Its in the morning and I am heading to my office. I am approaching a light. At the next light, I have to take a right towards my office. At this light that I am approaching, I see a black M3. Its a short trip until the next light, where I have to take a right. I look over at the M3 driver. He looks over at me and I know it is on. I turn off the ESP and leave it in D. NOBODY in front of us!!! We have the road to ourselves!!! At the green, I floor it. But, my back tires are slipping and I fish tail just ever so slightly. I ease off and then re-floor it. Regardless, I have about a fender to 1/4 a car lead. I maintain this lead until 75 - 80, at which point I slow down to get in the far right lane to turn right. The M3 whizzes pass me and, to my surprise, is also getting in the far right lane to turn. Before He gets out of the turn, he takes off. However, now we are on a road that will eventually take us to a school that is ahead about 2-3 miles. I turn right and start flashing my lights. The M3 slows down and I pull up on his right and we both said good race.

 

e36? older body?

 

It was the current generation M3 - whatever that chassis number is.

 

Nice kill. I've seen the new M3 to be about equal to a stock W210 E55. It kind of depends on who gets better traction off the line. With my PowerChip ECU, they are no match but traction is a big problem

 

Can you tell me more about the powerchip? What kind? How much did it cost? What kind of HP and TQ increase? Do you have a before and after dyno? Can you run pump gas with your Powerchip?

 

It cost me about $1,000 for the 93 octane tuning. I still run 91 most of the time without a problem. The knock sensors take care of the timing most of the time. I do have problems with 91 octane when the temp outside is hot (say over 90) and I floor it. The engine knocks and misfires over about 5300RPM. I can get high octane at Union 76 but it is expensive so I only run it when I know it is going to be hot and I want to have fun.

I never dyno'd but they claim something like 17-20 peak HP. I did G-Tech before and after and conservatively dropped a tenth from 0 to 60. The times were much more consistent after I got used to the extra power. Rolling into the throttle is a hard to learn technique! Also, the car now spins the tires wildly (without ESP) during full throttle 2-1 downshifts. The mid range is awesome!

Is it worth it? For me, yes.