nichop

Can't believe it ! Had an E36 Compact keeping up with me ! Not on the straight but round a few large roundabouts he was right on my tail. Now I thought I was on the limit of traction with the tyres just beginning to squeal. So....am I just a crap driver (don't answer that one ) ?
What can I do to sort this out because i'm not happy having a BMW Compact up my ****. At the moment i've got a standard UK MY99 with nothing done to it. Big expense is not an option yet (house extension to fund etc etc). If I was at the limit of traction, what suspension mods would improve this ? I have Toyo's so reckon tyres are good. As I figure it, harder suspension (Eibachs etc) Bump Steer Mods etc are not the answer as they won't improve the limit of traction. Am I wrong here ?

Nick

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

You sure it wasnt one of the turbo versions?
Shove a decat system on your car that will improve your performance, changing from 16 inch to 17 inch wheels is better too as it gives you better ride, also have the Prodrive Geometry settings done, this improves the handling and isnt that expensive
You could also try (if your not doing so at the mo) running super unleaded fuel for better performance?


Tony

Richie1

Cause adding a turbo makes it handle better on a roundabout ??


What tyres were you on as the grip is only as good as the rubber....

chrisp

Richie1

Oh yeah

LOL..... Might be they had a full set of Eagle F1's ??

Or you're a crap driver

Richie1

Or here's a thought - The Scooby aint the bestest car on the road after all



[Edited by Richie1 - 8/23/2002 6:23:00 PM]

chrisp

edited

[Edited by chrisp - 8/23/2002 6:26:49 PM]

chrisp

LOL editted it as my post didnt make much sense, come to think of it not many of mine do

[Edited by chrisp - 8/23/2002 6:28:00 PM]

barry_white69

Do you mean grip rather than traction? sorry just being picky.

It's quite simple really, a Skoda Rapide could match your ultimate turning speed provided it had nice broad sticky tyres and a low weight. It's very possible the BMW had equal or better tyres to yours and I don't think there would be much weight difference so he could easily match the same speed as you around a roundabout. If you want to turn quicker you need more grip or less weight, best option is to change for broader wheels and stickier tyres. However this causes other problems, bigger bills, tramlining, road noise that sort of thing.

TomM

Compact turbo?.........errrrr no!

Old E36 Compacts are 1.6/1.9
New Compacts 1.8/2.0/2.5

All normal with no whish or whoosh!

Ive driven the 325ti and that was quick, although I would have though a Scooby would have minced it in every aspect, I had a sport SE and the handling was well, not to inspiring, very good but I certainly wouldnt throw it into a roundabout like I do with the M3!!

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

I thought that they made a 318ti?

Tony

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Like one of these E36 318ti's

In addition to the excellent performance and roadholding of the 318ti, the Special Equipment model includes alloy wheels, air conditioning, halogen front fog lamps and rear-seat head restraints for an even sportier look and feel.

This last bit of info is care of Evo website

BMW 318ti Sport Compact '94-'00 4/1895 140/6000 133/4300 121 9.9 130

Tony


[Edited by TonyBurns - 8/23/2002 6:58:44 PM]

Philip Attaway

I would have thought a lot of cars would corner just as quick as a scoob as they suffer from understeer unless you have your geometry/bumpsteer sorted.

The scoobs weapon is when leaving the roundabout. Power down quicker and bye bye BMW

nichop

Wow - that's why I love scoobynet. 12 responses in a matter of 1 hour.
Your right Richie - the Scooby aint the best car on the road. Nevertheless i'm surprised to see a Compact keeping up with me round the bends.
barry_white69 your quite right, I do mean grip.
So, what do things like bumpsteer mod and better suspension (lets not get into a 20 page debate about what is 'better'. You know what I mean )give me. Would they improve the cornering ability in any way ?
What about lessons ? Any suggestions for good training ?

LG John

You never know, maybe the guy behind you was a complete expert and was driving the car at 100% of its abilities.

Flatlander

Maybe it was somebody's Nan.......

hades

The difference between an "average" driver, and the best can easily be 10% or more in cornering speed. Put a touring car / GT / F3 or better driver in a standard UK turbo, I doubt there are many people on the board who could get near them in a 300bhp modded STi.

b.t.w., I know many people would slaughter me too. Doesn't stop me having fun, though!

nichop

Happy to go with that theory Saxo

Everyone raves on about the scooby being so great on the twisties. Why is this ? If pure cornering grip is no better than the next car, is it purely because of the ability to squirt it out of each bend faster ? There must be more to it than that (or is it all just bravado )

hades

I hate Windows XP. Crashing mid post, then putting it up twice. AAGH!

[Edited by hades - 8/23/2002 7:34:47 PM]

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

We all know that BMW's have traction control no doubt if he turned it off it would have been a little different

Tony

barry_white69

I don't see how TC would affect a car's ultimate grip, only acceleration out of the corner.

If you think about it laterally, what you are atually doing is trying to raise the speed that car is travelling at it's very slowest point. Reduce weight, put more rubber on road (broader tyres, not bigger wheels), reduce CofG, adjust suspension to keep the tyres in better contact with road.

FLAT ERIC

iTrader: (1)

"It's quite simple really, a Skoda Rapide could match your ultimate turning speed provided it had nice broad sticky tyres and a low weight."



With shortened springs,Volvo 140 series dampers up front & SAAB 900 Combi rears,a cam change to Group A spec & a few other mods this poor mans rally car could & did see off XR3i's.No big deal you are all saying but not bad from a "skip" running a feeble 57 bhp in standard trim.Not exactly Scooby teritory but the works cars had a nay bad record of wins in group A.

barry_white69

lol, where do I sign?

Bobfrog

You want one of these, BMW and Scooby in one package!!! (Its is a 1.8 straight four turbo by the way).....


[Edited by Bobfrog - 8/23/2002 8:18:23 PM]

M3 Evo

Tony - there was no turbo compact - the ti was just to differentiate the compact from the regular 3 series etc - just like ci means coupe or cab on the E46

Asiatech Al

I actually owned the 130 Turbo version of this around the same time these were available.


"It's quite simple really, a Skoda Rapide could match your ultimate turning speed provided it had nice broad sticky tyres and a low weight."

With shortened springs,Volvo 140 series dampers up front & SAAB 900 Combi rears,a cam change to Group A spec & a few other mods this poor mans rally car could & did see off XR3i's.No big deal you are all saying but not bad from a "skip" running a feeble 57 bhp in standard trim.Not exactly Scooby teritory but the works cars had a nay bad record of wins in group A.

nichop

One thing I did find was that it was the front that began to wash out/loose grip, ie understeer. Now I hear folks saying that the bumpsteer mod sorts this. Can someone explain how ?

AJbaseBloke

Better goemetry set ups help the tyres to stay flat on the road and therefore improve handling and grip (and traction - the lot basically). IMHO <flame suit on> - the Toyos are not bad, but aren't that great either. 17"s + better rubber bands are nice too.

Advanced driving courses can help (and are often the cheapest way of making a car go faster).

Cheers

shunty

last year the handling on MY95 uk was sh1te, so I got STI 6, eibachs & geometry (by TSL)....transformed the car. I would rather have handling setup upgraded than more power if I had to choose between the two.

shunty

Sheepsplitter

Did you know there is a company that used to offer to transplant the M5 V8 engine into the BMW compact?
Maybe you met up with one of them?


[Edited by Sheepsplitter - 8/24/2002 8:52:41 AM]