[CaptOz]

I just completed my second ever track day and must say that once again the 335i did brilliantly. Please note that I don’t consider myself to be a great race driver by any means but ok for a relative track newbie.

This time round the competing cars were:

• Porsche 911 Turbo (997)
• Porsche 911 Turbo (996)
• Porsche GT3
• Mitsubishi EVO
• Porsche 911 C2
• Porsche 911 C4
• Audi RS4
• Lotus Exige
• Ferrari 308
• BMW 130i x 2
• BMW 335i (my car)

My car is a Steptronic 335i with PROcede 1.45 and freshly installed Quaife LSD.



The track this time was Wakefield Park – a few hours south of Sydney.

http://www.wakefieldpark.com.au/

Once again the 335 was the surprise package. The EVO owner who rode with me said it felt quicker than the GT3 and not far off the 911 Turbos in acceleration. Mind you, his EVO (which was a full-on race prepared car) killed me on the twisties but I was able to leave him behind on the straight. The 911 C2 and C4 were no competition. In fact the owner of the C4 who had a drive of my car and was shocked its power. He said "don't bother driving my car".



Did the 335 have a weakness? Well yes. The run-flat tyres were a disadvantage. Now, I must say the tread on my tyres was already badly destroyed from my first track day.

(You may remember my Oran Park review: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...=oran+park+911)

By comparison, Wakefield had quite a few tight understeer-based corners, was a handful on my poor tyres. This extended to braking as well. The 335’s balance was superb though and did well to compensate for the tyres.



I drove one of the 130’s which had track tyres. What a difference!! It was like a go-kart in comparison. I will have to get a set for our next meet. As I mentioned before, I also drove my friend’s 991 C4, which had nowhere near the power, though it did have much flatter cornering and better road feel - so I may consider improving the suspension as well.



So how did I compare on lap times? The two 911 turbos were quickest followed by the GT3. The EVO was right behind. The RS4 and I were close and surprisingly the 130, on track tyres, was also doing around the same times. The two standard Porsches were next followed by the other 130. The Ferrari was well off the pace – a victim of time I guess.



We also did a gymkhana where we raced around witch’s hats and ended up in a “cone garage”. The 335 came in 2nd on both runs just beaten by the 911 Turbo (997) on the first run and 130 (with track tyres) on the second.



The PROcede 1.45 ran without any problems or error codes all day and I can't wait for V2 to arrive. The Quaife LSD made a huge difference and added 100% to the fun factor. Without the LSD diff with my dud tyres I would have suffered severely.

A quick video of the 911 Turbo (997) on the gymkhana.
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...akefield39.flv

A few of the cars participating.
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...akefield33.flv

Me, a passenger in my friend's 911 C4 in the twisties....
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...Wakefield5.flv

... and down the straight.
http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y11...Wakefield3.flv

I hope you enjoyed my 2nd track review.

Cheers.

[Zeiss]

Good stuff mate! Thanks for sharing

[E90ice]

Nice! How did you do against the RS4? Did you beat him?

[ejazbmw]

[montreal_bimmer]

looks like you had fun

[OKG]

Any video?

[sajakh]

Great pics and videos! You made us proud!

What were your oil temps running? Ambient temp?

What mode did you use your step and if you used manual did the step upshift at redline or was that a problem? That's my concern of tracking my step.

[leftcoastman]

That looks great man. I'm thinking about getting a set of R-Comps the next time around.

If you haven't already, beef up the rear sway. It'll reduce understeer dramatically. In fact, it makes the car rotate quite nicely. With a 6MT sport package, I was easily getting 285 oil temps. Never went above that and it was 90deg ambient.

And that was with fresh 5w40 oil.

Oh and if you're having brake issues, try out the Porterfield R4 pads. I ran a set last weekend and they resist fade far better, but are expensive at $190 a front set.

[stressdoc]

Tyres, tyres, tyres. Forged alloy wheels. If you will be on the street with them, and can afford burning them off at the track, then some good tire options are the new Bridgestone RE01Rs, Pirelli P-zeros (not the neros or rossis, but the extreme performance version), or Michelin PS-2s.

Then coilovers & sways. It would have saved some $ to have the lot installed at one go with the Quaife when they had the subframe down.

Great stuff, keep having fun!

[CaptOz]

Originally Posted by E90ice

Nice! How did you do against the RS4? Did you beat him?

I went for a run in the RS4. It had better cornering grip with its AWD against my "shot" tyres. Plus the RS4 feels a little firmer in the suspension department too. It is a very nice car.

Essentially the Audi left me in the twisties so I was never able to see how we compared down the straight as he had to big a gap on me by then.

Once I get track tyres and we meet again, I'll report back.

Originally Posted by OKG

Any video?

At the bottom of the thread. This video was taken via a still camera. My main video (taken by a proper video camera) is still on tape.

Originally Posted by sajakh

Great pics and videos! You made us proud!

