1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

[hancheyb]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Corrected

Oh nice, I was faster than I thought!

[Paul]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Corrected

Next session out I dropped 3 seconds on my first lap (1:57), and again, I'm not exactly pushing it in several corners, but I was in others. For some reason, the transponder did not pick up the 2nd lap, but Paul timed a 1:54. The car is capable of 1:50 easily if not lower if we had some downforce.

[hancheyb]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Well, the Alpha car had an unexpected failure this weekend. Paul Magyar and I headed down to TWS at 3AM Saturday. After a nice 3 hour drive with some good conversation (a must at 4AM) we arrived. We worked all week to wrap up a few fixes and get the car ready. We dropped the car off in our garage space and were ready to go with new Hoosier R6s hoping to cure some of the oversteer we saw at Mineral Wells a week ago.

First session goes by smoothly. NASA was running TWS 2.9 CW. I had never driven this before so I'm the first to admit I wasn't exactly setting the course on fire with lap times. I dropped a second every lap as I learned the track and our "sticker" tires came in. I got down to 2:00. The track was green too since they got major rain the day before I'm told. I spent most of the session just finding braking points and checking the gauges. We had some cooling issues last weekend, but Terry put on a Motion Motorsports under tray and fabricated some additional ducting that was working great. Oil pressure was great, oil and water temp were perfect. Brakes even at TWS were working well although we really need more for a big track like that. They weren't confidence inspiring all say that. BTW, it has Euro rotors, DTC-70 pads and ducting, that's it!

I told Paul that there was some vibration on the front straight but it felt like possibly a tire lost a weight, nothing major. Car was very loose as you see in the video (I'm restraining my right foot a lot), but overall drive-able. We definitely need a "big track" setup for this car including aero and more appropriate spring rates. It has never really been driven hard on a fast track like TWS. We did one event here, but the CCW direction is not as fast as CW and it was with the original motor which had much less power and less grip as well.

Next session out I dropped 3 seconds on my first lap (1:57), and again, I'm not exactly pushing it in several corners, but I was in others. For some reason, the transponder did not pick up the 2nd lap, but Paul timed a 1:56. The car is capable of 1:50 easily if not lower if we had some downforce.

So here's the video of what happened next. The first lap out I wanted to try 6th on the straight and see if the vibration went away. It was better, but it felt really slow. So the next lap I went back to 5th and kept my foot in it. You'll see as I cross the start/finish that something goes terribly wrong. I'm not sure if it was luck or "cat-like" reflexes but right when the transmission goes, the motor zings past 7000 rpm and I push in the clutch and let off. Thankfully we spent a fortune on valvetrain good for continued abuse up to 8000 rpm. Motor seemed fine, but I quickly realize I have no gears that work. I have to get towed in and we jacked up the car do find that whether the car was in gear or not, the wheels can still turn. The clutch seems fine, but there is a definite rattle in the transmission you'll hear in the video.

Now that it is broken I can remember all the times (even with the old motor) where the transmission felt notchy. Last weekend it was pretty bad, on my first session it was OK, but not great. Definitely on the 2nd session it was getting worse. Since this is the first time the car has been driven this fast, we never really experienced the drivetrain imbalance. Aside from being notchy, it worked fine. The fluid was super clean as well just weeks ago. I'll be working on it tonight to get started with the pull as the Fair's are in Vail for the National Tour.


Click for in-car video

[Paul]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Brian and I are coming down to TWS. Brian is going to run the Monster in TTU.

[Wirtz]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Good to see the monster back in action. Will you guys be at TWS this coming weekend?

[hancheyb]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Below is a little clip of video from Saturday's Texas Time Trials event out at Mineral Wells. The big course was ~1.5 miles and all 2nd and 3rd gear. It was a great shake down of the car. 100 degrees out, good braking zones. You can definitely feel how hard the car comes on at 5k rpm. Terry broke in the motor at the Divisional autocross, now we take it up a notch and make sure all the systems are good before tackling something like TWS which requires everything to be in working order (to say the least).



Unfortunately we weren't able to get it going and tested in time for the Redline Event or UTCC, but these tests have uncovered small issues that are better handled in a low pressure environment than spending thousands to travel across the country and break in front of a crowd.



The header was lightly tapping the right lower control arm "lollipop" bushing under load. All it took was loosening the lollipop and moving it a millimeter or so, but the noise certainly sounded "ominous". The Accusump is working quite well. Terry watched the gauge while we ran and there was never a drop below 30 psi. I actually turned on the Accusump while the motor was off and the oil pressure shot up to 20 psi. That's reassuring. The car did seem to run a little hot. We equate that to not having the undertray or overtray on the car. Air is just going by the radiator especially from underneath. We'll install those before the weekend and see if the problem goes away.



The 4 year old Kumhos on the rear didn't do much for traction as you'll see in the video. There is some serious restraint required during acceleration right now. Mineral Wells is so dirty to begin with and 488 at the wheels doesn't help. We ordered some Hoosiers (R6) for next weekend. Even with this setup the car pulled 1.3g lateral. I'm sure it will do more with fresh Hoosiers.

Matt here at the shop made a funny "caution" sticker for the passengers to view after they hop in...



Here is the Video: Crank it up!!

click above for video

Big thnaks to David and Gerry at TTT for letting us come out to their event to test with the BMW and the EVO. Lots of fun!

[hancheyb]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Going to work on some video tonight!

It is pretty fun to drive even on 4 year old Kumhos. I don't recommend that btw.

[GotCone?]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

awsome!!

wish you guys were closer, I'd like to see this thing in action and ask for a ride-a-long.. and beg for a drive

[John in Houston]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

busted!

Well... at least you know it can still slalom without the power steering (right foot down for left, right foot up for right, repeat as necessary).

Thanks again for the rides this weekend. Sorry I couldn't produce.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

I'm sure I know nothing about this incident. Nothing!

I've even got a picture of when it came off... and you'll never guess who was driving it!




busted!

excuse me while I go drink another gallon of water

I heard that... so exhausted! Three days in 105°F heat is too much.

[John in Houston]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

It did come off on Friday at the practice....

I'm sure I know nothing about this incident. Nothing!

excuse me while I go drink another gallon of water

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Car is a handful... just spent 3 days autocrossing (SCCA Divisional) and realized the "you can never have too much horsepower" adage is wrong - we now have too much in this thing for autocrossing.



Driving this car last weekend was the most fun I've ever had in a car with my clothes on.

Only issue we had all weekend was the serpentine belt kept wanting to come off. It did come off on Friday at the practice, so we tried 3 new belt lengths until we found the shortest that would fit. It still partially came off again during runs both Saturday and Sunday, so we have to find a better solution. The problem is likely the spring loaded belt tensioner and the increase engine speeds (7000 rpm+). K-Tech makes a manually adjusted belt tensioner that you can tighten and lock in place - I'm ordering one today.


edit: ordered!

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

nice graph guys. Has to be a blast.

Yea, its pretty nice.

The guys that tuned the car said there's another 30-40 hp left... everywhere... with an intake manifold + throttle body change. That'll push it well over 500 whp, but then we'd have to add ballast for TTU, so we're going to "lock it down" as-is for a while.

[GotCone?]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

nice graph guys. Has to be a blast.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"




Brian's first test drive... scaring the livestock!