Quote:
|
Originally Posted by wjones14
Legal, I brought my M235i to the Palmer Motorsports track in MA this past August. Totally stock with the staggered Michelin PSS tires. It was fine for me in stock form. I was previously tracking the 2005 Mustang GT pictured in my avatar for the past decade, and the BMW was a revelation. Particularly because the Mustang was a daily driver with all season tires, and the Michelin PSS summer tires have sooooo much more grip. The torque of the 2 Series was also a revelation. The Mustang had almost equal torque - 320 versus 330 with the BMW - but the torque curve in the BMW is flat from 1400 rpm to over 4000, while the torque in the Mustang did not come on strong until almost 3000 rpm. So less need to downshift in the BMW and consequently I was always in 3rd or 4th gear at Palmer, even in the low speed 40 mph turns.
I even stuck with the stock tire pressures of 33 front and 38 rear and it was fine. The pressures increased with a few laps and the car was sticking. I didn't abuse it, but did manage a 2:03 lap and hit 126 mph on the front straight.
I would say to try the car out stock to see where you think it needs improvement based on your skill level.
|
I've done around two dozen track days in my 235i. After wearing out two or three sets of staggered MPSS tires, I went to a square setup on 17' Kosei's with 245-17 Hancook R-S3's. I've also started running tire pressures about 2 PSI higher in the front tires. This tends to counteract the oversteer nicely.