Hey all,

Well, I have finally gone through the pictures and more or less mentally downloaded from the awesome day we had yesterday at CEC's EuroTunerFest ("ETF").

For those of you that do not know that ETF is (or I guess was at this point ) you can check out their website to see more. Basically we were there for the Tuner Time Trial event. This is a track session where tuners were able to run their cars against each other and the clock to see what was fact and what was fiction!

Simon (AKA Mr. Vanos) ran our CLK43K (K=Kleemann compressor) and I ran our C32 (Vadim's car for those that follow the C32 forum). Simon will talk about his experience, so I will leave all the clk stuff to him.

The day started with great weather. In very atypical Willow Springs fashion, the weather was really perfect. The sun was out and the air was cold. Perfect to keep the track hot for grip and the cars cool for power.

We pulled the cars out of the trailer and went about putting the track tires on the two MB's. I had brought up some Hoosiers for the C32 and I was really excited to see how our modifications to the car would alter it since I last drove it on track (when the car was completely 100% stock).

So, we mount up for the 1st session. I was ready to go! We proceeded to get on track and everything went great, except the car was pulling to the left a bit. I did not think much of it as the Hoosiers were not new (they had been raced on one of our BMW Club Racers) and they often acted 'weird' when cold. First couple of laps was great. The CLK and C32 were bumper to bumper, already putting up some great times. However, beginning of the forth lap, I felt the car did not want to turn right. The car felt like the left front tire was corded (when the rubber is completely worn away and all you see are the metal, or fiberglass in Hoosiers, core to the tire). Sure enough 2 turns later and I knew it was gone! I slowly came in and found that the tire had been cut down by something on track. Damn! That was my 1st session ruined. However, I was not too mad as I was able to get into the mid 1:38's as I recall (times are not posted yet and I am not 100% sure on where in the 38's). This is a great time for a MB! In my BMW e30 M3 Racer, we only do 1:36's. So although we lost our tires, I was confident we had much more time in the car! The only real negative was that Willow Springs is VERY hard on the left front tire if you don't have the right alignment and especially if you don't have enough camber.

Here is us in the first session (I am pulling over for Simon as I have a flat):



First tangible from the weekend - we need to make a camber kit for the C32!

Well, killing the Hoosiers put a small kink in the plan. But, I was not out. You can see from some of the pics, that we have a few 360 Challenge cars in our booth. Fact is, we run a driving school and personally coach a bunch of Challenge car owners. We went over to our school garage at the track and pulled out 4 well used slicks from the Ferrari! Awesome - we have tires again!

We mount the tires up and are feeling great. So great that I go out and nail a 1:37.3 in the 2nd session. I was VERY excited. I knew that we could get a 1:36. We just needed to play with the pressures and get the car dialed for the last session. For comparison sake, a top 15 SCCA Speed World Challenge BMW only does a 1:34 on the same track. In addition, RENNtech also had their C32 there and in this session I was able to real in the car and pass it! Woohoo! After the session I found out that resident 'track pro' Danny McKeever was RENNtech's hired 'shoe' for the event and I was even more fired up that we were able to get by him as he still holds some track records there and has more time then probably anybody on that track!

Here we are ready to go for session #2:



We were extremely happy with the evosport tuned and driven C32 at that point! We got ready for the last session and were expecting a 1:36. I found that the stock shocks were really not up to the task though. The springs and sway felt great, but we were under-dampened and the car was porpoising because of it. We also totally underestimated the lack of camber and the effect on the tires.

Second tangible from the weekend - call H&R and get the newly released Coil-Overs on the car ASAP.

I went out in the last session and low and behold McKeever was right behind me! So I laid it down. He stayed on my bumper! Damn! So I let him by and then I followed him and stayed right on his bumper! OK. But the car was getting worse and worse. I was having a hell of a time making the 4 VERY critical right handers. I cam into the pits and had my crew take air out of the left front thinking that I was just a bit over-inflated. However the problem was much more severe. We had killed another set of tires. We had corded the tires for about 4 inches in on the tire! WOW. I was happy that I did not get into real trouble out there. That session McKeever put in a flyer and edged me out on time - yes, he got me. That is ok though as this was our first time on track with the C32 and he is an awesome driver. We WILL get him next time. He and I had a great laugh at how much fun we had. He also told me that he thought he was faster due to the BIG brakes on the RENNtech car. He stated that the brakes were a HUGE improvement!

