Learning the car
To start, I want to apologize for my laziness. I’ve just simply been enjoying the car and have not been that interest in writing about it. Sorry about that. So now the first track season is end. A few new mods have also been installed, and I’ve started to learn the car.
At the start of the season, my mods since last track day were:
- Powerflex bushes
- Strut brace
- All new standard brakes with racing fluids
- KW Variant 3 coilovers
- Camber modifications
- And of course a set of KT 4 new racer wheels. Rear at 9.5×18″ ET20 and front at 8.5×18″ ET30. I’m very happy with the looks (wasn’t quite that sure when I ordered them) and also the weight is really nice - rears are weight just under 12kg. First set of tires were Pirelli P Zero Nero at sizes 235/40 front and 255/35 rear. For the rear I had to use a 10mm spacer (waiting for the 20mm spacer to come) and with the front only 4mm was needed. Very happy now. Nowadays I prefer the look without the centre caps.
First track day was Carfreaks’ private one at the Ahvenisto track. And my impressions? Well I love the car! Very easy to drive and control, but there was still too much understeering in tight corners. Also, in high (well, high for the finnish tracks) speed corners the car was quite unstable. Also I was expecting that my standard brake pads might not work, and turned out I was right. Only reason to drive with those were the brand new discs - didn’t want to put pagid racing pads for these. So the brakes did give up - not too badly though, so at the end of the day I got away by just taking it a little bit easier at the brake points. The best lap time was 1.37.7 (from video), which I was very impressed about. Also noticed that my right front tire had hit the hood in a few corners. Just didn’t care about that, I wanted to drive so much 
For the next time my plan was clear. More camber to fight the understeering. And it really worked out. Haven’t got the car to alignment yet so don’t know the exactly figures but I guess it is now close to -2.5 at the front. This was accomplished by creating new mounting points for the front shocks. Now with the added camber, I took the 4mm spacers out from the front wheels, which put the inside edge of the tires very close to the shocks. I was quite excited to see how fast this setup was going to be. My Pagid yellow brake pads where also re-installed to the front brakes at this time.
Second track day was again at Ahvenisto, but this time with the RingRunners of Sweden. What a day! So many unbelievably beautiful cars together with the very nice swedish folks! Back on the track, the car was handling much better - as expected. Turn-in was like a dream, and the brakes bite like an angry wolf. Unfortunately the unstability in fast corners was still unresolved, and even with the Pagid’s, the brakes did give up a little by the end of the day. The car was amazingly easy to drift now, even easier than on the first track day. There are some nice pics in the gallery too. Best lap time of the day was 1.37.2 (measured using a friends PerformanceBox). Still my biggest problems appear to be my too agressive driving style, and the unstability in the fast corners - I was loosing too much times on the fast parts of the track. And about the front wheels: No, they did not hit the shocks (nice!), but the right one still managed to touch the hood a bit. I think I need to take a bit of the hood away, from the inside obviously.
Rewinding to the third time at Ahvenisto, a Carfreaks’ private session once again. This time I had added the H&R adjustable swaybars. These are very strong ones with a choice between soft or hard. To start, both axles were set to soft. Also noticed that my PZeros (with less than 1000km’s on them..) at the rear were very worn at the inside edge of the tire. Well, luckily these tires can be rotated.
With the swaybars, the car felt stiff and hard. I liked it. In the fast corners the car felt much better now, almost perfect. Braking stability was also hugely improved. But as a trade, I also got my worst enemy back - the car was again understeering. How about the drifts then? Well, on the first try I noticed I had much more grip at the rear which made the start of the drifts a bit harder. When the car was drifting the handling was just as easy as before. But the surprise came when I wanted to straighten the car - it just didn’t want to This resulted in my first ever spin with the M Coupe! Nothing big, just a surprise. I of course did further experimenting, and just have to admit that the car isn’t that easy to drift with the new swaybars. The biggest problem is in streightening the car from the slide. Let see what happens once I hopefully get rid of the understeer again. Anyway, driving the car fast was much more relaxed now. I didn’t have to counter-steer all the time. I borrowed a friends PB and managed to straight away clock a 1.37.1 lap. Studying the PB data at home, I noticed that regardless of the understeer in the tight corners, my corner speeds were still the same as the last time. I’m expecting and hoping to get faster when I get rid of the understeer. Best lap of the day was 1.36.7 (from video).
