My first year in (amateur) racing

"Will Race For Food" (willraceforfood) 03/16/2016 at 15:54 • Filed to: bmw, drift, racing, autox, e36, compact, rally, racing tips

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A bit more than a year ago, I bought a BMW E36 compact so that I could finally get into racing a bit more seriously. Here’s a summary of how, probably, a typical first year in racing looks like for everyone. Also, there’s a small list of tips at the end for those who wish to get into racing themselves.

(Full disclosure: My old BMW wanted to me to write this story so much that it has actually managed to stay relatively intact for two events in a row. This is the first time it’s been that long between visits to the garage for repairs, quite a weird feeling.)

For those of us who don’t have an eidetic memory (sorry Sheldon) and thus have no recollection of my first two posts a bit more than a year ago: in late 2014, after saving a bit of money, I decided that it was time to finally get into racing a bit more seriously than by borrowing friends’ cars for a few events a year. With my main goals being: a) getting into a competitive car and b) having as much fun as possible; it was clear that a rear-wheel drive car was what I need. After a bit of searching, I found it - a 1997 BMW 323ti Compact (m52b25 engine with an aluminium block) which had already been raced for a while, meaning that most of the things that needed to be done (thick aluminum sump guard, slightly upgraded suspension, etc.) already had been, so all I had to do was race.

This is actually from 2016, but I wanted to have a cool title picture.

As it happens, most of my first races were spent with me finishing somewhere in the middle of the table in my class, which is actually quite good. Still, you can always wish for better results, and I had hopes of being in the top 5 in the RWD class in the national championship series in supersprint (the closest to this is probably SCCA Rallycross, but the racing in supersprint takes place on mixed surfaces and there are very few cones, with the events typically taking place on karting tracks).

Since I had a somewhat competitive RWD car with about 180 horsepower, I also decided to give drifting a shot. After all, if Tanner Foust (a biologist ) could do it, a guy with a degree in theoretical physics (me) should be incredible, right?

The biologist reference was meant as a joke. Tanner seems like an awesome guy, I’m a fan. Yes, I know that this should have been a caption for the above image.

Wrong.

Well, to be honest, I probably wasn’t completely useless - entered three events and did get some points in qualifying in each (out of 30+ entries in my class in each event, there were typically nearly 10 who got a zero as their qualifying score).

Drifting is quite a bit more difficult than it looks, although it is very fun. Had I just focused on drifting, I might’ve been more competitive, but it was just something to do for fun in my first year - all I did with the car was throw on the cheapest coilovers, install a hydraulic handbrake and, well, that’s it. For the last few events, I didn’t even bother to change from my LSD to a welded diff, as the difference between those two isn’t really that big.

Still, it was much more fun than I anticipated, so I’ll probably occasionally do some drift events in the future as well.

This is not a drifting competition, just destroying some old tires on a karting track.

By the time the drifting season came and went, my supersprint season was also underway, and I was actually close to the top five in the standings.

However, sometime in early June it was clear that the m52b25 was on its last legs, and I was actually lucky to not have spun a bearing on my way to the service after an event. After opening the engine, we saw that the block was worn out and we’d have to change it. Well, since that would need to be accompanied by quite a few additional changes as well as a general tune-up, a decision was made to up the capacity to 3.0 liters, making an m52b30 engine.

I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally like pictures like this one. The fact that it is my actual engine makes it even better.

There were quite a few problems along the way, so the engine build took about 2 months, but, in August, it was finally ready. We didn’t do a dyno run, but the power should’ve been in the region of 240 horsepower.

Hoo-boy, once I got the engine in its power band it made me tingle in all the right places. Since the car weighs a bit under 2700 lbs and has a 3.93 diff, I couldn’t really complain about the way it accelerates.

Shortly after installing the new engine, I also had a chance to have some fun on a closed rally stage with a co-driver, and came back with the unsurprising conclusion that rallying is probably the most fun thing you can do with a car.

Getting back to my national championship series in supersprint, it was now time for the third event of the season and, with it taking place on a 100% asphalt track (where I’m a bit more competitive than on gravel), I was actually excited to see what I’d be able to accomplish.

Not a picture from that particular event. I just liked this one more.

It turned out to be the best event of my season - for the first time in my career I finished second, getting a spot on the podium in a national championship event.

