[BEEMeUp]

Is there anyone currently making one of these for the 2-series?
Or is this something that will need to be done custom?

[Anthony235]

Custom. Buddy had one done for his s15.

Funny note is my old RX8 came with a composite drive shaft to save weight.

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by Anthony235

Custom. Buddy had one done for his s15.

Funny note is my old RX8 came with a composite drive shaft to save weight.

Do you know who your buddy used to have his made?

[Anthony235]

Originally Posted by BEEMeUp

Do you know who your buddy used to have his made?

Was a shop in Orange County california. They made race baja buggies. Sorry can't remember the name it was like 15 years ago.

[SteveInfante]

Call Drive Shaft Shop. They can make you whatever you want.
http://www.driveshaftshop.com

[ivegotklas]

Whats the point of this? A carbon fiber driveshaft will give you little to no performance increase.

[pz619]

Even the m3/m4 are now being produced with steel drive shafts and moving away from carbon.

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by ivegotklas

Whats the point of this? A carbon fiber driveshaft will give you little to no performance increase.

If you've ever done autocross, you grab every advantage you can find. Even a 5 pound loss off the drive shaft would equate to nearly 20-25% reduction in rotating mass. There's no single solution.. you take the sum of your parts to create a great performance car.

Originally Posted by pz619

Even the m3/m4 are now being produced with steel drive shafts and moving away from carbon.

Maybe so, but most of us cannot afford those high price of entry points. We do better spending our money elsewhere to create a better performing (less expensive) vehicle.

[SerenVoX]

How much would a carbon shaft run? Is the OEM shafts weaker?

[cxp213]

I think almost everybody shops at www.driveshaftshop.com.

Originally Posted by BEEMeUp

If you've ever done autocross, you grab every advantage you can find. Even a 5 pound loss off the drive shaft would equate to nearly 20-25% reduction in rotating mass. There's no single solution.. you take the sum of your parts to create a great performance car.

A CF driveshaft would throw you out of most "cost-reasonable" classes in autocross.

My 350Z had a CF driveshaft and that was amazingly light. Those pushing a lot of power eventually upgraded to some sort of steel version, though, I believe.

[pz619]

Originally Posted by BEEMeUp

Maybe so, but most of us cannot afford those high price of entry points. We do better spending our money elsewhere to create a better performing (less expensive) vehicle.

That's kind of my point. Spending money on a carbon fiber driveshaft isn't the best value for the money. You'd be better served by doing other mods. No one notices the difference between a m3/m4 with a steel versus carbon driveshaft.

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by cxp213

A CF driveshaft would throw you out of most "cost-reasonable" classes in autocross.

My 350Z had a CF driveshaft and that was amazingly light. Those pushing a lot of power eventually upgraded to some sort of steel version, though, I believe.

In the end, I've put in roughly $7,500 in aftermarket parts on the vehicle and gave myself a $10k limit before I called it a day. Some will say that's a lot, others will say that will depend on what you've done with those funds.

The issue for me is that I have a 228i MSport, not a 235i... and I've done a number of mods to the car so far, but my options are much more limited for aftermarket goodies with regards to power-adders. The focus I now find myself in is to concentrate on those areas that reduce rotating mass and weight.

I'd say at best I'm pushing around the 300-310 whp/torque range (though I haven't done a final dyno, since I want to have all my upgrades completed before I do). My ultimate goal is to have a vehicle that is under the 3,000 lbs mark.

Originally Posted by pz619

That's kind of my point. Spending money on a carbon fiber driveshaft isn't the best value for the money. You'd be better served by doing other mods. No one notices the difference between a m3/m4 with a steel versus carbon driveshaft.

That's just it, I've kinda 'maxed-out' all my other options.. intake, high flow cat-downpipe, exhaust, brakes, cf hood, coilovers, seats, rear seat delete, wheels, tires, lightweight battery and tune.

Right now I'm trying to track down areas that most people avoid... and while not the most cost effective, my current options are getting slim. So a CF driveshaft would make sense in this scenario as my overall power output will probably not be more than 320hp+. As mentioned above, I'm capping my overall costs at the $10k mark, which would put my vehicles overall cost around $34k (bought used). Comparing that to a $50k-60k vehicle, the savings overall are much more sensible.

[cxp213]

OK, but like I said, you're still going to be thrown in some stupid class you'll be wildly outclassed in with your basic mods. If you won't be in Prepared, you'll be in Modified. Either way, you're not going to be a contender for those who actually have cars specced for those classes. Plus, a used M235i is low 30K and puts down around that much power out of the box.

Personally, if I had a set amount of funds to throw at a car + mods, I would've done more research to get into something that's more mod friendly or race friendly. If I already had a car that wasn't going to be very fast or competitive in sanctioned racing, I'd probably just limit myself to basic stuff. You're doing things that will give you very minimal quantifiable gains when there are probably bigger ticket items you can focus on, if you're dead set on continuing to mod your car for faster lap times.

[ivegotklas]

Why don't you do a complete vehicle strip down? Trims, AC, speakers anything not needed to go fast. I bet that's the only way to hit the 3000 lbs mark. Who needs AC at the track anyways. Plus tearing stuff out and not replacing it is a cheaper option.

