Yep I think that's exactly the tendency I was talking about. Good to hear that the linear springs are assisting in correcting it. I was thinking about it over the weekend and wondered if going to a linear spring would help or if it really needed something that rebound could be adjusted on, like a Koni yellow or coilover setup.

 

I'm sure the Koni's would help even more. Ideally it would be nice to have separate adjustments for compression and rebound but your talking about some fairly pricey coilovers when we get into that category. I personally would like to stay married... so those aren't in the budget

 

Yes staying married is far more important than keeping the car planted when taking turns at 100MPH lol

 

Agreed. The one form of death is over much quicker. Reminds me of one of my favorite Robbin Williams quotes.

"DIVORCE: Latin for removing a mans ********* through his wallet."

 

Got an update from TireRack and the Bridgestone's came in as planned but the OZ rims won't be in until the end of November. So far not a good first experience using TireRack. Of course it could just be the Italians retaliating for how often Abarth's get pwned by MINI's.

 

So last week I had the azz end get a little squirrely in the rain because the Dunlop's were just too worn. Said the hell with it a bought a set of four used Bridgestone RE-050A from a buddy that have about 5mm of tread.

Today I got notification that TireRack finally billed my CC lol. The rims still aren't scheduled to arrive till Nov 27 but I guess they needed it to ensure the tires are reserved or something...whatever.

 

"I thought I was wrong once... turns out I was mistaken." - me

So it looks like I owe our friends at TireRack an apology. Got a call from Tod @ TR and the one rim they were short on will arrive tomorrow. So barring incident the set should arrive in my hot little hands next week. "Mmm... Yes this crow tastes delicious. Can I have some more please?"

Being a forum supported I probably should have given them more benefit of the doubt. Guess I'm still a bit touchy after getting burned by the engine builder I dealt with on Tiggers engine. So here it goes. "Sorry guys." There that wasn't so bad.

 

Ok so I've had the 3" CM Performance mandrel bent exhaust for a bit now. I first heard the system on a Hyundai Veloster and it sounded great with a cat installed. Having gone down the catless 2.5" straight thru exhaust road before I knew I'd need a descent size resonator for it so I chose a 5x18 body 3" ID unit from OBX. The rear muffler is a custom unit manufactured for CM by Thermal R&D. It has a 3" center in and dual 2.5 out which is 5x8x14 that I combined with 4" carbon fiber tips. It quieted down a bit during break in, but um yeah it's loud. The tone is awesome but the volume is a tad over the top, and yep it drones a bit right at 200-220Hz. I have the tune set for regular sport mode levels in normal mode and the sport mode set just north of anti social levels but just short of throwing flames. Mainly to show clients whats possible. Seriously sounds like machine gun fire in sport mode.

I'll post some audio before I make any changes. Tomorrow the Magnaflow 14288 should arrive. It's 18" long instead of 14" which is the longest you can install in our cars and should help a bit. After that's installed we'll see if I'm going to need to install a helmholtz to address any drone. While I'm at it I'll probably bring the tips out a bit further instead of being flush with the bumper.

 

Looking forward to the sound bites

 

The OZ Formula HLT's and RE-11's arrived and I am now finally happy with the stance. Initial impressions of the RE-11 are very good. Steering response is outstanding and I'm amazed at how quiet they are when new. Only have about 75 miles on them so I can't say for sure on ultimate grip. At 200 miles I'll push them and see how they are. It's rained the last two days since installing them so ignore the dirt

 

Put together a short video to give you an idea of tone produced. Didn't really get too loud until you placed a load on the engine. So tooling around town was fine other than constantly being scoped out by law enforcement. Also used a sound meter to check sound levels inside the car. Sound pressure was 86 db at 70 mph, 90 db at 80 mph and 103 db at WOT with the windows up. That's just slightly above the level of your average chainsaw. Ear plug time and needless to say my wife was not so thrilled with the change in Vlad.


The 18" Magnaflow is installed now and it's a bit more tolerable. Sound levels are down to 83 db at 70 mph and 85 db at 80 mph. I'll put together another video for comparison and try to add some drive by footage.



P.S. I've had a chance to push the RE-11's a bit now and just flat out impressed with the cornering grip, low tire noise and even the performance in heavy rain.

 

Thanks for the video. The snap and crackle wouldn't fly with the wife. She actually drives him more than I get to We both enjoy spirited driving when conditions allow and prefer to stay under the radar as much as possible. I have 2 wheels as main transportation and earplugs are the only way I've maintained my sanity (and hearing) so keeping the db level down in the cabin is a necessity. I'm actually considering the GP2 Belly Pan due to reports that it helps bring down noise levels (in addition to its other benefit of cooling the engine bay at speed).

Looking forward to that comparison. I'm leaning toward Magnaflow because of its reported tone and I was impressed with the level of detail explained in Drive's video
We're hoping to go to Minis @ Thunder Hill Race Way next year so tires and some brake pads better suited for the track are definitely on the list. Though the RE-11's may be punching a bit above my budget right now. I'm eyeing BFG g-force sports comp 2, but I'm open to suggestions. Haven't settled on pads yet.

