I attended a 2-day driver's school with Car Guys this weekend at Summit Point, WV.

Some lessons:

-- The KW Varient 2 coilovers I have installed on the car worked very nicely.

The car exhibited minimum roll and handled front-back weight transfers very nicely. My mechanic was correct when he recommended that I first track the car before considering installing upgraded anti-sway bars, as I now believe that would not be necessary.

In terms of handling, I think my C32 handled at least as well as my BMW 330i. Of course, I had vastly more power for passing and the main straight than the 330i. My friend, who's a much better driver, however, could handle his E46 M3 much better than I could do with the C32.

-- The stock brakes almost held up.

In preparation for the event I had the brake fluid changed out to ATE Type 200 (same as Super Blue but normal colored), and installed StopTech stainles steel brakes lines on the front and back brakes. In two days only once did the brake pedal feel mushy. Unfortunately, as I was still working on braking technique, both front rotors are coated with pad deposits. If the upgraded brake pads I had ordered had arrived in time, this might not have happened. If I could brake as well as I can now when I had entered the event, the brakes might still be okay.

On the other hand, it is March and temperatures were relatively low. I'm not sure how long the brakes would have lasted if it was July and over 100F on track.

Bottom line, I'm still skeptical about whether the stock brake hardware can handle the track. Now I have to make the decision of whether to get the Stoptech 355mm BBK or to replace the front rotors.

-- Finally, I also took some videos! These videos were taken after I was authorized to solo by my instructor, so I took pace down a few notches in order to make sure I remained safe. Due to the extremely limited storage capacity I have, I've compressed the videos using DivX on almost the minimum quality, but the video, albeit small, still give you a good idea of how the car is performing.


MY BANDWIDTH IS ALSO LIMITED SO DO A "SAVE-AS" INSTEAD OF TRYING TO STREAM. (I.e., in IE, right click the links and choose "Save As"). Obviously you need DivX installed to view the videos. Goto www.divx.com if you don't have DivX installed.


This is a driver's view of the C32 going around the track.
http://www.nycrhythm.com/rockettmusi...52-30-DivX.avi


This is a chase view of the C32 taken from my friend's E46 M3.
http://www.nycrhythm.com/rockettmusi...52-30-DivX.avi

This is a chase view of a modded Evo8 running away from my friend's E46 M3.
http://www.nycrhythm.com/rockettmusi...52-30-DivX.avi

Here is the E46 entering turn 1 a little too fast
http://www.nycrhythm.com/rockettmusi...52-30-DivX.avi

Edited with new URLs to higher resolution videos.

 

Nice writeup and thanks for the videos!

BTW anti-sway bars would help you for lateral sway on turn entry especially at the track. I notice your car wobbles a little going into turns as the suspension takes its "set". Not trying to be critical, but some of it is your driving though. (As you say, your driving isn't quite as good as your buddie's).


I just did a DIY brake pad job on the C32 yesterday, (BTW for my style of driving, lots of cold braking and not tracking, I selected OEM AMG replacement pads).

But this is the news, a brake pad swap in C32 is a 10 minute job per side. The hardest part is removing the wheel. This means it might be sensible to have a set of high temp track pads and a set of typical pads and swap them, rather than select a pad in the middle as a compromise.

I am not exaggerating, the fronts are the easiest pad swap I have ever seen. It's a no-brainer for anyone that can remove a wheel.

Does, anyone know how much labor the dealer charges for front pads? (I can assure you they are ripping us on this).

 

Labor Rates:
$99.00 per axle for pads, or $198.00 for all four sides.
$99.00 per axle for rotors, or $198.00 for all four sides. About $400.00 for pads and rotors at most dealers, or about 4 hours shop labor. This does not include parts.

Pads run between $110.00 - $130.00 for fronts per set. $55.00- $75.00 for rears per set.
Rotors run between $120.00 - $130.00 for fronts each. $60.00 - $80.00 for rears each.

Cost ranges from $500 - $600 for pads and rotors at all four corners. Expect to pay at the dealer roughly $900.00+ for a complete brake job. Or do it your self and save a lot of money.

 

I've been quoted $120 - $152.50 per front rotor, I didn't inquire about service as I would have non-warranty work performed by my mechanic instead of the dealership whenever possible.

 

No audio?

 

Sadly no audio. I bought an autoxcam but the Y-power adapted blew a fuse. My back-up power was a battery for another camera system, but it only had a single power plug, so it was either video-only or audio-only, I chose video-only

 

Buy the parts, and I'll install them for free.

 

This has nothing to do with C32's, but check it out...

http://scampbell.co.uk/images/galler...ts2003_340.wmv

 

last video with the coopers was tight, Do you know what the song playing is called. ?

The C32 vidz need some sound or music never the less great vidz.

 

WOW! nice videos! that track looks HUGE! compare to buttonwillow and such...

 

If your impressed with racing like that, look here for the true ***** out racing:

http://www.fastermovie.com/trailer.html

Ive got 100x's more respect for the 2wheel motoGP racers than any other "racer"

 

great videos dude, too bad no sound.
but great download speed! 600 kb/sec + for me.

u re not driving slow... quite fast indeed, keep up!

 

cs,


Try mounting the camera on the passenger seat headrest posts. There are many out there very cheap.

http://www.soloperformance.com/Deskt...84&selection=0

We'll, and most importantly you'll be able to see your hand inputs, etc., and gauges. It creates a more "in there with you" feel to video.

That site has all kinds of goodies for you...


Nice videos, thank you!



Tom

 

Do you have a write up of the DIY brake pad job?

Do I need any special tools?

 

Do you have a write up of the DIY brake pad job?

Do I need any special tools?

 

Tools:
Small hammer, medium flat blade screwdriver
flat tipped metal centerpunch (ie countersink for finishing nails)

Steps to remove fromt AMG pad:
Jack car at front
Remove wheel
(on passenger side, disconnect and then remove pad-wear sensor. There is no sensor on driver's side)
Insert center punch in small hole at outboard side of caliper facing you, lightly tap the retainer pin "back" through and remove it.
Repeat for the second retainer pin.
Using screwdriver push on pad to fully compress piston into caliper housing, (leave caliper in its position as-is)
Remove old pads through the slot created by the removal of the pins.

Installation of new pads
Insert pads in slot
Insert wear sensor and connect it
Insert pins and tap them fully back into position
Reinstall wheel.

Repeat for other side of car.

 

great vids wish there was sound tho.

btw, was your friend flooring it on the straight? looks like the C32 pulled away a lot in the straight.

Your friend do looks like a better driver. He's line looks to be a little better than yours from the video. The M3 just getting closer and closer at every corner.

 

Yes indeed, my friend in the M3 is a much better driver. He has about double the number of track days on me and was in fact running in the intermediate run group for most of the 2-day event, but decided to join me in the novice run group for a few runs on day 2 in order to take the videos. I think he was under full power, but he only acquired the M3 he was running in one week earlier so he decided to run with DSC (stability control) on as he wasn't fully comfortable with the car and SMG-II.

While I'm sure he'll still be faster, I could have slowed the rate that he closed the gap in the turns. In most of the corners I made a choice to over brake for the turn, as earlier in the day my instructor had signed me off to run solo in my run group. The video where you see the C32 being chased from behind was my 2nd solo run and I decided to take it safe.