Hello racers!

My wife has been bitten by the track day bug. We were planning to share my 240Z, but that's not real smart - car won't have time to cool down between groups, and we couldn't run together.

So I managed to pick up a hard top for my 325ic.. and now we're planning to take it to Thunderhill in October and Buttonwillow in November.

The car has stock EVERYTHING, with the exception of 235/45R17 Pirelli's, a TMS chip, and a strut brace. My wife is not real likely to be pushing the E36's envelope, in my estimation. While all stock, it's in great shape and exhibits no bad behavior when driven spiritedly on the street. :devillook IOW, I think the RSMs and RTABs are okay for now. I do plan to bleed the brakes with ATE super blue as maintenance beforehand.

Will stock suspension and brakes (good depth on unknown pads) be up to the task? I don't mind a "wait and see" approach, but really don't want to get out there and :eek: OMFG I KNEW I NEEDED BETTER PADS :helpya know?

As long as regular maintenance is taken care of, she will be more than fine in that car totally stock. Have fun!

A stock daily driver in good condition should be fine for the frirst few DE's. And there's something of an advantage to being on street tires and a stock suspension, since that's what the novice driver is most used to. Brakes could a another story. With "unknown pads" fade, even for a novice, could be a problem. A set of High Performance Street pads (or a bit better) would be a minimal investment and well worth the cost for the piece of mind they'd bring.

As an FYI: ATE Blue will stain the brake reservoir and make level checks more difficult. ATE Type 200 is the same fluid, sans dye. Better to do a full flush than just a bleed.

So I managed to pick up a hard top for my 325ic.. and now we're planning to take it to Thunderhill in October and Buttonwillow in November.

Be aware that a number of organization don't consider a hardtop on a convertible acceptable protection. They usually require rollhoops that extend 2" above the helmeted head of the driver. Some require more.

The tech sheet says "open cars with roll bar/protection". Since I saw a number of cars out there last time with only popups, I've got to figure we'll be good to go with the hard top. If we were going real racing, or if she turns into a demon behind the wheel, I'll definitely revisit the rollbar/cage; if that happens, I think she'll just get her own damn track car:boobies SpecE30 sounds nice...

Thanks for the feedback on the pads and fluid. Maybe I'll see where the fade threshold is on the current pads and go from there.

I ran Hawk HP+ on my 240Z and was thrilled with the performance, but they'd qualify as "a little better" than good street pads in my book (fair-to-middlin cold bite). They're rumored to be noisy on street cars too, so I hesitate to go that route for my daily driver.

I've read and re-read http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150002 though not real recently. Came down to Hawk HPS or Axxis Ultimate last time.
Bearing in mind that I have to be able to drive this car every day relatively painlessly, which would you choose?

The tech sheet says "open cars with roll bar/protection". Since I saw a number of cars out there last time with only popups, I've got to figure we'll be good to go with the hard top.

Umm, no, you cannot "figure" you are "good to go".

Rollbar/protection != hardtop on a convertible.

You need to contact the group organizing the events you are considering and ask them directly.

Jim

Use the peformance friction Z rated pads. $60 a vatozone. They work. For real.

that would be great if ur wife kicked ur ass on ur Z. :rofl

j/k, good times, have fun!

Double check front pad thickness. Seen a lot of first timers roast through their front pads because they were pretty thin and were dragging their brakes. It's a natural thing to do your first time out, and it would suck to have to do trackside repairs when you can get a decent set of "performance street" pads that will handle a first DE just fine and provide years of street life after that.

I've got a message into the organizer about the hard top; keeping my fingers crossed. 'Course I also have now mentally enginnered a bolt-in rollbar if all else fails.

Thanks for the advice on the pads. E36 pads have "normal" new thickness of about 3/8", right?

I ran Hawk HP+ on my 240Z and was thrilled with the performance, but they'd qualify as "a little better" than good street pads in my book (fair-to-middlin cold bite). They're rumored to be noisy on street cars too, so I hesitate to go that route for my daily driver.
HP+ are noisy on the street, especially when cold. They are a bit better than Hawk HPS or Axxis Ultimates and are about as far as you can go towards track pad performance and still use them on the street. Hawk HPS or Axxis Ultimates would not be a bad choice for a novice driver. I've used all three and I prefer the HP+, but then a squeal from the brakes doesn't bother me at all.