Fresh from that success in supersprint, I decided to go and do some practice for the upcoming drift event as well. That, however, didn’t turn out as fantastically as I had hoped. My skills had improved a lot since the beginning of the season and I was able to drift nearly the whole karting track that I used for practice, but, after one technical section, there seemed to be a bit more smoke coming from the car than usual.

Initially, we thought that it’s probably not that big of a problem. Just towed the car to the shop to see what would need to be changed.

Well, once the cylinder head was removed, we saw the problem - an OEM valve had snapped in half and decided to have a party in one of the cylinders. This resulted in a hole in the block, destroyed the piston and pretty much managed to fill every part of the engine with various engine fluids.

The good news are that we found the bottom half of the valve and I now have a (very expensive) souvenir from my 3.0 liter engine.

Unfortunately, since I’m just a regular guy with regular guy income and no sponsors, building another 3.0 liter engine was out of the question. Instead, we found a good m52b28 (also aluminium block, since I’m in Europe) from an e39 and installed that. There are a few very minor mods to the engine and the power output should be in the region of 210 horsepower, which is actually pretty good for such a light car.

Fun fact - I still have the same rear bumper as in this picture, it is quite durable.

The car was up and running for the last few events of the season - while I didn’t manage to get on the podium in any of the remaining three events, the results were good enough to fulfill my own goal and finish fifth in the season standings, while being the best among rookie drivers.

With the conclusion of the national championship, it was now time to do some winter events for fun. I’m not very fast in true winter conditions yet, but that’ll probably come with experience.

Surprisingly, I didn’t get stuck in this snowbank. Cool picture, though.

Now that I’ve got a bit of experience under my belt, the results are also slowly improving - I have actually won a few (albeit not national championship level) events, and feel much more confident in the car.

If you’re thinking about getting into racing, here are a few tips from my first year in racing. Most of these are nothing new, but have to be reiterated as we all (myself included) tend to think that we’ll be gods gift to racing and nothing bad (or expensive) will ever happen to us our our cars:

1. You DEFINITELY need to pick a car that has cheap and easily available parts. Even if you stay on the track and don’t damage the car, parts will break all the time.

2. Don’t spend a ton of money on engine modifications. Having more power is actually bad when you start racing, as it’ll mask some of your mistakes. The best way is to start with a really slow car, learn to get everything out of it, and then move to something more powerful. You can, however, do some suspension modifications, as those will just help you better feel the car - driving a car with completely worn out shocks will not teach you proper racing technique.

3. The secret to being really fast? Practice. All the top drivers have either been racing for a long time, or have put in a lot of practice time to get up to speed. Practice as much as you can. This is actually what’s hurting my own performance - I don’t really have time to practice between events, so my progress is not as fast as it could be.

4. The best way to measure your progress is by choosing a racing series and sticking to it. I actually did quite a few more events than listed in the (admittedly, ridiculously long) post above, but they were mostly one offs, which meant that it was difficult to judge where I was at compared to others. It is much better to do a full series of, say, five events, than to do a single event in six or seven different series. With a single racing series, you’ll be able to measure your own progress compared to the leaders. Of course, the more you race, the better.

5. The secret to being really fast if you don’t have time to practice? Tires. You can have the best car on the planet, but if you’re driving on crappy tires, the result won’t be any good. Used and/or bald tires are great for practice, but try and use new rubber when you’re actually competing. It is very easy to get used to more grip, so there’s no need to worry if you practice on bald tires and race on new ones - you’ll get up to speed right away (if not on the first, then on the second run).

6. Is racing expensive? No. It’s actually ridiculously expensive. Here’s a few things I could’ve done if I hadn’t raced for the past year:

Bought a BMW E46 M3

Adopted more than 100 !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Went on a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

But you know what? Despite the, frankly, ridiculous costs, racing is awesome .

Malanga > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:03

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Completely agree with #2, #5 and that very last bit! I just starting karting and I’ve been practicing only on really worn tyres due to that fact that I essentially threw myself into the deep end when it comes to what kinda karts (from no experience with karts over 8hp to racing a 30hp kart!). But practice and practice and practice makes it stick! Worth the money too, just like you said!

Thanks for sharing, made for some good reading!

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:03

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Great pics and a great story too.

Party-vi > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:04

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What else did you do to the “M52B30"? 240hp seems like a huge increase from 168hp by just upping displacement 500cc.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:06

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Great read.

I’m taking my car RallyCrossing for the first time (First ever race of any kind) this weekend - I HOPE

I’m waitlisted on a 60 car field. there’s 63 registered at this point so I think I’m somewhere around 1 or on the waitlist (I know someone signed up after me). I’m driving down to the event in hopes someone cancels.