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by cxp213

OK, but like I said, you're still going to be thrown in some stupid class you'll be wildly outclassed in with your basic mods. If you won't be in Prepared, you'll be in Modified. Either way, you're not going to be a contender for those who actually have cars specced for those classes. Plus, a used M235i is low 30K and puts down around that much power out of the box.

Personally, if I had a set amount of funds to throw at a car + mods, I would've done more research to get into something that's more mod friendly or race friendly. If I already had a car that wasn't going to be very fast or competitive in sanctioned racing, I'd probably just limit myself to basic stuff. You're doing things that will give you very minimal quantifiable gains when there are probably bigger ticket items you can focus on, if you're dead set on continuing to mod your car for faster lap times.

True, there is a limit as to how far the 228i will go. The 235 is the more mod friendly car, and at the time of purchase, I didn't have the extra $10k lying around to go forward with one. If you are a married man, you know you can only do so much with your paycheck before the wife lays down the 'bitchy hammer' on finances. I will say that while the 228 is not nearly as mod friendly, its certainly not limited. I've taken the time and I did my research. Finding a 235i for under $30k is nearly impossible, and most of the ones you find have had 'accidents' from previous over-eager owners.

For me the 228i works great, 98% of my time behind the wheel deals with commuting and weekend driving fun. Autocross was and is a means to have some additional fun, but it did not factor as the final word in my desire to modify my car.

For me, I am mostly just trying to just beat my own track times and improve on my driving abilities. With the weight savings, I have over a 450 pound weight savings versus that of a stock 235.

Originally Posted by ivegotklas

Why don't you do a complete vehicle strip down? Trims, AC, speakers anything not needed to go fast. I bet that's the only way to hit the 3000 lbs mark. Who needs AC at the track anyways. Plus tearing stuff out and not replacing it is a cheaper option.

Note my location.... you DO NOT remove an A/C unit from your vehicle if you live in Phoenix, not if you want to arrive at work looking like a wet dog in the Summer time.

Also, I am a driver of a BMW, not a Miata (no offense Miata owners). I do want to retain the refinement that comes with such a vehicle. So my mods are meant to 'improve' on what was already there, whilst not taking anything comfy away from the vehicle. True they cost a penny or two, but that is the price one pays for refinement.

Also, I'm currently under the 3,100 pound mark (I will do a final weigh-in after I finalize all my upgrades), I maybe need to shave roughly around 80-90 more pounds to get into the 2k zone, but I definitely think it is achievable without turning my car into a Frankin-vehicle.

[cxp213]

Originally Posted by BEEMeUp

For me, I am mostly just trying to just beat my own track times and improve on my driving abilities. With the weight savings, I have over a 450 pound weight savings versus that of a stock 235.

Fair enough. You'd mentioned competition aspect so I was basing my answers on that. However, if you're truly concerned about improving your skills, spending money on seat time is infinitely smarter than any physical mod you can do, especially a CF driveshaft. Regardless, your money, your decision. If you end up getting one, please post up!

Just curious, what weight reduction did you do to achieve >450lbs in weight savings?

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by cxp213

Just curious, what weight reduction did you do to achieve >450lbs in weight savings?

235 base/auto is hovering around 3,530 lbs to start.
228 base/auto is roughly 3,300 pounds... so 230 there right off the bat.

The other 210+ has been from upgrades to the following...
Race seats up front, rear seat delete, wheels, tires, coilovers, cf hood, race battery, downpipe and exhaust.

I know it's money well spent to 'upgrade the driver' versus the car, but its kind of my hobby/addiction updating my vehicle, so the parts come when the wallet can accommodate them.

[cxp213]

I know how that goes, lol. How's the interior noise with the rear seat delete? How much did the rear seats alone weigh?

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by cxp213

I know how that goes, lol. How's the interior noise with the rear seat delete? How much did the rear seats alone weigh?

The sound increase was obvious at first, more of a 'hollow/open' sound coming from the trunk region from the rear tires. I went ahead and cut a custom piece of MDF board and backed that with some sound deadening material, painted it black and fastened using the existing bolt holes where the seats used to reside... muuuuch better, nearly the same as when the seats were in.

As far as weight, came out to about 45 pounds.

[ivegotklas]

Originally Posted by BEEMeUp

The sound increase was obvious at first, more of a 'hollow/open' sound coming from the trunk region from the rear tires. I went ahead and cut a custom piece of MDF board and backed that with some sound deadening material, painted it black and fastened using the existing bolt holes where the seats used to reside... muuuuch better, nearly the same as when the seats were in.

As far as weight, came out to about 45 pounds.

Do you have any pics. I'd love to see what it looks like.

[BEEMeUp]

Originally Posted by ivegotklas

Do you have any pics. I'd love to see what it looks like.

Those will be coming in an upcoming build thread I'm working on as soon as I've completed all the mods to the car (no sneak peeks )

But, for reference, I used this guys thread as sort of the initial inspiration and borrowed his idea of using cardboard cutouts to get the shaping just right. I do plan to carpet the fronts eventually, just for a better look than the paint I used...

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=876832