Koni's rock
 

Autox'd the 330 today for the first time with the DA Koni's. They're great! They handled the r-comps MUCH better than the stock suspension. Last weekend my front suspension was moaning and clunking like crazy with the 710's. With the Koni's it's totally fine.

My car is mostly setup for D-stock:

- Koni DA's
- H&R front bar
- M68's with 245/45-R17 V710's

Observations 1: The car is actually a lot of fun! For a long time I avoided D-stock for the "stupid" SCCA rules: stock sized wheels, front bar only, etc. But my car was farily neutral today, and quite a bit of fun, even with 245 wheels jammed on 7.5" front wheels. The 710's are a blast.

Observation 2: Now that I drive on R-comps I get wicked engine tick. Sounded even worse than Andy's in Toledo. I overfilled about 1/2 quart and it seemed to mostly go away, but it was still there. I had started out full, but not over full.

Observation 3: Having a competitive car is FUN. I attended a somewhat small event in south jersey (75 competitors). I won my class and somehow managed to get second place overall in pax. Were there a lot of national level drivers there? No. Did the car make me a better driver? No. But I'm already doing what I can to become a better driver. It's fun to have some small, fun victories along the way, on my journey to take over the world.

Observation 4: Changing tires absolutely sucks. Between that and the expense of r-comps, I may run street tires at many of the local events from now on. It's not ideal to switch back and forth, but we get a lot of runs at events up here, and I do an event almost every weekend. I can't afford $100/week on tires. Either I do some on street tires, or I do fewer events. Given that I still have a ton of learning to do, doing fewer events seems like a bad idea.

Re: Koni's rock
 

You could get a cheaper, longer lasting set of R comps.

Re: Koni's rock
 

Yeah, that's not a bad idea. I thought about mounting a set of Victoracers on my 17x8 wheels once the Azenis wear out. But if I'm going to have compromized grip, I'm wondering if I might as well just use streets and avoid needing to swap tires. Both seem like reasonable options.

JST, Now that your ZHP is legal in D-stock, we need to get your car setup too. :stickpoke:

Re: Koni's rock
 

There's a big spectrum between the grip available on street tires like Pilot Sports and even "weak" R compounds. I've been pretty happy with the Dunlops, which offer A LOT more grip than street tires, though not as much as Kumhos or Hoosiers.

I'm not spending any money setting up the ZHP. That car either goes back at the end of the lease or gets turned into a family truckster. Either way, big money on the suspension isn't happening.

Re: Koni's rock
 

Well, the ZHP isn't legal in DS yet. But I do believe that the proposal will go through.

For the amount that JST autocrosses, a set of 710s should have no problem lasting a full season. For rumatt, a full season might be stretching it...but not by much.

Suspension mods for the ZHP... there's no reason that you couldn't find a used set of Konis and a used front bar that you could resell for close to your purchase price when the next car comes along. In the meantime, you'd have a car that would probably even feel a little more fun to drive on the street than with the OE stuff.

Re: Koni's rock
 

My used Koni's were $700 and they will last for years. That's like 3 months of r-comps budget ( :cry: ).

Based on my one data point, I'd say if you're even remotely interested in autox, they're worth it. But given that you have managed to avoid being sucked into the autox-obsession-money-pit and only autox occasionally for fun, keeping your car totally stock is a very reasonable choice.

Re: Koni's rock
 

I agree... But to be clear, my point wasn't to try to convince people to mod their car when they're not interested. If you're happy stock, definitely stay there.

What am I advocating is the "if you're going to do it, do it right" strategy. I think I'm with Andy on this one. While you definitely don't want modding your car to get in the way of learning, if you're going to mod it, I say do it right and get it out of the way from the beginning. It puts the whole "should I mod the car" issue to rest and you can focus on driving.

Doing one mod at a time over the course of a season is the worst option. You're frustrated the whole time and always focusing on the wrong thing (what does my car need next? Should I do it now or wait longer? etc...)

Re: Koni's rock
 

I haven't been paying attention--do Konis for the E46s come as full struts? You don't have to cut and weld like you do with the E36s, right?

710s might be on the radar next year, depending on what happens, but I'm concerned about cording them. Does my stock camber setup have enough camber to keep them wearing evenly?