I’m driving my Mercury Milan (3.0 Duratec V6, FWD). I was planning on replacing all of the suspension components anyhow, so I’ll get some experience and if anything breaks the parts will already be waiting for me when I get home. Experience plus a (basically) whole new suspension should make for a big leap from first race to second.

Will Race For Food > Party-vi 03/16/2016 at 16:10

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It was what is called a stroker engine - we took the crankshaft, crank and pistons from m54b30 (that one has 231 hp stock), while also adding a few bits here and there :)

Party-vi > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:14

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If you took the crank and pistons from an M54B30 you’d have less than 228hp, as the M54B30 had 228hp (ZHP had 231hp with hotter cams), and the M54 also had a dual-length intake manifold and Double-VANOS on intake and exhaust. I’m sure you’re making more than 168hp, but I doubt it’s over 215hp or so. Claiming 240hp is out-right methinks, but then again my butt-dyno is not so well tested.

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/16/2016 at 16:17

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That sounds great, hopefully you’ll get in.

One thing I did forget to mention in the tips section - while it’s great to start with your everyday car (which I assume the Milan is), you probably shouldn’t spend a ton of money on upgrades if it is not going to be a competitive car in your class. It will be much cheaper to get some experience in the Milan and then just buy something similar to what the top guys drive.If you want to stick with FWD, you’ll eventually need something that has a limited slip diff, it really helps on loose surfaces such as gravel, snow or ice.

Of course, I don’t know what classes there are in your particular series, maybe the Milan is actually very competitive in its class.

Either way, the first season (if there aren’t more than 10 events or so), you’d be best off just driving what you have to learn rallycross and see whether you actually like it, and then decide on what to do further. At least that’s how I’d approach it :)

Will Race For Food > Party-vi 03/16/2016 at 16:20

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There were a few additional modifications and I’ve driven an m54b30 powered e36 sedan with a dynoed 250 hp back to back with my car - the power of my engine should’ve been around the 240 hp figure :)

An m52/m50 stroker engine, if built correctly, will have a bit more power than a stock m54, especially if you do some slight modifications to the intake manifold and change the camshafts to something a bit more aggressive

Will Race For Food > Malanga 03/16/2016 at 16:24

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One of the things I’d love to do this year is to try out a racing karting, that should be an amazing experience. I’m a bit too heavy to race in karting competitively, but doing a practice session would be great

Party-vi > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:27

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So you’re essentially racing an E36/5 M3. Neato!

Will Race For Food > Party-vi 03/16/2016 at 16:30

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I was, right until the moment the valve snapped while in the redline of second gear during a drift practice.

Currently it’s just an m52b28 with around 200 horsepower, which still isn’t half bad.

I am, however, toying with the idea of an S54 sometime in the future

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:33

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This is why I need to get a roll bar and hard top for my Miata. Then I can compete in all of the race series. Right after I stop dailying the car though lol. This is a great post, inspirational to me to try out more racing when I have the means. Autox in the mean time will have to suffice though!

Malanga > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:33

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It’s a ton of fun yeah. Although if your at the point where you don’t want to just practice with your kart, you could actually race. Depending on where you race and your racing club, your weight might not matter. Some classes have a specified weight for the kart, with you in it, so if you get the kart light enough it shouldn’t matter, but not all clubs are like that. Other than that, if you go to a small-time club, there’s a chance they’d make a small exception for you on weight limits for the karts. Clubs are always looking for new members. It’s probably a lot cheaper than Rallycross too, and if you can find the right deal like I did, you can get started for $2000ish. To be really competitive will be more along the $5000 range, plus stuff like gas, tyres, and actually getting it to the track. Luckily my parents have a minivan, but if you don’t have anything similar a trailer would be necessary.

Give it a shot though, it's great fun!

Party-vi > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:39

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I think that is going to give you sorts of maintenance nightmares. An S52B32 would make more sense, and they’re cheaper to purchase from what I gather.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:40

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That’s exactly the plan. It’s all stock replacement suspension work that needs to happen anyhow to be honest. Classes are FWD Stock, RWD Stock, AWD Stock and then a prepped/modified class for each of those and finally a no-trophy/no-points X Class which has no rules you can drive whatever.

I have no idea if it’ll be competitive I suspect it’s the first time anyone has ever raced a Milan in the history of Milan’s being built.

