E30 handling in the wet.

[320Touring]

Most local supermarkets roud here have far too many obstacles sticking out of the ground.

bugger

try a local industrial estate then

[Jhonno]

if you dont like the rain and goin sideways then why have toyos??

they are possibly the worst tyre ever made for wet driving. after all they are NOT a performance tyre they are a budget tyre. proxes are the worst of em all in the wet!!

you what? i've had loads of different tyres.. now nankangs they are shite in the wet

proxes are a massive improvement. my mate runs the old ts-1's on his 2.0 16v corsa and they are v good wet or dry

[Hyperion]

Rain and an E30 = sidways into a wall almost hitting a street light ..... but to be fair i did have a or two and did believe i was reliving a scene from Gone in 60 sec's

[tomtomiS]

gonna have my 15" bbs wheels refurbed in near future and although the tyres on my car are only 7 months old theyre champiro's or some crap and they do scare me in the wet sometimes, they break away round corners sometimes with no warning so i will put either goodyear f1's or bridgestone so3 maybe. not sure about yokos cos i want tyres that last longer than 5 minutes. any recommendations?

[Fushion_Julz]

gonna have my 15" bbs wheels refurbed in near future and although the tyres on my car are only 7 months old theyre champiro's or some crap and they do scare me in the wet sometimes, they break away round corners sometimes with no warning so i will put either goodyear f1's or bridgestone so3 maybe. not sure about yokos cos i want tyres that last longer than 5 minutes. any recommendations?

I have Yoko SO2s (225/50/15) on my 325i....They aren't bad but aren't exactly the hardest wearing tyre and they aren't brilliant in the wet...Not as bad as some (Nankang, for example), but not as good as F1s or Avon ZZs

[Bob_S]

a decent cheap tyre are pirelli p6000's I picked up 2 195/65/14 for 60 fitted so couldnt complain really.

[Stevin]

Rain and an E30 = sidways into a wall almost hitting a street light ..... but to be fair i did have a or two and did believe i was reliving a scene from Gone in 60 sec's

I've had 2 bad crashes cause of the rain, one I was hooking it round a corner nice and sideways, then I lost it and went up a pavement bckwards... 2 new rear triling arms, 2 new wheels, 2 new spring, and 2 new shocks... R16 000 later.

Then I crashed after putting new wheels on, and going to Wesbank, and being a holigan, doing burnouts and stuff, rears were messed so I put them on the front, and went round a corner...well I went straight into the barrier, even though my steering wheel was turned... Still busy working with that...thats why I built up my motor

[McBandy]

Oh yes, best bit is that I piad Ԛ£215 total inc VAT and fitting and them removed all the tyres off my old wheels too.
That was Protyre (part of Micheldever group).

Working for Micheldever has its perks

Had Kumho's on my old 320i, never again, not impressed at all.
But i love the Conti Sport 2's on my 106, fantastic in the wet! Would definately get again when i get another BMW.

[CaesarBob]

I've got used to the handling on my iS over the years. When i first got it i was stung quite badly trying to slide off a wide open roundabout at ~35-40mph. (Mental note to self!)

That was running on the Kwik Fit specials. Tried P6000s after that but was never that impressed, altho they were quite hard-wearing (25k rears), particularly noisy on motorways. Currently got a set of Yoko A539s which are wearing a lot better than i expected (15k rears and still plenty of life). The dry grip is great and the wet is much better than the P6000s with a more progressive slide.

As said, tyres are a very personal choice. All you can do is suck 'em a see!

[Bob_S]

I will be going for 539's when it's time for new fronts think it could be soon as the walls are perished poo sticks

[CaesarBob]

Bob - give Adams & Page Ltd (01494 525971) in High Wycombe a call and ask for Stuart, when your looking for A539s.

I found them quite cheap and the service is excellent. I got tyres for Ԛ£45 each delivered (assuming you can't get to them) and paid Kwik-Fit Ԛ£10 to fit and balance them.

[Bob_S]

I will go to demon theives as I'm in wxm and my mate works there so will have a wee bit of discount and they can fit em too I think their Ԛ£43 anyway from there

[ZS]

a decent cheap tyre are pirelli p6000's I picked up 2 195/65/14 for 60 fitted so couldnt complain really.

