my M3 CSL

[cslsuperfan]

Alex

car is stunning

Epic wheels

Coach work looks amazing. What's your secret to keeping the nose so pristine?

[alexk]

Thanks guys.

The nose is not pristine at all.
It has many stone chips.

[alexk]

So yesterday I went to the track, again at Anneau Du Rhin in a time attack event organised by Speed Industries http://www.speed-industries.ch/wordp...-attack-serie/

Let's start with the most important things.
Water temperature issue, SOLVED
We had up to 32C yesterday, the water temp didn't move from the middle at all.
The oil temperature was steady at 110C. I personally never had high oil temperature.

Impressions from the suspension.
Very good. I feel it lacks in high speed damping compared to the Ohlins but I managed to beat easily my best laptime, even with the OEM shit brakes.
Comparing the telemetry data, I have same cornering speed in every corner compared to the Ohlins.
Overall happy with the suspension.
I have the latest version and I found that the settings that I liked more were +3 bound/rebound in the front and +4 bound +8 rebound rear.
I didn't fiddle more with the suspension as it takes some time and I wanted to focus on the driving.

Impressions from the OEM brakes with Mintex M1144.
Fecking hell ! SCARY. Twice I had a ' I have no brakes moment '.
It is a shock after using AP Racing.
Ordering my Brembo kit this week !

Laptimes etc.
I beat my best laptime there and I also got 1st place in the RWD street category.
Best lap of the day measured by the transponders 1:27.07 while the one measured by my telemetry 1:26.4 (it has different start/end point).
I am really surprised to be honest that I managed this, as the brakes were not up to the job.
Also, comparing laptimes in the site serious-racing.com with someone with a 997 GT3 RS, I see that he is faster by 10km/h in every straight, but surprisingly I have higher speed in every corner of the track.
Makes you wonder what the CSL could do with the P54 engine and genuine 420BHP.
Note: I don't drive the CSL at it's absolute limit as I don't want to bin it.

Here you can see a 1:27.7 lap

[shimmy]

alex


fantastic that you've solved the overheating.

also that you beat you fastest laptimes. the brakes when working will still stop you just as quick as the APs as apparently its all limited by tyre grip, AP just give you that consistently.

any ideas why your times were better, maybe more confidence with the suspension and pushing on a bit more or just getting braver with age?

[Loaded]

Very nice pictures and video.

[alexk]

Originally Posted by shimmy

also that you beat you fastest laptimes. the brakes when working will still stop you just as quick as the APs as apparently its all limited by tyre grip, AP just give you that consistently.

any ideas why your times were better, maybe more confidence with the suspension and pushing on a bit more or just getting braver with age?

The modulation the APs offer cannot be compared with the OEM ones.
A few times I was over-braking and many times I had to brake very fast as I was not confident they will stop me.

It is the 3rd time I am on a track with an aftermarket suspension.
The 1st time was last year with the Ohlins on dry track. Then I did a second trackday with the Ohlins in the same racetrack but it was freezing cold and raining, so I was drifting.
The 3rd time was yesterday so I am getting used to the extra grip a proper suspension is offering versus the OEM one.

[alexk]

One more update about my favorite vehicle.

If you remember, I was going to change my brakes to the brembo version that has CH homologation.
So after some waiting, the brake kit arrived.
I got only the front brake kit.
It is the 1M2.9001A5 which means it's the Brembo GT kit for the E46 M3 with monobloc 6-piston yellow calipers, slotted discs of 385x32mm size.
The kit was beautifully packaged and with the necessary Goodridge braided hoses.
The documentation is very good and everything fits perfect.
The build quality is much better than the AP Racing kit, but then again it costs double the money

What is interesting is the weight. They are very light considering how big they are.

The caliper and pads are just 5.2 kg



While the massive disc is just 9.5 kg



Here the OEM CSL disc vs the brembo one



Here fitted



The dimensions of the pistons of these massive calipers are spot on and the fluid capacity is very close to the OEM calipers.
The brake pedal travel and feel is simply perfect !

I am very happy with them.
The wheels just about clear the calipers in the spokes and the rim.
It seems like the wheels were designed to clear them !





Then I tried them at the track.
I am running the stock brembo pads and rear Mintex M1144 pads on the OEM brakes.
They are fantastic.
I will upgrade the pads for getting the extra stopping power

And some photos from the beautiful Alsace in France, close to the racetrack... sunset time.

[mattCSLnut]

Very BREMBOs
Any plans to fit the rear BREMBO callipers to match the fronts, in the near future ?

[alexk]

Originally Posted by mattCSLnut

Very BREMBOs
Any plans to fit the rear BREMBO callipers to match the fronts, in the near future ?

I don't see the need right now Matt.
The brake balance is very good at the moment.
BMW is doing the same in the M series, big 6 piston in the front and single piston rears. Work fine in the M5.

[mattCSLnut]

Originally Posted by alexk

I don't see the need right now Matt.
The brake balance is very good at the moment.
BMW is doing the same in the M series, big 6 piston in the front and single piston rears. Work fine in the M5.

What you say makes sense and it seems to work well on the current generation of M cars but do keep an eye on your rear pad wear as when I did my Porsche BREMBO conversion starting with only the fronts at first, I noticed the wear rate of my rear pads was 2-3 sets of rear pads for every one set of the fronts. This is why soon after fitting the fronts I added the rear BREMBOs Since then the pad wear rate has evened out to a ration of 1:1, front to rear.