Volvo Owners Club Forum - View Single Post

dodgyken · Nov 10th, 2008, 15:21

Your first step is sorting out the rust. Any weakness will be found if you start pushing the car. Myself and a friend are now 2 of a number of people who I know who have managed to tear our trailing arms from the body/chassis of our E36 BMWs while on track - mine happened at 120mph - and cost £1500 in barrier costs!!!

You should then be looking at getting things "right" first time out.

Start with the cheap stuff - weight. Ditch as much as you can - interior, wiring loom, the lot. The less weight the faster you can go.

Get a cage put in - you may end up needing it - and if you have one and have an off you won't regret the expense.

So with the weight out, and then back in again with the cage, and the car running standard everything else - including engine. Lets go through the modifications and costs:

1) Tyres - probably the biggest difference you can make. Cup tyres should be OK without uprated suspension - but wait until you have dialed out the roll before you go for slicks.

2) Brakes - the bigger the disc, the quicker it should cool, the less fade you will have. Fit the best you can afford, and then slap some aggressive pads - DS2500 or DS3000 from Ferodo have superb bite - but you will get pad pickup.

3) Interior - do not overlook a proper seat and harness - they will hold you in place if something goes wrong - but also prevents you from being flung from side to side, and allows you to concentrate on what you are doing

4) Suspension - I have a BlackartDesigns.com setup on the BMW - it is superb - and well worth every penny. Not cheap - but the car is race competitive on it. You can spend a few hundreds to 10s thousands on a suspension. Pick how extreme you want it to be and go from there. Also look at how cheaply it can be upgraded

5) Organics - I am not talking fuel and oil here. I am talking about the driver. The biggest difference you can make to how fast you can be round a track is learning to drive properly. I have had training from a current Supercoppa driver, and also passed by Race Licence test - and the more time you can spend practicing, and getting tution the better and faster you will be.

Finally look at getting more power!!!

Nov 10th, 2008, 15:21	#10
dodgyken Master Member Last Online: May 13th, 2014 14:41 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Zollikon	Your first step is sorting out the rust. Any weakness will be found if you start pushing the car. Myself and a friend are now 2 of a number of people who I know who have managed to tear our trailing arms from the body/chassis of our E36 BMWs while on track - mine happened at 120mph - and cost £1500 in barrier costs!!! You should then be looking at getting things "right" first time out. Start with the cheap stuff - weight. Ditch as much as you can - interior, wiring loom, the lot. The less weight the faster you can go. Get a cage put in - you may end up needing it - and if you have one and have an off you won't regret the expense. So with the weight out, and then back in again with the cage, and the car running standard everything else - including engine. Lets go through the modifications and costs: 1) Tyres - probably the biggest difference you can make. Cup tyres should be OK without uprated suspension - but wait until you have dialed out the roll before you go for slicks. 2) Brakes - the bigger the disc, the quicker it should cool, the less fade you will have. Fit the best you can afford, and then slap some aggressive pads - DS2500 or DS3000 from Ferodo have superb bite - but you will get pad pickup. 3) Interior - do not overlook a proper seat and harness - they will hold you in place if something goes wrong - but also prevents you from being flung from side to side, and allows you to concentrate on what you are doing 4) Suspension - I have a BlackartDesigns.com setup on the BMW - it is superb - and well worth every penny. Not cheap - but the car is race competitive on it. You can spend a few hundreds to 10s thousands on a suspension. Pick how extreme you want it to be and go from there. Also look at how cheaply it can be upgraded 5) Organics - I am not talking fuel and oil here. I am talking about the driver. The biggest difference you can make to how fast you can be round a track is learning to drive properly. I have had training from a current Supercoppa driver, and also passed by Race Licence test - and the more time you can spend practicing, and getting tution the better and faster you will be. Finally look at getting more power!!!