[nickgeorge25]

I've tracked my F30 328i three times in the past three months, and finally got around to getting some video yesterday at Laguna Seca with SpeedSF. My best lap of the day was 1:54.14 per the M Laptimer app (skip to 8:22 in the video for this). My powertrain is stock, but I have M Performance brakes, suspension, and exhaust, as well as Michelin PSS tires.

[SsixHiMod]

Thanks for sharing!

[Nihilation]

Nice! How does that lap compare to other cars?

Answered

Using YouTube, I searched for near stock M cars on Laguna Seca and found the following.

E92 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'44" range.
E46 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'48" range.
E36 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'55" range.
Mitsubishi Evo X, stock trim, 1'50" range.
Nissan 350Z, stock trim, 1'52" range.
Acura NSX (2002), stock trim driven by Jeremy Clarkson, 1'57".

So the F30 328i is marginally quicker than an E36 M3. That's about what I expected. Plenty of fun for the track IMO.

[nickgeorge25]

Originally Posted by Nihilation

Nice! How does that lap compare to other cars?

Answered

Using YouTube, I searched for near stock M cars on Laguna Seca and found the following.

E92 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'44" range.
E46 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'48" range.
E36 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'55" range.
Mitsubishi Evo X, stock trim, 1'50" range.
Nissan 350Z, stock trim, 1'52" range.
Acura NSX (2002), stock trim driven by Jeremy Clarkson, 1'57".

So the F30 328i is marginally quicker than an E36 M3. That's about what I expected. Plenty of fun for the track IMO.

Yep!! Definitely a blast on track. Nothing out of this world, but pretty good for a 4 banger sedan!

[Nihilation]

Any other track oriented mods planned?

[nickgeorge25]

Originally Posted by Nihilation

Any other track oriented mods planned?

Since the last track day, I installed DINANTRONICS Stage 1. It made a huge power delivery difference, so I'm hoping for some improvement in lap times.

[Nihilation]

Originally Posted by nickgeorge25

Since the last track day, I installed DINANTRONICS Stage 1. It made a huge power delivery difference, so I'm hoping for some improvement in lap times.

I've been considering that as well. Did you install it yourself or have to go to a dealer? Obviously torque increases substantially but does it feel like it pulls harder on the top end or does power still die off? We've all seen dyno graphs but does it feel like the curve or better?

[nickgeorge25]

Originally Posted by Nihilation

I've been considering that as well. Did you install it yourself or have to go to a dealer? Obviously torque increases substantially but does it feel like it pulls harder on the top end or does power still die off? We've all seen dyno graphs but does it feel like the curve or better?

It pulls all the way to the top. It completely changed the car. Even with grippy Michelin PSS, the traction control kicks in on hard launches. I had it dealer installed at BMW Fremont.

[Project Elite]

I'm going to take a guess and say your car is an automatic. Do you have an upgraded chargepipe? I've been having a long debate with myself as I'm afraid I'll run into a chargepipe failure during the trackday and be stuck 200 miles from home at Thunderhill.

[nickgeorge25]

Originally Posted by Project Elite

I'm going to take a guess and say your car is an automatic. Do you have an upgraded chargepipe? I've been having a long debate with myself as I'm afraid I'll run into a chargepipe failure during the trackday and be stuck 200 miles from home at Thunderhill.

Nope, I don't have any other power mods, other than Dinan.

[tboooe]

Thank you for the post and video. I love Laguna Seca. I was there years ago when they just resurfaced it and was able to take my motorcycle out on it. Amazing! And that corkscrew even at pedestrian speeds is scary and nuts. I could feel my front forks compressing all the way down. I dont know how the pros dont low side more often.

[jbass524]

First, I'm not trying to be an @ss.

Second, a stock E36 M3 is far faster than an F30 328. I've had 2 F30s and drove one on the track at Thunderhill. It's a really nice car but nothing like an E36 M3 for handling and overall speed.

Quick comparison: I took a stock E36 M3 with Nitto NT05's and leaking dampers out at Sears Point. I had a 230lbs. passenger and went 2:00. Not great but not bad. My F30 328 at Thunderhill would only go 2:14 with KW V3's and Hoosier R6's. Not that this is a perfect comparison but the delta between these tracks with same car, same driver is right around 10 seconds.

Regardless, I think your car is very capable and many like the 328 over the 335 for the lighter and stickier front end. I would love to see someone add some great suspension, tires and brakes to see what this car can really do. I suspect 1:46 - of course the right driver is needed.

Originally Posted by Nihilation

Nice! How does that lap compare to other cars?

Answered

Using YouTube, I searched for near stock M cars on Laguna Seca and found the following.

E92 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'44" range.
E46 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'48" range.
E36 M3's on sticky street tires are in the 1'55" range.
Mitsubishi Evo X, stock trim, 1'50" range.
Nissan 350Z, stock trim, 1'52" range.
Acura NSX (2002), stock trim driven by Jeremy Clarkson, 1'57".

So the F30 328i is marginally quicker than an E36 M3. That's about what I expected. Plenty of fun for the track IMO.

[SoDiezl350]

Originally Posted by jbass524

First, I'm not trying to be an @ss.

Second, a stock E36 M3 is far faster than an F30 328. I've had 2 F30s and drove one on the track at Thunderhill. It's a really nice car but nothing like an E36 M3 for handling and overall speed.

Quick comparison: I took a stock E36 M3 with Nitto NT05's and leaking dampers out at Sears Point. I had a 230lbs. passenger and went 2:00. Not great but not bad. My F30 328 at Thunderhill would only go 2:14 with KW V3's and Hoosier R6's. Not that this is a perfect comparison but the delta between these tracks with same car, same driver is right around 10 seconds.

