[GPwhips]

Hey everyone, I'm curious about tracking my F30 335i for the first time and was wondering what would be the best mods for it. I'm already FBO and have KW coilovers with SS brake lines and EBC pads. Is there anything else I should look into? Thanks for the help

[FaRKle!]

Which EBC pads, what brake fluid, and what tires do you have?

[GPwhips]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

Which EBC pads, what brake fluid, and what tires do you have?

RedStuff Pads, Motul RBF 600, and Hankook Ventus V12

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by mad_f30

RedStuff Pads, Motul RBF 600, and Hankook Ventus V12

You'll definitely want different brake pads for the track. EBC reds are fine for spirited street/canyon driving, but won't hold up to repeated threshold braking at the track. I found what their limit was when bedding my street set, and that strongly convinced me they aren't to be used on the track.

The next "mod" I'd do is dial in your suspension damper settings so that the ride is smooth but controlled. That means not going too stiff, where you're actually decreasing your tires' grip.

[GPwhips]

Originally Posted by FaRKle!

You'll definitely want different brake pads for the track. EBC reds are fine for spirited street/canyon driving, but won't hold up to repeated threshold braking at the track. I found what their limit was when bedding my street set, and that strongly convinced me they aren't to be used on the track.

The next "mod" I'd do is dial in your suspension damper settings so that the ride is smooth but controlled. That means not going too stiff, where you're actually decreasing your tires' grip.

Sounds great thank you

[exE36M3]

Are you going as part of a school like the BMW CCA or Bondurant? Or is it just an open track day?

If the former, just make sure your tire pressure is to spec and maintenance is up to date.
You WILL find your car will do more than your skillset allows.

If the latter... see if you can get a more senior driver (like an A-class person) to ride along with you and give you seat feedback.

I've personally found that just exploring a track can be fun, but you hit a threshhold pretty fast in the day. But with an instructor, your skill level improves dramatically.

[GPwhips]

Originally Posted by percychow

Are you going as part of a school like the BMW CCA or Bondurant? Or is it just an open track day?

If the former, just make sure your tire pressure is to spec and maintenance is up to date.
You WILL find your car will do more than your skillset allows.

If the latter... see if you can get a more senior driver (like an A-class person) to ride along with you and give you seat feedback.

I've personally found that just exploring a track can be fun, but you hit a threshhold pretty fast in the day. But with an instructor, your skill level improves dramatically.

It would be just an open track day. thanks for the advice

[jmg]

Originally Posted by mad_f30

It would be just an open track day. thanks for the advice

What tires are you on? All those mods don't mean much if you don't have traction.

[GPwhips]

Originally Posted by jmg

What tires are you on? All those mods don't mean much if you don't have traction.

Currently, I'm on Hankook Ventus v12 evo2s

[jmg]

Originally Posted by mad_f30

Currently, I'm on Hankook Ventus v12 evo2s

I would definitely look into upgrading your tires. Those Hankook's are decent for the price, but you're not getting all the power to the ground you could be.

If you don't want to get dedicated track tires, in the least, get better street tires like MPS4S. RE71R's are currently the hot tire for track use and occasional street use. They wear faster but perform just as well as NT01's but are still good in the wet. I'm currently on MPS4S but I am looking to get RE71R's on my M3 CS for track use.

On the flip side, if this is just an open track day and your first time, just use what you got! The Hankooks will do just fine and the most important thing is to work on you as a driver before you start thinking of dumping money on mods. Tires would be my NEXT move however if you continue to attend track days.

[GPwhips]

Originally Posted by jmg

I would definitely look into upgrading your tires. Those Hankook's are decent for the price, but you're not getting all the power to the ground you could be.

If you don't want to get dedicated track tires, in the least, get better street tires like MPS4S. RE71R's are currently the hot tire for track use and occasional street use. They wear faster but perform just as well as NT01's but are still good in the wet. I'm currently on MPS4S but I am looking to get RE71R's on my M3 CS for track use.

On the flip side, if this is just an open track day and your first time, just use what you got! The Hankooks will do just fine and the most important thing is to work on you as a driver before you start thinking of dumping money on mods. Tires would be my NEXT move however if you continue to attend track days.

Sweet! thanks for the help

[zinner]

stock is 100% fine for a track day, you will have a blast just enjoy it.

[MacklinUSOB]

For the first couple of track days you won't be pushing that hard so stock is a good place to start.

As Farkle mentioned, once you start getting faster the RedStuff will not keep up. Once they overheat they wear extremely fast and can totally screw your rotors. My car is several hundred pounds lighter than yours and that was my experience. I lost about half the material on one track day.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by MacklinUSOB

As Farkle mentioned, once you start getting faster the RedStuff will not keep up. Once they overheat they wear extremely fast and can totally screw your rotors. My car is several hundred pounds lighter than yours and that was my experience. I lost about half the material on one track day.

