Did a PCA HPDE event and my arm got tired from point bys - need help going faster

[Gt4]

BTW if you don’t give them point-by, you will save tons of cash and still be in front of them!

Fuck I hate lapping days with point-by, I always avoided organisations who swear by them… I did one day with BMWCCA Qc region and I had enough.

[Nate047]

Driver mod
Coilovers and a good alignment/damper setup
Pull some free weight out of the car

Mainly driver mod though. I’m always super rusty after long breaks from the track, just go back as often as you can.

Also don’t keep changing stuff, unless something is really terrible. For example pick one tire and one brake pad, get consistent on those, and don’t keep switching things that make the car different if you’re still learning.

[Maxhouse97]

Thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned I 100% agree with focusing on myself as a driver, but I already have a plan for that (Garmin is included, amongst other things). I appreciate the reinforcement nonetheless from those who chimed in.

I also didn’t mean to imply that I wanted to match GT car performance, just to get a little faster. Honestly it wasn’t bad as I settled in with a 997.2 Carrera S, which made me pretty happy. But let’s face it we are on a forum where a lot of conversation is on car modifications, so was hoping to focus there.

Consensus seemed to be around suspension, seats, tires and weight. This makes sense to me (although interesting counterpoint on 100 TW tires). That gives me a good place to start. Just need to decide how far to go relative to my dual duty concept. I forgot to mention I’m already running Freakyparts E90/996 calipers, rotors and DTC-60 Hawk pads F/R with SRF fluid and cooling ducts, so brakes are set.

Question - any mods that you would recommend I stay away from from a track reliability standpoint? Example is forced induction (not that I was considering that) and the potential pitfalls with heat management. But what about a CSL airbox mod … do you have to worry about that on track (MAF conversion, heat under the hood, etc.)? Also is there an exhaust you say I should stay away from (I.e. euro headers vs aftermarket due to quality of welds and/or excess heat, or mufflers that don’t fill the cavity in front of the rear bumper?

BTW I’m surprised no one mentioned a carbon front strut tower brave from a nearby thread, good for at least 3 sec a lap?

[Obioban]

Thanks for the feedback. As I mentioned I 100% agree with focusing on myself as a driver, but I already have a plan for that (Garmin is included, amongst other things). I appreciate the reinforcement nonetheless from those who chimed in.

I also didn’t mean to imply that I wanted to match GT car performance, just to get a little faster. Honestly it wasn’t bad as I settled in with a 997.2 Carrera S, which made me pretty happy. But let’s face it we are on a forum where a lot of conversation is on car modifications, so was hoping to focus there.

Consensus seemed to be around suspension, seats, tires and weight. This makes sense to me (although interesting counterpoint on 100 TW tires). That gives me a good place to start. Just need to decide how far to go relative to my dual duty concept. I forgot to mention I’m already running Freakyparts E90/996 calipers, rotors and DTC-60 Hawk pads F/R with SRF fluid and cooling ducts, so brakes are set.

Question - any mods that you would recommend I stay away from from a track reliability standpoint? Example is forced induction (not that I was considering that) and the potential pitfalls with heat management. But what about a CSL airbox mod … do you have to worry about that on track (MAF conversion, heat under the hood, etc.)? Also is there an exhaust you say I should stay away from (I.e. euro headers vs aftermarket due to quality of welds and/or excess heat, or mufflers that don’t fill the cavity in front of the rear bumper?

BTW I’m surprised no one mentioned a carbon front strut tower brave from a nearby thread, good for at least 3 sec a lap?

You did say 3-4k budget— brace not in range 😜

csl airbox doesn’t add any power of note, at least not before headers/cams.

If you want a mod in the 3-4k range, that could get you into a decent dual purpose street/track suspension setup. IMO the stock suspension setup doesn’t do particularly well with modern trackable tires, so that would likely make it meaningfully easier to work on that driver mod.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/9123-e46-m3-suspension-setup-or-how-to-not-downgrade-your-car-with-suspension-mods

[heinzboehmer]

csl airbox doesn’t add any power of note, at least not before headers/cams.

Not sure I agree. My car picked up 16 whp with just the airbox and stock CSL tune. Jumped to 25 whp gain with an off the shelf PCS tune.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/main-forum/e46-2001-2006/1925-s54-dyno-database?p=126356#post126356

[eacmen]

Just get nitrous 😂

[Obioban]

Not sure I agree. My car picked up 16 whp with just the airbox and stock CSL tune. Jumped to 25 whp gain with an off the shelf PCS tune.

https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/m...356#post126356

Yeah, but your csl box/stock csl tune made about what stock healthy s54’s make— so seems likely something was up before.

[Sharocks]

Buy a GT3.

/Thread.

[eacmen]

Buy a GT3.

/Thread.

Lock this nutter up.

[heinzboehmer]

Yeah, but your csl box/stock csl tune made about what stock healthy s54’s make— so seems likely something was up before.

Eh, I don't trust absolute dyno numbers, I'd rather look at the differences between runs Engine was fully refreshed and healthy according to compression/leakdown. Dyno runs were done close in time (order of weeks) with very few variables changing, including things like weather and time of day.

Power jumped another 20ish whp with headers, so I'm not saying that the engine doesn't benefit from other power mods, just that the airbox does add a decent chunk of power on its own.

[cobra]

I wouldn't try to make the E46 M3 as fast as those cars. Instead focus on making it enjoyable to drive and embrace the wonderful blend of a modern/analog experience.

[Lavatoad]

Funny thing about track days in my area, the more experienced the run group, the "slower" the cars. Mainly the Miata factor. But now it's common to see spec e46 and CMC cars as well.

Pca events are kind of the exception as you will see plenty of advanced drivers in gt3/gt4, but pca here also splits the top groups based on car.

[jet_dogg]

For the most bang for the buck on track I would say coilovers with proper alignment/cornerbalanced, euro headers and a tune.

That will get you gains where you want them shifting the entire torque curve upwards all the way to redline. Muffler and airbox are expensive with the former not doing much and very secondary to headers and tune.

[SQ13]

Definitely seats and harnesses. I’d recommend Cobra Nogaros with Schroth QFP + sub strap. You’ll be able to feel what your car is doing much better, which makes a huge difference.

Also agree with not going to 100 TW tires immediately. I made that mistake, and I had many close calls due to having very little feedback (and low track experience) before I lost grip.

[Obioban]

Eh, I don't trust absolute dyno numbers, I'd rather look at the differences between runs Engine was fully refreshed and healthy according to compression/leakdown. Dyno runs were done close in time (order of weeks) with very few variables changing, including things like weather and time of day.

Power jumped another 20ish whp with headers, so I'm not saying that the engine doesn't benefit from other power mods, just that the airbox does add a decent chunk of power on its own.

Eh, maybe.

Dynojets in SAE are pretty consistent, if the operator isn't deliberately messing with them. Rarely does a healthy stock S54 not put down 275-285 SAE rwhp.

Your car was an outlier (low) before, and exactly where I'd expect with CSL airbox/stock MAP tune. Could be something as simple as your MAF was no longer functioning correctly, so eliminating it resulted in a power bump.