contributed to early turn in due to lack of confidence in several corners (who am I kidding, I just need to learn to drive better). I am being picky here, there is not much of a need to upgrade (I am used to JRZ double adjustables).

Traction control/DSC: Seriously, just turn it all off. Even MDM mode is a total joke. BMW shouldn't have even included it on this car. You don't need it, you can drive it like a moron and not spin.

Seats: They aren't great. I was sliding around like crazy on Friday to the point where I was getting sore and bruised, and had the Continental store on-site overnight me a Schroth Quick Fit Harness. The harness from the e82 bolts right in and works perfectly, and makes a huge difference.

One other thing - my friend owns a detailing shop and applied a new Gtechniq coating designed to protect track cars and specifically make rubber marks easier to remove. It worked perfectly. I didn't even bother to tape up the car, but melted rubber and all other manner of debris simply wipes right off with a spray of quick detailer and virtually no effort.

Overall: The M2 is a real bargain for the MSRP, and an extremely fun and capable car to drive on the track. There was some serious hardware at this event and there were only three cars that were being driven quicker (not that you can really judge a car's capability vs another in a DE) - a GTR, 997 GT3 RS and a 458 Challenge. Not much we could do against those three.






































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Last edited by paradoxical3; 02-13-2017 at 04:15 PM..
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      08-22-2016, 02:58 AM   #2
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Nice work- Based on that body roll you were giving it a good go

It appears there are very few cars that are as track capable as a M2 out of the box.

If you want to go significantly faster, you will have to either spend a lot of money on something exotic or make significant mods to a cheaper car.
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      08-22-2016, 09:15 AM   #3
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"Bridgestone RE71R 265/285 on OEM wheels"

Overall impression of the tire/wheel set up (disregarding the mentioned camber issues)? No issues with the 265 up front fitment wise, any rubbing on that plastic tab on the inside front fender upon compression?

Great write up thanks!

Last edited by MINI135i; 08-22-2016 at 09:56 AM..
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      08-22-2016, 02:42 PM   #4
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Thanks for your track report. One more negative to missing the Buckeye BMW event this year (Me and a few Hoosier BMW clubbers crossed over to the Porsche club to instruct at the Indy motor speedway F1 course this past weekend, bucket list thing...). Sounds like this car will be very fun without requiring much crazy mod money.

Your experience/conclusions are scary close to what I was guessing/hoping for with this new car. Some camber plates up front, some good track pads, some kind of 4 points and you're 90% good to go. This is great for a street car that occasionally goes to far away tracks, which is my likely use for this incoming M2.

Lap times are really promising. 1:40 is about all I can ring out of my E36 with BFG R1s at MO, and that's in a car with a fair amount of track focused mods and creature comfort deletions that make super long drives to tracks a definite negative.

Thanks again for sharing! Real numbers and impressions at a known (to me) track really put things into a useful perspective. I really appreciated reading that, and am looking forward to a similar experience soon.

Rob
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      08-22-2016, 04:58 PM   #5
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Excellent review. I went with the Ground Control camber plates and it made a huge difference on the track. I suspect once I take delivery of my RE71r square package, this car will be phenomenal.
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      08-22-2016, 05:49 PM   #6
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Are the ground control camber plates easy to mark and adjust from track camber to street camber settings? Looks like there would be no issues with that from the pic.

I am debating between them and Vorschlag. I also need to figure out if these will bolt up to the M Performance Coilovers.
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      08-23-2016, 06:49 AM   #7
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^^^

What he said. If anyone has insight on effective camber range, and ease of adjustment, please share.

Also, reading the Vorshlag site, they're claiming shorter plate stack height and specific steering bearing improvements.

Of course the Vorshlags are not out yet....
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      08-23-2016, 08:16 AM   #8
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Very easy to mark and quickly adjust. I'd check with GC about compatibility with the MP suspension, although I think the hats are the same as stock.
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      08-23-2016, 08:52 AM   #9
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DrKevM5,

Tell us about the Re71r square package you have on order? What size wheel/tire and offset did you go with?
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      08-23-2016, 02:21 PM   #10
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Want a sobering thought? Your laptimes are about what a $5,000 30 year old 110hp CRX (or my equivalent AE86 Corolla) does in SCCA IT/A there - You'll spend as much on tires and brakes as what a cheap race car costs.... I'm Looking forward to getting the M2 and love that track though no where near it now. I've put a lot of miles in there. Did two of their drivers schools which are very good if you haven't done them - they really break it down corner by corner.