NOOOOOooooooo!!!!!11oneeleven

Not P6000. The only thing they're good for is helping to light a particularly stubborn bonfire.

[Hyperion]

Rain and an E30 = sidways into a wall almost hitting a street light ..... but to be fair i did have a or two and did believe i was reliving a scene from Gone in 60 sec's

I've had 2 bad crashes cause of the rain, one I was hooking it round a corner nice and sideways, then I lost it and went up a pavement bckwards... 2 new rear triling arms, 2 new wheels, 2 new spring, and 2 new shocks... R16 000 later.

Then I crashed after putting new wheels on, and going to Wesbank, and being a holigan, doing burnouts and stuff, rears were messed so I put them on the front, and went round a corner...well I went straight into the barrier, even though my steering wheel was turned... Still busy working with that...thats why I built up my motor

Thats nutty Stevin, i once sent my brothers Sabre into a ditch because of bad front tyres aswell, I turned left car went straight not much damage just the bumper.

i have had 2 accidents in my e30 aswell both times in the rain...and i think you and me should be careful, rainy season is coming up..

[JazzMan]

There's were Firestone's on the Touring - was't overly impressed to be honest. My other experiance of tyres were not on E30's but I found P6000's to be utter rubbish in the wet - I manged to slide the back end out on my 316 Compact with a set of those and got regular spin off the line out of junctions. I then went to Bridgestone RE720 which were bloody brilliant all round. These days I run Bridgestone SO3's on my main car. They are excellent in the dry, extremely quite and pretty good on the wet - you can still slide the back end around in the wet if feel like it.

[Jimbob]

at last a decent read about tyres...

as we all know the 6 pots do like to understeer, i've been into Falken Ze512's for a while now but need something a lot grippier for the front but not breaking the bank. I'll keep the Falken on the rear as I find they're quite a nice all rounder and not bad for Ԛ£42 for a 205/40/17!

[tomstickland]

Quite an interesting result going....
FROM 16" wheels with Avon Z something tyres
TO 15" BBS wheels with 195/50 Goodyear F1s on

-steering feels lighter
-car feels smoother
-fuel economy up very slightly! (new gearbox oil, diff oil, clutch and timing chain too, so maybe all that helps)

-rear end seems to move around more on corners. But in a more progressive manner.

-not tried anything in the damp, still a bit nervey after wet weather incident on old tyres. LOL.

[Cotty]

The nickname I wanted on the zone was Cotty but it was already taken so I ended up with cotty180.

180 being what I did in my 316 the second day I owned it, turning left out of a junction in the rain, gave it a bootfull and spun it .

Oh and if you have a 325i auto and its wet you can lose the back end doing full throttle up shifts.

[Cotty]

Then I crashed after putting new wheels on, and going to Wesbank, and being a holigan, doing burnouts and stuff, rears were messed so I put them on the front, and went round a corner...well I went straight into the barrier, even though my steering wheel was turned... Still busy working with that...thats why I built up my motor

Thats nutty Stevin, i once sent my brothers Sabre into a ditch because of bad front tyres aswell, I turned left car went straight not much damage just the bumper.

I get that when im karting in the wet and running slicks, I find the best cure is to deck the throttle it somehow pushes the front round, dont know if this would work in a car as i have never tried it

[Fushion_Julz]

Oh and if you have a 325i auto and its wet you can lose the back end doing full throttle up shifts.

No...YOU can lose the back...Personally, I would hope I have enough experience and car control to not do that...Auto box or not!

[astondg]

I get that when im karting in the wet and running slicks, I find the best cure is to deck the throttle it somehow pushes the front round, dont know if this would work in a car as i have never tried it

Unless you have a lot more power than grip at the back doing that will usually just increase the understeer. There is the handbrake option but only if you really know what you are doing, otherwise you will probably just make things worse.