My experience when I overheated the pads was even scarier, the car wouldn't stop!

[zinner]

I have been happy with stoptech sport pads. A lot depends on the track you are driving on how far you need to take braking mods.

[ClevelandBeemer]

After tires I would get an LSD to compliment your suspension setup. The lack of LSD has a serous impact on lap times in tighter courses. Also camber plates if you get really serous about the track.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by jmg

I would definitely look into upgrading your tires. Those Hankook's are decent for the price, but you're not getting all the power to the ground you could be.

If you don't want to get dedicated track tires, in the least, get better street tires like MPS4S. RE71R's are currently the hot tire for track use and occasional street use. They wear faster but perform just as well as NT01's but are still good in the wet. I'm currently on MPS4S but I am looking to get RE71R's on my M3 CS for track use.

On the flip side, if this is just an open track day and your first time, just use what you got! The Hankooks will do just fine and the most important thing is to work on you as a driver before you start thinking of dumping money on mods. Tires would be my NEXT move however if you continue to attend track days.

Those MPS4S won't hold up to the heat of a track day. RE71Rs wear out too fast. RE71Rs will put a lot of wear on suspension bushings because of the amount of grip.

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Those MPS4S won't hold up to the heat of a track day. RE71Rs wear out too fast. RE71Rs will put a lot of wear on suspension bushings because of the amount of grip.

MPS4S should be fine for a beginner like the OP and are much better than the Hankook v12's he is running. You get what you pay for. I've done several track days on a new set of MPS4S and they are holding up just fine so long as you don't overdrive them. My main concern was Op has full FBO and a list of mods but forgot the most important one: tires.

Guaranteed the Hankooks are going to get greasy, not that MPS4S won't either, but at least you will better good grip up until that point. The Evo2's won't performa as well and still get greasy. They are a good bargain performance street tire, but they simply aren't a track tire.

Of course RE71R's wear faster than street tires, you're not going to get a sticky track tire that's gong to last 20k miles. Gotta pay to play and compared to the Yoko A052's they last longer. RE71R's are not slicks, they have a much more progressive break away and don't require as much from the stock brakes as slicks, but you are pushing your car much harder and for longer than on the street and your car will have more wear and tear, wear and tear is just part of the sport.

In the end, though I defer to what zinner posted–OP should just go with what they have for now, have fun and think about upgrades after they get more seat time.

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by jmg

MPS4S should be fine for a beginner like the OP and are much better than the Hankook v12's he is running. You get what you pay for. I've done several track days on a new set of MPS4S and they are holding up just fine so long as you don't overdrive them. My main concern was Op has full FBO and a list of mods but forgot the most important one: tires.

Guaranteed the Hankooks are going to get greasy, not that MPS4S won't either, but at least you will better good grip up until that point. The Evo2's won't performa as well and still get greasy. They are a good bargain performance street tire, but they simply aren't a track tire.

Of course RE71R's wear faster than street tires, you're not going to get a sticky track tire that's gong to last 20k miles. Gotta pay to play and compared to the Yoko A052's they last longer. RE71R's are not slicks, they have a much more progressive break away and don't require as much from the stock brakes as slicks, but you are pushing your car much harder and for longer than on the street and your car will have more wear and tear, wear and tear is just part of the sport.

In the end, though I defer to what zinner posted–OP should just go with what they have for now, have fun and think about upgrades after they get more seat time.

Most people seem to get 8 track days out of the RE71s at best.

I would like to see some more reviews of the S007A. Won't be as stick as RE71s but maybe last a bit longer... idk.

[nickf30]

Get Hankook RS4 or Maxxis VR1 for track day last way longer / more consistent than autoX / time attack tire like RE71R/A052

[jmg]

Originally Posted by Polo08816

Most people seem to get 8 track days out of the RE71s at best.

I would like to see some more reviews of the S007A. Won't be as stick as RE71s but maybe last a bit longer... idk.

All depends on your budget. 8 track days is about right for what you get, which is NT01 levels of performance you can drive to and from the track even in the wet.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by nickf30

Get Hankook RS4 or Maxxis VR1 for track day last way longer / more consistent than autoX / time attack tire like RE71R/A052

I went like 12-14 track days on R-S4s, and could've gone more if I had camber plates at the time or flipped the tires on the wheels.

I'm at 5 days on NT01s right now. Lots of life left, but I'm not convinced it's a faster tire than the R-S4s were. That could be due to just how wide of a tread width the R-S4s have in 245/40-18 though. It's definitely easier to overdrive the R-S4s before NT01 though.