Third tangible from the weekend - we WILL be installing a 14" Brembo/evosport Brake kit.

BTW, did I tell you that McKeever, myself and Simon passed ALL of the other tuner cars save Cort Wagner (2000 Porsche Cup Champion) in a TechArt 996 Twin Turbo and Pablo M in our European Car Project BMW e36 M3 Turbo. We did get by the AC Schnitzer M5, a couple of TechArt 996's and a number of other machines!

So all in all, we had a great day. We learned that the sway bars were awesome. The pulleys worked wonderfully. Our Inter cooler upgrade was awesome - the car never ran hot all day.

Thanks go to Vadim, Ben, Bob, Kali, Simon and CEC for having us.

You can see pics at: evosport ETF 2002 Gallery

If any of you want to see what you can do in your benzo or just want to learn how to drive a bit better, we do have a school coming up on 10/8. You can see info at: Oct. 8 Track Event Thread

Thanks

Brad

 

sounds like fun. Exactly what performance mods have been done to vadim's C32?

 

Current mods include:

- evosport pulley upgrade
- evosport intercooler upgrade
- evosport intake
- evosport sway bars
- H&R springs

Much more planned.

Thanks

Brad

 

Hey I'm posting this from an e-mail I got about the event, sounds like it was alot of fun. I wish I could have been there. Here is the prospective from the Renntech guys at the event.

>>>
Give props where due. After talking to Danny about you passing the RENNtech C32 he stated it was running out of fuel so he eased off.
Danny ran a 1.36 in the last session which I think was the fastest in the catagory. That is damm impressive for a MB with only Chip/ pulley, springs, brakes and wheels. The Renntech car ran flawlessly during both days of the event. Funny thing is the fastest lap Danny ran was last one of the event with the tires shot. Danny said great things about your driving. That is a big compliement.

What happened to the Kleemman car? I saw it ran some pretty fast laps but them broke down.
>>>

 

Randy,

Cool - great to here that Danny got back to you all too!

He and I had so much fun! Too bad that the one session that I was jammin he had fuel problems and the one he was jammin I had tire issues!

Oh well, that is racing!

Danny is a pro, so it is always nice to here good things from someone of his caliber!

The CLK43K also ran out of fuel - that is why it pulled off. As you may know, the ecu shuts the car down when it is in fuel starvation in multiple holes. Once we reset the computer the car ran/runs great. However, the tow truck driver attached the strap to the tie rod and snapped it so we had no steering! and Guy was a fool! Luckily it was the last run!

I would agree that 1:36's and 1:37's is DAMN fast for these luxo-barges! I was also relieved to here that Danny's car had all that done. The brakes and the chip apparently help a lot, so I don't feel so bad about being edged out, especially by him!

Thanks

brad

PS - you should get the Meridian guys to come to the board. They were a great bunch of guys! Very nice and freindly. We all got along very well! Proof that you can be competitors and still get along for all of those in MBWorld land that don't think you can!

 

what rims do these cars have?
CLK43k; SSRs?
C32; SSRs as well?

thanks!

 

Wheels/Tires:

C32:
Street - 19x8/19x9 SSR GT3 w/Toyo Proxes
Track - 18x8/18x9 Voxx w/Pirelli D3 Slicks

CLK43K:
Street - 19x8.5/19x9.5 SAC/Champion Forged Wheels RG5.3 w/Toyo Proxes
Track - 18x8/18x9 Mille Miglia w/BFG R1

Thanks

Brad

 

How much do they weigh? i assume they are pretty stong?
The are cast alum. right? does EVOsport sell them?

 

Yes, the wheels are cast aluminum. We carry the wheels, however the 18x8 and 18x9 have been discontinued. Currently, there are a few 18x9's left. 17x8's are available, and weigh 23lbs per wheel.

 

do the stock c32 rims weigh?

 

The stock rear wheels weigh 27lbs.

 

Do you know if 17 x 9.5 inch ssr competitions will fit on the c32? They only weigh 15.6 lbs, and would give someone the ability to run 275/40/17 size nitto drag radials.

 

That wheel is VERY soft and you WILL bend it on the heavy ole benzo! I have extensive experience with that wheel. On a much lighter World Challenge Racing BMW, one team bent over 30 wheels in one season!

Save your money!

If you are only going straight that might be the ONLY time I would use them.

b.

 

do the 18" brabus monoblock vi's weigh?

 

That is the reason I want them A wheel for the dragstrip.