But it does have 220hp in that sideways V6 so it should be interesting.

You’re definitely right about that last part, that’s why I’m running the Milan (my daily driver) and we’ll see how I like it. I’m really excited and I think it looks a million times more fun than AutoCross which is entirely paved.

Will Race For Food > Party-vi 03/16/2016 at 16:53

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I’m based in Europe, we don’t have S52's here, and a stroker 3.0 like I had before would yield similar performance.

The S54 isn’t really that bad, but if I do decide to do it, I’ll also put a roll cage in the car and use it for rally. There are a few cars like that (although they’re E36 coupes, not compacts) already, and they’re ridiculously fast

Party-vi > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:53

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That’s right - you guys have the S50, correct?

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 16:53

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Are you running a small or medium case diff? My e36 still has the stock 2.93

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/16/2016 at 16:56

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Racing on loose surfaces is always much more fun, but I hope that your car isn’t lowered. Again, I don’t know the surface quality of the track that you’ll race on, but if there are many cars, you will typically get ruts in the gravel, and this would mean that it is a good idea to have a sump guard so that you don’t run into problems during the event.

If possible, talk to some of the top drivers and ask for tips - especially in your first event that will help out a lot, there’ll likely be quite a few things that they’ll be able to point out that will help you be much faster

Will Race For Food > Malanga 03/16/2016 at 16:59

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The karting scene here is very professional - everyone races on new tyres, the weight limits are tailored for people who weigh around 140-160 lbs, so doing it as a sport won’t really be something I could do. The cost would be somewhat similar to what I have now, but I wouldn’t be competitive.

I’ve done some rental kart racing here, which was great fun, but cars are where it’s at for me right now :)

Will Race For Food > Party-vi 03/16/2016 at 17:01

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Yup, either as a 3.0 or a 3.2 liter.

But the cost of that engine is similar to an S54, so it’d just make sense to get the newer, and more powerful, engine.

Still, that would cost around 5k USD or more, so it’ll be a while before I can realistically look at that swap as an option

Will Race For Food > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/16/2016 at 17:04

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Yeah, if you’re looking into racing a bit more actively, not using your daily car is probably a good idea, that way you can just focus on racing.

Do you need a roll bar and hard top to do scca rallycross?

If your miata has an LSD, it could probably be quite a competitive car on gravel as well, especially since gravel tires aren’t allowed - you don’t really need a lot of power to spin street tires on loose surfaces

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/16/2016 at 17:16

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I’ve got the medium case, but since it’s a compact, the rear end is from an e30 and the diff casing is a bit different

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 19:19

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Ah, I was trying to think of an e36 that came with a 3.93. Forgot the compacts are all different back there

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/16/2016 at 19:20

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Hard top, yes.

In SCCA rallycross, gravels are only banned from the stock class

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 04:03

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And stock is probably the class to aim for if you just start out for this reason. Although used gravel tyres can be cheap, they have enough grip to require a bit more power to be competitive

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 04:05

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Well, the only real difference is the cover of the diff, so, if you have a medium case diff yourself, you could buy an e30 diff and just swap all the internals to your own diff.

A 3.7 or a 3.9 would probably suit a rally car much better in the summer season, when there is enough grip to put the power down

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 07:31

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I’m planning on getting a 4.10 M3 diff from another rally racer

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 08:21

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Yeah ive got the LSD, very glad to have that option! Also makes for some sweet burnouts and donuts lol. I believe the rules for rallycross require a hard top but not a roll bar, although I would certainly want a rollbar more importantly (hard top is not really going to do a whole lot). But most other race series require a roll bar and that makes sense and I would want to do regardless of the requirement. But I also do not want to daily drive with a roll bar. Maybe my solution should be to have two miatas. One for the track and one to daily. When that happens, I will know I have gone Miata crazy haha.

Will Race For Food > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/17/2016 at 09:01

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Is a roll bar really that inconvenient, though?

Still, I guess you can never have too many Miatas

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 09:02

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Isn’t the M3 diff in a large case, though? Are those swappable with the medium case diffs as well? 4.1 came in something else as well, if I recall correctly, some people over here have them as well, and some even go for a 4.4, which is a bit of an overkill if you ask me.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:09

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Just got confirmation last night that I’m Racing! Off the waitlist!

And no it’s not lowered, one of the requirements for my class (Stock FWD) is that it legit is stock underneath.

