Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Enduro Update

We missed the second event in the WERC series while the engine was being rebuilt. Actually we showed up with the E30 M3, but it had some unanticipated engine trouble which kept up from racing. This weekend is the third race of the series, a 3 hour affair at Buttonwillow.

The new engine is back in the LTW and has been broken in and seem a little more powerful after the rebuild. Our goal is to finish on the podium in our class.

Here is a shot of the E30 M3 we tried to get together for the event. Great car, great engine, what a blast to drive. I'm reminded why these are my favorite M3 on the track. This one isn't pretty on the outside but it's beautiful inside.


First time racing a car without a dash-pad. The upper sheet-metal is painted flat-black to reduce reflections in the windshield but it doesn't prevent them completely. I love the digital dash with sequential shift-lights. The dash is also a complete Data Acquisition system that is wired into everything, brake pressure, throttle position, four independent wheel speeds, and all the temps and pressures for the car. Pay no attention to the J-Stock stickers, it's probably a little out of spec for that class.

This is a great cage build by Tony Collicchio of TC Design. It's a touring car style cage that ties in the front strut towers as well as the entire rear sub-frame and diff mounts. The BMW E30 chassis is pretty narrow and this car has a very large seat -- so big that at nearly 200 lbs, I have to use a foam insert to get a good fit. Tony built this door bars right out to the door skin to provide room for the seat.

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