I got the car on track for a shakedown a couple weeks back at Roebling Road. I like this track for chassis setup as it’s a fast smooth track that helps me isolate what the chassis is doing. Although for this first day on track my expectations were more for sorting the car and finding/addressing any issues. Mainly I was going to be content if nothing fell off or blew up…
First session out I ran 3 laps and came in to put the car in the air and check everything. Everything looked good and only a few minor issues surfaced. My VDO gauges were reading erratically (turned out to be a weak ground), I had a bit of oil on the front of the oil pan. I hate leaks…this one was coming from the front main seal. I replaced that damn thing, but it’s very finicky. So now I get to do it again! The third issue was the initial settings recommended to me for the MCS dampers. I had no turn exit grip. Front rebound was far too stiff. I also had some slight tire rub on the front fender liner at the top of the bumper.
For the next session, I dialed back the rebound a few clicks and things improved slightly. But the car was still lacking grip.
For session 3 I dialed out a few more clicks and things improved dramatically. The car was hooking up. I was noticing what I thought was a flat spot on the tune during acceleration. This actually turned out to be the damn DSC being too active. Once I turned it off the car jumped to life. I had hoped this generation of DSC would be better.
For session 4 I made a couple more damper setting changes and the car felt even better. I was still driving pretty conservatively as the brakes were not feeling fully bedded and I just need confidence in the car. Mid way through the session it threw a “BRAKE” amber light. I wasn’t sure if this was ABS related so I came in. I hooked up my Carly reader and got a steering angle sensor fail. I erroneously thought I had lost ABS and decided caution was the better part of valor and loaded up. I should’ve brought my owner’s manual to the track. Turns out this failure only disabled DSC (which I had off anyway).
Everything else on the car performed flawlessly. The MCS dampers are very responsive to adjustment so I’m looking forward to dialing them in further. The SLR steering design had me worried that it would be too fast, but it felt great. Once I get the car further dialed in, I’ll give a better review of the control arms. The car felt planted and the chassis very communicative (as one would expect with solids and sphericals throughout). The E86 is more lively and fun to drive than the E36. Next track event will be mid January back at Roebling Road.