[iwanna335]

I just got back from a track day at Roebling Road and wanted to share my experience.
The car held up great, but there are some weaknesses especially the suspension. I was running a stock 335i sport suspension with BFG R1's 245 on 18 rims. I think the tires are more than the suspension could handle. I tried different pressures, but the car just wouldn't set very well in a turn. After turn in when you think the car was set and holding it would start squirming around making things unnerving. I blew one of the rear tires after the 4th session so put the stock BFG RFT on and was pleasantly surprised. They actually had pretty good grip and were much more stable in the turns. I'm guessing the fact they were 255's instead of 245 might have made them stick almost as good but they definitely were more stable in the turns.
I did get into one turn little too hot and went off track but didn't spin and was able to drive through and get back on track. Fun ride, especially for my passenger
The brakes held up very well lap after lap with great feel and power especially slowing on the front straight (from 140ish). I do hope to have some track pads next time out mainly to save the stocks for the street, but also to see if they are that much better. The oil temps did get hotter than normal but I don't think 275-280 was too hot all things considered (I see 240-245 in every day driving).
All in all I was very happy with the car!! Suspension upgrades are a must if you plan on doing many track events. This is my daily driver so I can't get too radical, but I will look into it.
Cheers

[k726]

Nice review, sucks about the blown tire, and I have heard some interesting stories about how well the stock RFTs perform.

Thanks for the info!

-Adrian

[S4to335]

Originally Posted by iwanna335

I just got back from a track day at Roebling Road and wanted to share my experience.
The car held up great, but there are some weaknesses especially the suspension. I was running a stock 335i sport suspension with BFG R1's 245 on 18 rims. I think the tires are more than the suspension could handle. I tried different pressures, but the car just wouldn't set very well in a turn. After turn in when you think the car was set and holding it would start squirming around making things unnerving. I blew one of the rear tires after the 4th session so put the stock BFG RFT on and was pleasantly surprised. They actually had pretty good grip and were much more stable in the turns. I'm guessing the fact they were 255's instead of 245 might have made them stick almost as good but they definitely were more stable in the turns.
I did get into one turn little too hot and went off track but didn't spin and was able to drive through and get back on track. Fun ride, especially for my passenger
The brakes held up very well lap after lap with great feel and power especially slowing on the front straight (from 140ish). I do hope to have some track pads next time out mainly to save the stocks for the street, but also to see if they are that much better. The oil temps did get hotter than normal but I don't think 275-280 was too hot all things considered (I see 240-245 in every day driving).
All in all I was very happy with the car!! Suspension upgrades are a must if you plan on doing many track events. This is my daily driver so I can't get too radical, but I will look into it.
Cheers

This was your first track event..or your first track event in the 335i? The RFT stink compared to BFG R1s on track...I have no idea where you get that they were stable. You went back to all stock tires..or did you just put the RFT back on the back? If you did..that is definitely not recommended.

[330MX]

First track event and went out on R1's? The general consensus is to gain a lot of track time prior to running an R compound.

Save the money on upgrading suspension and run on a high performance street tire for a few more events.

[iwanna335]

Originally Posted by S4to335

This was your first track event..or your first track event in the 335i? The RFT stink compared to BFG R1s on track...I have no idea where you get that they were stable. You went back to all stock tires..or did you just put the RFT back on the back? If you did..that is definitely not recommended.

First track event. I did 5yrs of autocross 15 years ago and maybe did one full track event. Yes, they are completely different but I am not a total nob
So this was my first event and first one in the 3. When the rear tire blew (driver side R1) I contemplated hanging it up for the day, but couldn't resist more seat time so put the stock RFT's on the rear and left the R1's up front. This set up helped the car rotate, as the front was solidly planted (zero understeer) The rear was of course a little slipperier but was more controllable than the with the R1's back there. The R1's just seemed to never feel planted back there as the car would squirm around when in a turn. Like I said the car just wouldn't set and stay there in a turn. I think a lot of it was the suspension and tire mix, a the R1's were more than the stock ZSP could handle.
All's well no harm to the car....I'm learning

[mike-y]

were the R1's brand new? Were they shaved? sometimes new Rcomps need to be heat cycled and/or shaved before they perform well (honestly, I'm not sure what the recommendations are for the new R1's though).

Also, did you by any chance get tire temps? It would be helpful to see where the R1s were on the temp scale after a few laps.

[iwanna335]

Originally Posted by mike-y

were the R1's brand new? Were they shaved? sometimes new Rcomps need to be heat cycled and/or shaved before they perform well (honestly, I'm not sure what the recommendations are for the new R1's though).

Also, did you by any chance get tire temps? It would be helpful to see where the R1s were on the temp scale after a few laps.

Bought them off a forum member and they were used once with something like 4 heat cycles already. When I got them they looked practically new. No temps, just pressures.....started out at 28psi cold first run and they heated up to 33psi. Tried several cycles that way then went up to 35 but blew the tire before I could even get a feel for it.