Fourth time at the Ahvenisto didn’t bring any big news just managed to do 1.36.4 lap time (1.36.8 lap on video).
And then it was the time for the first visit to the Alastaro racetrack. Weather wasn’t much to talk about, with plenty of rain. So this visit with a new suspension setup (rear end raised a bit, and some overall stiffness changes) was spent just drifting. Which is not all that bad
The second visit to Alastaro started promisingly. Nice weather and a good feel with the car resulted in a 1.35.6 lap. Some understeer still remained, but now the car was feeling much more like it should. This obviously meant that the hunt for a better time was on!
This, however, was not to be. What came next is something no-one wants to hear from their engine - the loud “Nak, nak, nak” sound that isn’t supposed to be there. So that was that for the laps, and the car got towed away to be repaired. No-one knows yet when the repairs will actually get finished. I’ll update later once this is done, and I know what actually got damaged.
To sum it all, I’ve been very happy with the car - it’s just what I’ve wanted for years. I have a feeling there will be many more things to do, and lots still to learn. Even drawbacks and surprises like just happened will not stop me - the car is just so much fun!
For those of you who were interested enough to actually read through all of this, here’s a small bonus:
Random videos:
Drifting at Alastaro
Alastaro Lap Time
Driving at Alastaro
Close call
Another
One more junior Carfreak who gives it all when it comes to track driving. Loves tail happy cars, and living on the edge by testing the car's limits. Sometimes crosses them and tries to learn from that - but never gives up!
December 5th, 2007 at 00:18
Very interesting stuff to read, even though we have discussed these topics over the season.
Finding a perfect setup is never-ending challenge. Especially when you get fully familiar with the car, you can feel a difference even with the smallest changes (e.g. 0.1bar change in tire pressure). I’m sure there are many improvement areas to find the optimal setup, but also keep in mind that there is no setup that would not ever understeer. It’s also about balancing your driving style to the setup.
Personally I find it actually easier to achieve quick and steady laptimes with slightly understeering car, even though slightly oversteering setup is more fun to drive… It so much about the exit speed…
December 7th, 2007 at 20:12
Nice to hear someone really reads these texts
Good tips and at the next summer I will start to learn adjusting the car better and also giving my self a hard time. Maybe I have to switch the clock of for a few times and just try to focus how to get all out of the beast.
December 8th, 2007 at 22:45
Hey man,
Very interesting stuff! I love the M Coupe, especially the Z3 generation. Best ///M car hands down!
While you mentioned that you have an agressive driving style, looking at the videos I have to totally agree with you. I’m not a pro but I get to drive with the pro’s at every PCA track event. All of them (and I really mean all) preach how important it is to be smooth. This is especially important with the rear engine Porsches but it applies to all driving.
I was fighting my car (with a somewhat agressive style) for sometime before I focused on being smooth. That changed everything! The car at first felt unbelievably hard to control at the limit but with the smooth driving style it is a bliss to control.
The less you change your steering angle and line during the corner, the better you keep the car planted.
Of course when you’re driving at the limit, you have to constantly make corrections but they should be very very fine corrections applied way before they’re even neeeded.
Same smoothness goes to gas and brake inputs, it will help you a lot!
The other thing about the understeering, maybe you could try to load the front by staying on the brakes a little longer when you enter the corner. This will not only give you more traction at the front but will lighten the rear and help you rotate the car better.
I was thought this trick some time ago and I use it all the time now. It helps especially well with the 911 as it has hardly any weight in the front to begin with…
December 10th, 2007 at 16:38
Hi,
thanks for your nice comment of the car and good tips!
I think I should have a few laps with some very good driver who could give me some tips and tell me where is my biggest problems. I’m already staying on the brake when entering the corner. Bigger problem is when I come out of the corner. I will test some new suspension setups at the spring. Now everything is easier, because I’m familiar with the car. Next summer will be harder to me than to car