Aston

[Hyperion]

I get that when im karting in the wet and running slicks, I find the best cure is to deck the throttle it somehow pushes the front round, dont know if this would work in a car as i have never tried it

Unless you have a lot more power than grip at the back doing that will usually just increase the understeer. There is the handbrake option but only if you really know what you are doing, otherwise you will probably just make things worse.

Aston

NOOO NOT the HANDBRAKE OPTION.... that reminds me of this other story (man i'm full of stories today )
I was in the my buddys '03 VW polo. the road was a bit wet because it rained earlier and he took a corner a bit fast (i think +- 55 kmph) and then he got the bright idea to pull up the handbrake.
full 360 hit the pavement and buckled his rims...

Man i shat myself

[Stevin]

Hey man what Sabre was is it ? 2.0lt

My one mate has a Sentra 2.0lt that goes like stink N/A... I've been in the car when we were sitting next to an E36 M3.0lt at 250km/h and the M couldn't pull him

Nice cars though... SR20 is flippin nice motor

[Hyperion]

no i wish
it was 1600, my brother and i bought it together it cost R30 000, we used to share it. Good times.

i was looking at a 200GXi but the prices have jumped up,, they are all high milage and expensive..damn

[astondg]

Hey man what Sabre was is it ? 2.0lt

My one mate has a Sentra 2.0lt that goes like stink N/A... I've been in the car when we were sitting next to an E36 M3.0lt at 250km/h and the M couldn't pull him

Nice cars though... SR20 is flippin nice motor

I don't know if I understand what you mean but you do know that the M3 is limited to 250km/h? Or do you mean that they raced up to 250km/h? I find it a little hard to believe that an N/A 2L could get to 250km/h unless it had amazing aerodynamics. The Lotus Exige has a decently powerful 1.8L and good aerodynamics and it can only get to about 236km/h and the Honda S2000 with suposedly the most powerful 2L production engine and I think ok aerodynamics can only get to about 240km/h.

My one mate

, poor you .

Aston

[Chaos]

at last a decent read about tyres...

as we all know the 6 pots do like to understeer, i've been into Falken Ze512's for a while now but need something a lot grippier for the front but not breaking the bank. I'll keep the Falken on the rear as I find they're quite a nice all rounder and not bad for Ԛ£42 for a 205/40/17!

try the fk451's theyre pretty good grip wet or dry (but they wear bloody quickly) or the toyo proxie t1-r's

[Chaos]

Rain and an E30 = sidways into a wall almost hitting a street light ..... but to be fair i did have a or two and did believe i was reliving a scene from Gone in 60 sec's

if thats true i hope they locked u up and threw away the key

[Hyperion]

Rain and an E30 = sidways into a wall almost hitting a street light ..... but to be fair i did have a or two and did believe i was reliving a scene from Gone in 60 sec's

if thats true i hope they locked u up and threw away the key

nope i was too fast for them!!!

But i learnt my lesson

[irish320i]

got bitten by mine just after i put the 2 litre in wih he 1.6 it understeered a bit went out when had just rained it d been dry for few days so the roads were really oily ended up nearly backwats into a wall had to replace the whole 1/4 panel got more used to it in the wet now so its grand now

[Stevin]

Hey man what Sabre was is it ? 2.0lt

My one mate has a Sentra 2.0lt that goes like stink N/A... I've been in the car when we were sitting next to an E36 M3.0lt at 250km/h and the M couldn't pull him

Nice cars though... SR20 is flippin nice motor

I don't know if I understand what you mean but you do know that the M3 is limited to 250km/h? Or do you mean that they raced up to 250km/h? I find it a little hard to believe that an N/A 2L could get to 250km/h unless it had amazing aerodynamics. The Lotus Exige has a decently powerful 1.8L and good aerodynamics and it can only get to about 236km/h and the Honda S2000 with suposedly the most powerful 2L production engine and I think ok aerodynamics can only get to about 240km/h.

My one mate

, poor you .

Aston

Haha lol... clown .