Honestly, for street driving the ZHP setup is about as close to perfect as I can ask for. It has nice, solid handling and a firm but very livable ride; it is, IMHO, much better than what you get with an M3. As far as autocrossing goes, the car has a good deal of body roll in transitions, and I'm sure Konis would dial that out. With the same size tires all around, I don't find understeer to be an issue, and the tail has a decent bit of rotation (not RX-8 level, but not bad).

The big problem that I have with autocrossing the ZHP has nothing to do with the suspension or handling. It's the power (or lack thereof). After getting used to the rip the tail sideways power of the M3, the 330 just feels slow.

Re: Koni's rock
 

Full strut, just bolt it on and go.

Re: Koni's rock
 

I'd autocross a hell of a lot more if someone other than the BMWCCA and SCCA would put on an event someplace closer than Aberdeen.

We need a lot.

Worst thing that happened to autocross was the relaxing of Blue Laws. Used to be EVERY mall had lot space available on Sundays.

We used to have MANY lots, in fact each club had a specific lots, and there were lots of little clubs running autocrosses.

Oh well, just keep looking.

And what's wrong with Aberdeen? I like the location. :twisted:

Re: Koni's rock
 

Rumor has it that the edges hold up pretty well. The edges of mine look OK after 14 runs. I know a guy running his E46 M3 in A-stock, so he's also camber challenged, and he said his are holding up really well. I'll let you know how long mine end up lasting. I'm still undecided whether it would be worth $100 to rotate them at some point. I've heard bad stories about folks who flipped them too late into their life.

Oh, and the Koni install is pretty easy. You just need a spring compressor.

That's funny. For me it was the exact opposite. I was worried about why the car wouldn't go around corners, and why I sucked so much at driving. When I was slow in a straight, it was usually because I screwed up the previous corner.

I think it depends what your goal is. If you just want to go out there, have fun, and tear up the course, then everything you've said makes a lot sense. But I'd take a well setup 330 that is competitive in its class any day over an uncompetitive M3 that allowed me to do Bren-style dukes of hazzard drifts through the whole course. :devcool:

Re: Koni's rock
 

Well, that was my favorite show as a kid :twisted:

Re: Koni's rock
 

Speaking of tail-out drifts... is there any chance I can bum a ride in your car at the next NCC autocross? Name your price... :eeps:

Re: Koni's rock
 

Did you pick up that Z06 yet? :)

(kicking stones)

NO.... :(

(walking away)

:lol: What else do you have to offer?

Seriously though, I don't have a problem with you running it but I won't be at the next event.

Congratulations on your 1st place finish!! 2nd in PAX too? That's impressive!! Sounds like it's time to start traveling outside your region a little more. You might want to consider running divisionals or even the national tours… it will only make you faster.

I totally agree with what you've done with the car… build the car with the best stuff and to the max extent of the rules and then grow into the car. That way, you'll know for sure that your performance is a direct result of driver skill, not the car.

The only thing I would suggest… and keep in mind this totally depends on your budget and your goals (i.e. if you want to be competitive at the national level)… I would continue to run the V710s at all of your events (no matter if it's just a regional). Reason being, you want to learn the extreme limits of the car in full competitive race trim in order to take full advantage of your seat time. It does get expensive this way. One way to help that is to run fewer events by just running divisionals and national tours… plus, if you're already kicking butt regionally, it really is time to move up to the next level.

Again congrats, sounds like you're doing well!! :thumbup:

I'll be at DC next weekend, and am looking forward to being reminded how much I still suck. The event last weekend was filled with a LOT of n00bs.. trust me on that one.

I'm kinda bummed that the only remaining big event is Topeka. I'm mostly convinced that I won't be attending that one. :eeps: Are there any other "decent sized" events in the north east this year?

Have you thought about doing a ProSolo? The Toledo Pro is coming up Aug 5-7. I think the Denver Tour is the last national and Toledo is the last Pro before Topeka. I’d encourage you to make the trek out to KS, I guarantee you’d have blast!!

I see no mention in this thread of the rock owned by Koni. False advertising!

End at Topeka, KS: Total Est. Time: 20 hours, 34 minutes

:speechle:

point?

(not the one on top of your head, I mean)

Yes.