[Tom Droze]

As some of you may recall, my second trip to the dragstrip in January was after I installed the AA tune and while I picked up 2 MPH in trap speed, but my ET and 60’ foot times were all over the board because of increased wheel spin and wheel hop, which prompted me to invest in a limited slip differential, M3 differential bushings, Whiteline subframe inserts, performance trailing arms, and Michelin PSS. This evening I went back out to the dragstrip to see what effect these modification produced. The best way I can think of to illustrate this is to give you the average along with the best and worst result so you can see where the improvement lies. With the AA tune I made four runs and with the LSD and other mods I made six runs tonight.

With the AA tune my average 60’ time was 2.588 with a best of 2.388 and a worst of 2.687. As a comparison, with the LSD and the other mods my average 60’ time was 2.333 with a best of 2.262 and a worst of 2.372. The take away from this is that my 60’ times are much more consistent, as I had virtually no wheel spin and no wheel hop. I have an automatic and I was in sport mode, which launches the car in second gear. I would power brake to 2,000 RPM then launch. My average 60’ time improved by .255 seconds.

With the AA tune my average ET was 15.487 with a best of 15.102 and a worst of 15.638. As a comparison, with the LSD and the other mods my average ET was 15.170 with a best of 15.105 and a worst of 15.239. My average ET improved by .317 seconds with the best on best comparison being virtually the same. Again you can see much more consistency with the ET.

Now for the disappointing part of this analysis. With the AA tune my average MPH was 94.13 with a best of 94.87 and a worst of 93.01. As a comparison, with the LSD and the other mods my average MPH was 92.85 with a best of 93.18 and a worst of 92.04. My average MPH dropped by 1.28 MPH. The drop in MPH could be explained by three things, it was about 20 degrees warmer outside as compared to when I did the AA tune run, the LSD, because it is spinning two axles instead of one might be robbing a little horsepower, and the Michelin PSS might have a bit more drag as compared to the run flat tire I was running previously.

Honestly, I was hoping to crack the 15.0 barrier tonight, which I did not do; which means my only recourse, after I invest in an oil cooler, is to invest in a set of headers... damn, damn, damn!

Oh, it is now time for another Heineken Light… cheers!

[hassmaschine]

hey at least you're making progress! I don't want to mod the crap out of my 330, but LSD is going to be one of those "must haves". with the peg leg it's like BMW has neutered their cars.. nearly all BMWs used to have LSD before they went cheap. :|

[Digitalinkartist]

Great info. You mind detailing your current spec. E.g. engine code, mods, tranny etc? TIA
NM, your sig/mods didn't show up on my phone.

[Taskmaster]

I would manually shift and start off in first gear, easing it off the line. MPH indicates you could be in the mid/high 14s with a better launch.

[NA55]

You should be able to get 1.8 60fts with the lsd.. Keep practicing and you will get there..

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by Digitalinkartist

Great info. You mind detailing your current spec. E.g. engine code, mods, tranny etc? TIA
NM, your sig/mods didn't show up on my phone.

From my signature: 2012 Jet Black 328i Coupe / Eibach Pro Kit Springs with Koni FSD Shocks / BMW Performance Exhaust / Dinan Ram-Air Intake / MFactory LSD / M3 Differential Bushings / Whitline Bushing Inserts / Performance Rear Trailing Arms / Mechunik Air Intake Scoops / REV Motoring Intake Hose / Charcoal Delete / AA Tune / BMW Performance Aluminum Strut Brace and Aluminum Pedals / Stainless Steel Brake Lines / Brass Brake Caliper Guide Pins / M3 Style Lip Spoiler / BMS 15 mm Wheel Spacers (rear) / 18" 397 Wheels with Michelin PSS.

Additionally, N51 with an automatic.

[W37V]

Dump some weight and you will get there.

[jc5988]

Originally Posted by Tom Droze

From my signature: 2012 Jet Black 328i Coupe / Eibach Pro Kit Springs with Koni FSD Shocks / BMW Performance Exhaust / Dinan Ram-Air Intake / MFactory LSD / M3 Differential Bushings / Whitline Bushing Inserts / Performance Rear Trailing Arms / Mechunik Air Intake Scoops / REV Motoring Intake Hose / Charcoal Delete / AA Tune / BMW Performance Aluminum Strut Brace and Aluminum Pedals / Stainless Steel Brake Lines / Brass Brake Caliper Guide Pins / M3 Style Lip Spoiler / BMS 15 mm Wheel Spacers (rear) / 18" 397 Wheels with Michelin PSS.

Additionally, N51 with an automatic.

very nice, 15flat is about right for auto n51 w mod.

stock manual 330i does it 14.4(C&D), and official 0-60, auto added about 0.6sec.

[Mike.]

Originally Posted by jc5988

very nice, 15flat is about right for auto n51 w mod.

stock manual 330i does it 14.4(C&D), and official 0-60, auto added about 0.6sec.

I've done it in 14.65 with an xi auto.. Before my headers and new tires

[Taskmaster]

It has nothing to do with XYZ - it's all in his launch.

Dude, you have a 2.3/2.2 60ft time. Start off in first gear and try a few different ways to launch (1500-2000...or ease into it) You don't have that much torque that you should be starting off in 2nd gear.

Second, where is the car shifting? Are you allowing the car to short shift gears, have you tried holding the gear until redline and then shifting - the advantage here is the average power in the next gear should be higher.

Finally, your trap speed tells me everything: You should be in the 14s easily with a mid 90mph trap speed, it's your launch that needs work.

[bimmerquick43321]

for an auto tranny with a heavy car and not that much torque for it's size, 2.2/2.3 is not that bad

the problem is, and correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not an expert, but with the lsd you should be able to lunch at higher rpms as you'll get better gripp, however because auto transmission, it's hard to do that, it gets risky to hold the breaks while going 3k-4k rpms while in M1....

also, are you sure your car started in 2nd gear, because in DS, if I punch it from a standing still it will go into first always.... if you did start in 2nd gear, than expect big improvement when starting in 1st....

can't way for temperature to go up here, I'll try to see if I can get into 2.1XXX with an auto and see what that does to my 1/4 time/speed, plus how the tune I have will help.

[Needbmwpartzz]

Yup....you should be easily getting better times if you learned to launch in first and get those 60 times down.

[Southjersey128]

I checked the elevation in Scottsdale and it is about 1200 ft. 15.1 seems pretty good in my opinion. I'm lucky here in NJ, Atco raceway is only 128 ft. above sea level. It is also in the middle of the woods, so theres nice cool, dense air at night.

[Tom Droze]

Originally Posted by Southjersey128

I checked the elevation in Scottsdale and it is about 1200 ft. 15.1 seems pretty good in my opinion. I'm lucky here in NJ, Atco raceway is only 128 ft. above sea level. It is also in the middle of the woods, so theres nice cool, dense air at night.

Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ is 1,243 above sea level and the temperature when I started running was 82 degrees. While it cooled down a bit as the evening went on, the humidity was very low.

[jan31]

I have done 15.3 sec on a 1/4 mile drag race track when my car was 100% stock.