Quick, until they have to start turning left and right... Although that WRX gives me a headache everytime I meet one on the track...

 

I've met up with some S4's that can corner pretty darn well -- and the SRT-4 is the best handling FWD car i've ever driven -- I'm surprised the XF is in the same class as any of these 3 cars -- the s4 and wrx are both AWD with at least a 30 hp advanntage over the xf... and the srt 4 (with the LSD) is a beast as well..
I think in showroom stock trim, the xf is dead in the water against these cars.... I will very interested in hearing how things work out with the LSD 3.69 you're having installed. Have you gotten a price on that yet?

 

Big deal, I was off by two years. Only remember reading one article on it in MT a long time ago. Thought it was a 97. I do remember it ran a 13.7. And I was just looking at 2002 M3, 6 speed with every option but navi and RSS with 30k on it for 31,995. And that my friend was their asking price. IF you want to deal with a 10 year old underperforming platform be my guess. It's your dime and your dance floor.

 

I'm suprised the WRX's give you so much of a headache. I used to own one. How much can you mess with the suspension in SCCA? In stock form I didnt find it that good, most of that being the tires.RE92's suck. I broke eh, can't remember what, could find the bill. Something in the passengers front suspension taking a exit ramp too fast. I thought the SRT-4, would give you more of a problem, due to the power difference, aint its handling aint to shabby.

 

HDDP, i looked at bergwerks site. It likes like you are getting the 'medium' treatment, but they also go all the way to extreme which is 31% higher than stock. Did you talk to them about this, what are pros and cons?

 

The LTW's ran high 13's -- but there were only 100 of them in the US -- most of which are now garage queens. Buying one would cost 40-50k still. Normal E36 M3's ran 14 second quarter miles -- which is an attainable goal.

If you're not going to buy the E46 M3 for 32k i'd love to have the seller's contact info -- if it's nice I could turn around and sell it here for $4k-$5k more. My guess is that if a dealer is listing it for that price then it's been beat on pretty hard or has some mechanical problems. The early E46's had some big problems with the rod bearings breaking and the motors blowing ..

It seems like you're really disappointed in your car's performance -- would you suggest against buying one?

 

I did the math on the ratio change and based on the length of the straightaways at the tracks I usually run, max. 1800' at California Motor Speedway and much shorter at Laguna Seca, then only 1100' at Willow Springs.

I had to balance the RPM change with the fact that I still drive the car on the highway. the 3.69:1 ratio will put me at a good range for highway driving in 6th gear and still give me much more torque going through the turns at the track. A +13% change from the OEM 3.27:1 ratio.

Trust me, I debated a much steeper change and would have gone up to a 4.02:1 if I was only driving the car on the track. But then I would be running in the high 3,000 RPM range at 65 MPH on the freeway for extended periods of time, which as you know, wouldn't be too good for engine life, not to mention my gas mileage.

Also, from what I understand, the 3.69:1 differential comes from a Mercedes W123-240D and bolts right on to the car with the gears matched from the factory. The other differentials are custom built by an outside vendor. I figured I would go with the factory equipment.

 

$3,000 installed, and they re-calibrate the speedo. Steep, but IMO well worth it for my track use. I am also going to have the SLK32 AMG braking system installed while I'm at it, and they are going to pull my sway bars so I can have custom bars manufactured by TLSSteel and then I'll replace all the bushings with those from Energy Suspension.

Basically I'm dropping the car off with a laundry list of things to do while I'm out of town for two months shooting a movie.

 

Wasn't saying to buy a lightweight, just talking about the weight. I believe you said the e36 weighs 3400. Just was apoint that they are less and the LTW was2-300 lbs lighter than the reg. Some guys have got their stock e36 M3 coupe in the high 13's. But low 14's is the norm. I would have bought it, but i'm too upside down with my crossfire, I owe 29k and im getting less than 20k trade in, but after 2hours got them up to 22,500. The M3 was in great shape, doubt they still have it, it was pheonix yellow. Check out Luxurymotors.com. Thats where it was. And thats where I bought my 01 M3 back in 2001.

Disappointed would be an understatement. If you want a cramped two seater "bling-bling" cruiser, the crossfire does this well. But if you want a track car search elsewhere. I would not recommend buying one.

 

3.69 should be perfect -- anything more, like you said, would be a PITA to drive on the street. I would think the ratio change would be good for .3 or .4 seconds in the 1/4mile.

What is the difference between the stock brake setup and the AMG setup? I was under the impression that the stock setup (with track pads) would be plenty of stopping power.

HDDP -- do you use your car for real wheel to wheel competition, or for open lapping days at the track? If for W2W, do you have a roll cage inside?

 

The SLK32 / SRT6 brakes include larger rotors, front and rear, and 4 piston calipers. I'm pretty happy with the OEM brakes, but it's more about my anally retentive "make it better" mentality.

As far as the roll cage, we have measured the car for full SCCA spec., but I'm not yet ready to rip the car apart completly and make it a fulltime track car. I'll wait for a few more months until I figure out if the potential mods. will make it competitive.

The thing that is slowing me down is the lack of performance products for the car. It seems like everything I want to do with the car turns into a bunch of supposed specialists shrugging their shoulders and saying "I DUNNO".

And everything turns into building the stuff from scratch or mixing and matching parts that haven't been tested on this platform.

So, please excuse the fact that I'm SLOWLY doing the mods., as I am researching every aspect of it before I do the job.

 

Dan wrote: "ditto,did you know AMG had a big silent hand in designing the crossfire ?"

I hear AMG has designed some bitchin' Crossfire floor mats, too! That should help on track day.
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ive personally never seen an e46 run better than a 14 in person. find it hard to believe an e36 could do it.

 

If I wanted a TRACK CAR I'd buy a LOTOY (kitcar made by Lotus with a Toyota engine,because of Lotus unreliability.)Or I'd buy a Gocart with a Honda engine !

 

Hey Dan, THANK YOU! The plates for my Elise just came in, but I've been thinking going with a vanity...been wracking my brain...but there it was in front of me all along!

LOTOY

That's GREAT!!!! Thanks, I'd printing off the order form from the MVA web tonight, dropping a check in the mail tomorrow. I'll post pics in a few weeks when they come in!

I'm not kidding!!!!! THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!!

 

See yah around have fun.