I felt this way about the 991 C4S PDK. It was the most mechanical and boring track ride I’ve ever been on. Lap after lap it did everything perfect and didn’t complain. The GT3 has the same formula but makes you feel like more of a track star- it’s louder, lower, higher revving, and the PSM lets the car slip 10 degrees in every turn.
I will have an update to post this week. I’m getting the 6 point belts fitted, and I’m going to do a corner balance after having the car lowered 10mm. I’m expecting the car to be 3810 pounds with me in it and fuel, or about 3620 pounds dry. About 57% of the weight over the nose. We’ll see what numbers we get.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/18/025ccde775156f1252bf19854a7e10f1.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/18/f5852b5e2d697300f8aa686a6319adb5.jpg
These were not trivial to install. To get the submarine belt in they had to pull the seat out, remove the AC footwell venting from the floor, and drill into the seat adapter frame which is very hard metal.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/19/82b804a8fe54f85f90369af85dd686bd.jpg
How are you liking the seat so far?
I’m sure it’s pretty comfy, but it must be pretty hot when it’s hugging you like that.
When I ran full buckets, that was the thing that I didn’t like the most for long drives. You come out with a sweaty back.
Unfortunately for me, all tracks are long drives for me 
That said, it will be incredible to drive with this. Lap times will drop simply because you can focus more on driving. Not to mention you can feel the car more and you get the perception of a dramatic reduction in vehicle pitch and roll.
Next track day is on Monday at Laguna. The weight just came in. It’s 3780 with a full tank and me in it - this confirms I got the B8 under 3600 pounds. This is about 50 pounds better than my worst case estimate. 50% cross weight, so no change from January even though we moved weight around. 58% over the nose.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/19/fc969cc2a5b78b0426df4185f225cccd.jpg
This is a fantastic setup.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/24/341dde8e9a28bceb80218b2a4f5921a3.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/24/4d87f6ffa012f5bd83207d5c454bbdae.jpg
Nice! Glad to see it all came together so well. And curious to hear your impressions from the track.
Found an E90 who is crazier than me. At least he has good taste in these matters.
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/24/500e9461488d75a751167cbdd7ccc080.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/24/8aa52d8e75261e2cccb9a68059980219.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/24/d5127f73d07e655d76bd6e7c28ade7e7.jpg
^^ Awesome!
So … I sold my S4 and bought an e92 m3. Similar intentions to the above fellow. Picked up the car last Thursday:
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08/20/ab3e95d69183de6e46c7cf3b12d27574.jpg
Great car. The last cool BMW.
Thanks Saki, loving that na v8 sound.
Is it a 6MT? EDS suspension or regular? For suspension components, I highly recommend Ground Control coilovers and camber plates on a BMW. Dinan makes a lot of spherical components and links that will stiffen things up for track work. Performance Friction makes great race pads that I think work well on BMW OEM rotors, but can’t go wrong with Pagid RS29. There are some off the shelf brake ducting kits for the E92 but they will rob about 1" of ground clearance from you, so don’t slam the car 
BTW, I’ve been following an e90 track build thread and just put two and two together, same guy! Small world.
So I’ve abandoned my beloved 6MT and gone with DCT this time around. After a few test drives of friends cars I just feel like it is the right transmission for this car/platform. Less purist I know but I think it’s well matched to the car.
Then it’s a ZCP (Competition Pack) car meaning it has more aggressive EDC and an “active” sport EDC mode. I’m planning to add Ground Control camber plates (just spoke with them on the phone yesterday actually), and then transition to coilovers after I’m content I’ve experienced what the comp pack EDC has to offer.
For brakes, I’m going straight to a “small” front Stoptech BBK, 355mm 4-piston setup. This allows for easier wheel fitment, and eventually I will add the similar rear kit and be able to rotate pads front->rear as they wear down (same pad shapes). Performance Friction '08 pads are available in this pad shape also (my favorite pads). Good bite, low pad wear, low rotor wear, and easy to bed. Definitely grabbing a set.
Then I’ve purchased a lightly used set of 18" Apex wheels that come with Hankook RS-3’s and have some good life left on them.
All coming together. Will share my track impressions when I get to that point.
And thanks for the tips, well received!
The e92 is killer! I think you’ll love the DCT on track. My instructor kept going on how he wished he had the paddles on his evo 8 track car. I think it’s definitely preferred DCT track / 6MT street, in terms of enjoyment.
Spoke to a guy with an e92 (drove from toronto to mount tre blanc and then mid ohio for his “vacation” lol) who was able to fit an 18" apex wheel over his 380mm ST60 trophy calipers (I think they were ST60’s, but could have been 4 pots?).
This thread has answers to all of the questions I was going to ask him but ran out of time. The weight of 3235 is incredible, because my E90 N52 325i was 3250 with full interior. I believe he would need that wing to keep some weight over the drive wheels. Fortunately quattro keeps things pretty planted in my car, and I do believe my trunk spoiler helps eliminate lift at triple digit speeds (even if everyone on Audizine thinks air has no weight and transitively the atmosphere is a vacuum). I do need to get around to ordering a front air splitter, to create a high pressure zone in front of the car to complement the low pressure zone I’ve enhanced behind the trunk.
http://www.modbargains.com/DTM-Style-Carbon-Fiber-Front-Lip-B8-S4-A4-S-Line.htm
http://www.modbargains.com/images/Products/MISC/ModBargains-Audi-B8-S4-Carbon-Fiber-Front-Lip-3.JPG
Looking at that E90, he pulled about 350 pounds out of the OEM car.
Anyone care to guess what my interior weighs? Let’s assume:
- carpet
- headliner
- 4 interior door panels
- speakers
- amplifier
- radio/climate control/AC compressor
- curtain airbags
- sunroof and motors (replace with Lexan plastic blank)
- center console around shift boot
I’m in no rush to do this. If I could clear 180 pounds I’d consider it as this car sails past the point of no return like @drob23 before me.
The weight of that stripped E90 is impressive, no doubt. He also mentioned that removing his blower might take another 100 lbs off :o.
So research into the e9x m3 platform has really opened my eyes to aero also. Lots of track guys running big wings out back and swearing by them (sometimes a front splitter as well). Another approach folks have taken to add stability is to increase rear tire width and some have run as wide as 305 or 315 rear tires, monsters.
The set I just picked up is 275/275 though I may switch to 275/285 or 275/295 depending on tire availability. The wheels I bought are staggered, similar to OEM, but wider. I went with 10" fronts and 10.5" rears.
A front engined RWD car will have issues with throttle induced oversteer. So the need for aero makes more sense. Much more of a problem for the BMW guys than us. Only way I’ve had the tail out while on power was going full WOT with substantial steering input directly after some heavy braking.
I also don’t feel like trailing throttle oversteer is a problem with this car. I don’t feel the car oversteer much if I lift mid-corner, almost feels like it pushes more.