Anybody know what stock front camber is? with all that nose weight its no wonder it needs some more camber, but -3 is quite a lot for a modern suspension design and over -2 degrees or so and there'll be some serious wear on the street.
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      08-23-2016, 02:56 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinnetti View Post
Want a sobering thought? Your laptimes are about what a $5,000 30 year old 110hp CRX (or my equivalent AE86 Corolla) does in SCCA IT/A there - You'll spend as much on tires and brakes as what a cheap race car costs.... I'm Looking forward to getting the M2 and love that track though no where near it now. I've put a lot of miles in there. Did two of their drivers schools which are very good if you haven't done them - they really break it down corner by corner.

Anybody know what stock front camber is? with all that nose weight its no wonder it needs some more camber, but -3 is quite a lot for a modern suspension design and over -2 degrees or so and there'll be some serious wear on the street.
It's not a sobering thought at all, the M2 is a street car not a race car. I am doing American Endurance Racing next season and we have a e36 M3 that costs less than the M2 and would wipe the floor with it. Apples and oranges; the e36 and your $5k CRX needs a trailer, a tow vehicle, spares, isn't street legal, isn't a luxury, street car, etc. Racing a $5k car costs far more than HPDEs in a M2 does.

-3 camber is pretty standard for track work for a modern BMW. With -3 you will get some wear, but it depends more on how you set your toe.

Finally, the ITA lap record for a CRX at mid ohio on the club course is 1.42.643. So unless you have the track record (on hoosiers), you're at least two seconds slower than the M2 (on street tires).

Last edited by paradoxical3; 08-23-2016 at 03:03 PM..
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      08-25-2016, 06:51 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MINI135i
DrKevM5,

Tell us about the Re71r square package you have on order? What size wheel/tire and offset did you go with?
TR Motorsports C4s, 18x9.5 square with custom offsets, mounting Bridgestone RE71Rs 275/35-18 square. AMAZING pricing on the wheels. Contact @keith@tirerack.com
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      08-25-2016, 08:08 AM   #13
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With 275 up front you will probably rub unless you have camber plates. With 265 I was rubbing just a bit under full compression through thunder valley at mid ohio.
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      08-25-2016, 03:25 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spinnetti View Post
Want a sobering thought? Your laptimes are about what a $5,000 30 year old 110hp CRX (or my equivalent AE86 Corolla) does in SCCA IT/A there - You'll spend as much on tires and brakes as what a cheap race car costs.... I'm Looking forward to getting the M2 and love that track though no where near it now. I've put a lot of miles in there. Did two of their drivers schools which are very good if you haven't done them - they really break it down corner by corner.

Anybody know what stock front camber is? with all that nose weight its no wonder it needs some more camber, but -3 is quite a lot for a modern suspension design and over -2 degrees or so and there'll be some serious wear on the street.
Dick, LOL
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      08-25-2016, 03:38 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxical3
With 275 up front you will probably rub unless you have camber plates. With 265 I was rubbing just a bit under full compression through thunder valley at mid ohio.
GC camber plates locked and loaded
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      08-29-2016, 01:40 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DrKevM5 View Post
GC camber plates locked and loaded
How much, they work with stock suspension?
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      08-29-2016, 04:20 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CosmosMpower
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrKevM5 View Post
GC camber plates locked and loaded
How much, they work with stock suspension?
They do.
http://www.ground-control-store.com/...ion.php?II=979
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      08-30-2016, 09:13 AM   #18
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Ah so M2 and M3/M4 use the same camber plate. I thought the M2 design was a tad different but I guess not. Is your M2 the 3 hole or 5 hole design?
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      08-30-2016, 10:51 AM   #19
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I am really confused about the camber plate fitment, because Harold at HPA Shop is claiming that the M2 uses a non-M camber plate.
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      09-06-2016, 11:56 PM   #20
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I ordered the rogue engineering control arm monoball conversion as well as ground control camber plates. I will be a NCM with 1010ths motorsports on the 8th and the 9th of October and will report back. I am really excited for both of these mods. Upgrading the control arm bushing was my favorite mod on my old X1 and camber plates will pay for themselves within two track days.
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      09-07-2016, 02:58 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by paradoxical3
I ordered the rogue engineering control arm monoball conversion as well as ground control camber plates. I will be a NCM with 1010ths motorsports on the 8th and the 9th of October and will report back. I am really excited for both of these mods. Upgrading the control arm bushing was my favorite mod on my old X1 and camber plates will pay for themselves within two track days.
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      09-08-2016, 02:31 AM   #22
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Your car paradoxical ?

Sounds like you gave it a serious work out and had some fun doing it.


http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-cult...?click=taboola
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