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Ready for first trackday!

2003 - 2009, roadster, coupe, facelift
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brillomaster
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Ready for first trackday!

Post by brillomaster » Mon Jan 15, 2018 2:36 pm

So excited! my Z4 is ready for its first trackday - Bedford GT, on Saturday with MSV.

Sharing the drive with a mate, certainly wont be my first trackday, but it is my first in a car other than a 3 series saloon.

as expected my old track wheels went straight on, just a few pre trackday checks already completed (oil, water, new track tyres and new brake pads and fluid)

Bedford is a track I know well, so really interested to see how the Z4 takes to it. Also using this as a bit of a shakedown, the first trackday in a new car always worries me slightly, but I've taken it on a few spirited drives already and all seems well, so we should be ok.
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Will hopefully report back a successful day on sunday!

Scooba_Steve
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Ready for first trackday!

Post by Scooba_Steve » Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:59 pm

I like Bedford too, lots of space! Get an LSD, the car is so much better with one, literally night and day.
3.0si Sport: F10 Illuminated ZHP, Retrofit Cruise, OE Stubby, Gaptech RCH+, Kenwood BT73DAB + Handsfree, HIDs, LED Sidelights, OE LED Number Plate Lights, Custom LED strip bootlight.

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Ducklakeview
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Post by Ducklakeview » Wed Jan 17, 2018 11:00 pm

Scooba_Steve wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:59 pmI like Bedford too, lots of space! Get an LSD, the car is so much better with one, literally night and day.
+1!

Mike

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hopz121
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Post by hopz121 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:20 am

Enjoy yourself and stay safe :)
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Monkeydonkeyratmagic
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Ready for first trackday!

Post by Monkeydonkeyratmagic » Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:47 am

Question. Can you transplant the 25% diff from a 3.0 Z3 on a Z4? Reason for asking is there is a nicely spanked one in the breakers near me. Thinking if I can get it for cheap will be worthwhile once I've ess'd mine.
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Paulr
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Post by Paulr » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:58 pm

Do you drive it there, or trailer it?
If you try and take a cat apart the first thing you have is a non working cat.

brillomaster
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Post by brillomaster » Thu Jan 18, 2018 2:17 pm

gonna drive it there... don't have the facilities to trailer it unfortunately. which means driving there and back on the track tyres, but the old tyres lasted 12 trackdays, so should be fine.

and an LSD has been considered in the past... but when I switched to decent tyres I found all rear traction issues went away, so haven't pursued it any further.

PS checked the weather and it should be cold but dry and sunny... which should be fine, should be able to get heat in the tyres no problem.

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Joycey
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Post by Joycey » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:48 pm

I was hooning round Bedford a couple of weeks ago, we were delayed getting on due to some icy parts of the track. Made it really interesting.
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ph001
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Post by ph001 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 4:49 pm

Happy days! What pads did you fit? Brakes have been the only thing to ruin my fun on track, I wouldn't even bother attempting a track day on OEM pads. The E46 M3 has Performance Friction Z-rated pads (.11 compound) and they have been superb. Very low dust as well. The OEM discs and calipers are more than up to the job.
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buzyg
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Post by buzyg » Thu Jan 18, 2018 5:24 pm

Zeds are great on track. Enjoy. :driving: :thumbsup:
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brillomaster
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Post by brillomaster » Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:24 pm

went for some ebc bluestuffs, worked well on previous cars so reckon we should be ok :)

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ph001
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Post by ph001 » Fri Jan 19, 2018 11:03 am

brillomaster wrote: Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:24 pmwent for some ebc bluestuffs, worked well on previous cars so reckon we should be ok :)
Yeh, I think you will be fine with those... certainly in terms of fade, perhaps don't quite have the outright stopping ability of some of the more dedicated pads. A good thread on various EBC pads here.... https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=40525
2007 E85 Z4 3.0Si manual :driving:
19" CSL's | Eibach Springs | Aeroskirts | Z4M front bumper | Clear brake light | ZHP | RCH+| Stubby

2004 E46 M3 coupe manual - gone but not forgotten.

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brillomaster
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Post by brillomaster » Mon Jan 22, 2018 2:25 pm

Well the car survived the day which is good, though not without drama...

first thing is the car threw an check engine light 5 miles into the journey over there... which I was fairly confident was emissions related, so pressed on. I'd been checking the forecast all week and it said dry and sunny, but then on the day, it was actually chucking it down all day, ah well. and despite my track tyres having a lot of tread, the outside shoulders were pretty smooth so could only turn in a little bit before the understeer started... which slowed us down somewhat.

overall nice balance, good fun and sounds lovely. probably had a handful of spins... I had 3... if you know Bedford, you'll know the first corner is an ice rink in the wet, and the short wheelbase made the car quite snappy round there. but no harm done. My mate managed to spin it coming through the last fast right hander which is the one place I said to make sure you're careful lol... and somehow he managed to spin with all the TCS and DSC on!

Come the afternoon there was a lot of standing water... a river across the second to last corner, big lakes on the back straight and one chicane we nicknamed 'swimming pool chicane' which was interesting... lotsa people went off there as they aquaplaned.

we have some go pro footage to review which I might post up, but we're looking forward to the next one already, which will be Silverstone in mid march.

And one quick image (thanks MSVT photography)
Bedford jan 18 2.JPG
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Scooba_Steve
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Ready for first trackday!

Post by Scooba_Steve » Mon Jan 22, 2018 9:53 pm

I've never spun it :P

In some ways tracks are more fun in the wet, but I do always worry about aquaplaning at speed. Sounds like you had a good day :thumbsup:
3.0si Sport: F10 Illuminated ZHP, Retrofit Cruise, OE Stubby, Gaptech RCH+, Kenwood BT73DAB + Handsfree, HIDs, LED Sidelights, OE LED Number Plate Lights, Custom LED strip bootlight.

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