Wait you're comparing your times at Thunderhill with times at Sears? Since you have experience with both cars you may be in a position to provide a qualitative assessment, but I wouldn't rely on comparing 2 different cars on 2 different tracks based on an expected lap time difference.

For instance the fastest time I could find for Thunderhill was around 1:48 while the fastest for Sears was 1.39. So yes at the highest levels there appears to be a 10 second difference, but then if I look at the 20th fastest time, it's 2:07 for Thunderhill while it's 1:50 for Sears.

The fact that the 20th fastest time for Thunderhill is 20 seconds slower than the fastest, while the 20th fastest time for Sears is only 11 seconds slower, suggest Thunderhill is in general a lot less consistent than Sears.

Maybe a better way to look at this is to consider that in your F30 you ran only 7 seconds slower than the 20th fastest @ Thunderhill while in the E36 you were 10 seconds slower than the 20th fastest Sears time.

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f99/to...ap-times-2421/

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f93/to...ap-times-2417/

[jbass524]

Originally Posted by SoDiezl350

Wait you're comparing your times at Thunderhill with times at Sears? Since you have experience with both cars you may be in a position to provide a qualitative assessment, but I wouldn't rely on comparing 2 different cars on 2 different tracks based on an expected lap time difference.
http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f99/to...ap-times-2421/

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f93/to...ap-times-2417/

I was. Probably not great for those who haven't driven them a ton. I retract that.

You're making things far more complicated than they need to be although I should have painted a better, more equivalent picture though.

You don't take into account the M3's condition and you didn't factor in the weight of my passenger in it. And why is the 20th fastest time compared to the fastest even a measuring stick - very different tracks and different lengths. I'm glad you said "Maybe..." It does however underscore why I should have initially written what follows. The car discussed below was my E36 M3 but it's been so long since it was like this (stockish) my memory failed me and I was obviously not thinking straight. Apologies:

The E36 M3 is a faster car on track - at least at Thunderhill - given the same car condition and equipment and when I'm driving. I've driven many E36 M3's at Thunderhill and my times range from 2:01 - 2:09. The 2:09 car was a stock E36 M3 in very good condition with stock suspension and Nitto NT01's so that's pretty equivalent to the KW V3's and Hoosier R6's on the F30. All in all, 5 seconds isn't much and on a different day it could have been a little less.

My qualitative assessment is that the E36 M3 is far better out of the box. They're very different cars and it's an M3 and that really does stand for something: light, linear, connected. With mods the F30 could/would be a great track car. It's lightish, love the motor and it's a BMW.

BTW, I would love to drive an F30 328 that is more heavily prepped than mine was.

[lijiahua790]

Hahahah i read the whole thing but did not understand, too much data hahaha. But I don't think he should compare two cars in two different tracks. F30 is fun, I have just ordered JRZ RS PRO, and BF goodrich r1s tires. want to show some f30 proud.

Originally Posted by SoDiezl350

Wait you're comparing your times at Thunderhill with times at Sears? Since you have experience with both cars you may be in a position to provide a qualitative assessment, but I wouldn't rely on comparing 2 different cars on 2 different tracks based on an expected lap time difference.

For instance the fastest time I could find for Thunderhill was around 1:48 while the fastest for Sears was 1.39. So yes at the highest levels there appears to be a 10 second difference, but then if I look at the 20th fastest time, it's 2:07 for Thunderhill while it's 1:50 for Sears.

The fact that the 20th fastest time for Thunderhill is 20 seconds slower than the fastest, while the 20th fastest time for Sears is only 11 seconds slower, suggest Thunderhill is in general a lot less consistent than Sears.

Maybe a better way to look at this is to consider that in your F30 you ran only 7 seconds slower than the 20th fastest @ Thunderhill while in the E36 you were 10 seconds slower than the 20th fastest Sears time.

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f99/to...ap-times-2421/

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/f93/to...ap-times-2417/

[lijiahua790]

Hey, bro, any datas of your E36 on buttonwillow cw13?

Originally Posted by jbass524

I was. Probably not great for those who haven't driven them a ton. I retract that.

You're making things far more complicated than they need to be although I should have painted a better, more equivalent picture though.

You don't take into account the M3's condition and you didn't factor in the weight of my passenger in it. And why is the 20th fastest time compared to the fastest even a measuring stick - very different tracks and different lengths. I'm glad you said "Maybe..." It does however underscore why I should have initially written what follows. The car discussed below was my E36 M3 but it's been so long since it was like this (stockish) my memory failed me and I was obviously not thinking straight. Apologies:

The E36 M3 is a faster car on track - at least at Thunderhill - given the same car condition and equipment and when I'm driving. I've driven many E36 M3's at Thunderhill and my times range from 2:01 - 2:09. The 2:09 car was a stock E36 M3 in very good condition with stock suspension and Nitto NT01's so that's pretty equivalent to the KW V3's and Hoosier R6's on the F30. All in all, 5 seconds isn't much and on a different day it could have been a little less.

My qualitative assessment is that the E36 M3 is far better out of the box. They're very different cars and it's an M3 and that really does stand for something: light, linear, connected. With mods the F30 could/would be a great track car. It's lightish, love the motor and it's a BMW.

BTW, I would love to drive an F30 328 that is more heavily prepped than mine was.

[jbass524]

Originally Posted by lijiahua790

Hey, bro, any datas of your E36 on buttonwillow cw13?

I've never been to BW