Hi chaps
Time has come to spend some cash on improving the e89 handling following a tasty summer bonus :evil: and a decision to keep her a bit more long-term rather than moving on to something else!
Background: my car is a 2010 e89 35i on stock suspension and springs, which have no record of being changed. It has a shocking mismatch set of tyres which is my personal pet peeve. It has been tuned a bit and is around 380hp. It gets regular spirited twisty road driving, and I would like it to be track-capable, although it'll only be a few times a year max.
Tyres:
Front - 2x Goodyear Eagle F1 225/35/19 on 19x8.5J rims
Rear - 1x Falken and 1x Nereus Sailfish
255/30/19 on 19x9.5J rims
I plan to replace the 2x rears with new Michelin PS4s 265/30/19s. My personal favourite tyre. Moving from 255 to 265 because the current tyres have a slightly 'stretched' aesthetic which I don't particularly like. Pics attached. As you'll see the PO has also absolutely ragged the rims against some kerbs so they're in deep need of a full refurb. I plan to replace the fronts with 225/35/19 Michelins, and keep the Goodyears in the shed as emergency spares... The rears can be ceremonially burned.
If anyone thinks I should use a different tyre size I'd be keen to hear. Changing 255 for 265 appears to result in 91.1mph at indicated 90mph, 1% increase in diameter, so fairly minor. Moving to 275/30/19 (max recommendation on a 9.5J alloy) takes that to 91.8mph @ indicated 90, 2% increase in diameter.
I anticipate spending perhaps ~£1000 on tyres, refurb of rims, and geometry realignment.
Suspension:
I'm much more at a loss here, regarding what to upgrade on an e89. Shocks, springs, ARBs, polybushes, control arms, etc.
The qualities of handling that I like a lot about this car are chiefly:
- ride height - appears to balance looking good with excellent ground clearance (never scrapes straddling a speedbump etc.)
- all round compliance/comfort - it never feels crashy or jarring.
- braking performance - really strong, no need for any improvement here for me.
- acceleration performance - again, plenty for this chassis I think.
The qualities I really do not like are:
- alarming weightlessness on rear tyres when changing up a gear after full throttle (weight transfer forwards) - this alone would prevent me taking this car on track, to be honest.
- excessive body roll when cornering - feels like you could get close to cocking a wheel in this car, if you tried. Again, I think this would prevent me taking this car on track.
- soggy turn-in/understeer tendency - it's not terrible compared to expectation from online reviews before I bought the car, but it's definitely not good. Are there recommended fast-road geometry settings that might improve this - or spacers on the front wheels, etc? Appreciate maybe the 35i engine is just a bit too nose-heavy for the chassis perhaps.
- single tyre fire - evident that this car does not have an LSD. I am not sure I'm willing to get into it to this level, but if it is not too painful I'd like to have an LSD. Was there any factory option, or something?
- excessive dive under full braking and squat under full acceleration - relation to point 1 aside, these are relatively minor complaints by comparison, but definitely not 'sports car' quality.
I'm really here looking for suggestions on where to spend the money to improve these attributes. I don't want to turn it into a polybushed track-car diva, but it really wants some better weight control. Is it worth looking at fitting adjustable dampers that firm up considerably for sport mode, etc?
Love to hear all your suggestions about what's improved the e89 ride for you.
Thanks all.
C
Time has come to spend some cash on improving the e89 handling following a tasty summer bonus :evil: and a decision to keep her a bit more long-term rather than moving on to something else!
Background: my car is a 2010 e89 35i on stock suspension and springs, which have no record of being changed. It has a shocking mismatch set of tyres which is my personal pet peeve. It has been tuned a bit and is around 380hp. It gets regular spirited twisty road driving, and I would like it to be track-capable, although it'll only be a few times a year max.
Tyres:
Front - 2x Goodyear Eagle F1 225/35/19 on 19x8.5J rims
Rear - 1x Falken and 1x Nereus Sailfish
255/30/19 on 19x9.5J rimsI plan to replace the 2x rears with new Michelin PS4s 265/30/19s. My personal favourite tyre. Moving from 255 to 265 because the current tyres have a slightly 'stretched' aesthetic which I don't particularly like. Pics attached. As you'll see the PO has also absolutely ragged the rims against some kerbs so they're in deep need of a full refurb. I plan to replace the fronts with 225/35/19 Michelins, and keep the Goodyears in the shed as emergency spares... The rears can be ceremonially burned.
If anyone thinks I should use a different tyre size I'd be keen to hear. Changing 255 for 265 appears to result in 91.1mph at indicated 90mph, 1% increase in diameter, so fairly minor. Moving to 275/30/19 (max recommendation on a 9.5J alloy) takes that to 91.8mph @ indicated 90, 2% increase in diameter.
I anticipate spending perhaps ~£1000 on tyres, refurb of rims, and geometry realignment.
Suspension:
I'm much more at a loss here, regarding what to upgrade on an e89. Shocks, springs, ARBs, polybushes, control arms, etc.
The qualities of handling that I like a lot about this car are chiefly:
- ride height - appears to balance looking good with excellent ground clearance (never scrapes straddling a speedbump etc.)
- all round compliance/comfort - it never feels crashy or jarring.
- braking performance - really strong, no need for any improvement here for me.
- acceleration performance - again, plenty for this chassis I think.
The qualities I really do not like are:
- alarming weightlessness on rear tyres when changing up a gear after full throttle (weight transfer forwards) - this alone would prevent me taking this car on track, to be honest.
- excessive body roll when cornering - feels like you could get close to cocking a wheel in this car, if you tried. Again, I think this would prevent me taking this car on track.
- soggy turn-in/understeer tendency - it's not terrible compared to expectation from online reviews before I bought the car, but it's definitely not good. Are there recommended fast-road geometry settings that might improve this - or spacers on the front wheels, etc? Appreciate maybe the 35i engine is just a bit too nose-heavy for the chassis perhaps.
- single tyre fire - evident that this car does not have an LSD. I am not sure I'm willing to get into it to this level, but if it is not too painful I'd like to have an LSD. Was there any factory option, or something?
- excessive dive under full braking and squat under full acceleration - relation to point 1 aside, these are relatively minor complaints by comparison, but definitely not 'sports car' quality.
I'm really here looking for suggestions on where to spend the money to improve these attributes. I don't want to turn it into a polybushed track-car diva, but it really wants some better weight control. Is it worth looking at fitting adjustable dampers that firm up considerably for sport mode, etc?
Love to hear all your suggestions about what's improved the e89 ride for you.
Thanks all.
C
