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#1. Re: [E36M3] Honest power gains with perf. muffler? - from Ben Liaw
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Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 12:21:38 -0500 From: "Ben Liaw" <ben@shortshifter.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Honest power gains with perf. muffler? > Finally, didn't we decide that one of the reasons that > the Mcoup is faster than the M3 is the exhaust? don't forget the fact that the M Coupe is also lighter, smaller and stiffer than the M3 as well. it translates to one quick puppy. when i had my 96 M3, it would never break lose the tires on a rolling start, when i stomped on the gas. the Bambislayer does this, on occasion, even with it's 3.15 rear. the M coupe does it a lot more often than either car. ben <-- 99 M Coupe Test Mule in the driveway ------------------------------------------- ben liaw - ben@shortshifter.com http://www.uucmotorwerks.com
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#2. Re: [E36M3] Rear Axle Tramp - from Ron Katona
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Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 12:43:23 -0500 From: Ron Katona <rkatona@bellatlantic.net> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Rear Axle Tramp Chris Teague wrote: > I have exactly the same problem. Unless I keep the revs real > low, I get rear axle tramp. When I replaced the stock shocks with > Koni's, I still have the same problem. So I don't think it is the > shocks. I have wheel hop with Konis and a stiff coil-over setup as well. I'm going to replace my training arm bushing this winter to see if that helps. Wheel hop isn't really an up/down thing. That's the manifestation of the problem, but the origin is forward/rearward forces as the contact patch pushes against the ground then stops pushing when its traction is exceeded. Keeping the wheel very well controlled in the fore/aft direction is really the key to eliminating wheel hop, although a bad shock or not enough rebound stiffness will make things a lot worse. The only link that keeps the E36 rear suspension in check in the fore/aft direction is the trailing arm. That same old nasty old trailing arm bushing that likes to fail and cause the mounting bracket to rip out of the body is the most likely point of failure if you're getting excessive wheel hop. Mine feel firm when checking them with a pry bar, but I'm going to replace them anyway given the car's heavy autocross duty and the potential damage from a failure of this bushing. I'll try the 96+ bushings which are supposedly harder. -- Ron Katona
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#3. Re: Wheel Hop - from Lee Hassig
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Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 13:06:49 -0500 From: "Lee Hassig" <lhassig@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: Wheel Hop Kit, Thanks for the reply. Another lister also doubts that shocks are the source of the problem. I now doubt it, too. I have AVS Intermediates on the car, so those tires don't help me much. And to Sean: You're forgiven. Lee Date: Fri, 01 Dec 2000 15:31:37 -0800 > From: Kit Wetzler <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> > Subject: wheel hop > > > The recent shortish thread about shocks recently made me wonder if worn > > rears are responsible for the rear axle tramp I often experience on > > autocross launches. It happens if I rev the engine to 2500 RPM or so > > then feed more throttle as I let out the clutch. Shocks are stock with > > 55K miles on them, hardly any of which are AX or track miles. > > Using a different set of tires solved this for me. I used to have > Yokohama AVS sports and when they are low on tread, I find that they > wheel hop pretty badly. My new yokohama AVS intermediates don't hop much > at all. I have a new set of H&R coilovers, so I know the shocks weren't > causing the rear wheels to hop. >
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#4. Re:Honest power gains with perf. muffler? - from Roger Baker
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Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 10:10:08 -0800 From: Roger Baker <rbaker@velodyne.com> Subject: Re:Honest power gains with perf. muffler? Funny, I had a custom built flowmaster just like Bob's (his std. or loud one) for my first aftermarket exhaust on my BMW. Problem was, it rusted out in short order & has since been replaced by a shiny stainless steel UUC exhaust. Oh, and yes, the guys that say Flowmaster's are loud aren't kidding. The thing was SO LOUD, it was really annoying & I would not recommend it for any regularly street driven car. Roger Baker "Lew Becker" <lmbeckercfls@earthlink.net> wrote: > I am not in any way affiliated with Bob Tunnell, Flowmaster, etc. However, > I continue to strongly consider getting one of these units. Anyone on the > List with any direct experience with this FlowMaster exhaust? > > Lew Becker >
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#5. Honest power gains with perf. muffler? - from Lew Becker
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Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 11:09:12 -0800 From: "Lew Becker" <lmbeckercfls@earthlink.net> Subject: Honest power gains with perf. muffler? Sean wrote: race car drivers spend every last amount of money they have to save every pound and get every bit of power form their cars. so it's not unusual to find someone spending $1000 for a 2hp gain. or $1000 for a 10 pound loss. every bit counts for racing. that's not the case for street cars. even cars driven by those who think they are race car drivers, or in my case ARE race car drivers. (but i don't race in the street) from bob's answer, the best possible exaust he could find for his race car produced a ZERO hp gain, and lost him 24 lbs. dang... that's not much of a boost. again... for racing everything counts, so spending $300 for 24 pounds is a good thing. but! that falls under the category of DAMN NEAR WORTHLESS for a street car. in fact it pretty much means that i will never think about an aftermarket exaust for an M3. (for performance reasons at least) sure, get a muffler for a better sound, or for a better look. but if your goal is "all i want is power" (as the original poster said) then i think the answer is pretty much "skip it" I had similar thoughts, but then I realized a noticeable performance increase when I went to lightweight wheels, including straight line acceleration. I recognize that we're talking rotational weight as well as static weight when we're talking wheels. But, pounds are still pounds. Weight does significantly impact the way my car drives -- e.g.., when I've got additional 100 pounds of additional weight in the car (whether it be in the trunk or the passenger seat). It seems to me that one can lose some pounds relatively painlessly with judicious aftermarket choices (e.g.., wheels (5) -- 30 lbs; battery -- 11 lbs; exhaust -- 25 lbs; flywheel -- 14 lbs (plus the gain from reducing rotational weight); tubular sway bars -- 12 lbs; etc.). Should we have a showing of hands as to how many of us have replaced wheels and sway bars; we'll all replace batteries and mufflers eventually. At this point, we've lost more than 90 pounds of static weight without giving up much (except $$$) and, there must be more to be had. Individually, none of these "gains" may be significant; collectively is another story. Weight should be significant factor when considering when upgrades.