What were your oil temps running? Ambient temp?

What mode did you use your step and if you used manual did the step upshift at redline or was that a problem? That's my concern of tracking my step.

My car has the additional oil cooler so temperature was not an issue. The car ran around 248F (120C) all day. The track ambient was about 60F (16C).

I used one push of the DTC which I find offers the best performance/safety margin for me. I placed my step into DS mode and used the paddles to hold gears as required. I loved it.

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

.....If you haven't already, beef up the rear sway. It'll reduce understeer dramatically. In fact, it makes the car rotate quite nicely.....

.....Oh and if you're having brake issues, try out the Porterfield R4 pads. I ran a set last weekend and they resist fade far better, but are expensive at $190 a front set.

I think a beefed up sway bar would really help significantly too. The 335 felt "floaty" compared to the 911 I drove.

For the first time I felt like I was really giving the brakes a hard time. There was one particular downhill left-hander that was quite severe. I was thinking about new pads so I will check out the Porterfields.

Originally Posted by stressdoc

.....Bridgestone RE01Rs, Pirelli P-zeros (not the neros or rossis, but the extreme performance version), or Michelin PS-2s......

The 911 Turbo (997) ran the extreme performance version of the P-zero's. The 130 ran RE55's.

At the end of the day everyone's tyres still looked pretty good. Mine looked dreadful.

Oh.... my friend with the 911 4S tells me he now wants to sell his car after driving mine.

Cheers.

[spdrcr]

So what times where you pulling?

Do you think an e92 would beat a 3L manual Z4 around Wakefield?

[seccsc]

Originally Posted by CaptOz

My car has the additional oil cooler so temperature was not an issue. The car ran around 248F (120C) all day. The track ambient was about 60F (16C).

Do you have more than one oil cooler?

[CaptOz]

Originally Posted by spdrcr

So what times where you pulling?

Do you think an e92 would beat a 3L manual Z4 around Wakefield?

From memory, I think was was doing 1m 13-15sec. I am not a brilliant track driver by any means. The 911 Turbo (997) was around 1m 10sec.

I think a 335i might have the edge over a standard Z4. It's the power that gave me the greatest advantage.

Originally Posted by seccsc

Do you have more than one oil cooler?

I have two oil coolers. I believe they are standard fit in Australia. I have never had a overheating issue. The oil temp gauge is always below half.

Cheers,

CaptOz

[leftcoastman]

Originally Posted by CaptOz

From memory, I think was was doing 1m 13-15sec. I am not a brilliant track driver by any means. The 911 Turbo (997) was around 1m 10sec.

I think a 335i might have the edge over a standard Z4. It's the power that gave me the greatest advantage.



I have two oil coolers. I believe they are standard fit in Australia. I have never had a overheating issue. The oil temp gauge is always below half.

Cheers,

CaptOz

When you say "two oil coolers", do you mean you have one in the passenger wheel well and also one on the driver's side?

[seccsc]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

When you say "two oil coolers", do you mean you have one in the passenger wheel well and also one on the driver's side?

+1

[CaptOz]

Originally Posted by leftcoastman

When you say "two oil coolers", do you mean you have one in the passenger wheel well and also one on the driver's side?

Originally Posted by seccsc

+1

Exactly. If I look inside my front fender I can see the "grill" of the 2nd oil cooler. I believe it solves all overheating issues.

Cheers,

CaptOz

[S4to335]

So..on both fenders wells...you see a grill?

[spdrcr]

Originally Posted by CaptOz

From memory, I think was was doing 1m 13-15sec. I am not a brilliant track driver by any means. The 911 Turbo (997) was around 1m 10sec.

I think a 335i might have the edge over a standard Z4. It's the power that gave me the greatest advantage.

Interesting. I'm doing 1:13.1 in my Z4 which is the standard 170kw, I just have a quaife diff. The Z4 is nice through the corners and under brakes, it just NEEDS more power

[CaptOz]

Originally Posted by S4to335

So..on both fenders wells...you see a grill?

Just the one fender on the right hand side towards the front. Note - Australia is right hand drive)

Originally Posted by spdrcr

Interesting. I'm doing 1:13.1 in my Z4 which is the standard 170kw, I just have a quaife diff. The Z4 is nice through the corners and under brakes, it just NEEDS more power

That's a good time. I have the Quaife diff too. My problem is handling as my tyres are shot. They are really bad. I will definately get a new set before I next hit the track.

I bet the Z4 handles like a dream.

Cheers,

CaptOz

[judec]

Originally Posted by CaptOz

Just the one fender on the right hand side towards the front. Note - Australia is right hand drive)

And where is the second oil cooler radiator then?

[S4to335]

Originally Posted by judec

And where is the second oil cooler radiator then?

Yeah...my question exactly.

[seccsc]

Originally Posted by S4to335

Yeah...my question exactly.

+1