Carlos and I have been preparing our E90s for GLTC competition in 2024. We've been patiently waiting for the 2024 rule revisions to come out before we made any significant changes, lest we have to undo them after the rules come out. Though not yet official, the proposed...
Happy Thanksgiving y'all. It's time again to highlight Black Friday Sales that are worth your consideration. As usual, there is no funny business here. No affiliate links or paid promotions. It is simply great stuff that we truly believe in. Side note: we've more...
I was recently asked: at what point should I start making setup changes to my car? There is no clear-cut answer to this, but in my opinion, the earlier, the better! As a novice driver, you will experience exponential progression in your lap times simply from improving your car control...
I finally accomplished a years-old goal of mine: completing NASA Competition School! The weekend was jam-packed. With so much to unpack, Comp School was enough to make several weeks' worth of articles. I will cover different aspects of the process in upcoming articles. As I am busy with my...
I wrapped up my first iRacing league series with GridLife a couple of weeks ago. For an intro to the series and how the first two rounds went, check out this post. For this season wrap-up, I'll touch quickly on how the last two races went, opting to...
Learning how to go off-track safely is essential for your safety and that of others because it is bound to happen eventually. When handled properly, going off can be a non-event. At our recent excursion to Roebling Road Raceway, I got a close-up view of a classic scenario preached in...
My very long-time friend, Mike Burroughs of StanceWorks fame, recently posted a video declaring that he hates the nearly-perfect S54 E36 he has owned for 17+ years. This is an E36 that, by all measures, is one of the nicest out there – and it has been for the better part of two decades.
Racing and large egos go hand in hand. Over the years, I've seen drivers make questionable, sometimes flat-out dangerous moves to gain a position in a low-stakes club race [prototype and GT car tangling 2-wide at 130mph through Bishops Bend; one of them got air-lifted]. I've...
When I was younger and didn't have the finances to race real cars, I raced radio controlled cars instead. Specifically, I raced electric 1/10th-scale touring cars on outdoor asphalt with rubber tires (they were also raced indoors on carpet with foam tires). The cars were highly adjustable,...
I love nerding out about roll cage design. Door bars in particular. There is something almost voyeuristic about seeing part of a roll cage through an open door. While a roll cage alludes to protection in a rollover, in wheel to wheel competition you are more likely to get hit...
Say the letters "PTG," and any E36 fan will immediately have a mental image. Prototype Technology Group campaigned their BMW-contracted E36 M3 program to great success in the mid-late 1990s. The GT3 class cars featured distinct bodywork, impressive development, and legendary drivers (Bill Auberlen and Boris Said, amongst...
What is an OEM-style shifter? On most manual transmission BMWs, the shifter linkage consists of a sub-assembly that includes it's own "carrier", selector rod, and shift lever. In addition, there are some bushings and shims involved to keep things tight. The pivot "cup" and...
SpecE30 is dead. Long live SpecE30. Alright, so not completely dead, yet. But it's headed that way. Let's discuss why. Availability For the better part of two decades, donor cars were $500-1,000. Not anymore. Clapped out rollers can command $2,500+. Decent running cars seem...
As detailed in my recent post about Tire Parity in NASA Racing, there are new rules for NASA's power to weight racing classes (ST and TT) intended to create better parity between the bevy of tire choices. Thankfully these new rules are not based on manufacturer's...
Over the years, my track experience has mostly been relegated to the E30 chassis; up until recently, the only other platforms I had driven hard were an E36 on track and a GR WRX at autocross. While the E36 featured some very notable improvements in suspension design and chassis dynamics...