 

EBC Yellows or Hawk DTC 60 ? Remember only certain pads sizes come in certain level of performance.

 

Finally got around to correcting the rear camber after dropping the car with the Swift springs. Got a set of the Hotchkis lower trailing arms. With the GP diffuser and the aero under body panels its a bit more work to install them but not by much.



You only need to pull the last couple of fasteners out of the under body panel so you can get to the upper bolt. I originally shortened the arms by 2mm before installing them then had the final alignment set up at -1.5 in the front and -1.9 in the rear. I drive mostly highway miles and didn't want the 235's wearing out on the inside. Probably tweak it a bit before I take it to Homestead Speedway though.

 

Were they necessary with the Swift springs, or just something you've been wanting to do to dial the rear in?

 

I could physically see the difference between the front and rear camber with the wider tires on and I'm not crazy about the tucked in look. So for me I considered it a requirement. When we put it on the rack the rear camber was -2.6. That's after I had taken 2mm out of the arm length during installation. Not sure what it was before that but it couldn't have been good for tire wear. The good news is that even with the excess camber removed they still don't rub.

 

Well I was planning on putting in a Wavetrac or Quaife LSD in Vlad this summer. Really leaning more towards the Wavetrac since it's made here in the US. The 235 RE-11's are sticky as hell but they would still break loose in third on map C when the boost hits. That and I hate the eDiff kicking in when I'm having fun and forget to turn it off.

Now I don't have to worry about the tires breaking loose in third anymore. It's been 8000 miles since the new JCW clutch was installed and guess what it started doing in third. Yep you guessed it...slipping. Did a little research and it appears that BMW received a fair number of complaints about the weight of our clutch pedal so being the helpful types they are they have lowered the clamping force on the newer clutches. (Admins: we really need a middle finger emoticon for our friends at Scheisskopf Motoren Werke).

So now I'm being nice to the clutch while I look at my options. Third gear heavy load is the only time it slips so I've got some time to decide. My choices at this point are OS Giken STR, Spec Stage 3+, JMTC Stage 3 or Clutch Masters FX350/400 full face. If I don't go OSG I plan on a lightened steel flywheel.

 

Short update. I spent a bit more time researching LSD's, even spent some time on the Focus forums, also got a chance to drive a customers Mini with an OSG Superlock. It's beautiful in operation but I just can't see me pulling the transmission every 30K miles to rebuild it. Finally found this video with a Wavetrac then a Quaife installed. Same car, same road, same speed, etc.. just different LSD's. First half of the video is the Wavetrac, second half is the Quaife.


So Wavetrac it is. It probably still comes down to whether you like Nike or Reebok, but hey there's a reason they patented the thing.

The clutch issue is a bit more interesting. I've been in contact with three different manufacturers about developing a twin disc for the R56. One I eliminated because they can only do it with 190mm discs. Great for weight reduction, speed shifting but engagement would be very short. A twin with discs in the neighborhood of 210 - 220 mm will handle more than we could ever throw at it but should still be able to be feathered due to the lower clamping force needed. Still in talks with the other two but things are progressing well.

 

Tigger

With that dark window tint how is the visibility out the small side window?

I was thinking of tinting mine like that but have a few cars with the dark tint and noticed especially at night poor seeing conditions.

Ian

 

Lol. Visibility at night entails rolling down the windows and using the side mirrors. During the day it's great but at night, no bueno. When I first purchased Vlad the front window was tinted as well which was the first thing I corrected. The rest of the windows are on my immediate list of thing to change.

Ordered the CravenSpeed adjustable short shifter, shift retaining clip, NM shift box and BMS clutch stop. Might as well do everything at once when I pull the transmission.

Just discovered OS Giken has a twin disc already designed for the R56. Only downside is both hubs are solid instead of sprung. With a single mass flywheel that usually means paying more attention to rev matching when downshifting and based on past experience it will probably create some gearbox noise at lower RPM. Couldn't find any reviews on it so I may just have to guinea pig it for the forum.

 

Another Tigger .. and another black car.

 

I would be interested to know what you think of the BMS clutch stop. That is the single thing that disappoints me about my 2013 JCW. I had a 2010 MCS and the clutch on that was excellent. With the 2013 it is hard to predict when it will engage. There seems to be 2 separate stages of throw when lifting the pedal. It almost kicks the pedal up after a certain point when trying engage the clutch. Hard to explain. It makes me look like jackass sometimes when I buck and hop from a dead stop at an intersection.

 

You should have it checked. I have no problem with mine. It is very smooth and progressive.

Now, it depends on personal driving conditions how a clutch wears out. I don't have an abusing driving style either.

 

I agree with dube53. Hopefully it's something as simple as bleeding the slave.


Henry Ford said it best lol.

 

Short review on the BMS Clutch Stop.

Bloody brilliant! If you have a manual transmission get one. $10 to buy. 10 seconds to install. Didn't even need to adjust or remove any of the spacers.