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#6. FREE stuff (well, it will cost you a SASE) - from Ben Liaw
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Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 14:11:07 -0500 From: "Ben Liaw" <ben@shortshifter.com> Subject: FREE stuff (well, it will cost you a SASE) i've got some extra stickers cluttering up my desk which i'll gladly give away, for FREE. http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/pics/hr.jpg I've got some of the oval ones (4"x2") as well as the die cut (4"x1.5" white, not blue as pictured). First come first serve. I'll also throw in some die cut TMS decals (7"x1", yellow only) as well, until the supply is gone. ok, this is how you get them for FREE. 1. Prepare a SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE. This should not be hard, but for those who send those little, tiny, pen pal envelopes, you ain't gettin' much. Send a STANDARD sized envelope because some of these stickers don't fit in those small ones. 2. Send your SASE to: Ben Liaw c/o Free Decals for Me 114 Pascack Road Hillsdale, NJ 07642 If i run out, I promise to send something (perhaps a phone bill? outdated McDonald's coupons perhaps?) ben ------------------------------------------- ben liaw - ben@shortshifter.com http://www.uucmotorwerks.com
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#7. my helmet pics...was ssr competitions - from jay
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Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 11:31:35 -1000 From: jay <jguzman@hawaii.edu> Subject: my helmet pics...was ssr competitions hey everyone...thanx for all the comments on the ssr wheels...and even if you didnt like the wing, thanx for being very cordial about it...i thought i'd get third degree burns form all the flaming, but everyone was respectful...even on the bimmer.org boards!!! since i learned how to use photopoint, i figured i'd share my helmet pics with all of you...i got the decals from an HPI BMW 3 series body (a lexan body for radio controlled cars)... http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1372073&a=10271249
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#8. Re: my helmet pics...was ssr competitions - from jay
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Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 11:34:53 -1000 From: jay <jguzman@hawaii.edu> Subject: Re: my helmet pics...was ssr competitions i forgot to say that the M striping (the blue/purple/red) was from vinyl sticker sheets from a decal shop...they didnt come with the r/c car body... jay wrote: hey everyone...thanx for all the comments on the ssr wheels...and even if you didnt like the wing, thanx for being very cordial about it...i thought i'd get third degree burns form all the flaming, but everyone was respectful...even on the bimmer.org boards!!! since i learned how to use photopoint, i figured i'd share my helmet pics with all of you...i got the decals from an HPI BMW 3 series body (a lexan body for radio controlled cars)... http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1372073 <http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=1372073&a=10271249> &a=10271249
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#9. Re: [E36M3] Honest power gains with perf. muffler? - from Sean Hester
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Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 14:01:54 -0800 From: "Sean Hester" <seanh_race@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Honest power gains with perf. muffler? >Sean, >I think that Bob's goal was a muffler that had no >torque penalty. AutoX is a game of grip and launching >from corners at low RPMs. He didn't say that there >weren't any mufflers that didn't give extra power (top >end) with a corresponding loss of torque. Of course >most street cars benefit more from torque than power. >But, for a track car, the freer flowing muffler might >be helpful. > >There's an interesting write up on mufflers at >autospeed.com. They evaluated several types on the >flow bench. I believe that they included the same >type of muffler that Bob chose and found it to be >somewhat more restrictive and even louder than the >well-designed "straight-through" type like the Walker >Dynmax or UUC. > >Finally, didn't we decide that one of the reasons that >the Mcoup is faster than the M3 is the exhaust? > >-Matt i'm not trying to say you get nothing from doing exaust. i'm just saying that you get very little. and i think, if you're in the "speed hunt", with your M3 you oughta look to just about everywhere else before you look at exaust. (chips, intakes, HFMs, driver schools, etc, etc) if you've done everything else, and want a small (<5 probably, <10 for sure) boost then get an exaust. but i'd definetly do it last. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
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#10. Re: [E36M3] E36 M3 plastic underpanel - from Ron Buchalski
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Date: Sun, 03 Dec 2000 01:55:33 From: "Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@hotmail.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] E36 M3 plastic underpanel My front airdam pieces have seen better days, so I'm going to replace them. The deflector (mounts above the main center piece, and sits below the radiator) had worked it's way loose had met...the fan! The corner "pork chops" have scrapes on them, and one has cracks. The center piece has some scrapes and holes. I purchased the new pieces, but will use the following guidelines to install some reinforcements: http://ylf.miesto.sk/panel/ This was posted to the list in September. Check it out. The download speed is slow, but the pictures and info is excellent. -rb _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com