They vary the course through out the day to avoid deep ruts. There’s some much smaller (and lower) cars that are going to be running the course so I’m sure I’ll be slower and more careful than them, but I imagine I’ll make it through just fine.

Thanks for all the tips!

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2016 at 09:12

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Looking forward to reading about your adventure this weekend!

I’m also attending an event on Sunday, but it looks like the weather will be playing a cruel joke on me - I have a new set of summer tires, but the current forecast shows that temperatures will be a bit below freezing, meaning that I will probably need to use winter tires, but the ones that I have aren’t really good when there isn’t a lot of snow.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:17

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ahh that’s harsh with the weather.

I have a high of 44*F and a low of 26*F so it’s going to be plenty cold during that first run.

I have some really solid All Season tires I’ll be driving on so they should do just fine.

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2016 at 09:19

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For your first event, tires definitely won’t be an issue, just make sure you have some tread depth remaining on the tires, that’s what will help you get some power down

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:27

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Treadwear is almost zero, these tires have done great in some really deep snow as well as some muddy dirt roads.

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2016 at 09:30

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Perfect! Here’s hoping you enjoy the weekend, but maybe not so much that you decide to spend all your money on a blue old BMW like me :D

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:32

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Well I would say that having my un-helmeted head smacked by the bar would be pretty inconvenient haha. Sure you can put padding on it, but that still wont save you from the danger. I have not found any definitive proof that it is safe to drive with a roll bar without a helmet. People on the forums tend to argue both points but I do not want to skimp on safety so I side with the not wanting to be brained crew.

Will Race For Food > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 03/17/2016 at 09:37

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True, that’s probably the correct side to be on in this case

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:42

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LOL

No worries about that, I don’t buy non-American cars. I don’t judge those who do, I just make my living in the American auto industry so I support it.

I’ll probably end up loving it and wanting to buy something more competitive. Which will lead to a lecture from the wife giving I have a 1968 Mercury Montego MX in the garage...

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:42

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From what I’ve looked up, the e36 M3 is a medium case as is my 328. I’ll just need to swap the input flange from my current diff. E46 M3s have large case diffs. 4.44s did come in small case diffs on 318is automatics too.

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2016 at 09:49

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Well, if you count a Ford Fiesta ST as an American car, that’d probably be one of the top cars, right?

Haven’t seen what the top guys drive, but I’d assume that the FiST should be very competitive, while also being quite good as a daily

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 09:53

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Here’s the current registration list for Stock FWD:

And yes I count the Fiesta. Just like I count my Milan which was made in Mexico. You’d be amazed how many jobs are connected to a car manufacturer’s Headquarters (not necessarily just their manufacturing).

looks like the 93 Escort and the 98 Neon are the fastest in this region.

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 09:54

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4.44 in anything but a 4cyl is a bit crazy I think, though. For rallying, a 4.10 is probably as short in terms of gearing as you need, the 4.44 tops out at 90ish MPH

Will Race For Food > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 03/17/2016 at 09:56

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That Neon is either driven by a god, or not a standard car then :D

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 10:01

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4.10 gives me a top speed of 117 at 6500rpm. 4.44 moves that down to 108. I think any rallies here that would see those speeds would have chicanes

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 10:05

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I think there’s not a ton of competition in the class.

I also am pretty sure my 220hp is by far the highest on the list.

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 10:39

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If you don’t get to those speeds, then the shorter the gearing the better, probably. Is your E36 also a 2.8? Read your sno drift recap but it either wasn’t mentioned or I missed it.

Also, kudos for doing a winter event without an LSD, that must’ve been a drifting showcase

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 11:14

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Yes, it’s a 328is with the US iron block M52. Luckily #328 wasn’t claimed yet in Rally America.

The worst parts were when I would get wheelspin going in a straight line. I was short shifting like crazy, rarely going over 4k rpm.

The speeds are a guess. They design the stages to have an average speed of 80mph or less, so I could maybe get to those speeds if I had more power.

Will Race For Food > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 03/17/2016 at 11:30

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To get an average speed of 80 MPH, you’d probably need to get up to over 100 MPH in some parts.

In my lone special stage test day, we got to a 74 MPH average speed and topped out at an even 100 MPH while getting up to 90ish in some places.

Once you do some engine modifications, the top speeds will also likely increase - a good 2.8 liter engine doesn’t really need all that much space to get up to speed

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Will Race For Food 03/17/2016 at 11:38

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Good point. Hopefully I get good enough to where I’m topping the car out consistently.