Lately, during my autocross runs, I've found myself sliding around in my seat during the hard cornering. I've had to brace my legs against the door and transmission tunnel. I've also been using my arms to keep in position when all they should be doing is steering (and a single shift). A snug fitting fixed …
You've heard me complain numerous times in my posts and videos about the terrible tires that I've been racing on this season. Thanks to a generous gift (let's call it a sponsorship), I was able to finally get the tires for my BMW E36 that it deserves! I ordered a new set of Bridgestone Potenza …
Continue reading New Racing Tires! Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R’s for the BMW E36.
You may be a little thrown off with this being a post about Event 7 and the previous post was about Event 2. Let's just say it's been a busy summer and my family takes priority over racing! The good news though is that it's been dry and warm in Seattle for well over a …
I realize that I live in the Seattle area, but did we really need to have the rainiest winter on record? Isn't it over yet? As you can imagine, Event 2 took place in the rain. With my tires that are terrible in the wet, I had another challenging drive just to keep facing in the …
Novice School day had arrived and now it was time to learn what I'd been doing wrong and what I needed to do to get better. This event had professional instructors, who were also regional autocross champions, ride shotgun with novices such as myself. I was able to use their expertise to understand some solid fundamentals …
Now that I've run the BMW E36 at the first event, I thought it would be good to address some viewer questions and comments that I've received so far. First, I apparently need to clear something up that I didn't think even needed to be addressed. I'm not autocrossing the BMW Formula 1 car seen behind …
Continue reading Viewer questions. No, I’m not a Formula 1 driver…
The first event of the season is here for my local autocross club! This event is a practice where time is kept but no points are dished out. The anticipation leading up to the event was pretty large for me but grew even larger as the weather report for the day started to become certain. Rain! …
Racing a normal road-going car with stiffer suspension puts more stress onto the chassis than it was originally designed and this can cause cracks to develop near suspension mounting points. I previously took care of one prone area, the rear shock mounts, when I added the complete Ground Control Suspension kit. At least one large …
Continue reading Chassis rear subframe reinforcement in the BMW E36
Getting a car's power to the ground effectively through tight corners is one of the greatest challenges in SCCA Solo autocross (or even racing in general). SCCA rules restricting treadwear ratings and tire widths means that you have to make the most of what's available in mechanical grip. One of the best ways to effectively transmit torque to …
Continue reading Get the power down! Swapping in an E36 M3 LSD.
The newly installed coil springs and shocks need a solid foundation in order to do their job effectively when out on the autocross course. In the BMW E36 platform this means replacing numerous rubber bushings (that have seen better days after 200k+ miles) with new bushings that are stiffer than stock. Bushings are basically the connectors …
Continue reading The quest for a solid foundation – BMW E36 bushings
Brent Ford Racing 