Quote:
Originally Posted by jdl1pt
Sorry, wish I could give you more insight. I will tell you that many on here run 255/275's. At the even yesterday, one of the instructors, who was driving a caymman, also has a z4m. He has tracked his z4m a few times. I told him I had 235/265's ready, and his comment was, "next time go with the 245/275 set up, they'll fit." Ultimately, he thought that was a better set up for autox. The other big issue is the camber both front and rear. I understand pulling the pins will only get you so far. to get 1.5 - 2+ you'll need to go with washers or plates. You could probably also get more if you dropped the car a bit, but that's getting pricy.
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With pins pulled You'll get -1.5 if you're lucky. -1 seems to be about average (what we got with pins pulled). For more, it's either camber plates or use the
Turner bolt/washer for the e36. (The Z4M front end is based on the E36, not E46.) Washers work, but there's a bit of debate on that one since it does also change other aspects of the geometry.
My wife's car (the ///M), stock, before tires/alignment was running close to zero both sides front and plowed for days. With the Star Specs and -1 front, it's much better. But remember stock is much less than -1 front and probably around -1.5 rear if I recall. Car, stock, with pins out in front is now -2 rear, -1 front. Pretty decent for street driving, not aggressive enough for anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdl1pt
Lastly, from what I've read here, a strut bar will greatly help turn in. This is probably going to be my first addition. You can pick one up from tischer for about 300.
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Mmmm, maybe. Can't say from experience, as we don't have one. Now, according to some of the experienced folks on this board (no that's
not me, and you know there's never consensus--it's an internet forum
) it will help a bit but don't expect a great difference. Strong strut makes a pretty good option to OEM from Tisher, but OEM is pretty good too. Word is stay away from Dinan for this as those have "flex joints" and really are questionable in terms of impact.
I think pins, washers, plates would be where I'd start. I just ordered the washers (cheap) and we'll see. But, tell you what, if you start with the strut bar, I can start with washers, and we can compare notes!
I just wish we could find a nice big open parking lot and set up a mini course with some chalk and have at it! We could so use that kind of practice. I'm glad you autoxd it yesterday rather than doing that drive with us. The drive, while fun, was super challenging and
not one where you'd want to discover the unique handling characteristics of this car for the first time. I would not have been happy if I had done that drive without the car control clinic first and a good amount of seat time first. See my PM.
Here's a
good thread on suspension Rick Hunter pointed me to. I understand that the GC camber plates are a PITA to adjust on the fly, and adjustments are opposite of other plates. An option, to the GCs (which are very good mind you, just have those two things about them we should know about) are the Vorschlag Camber/Caster Plates per Rick, they're just as good or better than GCs at a similar price too.