[gashero]

I was at Road america this weekend with the auto 335i with the local club windy city BMW. The weather was perfect and sunny temperature in the high 70 to 80. I usually tracked with my modded evo but I want to test the hype about oil temp.
I run in the club experience group so I push the car pretty hard. I did ask to put myself in the lower experience group as first time running with the 335i.
I have a procede and michelin ps2 tire as my mods. RA is not a techical track but very intimidating for beginner as the track is very fast and can eat your brake pads and rotors. Brake fluid will have plenty of time to cool off in between long straight, but after 7-8 laps it can get a little spongy, even with the brake fade resistance on the car.
The car did great on the track with the sport suspension, and stock pads. Handling is very predictable, and the ps2 stick to the road well and will start to slide a little as the tire pressure climb up during the last 2-3 laps.
Most of the group run R compound or slick so I was very happy with the way the car handle itself. With the procede on board, a lot of car have problem with me on the straight, and exit.
Now the bad news, OIL TEMP >300. During my daily driving and some multiple burst of full boost the car never saw temp greater than 260. Well it a different story alltogether on the track as driving in sport mode my temp was critical and the car went into safe mode. I did not even realize it (temp rising) as I was pushing the car hard and chasing down a modded 996tt porsche in front of me during the last 3-4 laps of the first session.
So during the rest of the events I am able to keep the temperature below 280 with 3/4 throttle per 35 minutes sessions. But thumbsup to shiv for complementing his product to a great engine even at 3/4 throttle I was able to take on any car exept that dam porsche and a modded e46 m3 with slick.
Now, I need in getting an air-to oil cooler for the car, so next time around I will give some competition to those heavily modded cars.:rocks:

[RMRC]

I sure miss RA. Lived in WI for 12 months and ran three events there in my first '03 M3 (1 audi event and 2 BMW events with Badger Bimmers). What a great track! I'll take my 335i out to Willow Springs June 2-3 with the LA chapter but few tracks can compare to RA. Thanks for the report.

[S4to335]

this post is worthless without pics...sheesh.

[gashero]

Yes, RA is such a professional track, beautiful facility, and easy to get to from chicago. Sorry, I don't have any pics as I been there multiple time so did not think about taking any more pictures.

[jadeddjay]

nice write up..

just curious as to how i can get more information about track day events at road atlanta. what event was this and how do i get more information on future track days?

windy city... woudlnt that be IL? youguys drove all the way down to atlanta for this? if so, nice.

[nightops]

great write up- so i'm guessing yours is missing the extra cooler in the passenger wheel well...

[Fartpimpson]

Let's get the oil cooler.

[gashero]

yes, I need to contact bmwna and complain about the oil cooler.

[RMRC]

Originally Posted by jadeddjay

nice write up..

just curious as to how i can get more information about track day events at road atlanta. what event was this and how do i get more information on future track days?

windy city... woudlnt that be IL? youguys drove all the way down to atlanta for this? if so, nice.

Road AMERICA in Elkhart Lake, WI.

[Daya]

I LOVE road america, I took my audi on the track last summer.

I was going to do this event but I had to fly to vegas on Sunday. I plan on doing the windy city event at gingerman in June.

I assume you don't have the extra oil cooler?

[gashero]

Same here, will do the gingerman event in june.

[kevbh]

Originally Posted by jadeddjay

nice write up..

just curious as to how i can get more information about track day events at road atlanta. what event was this and how do i get more information on future track days?

windy city... woudlnt that be IL? youguys drove all the way down to atlanta for this? if so, nice.

A little off topic since you misinterpreted "RA" in this post, but to answer your question...

http://www.peachtreebmwcca.org/ptDE_default.asp

Registration for the next session opens on May 5th! Peachtree BMWCCA has three events at Road Atlanta each year. Also, you might want to check the Porsche Club -

http://www.peachstatepca.org/calendar/calendar.asp

I believe they do four events each year. I think Panoz holds a few open track days each year also, but I don't have a link for them.

[kevbh]

Gashero - thanks for the write up. I've got a set of PS2s on order so I was glad to hear your favorable review.

[jadeddjay]

ah i need to learn how to read lol