Yup I know the guy that drives the M3 aswell, and he's had the limiter taken out... he says on his clocks he was reading 260ish.. So I figured it's around 250km/h Lets mind u this car that my mate has it's not run of the mill... 2.0lt Almost up to full touring car spec... and he's gonna be adding a set of Ind Throttles to it

[astondg]

Yup I know the guy that drives the M3 aswell, and he's had the limiter taken out... he says on his clocks he was reading 260ish.. So I figured it's around 250km/h Lets mind u this car that my mate has it's not run of the mill... 2.0lt Almost up to full touring car spec... and he's gonna be adding a set of Ind Throttles to it

I can believe that it could be made to out accelerate an M3 but I am still not convinced about th 250km/h. If it showed 260kmh on the speedo then it would be about 250km/h and I am willing to believe you except I keep thinking that it would be close to impossible. The touring cars make between 260 and 270hp but in that tune they wouldn't be driveable on the road, they have no power below about 4000rpm (meaning if you get much lower than that it could actually stall) and a very narrow power band. I would be gussing more like 240hp maximum (the throttle bodies on an engine that tuned up are probably worth 10 to 15hp getting very close to the touring cars). At that power level I think 240km/h would be a decent top speed, the Renault Clio Sport V6 with 255hp has a top speed of 245km/h and something like an Evo or STI only just gets there with 280+hp. I'm not sure that the touring cars go much faster than 250km/h either, I read 260km/h somewhere. I suppose gearing makes a difference, I don't think a Sentra would be geared for a big top speed though? I am basing all this on the car still being a 2L, if the displacement has been increased then it would have a better chance. The E30 M3 Sport Evo with 238hp had a top speed of about 247km/h but that was with extra capacity (which helps) and the best possible gearing and aerodynamic aids.

I guess it doesn't really matter, sounds like a quick car. Must have cost a bit?

Aston

[Stevin]

Well from his last dyno sheet he was making 162kw OTW... and it is still a 2.0lt... he's been thinking of taking it up to 2.2lt aswell... think his CR is 13:1 ... only runs on 102.6 octane petrol.

The thing is if u look at the car it looks stock, except for the drop suspension... even if u look at the engine it looks stock...unless u have a trained eye.

I'm not sure about ur guys touring cars, but our Nissan Sentra's made about that power figure u were talking about, but we also had the Nissan Primera's which made about 300hp out of the 2.0lt SR20DE... Granted they had too be rebuilt and were all out race motors, but that is just cause the regs had changed.

[tomstickland]

162KW is about 220BHP which sounds plausible.
Top speed scales with the cubed root of power. So if you know the unrestricted top speed of a std 200BHP M3, then this car will be capable of (220/200)^(1/3) faster, which is 3% faster!
A genuine 200BHP is capable of propelling a reasonably slippery car with a moderate frontal area up to a genuine 150mph. The E30 is quite brick like, I've no idea what its drag coefficient is. The frontal area is quite small by modern standards.
150mph is about 250 Km/h. 3% more than 250 is 258km/h.

I'll go and look for some web stats.

[Hyperion]

Remeber also that story is from South Africa, we had different cars from the rest of the world. If i am to be corrected we actually had the same Nissan Sentra model for like almost 10 years.I think the last incarnation , was a really fast 2 ltr, with ABS, leather, sports exhaust , and a remodified ECU, straight out of the factory. the reason for this Nissan SA had a car that could not really compete (in the "New"Looks department) with the new honda's and toyotas coming out, so they decided to just make them faster. In all those years there have been alot of mods and fast cars setup. quite interesting, actually how when some people really love a car, it has a good design, and a good engine, the skys the limit. I mean come on , just look at the type of cars we have here on this site. Great stuff.

[astondg]

162KW is about 220BHP which sounds plausible.
Top speed scales with the cubed root of power. So if you know the unrestricted top speed of a std 200BHP M3, then this car will be capable of (220/200)^(1/3) faster, which is 3% faster!
A genuine 200BHP is capable of propelling a reasonably slippery car with a moderate frontal area up to a genuine 150mph. The E30 is quite brick like, I've no idea what its drag coefficient is. The frontal area is quite small by modern standards.
150mph is about 250 Km/h. 3% more than 250 is 258km/h.

I'll go and look for some web stats.

150mph = 241km/h. So far I haven't found a single sedan type car with 200hp that can do 150mph. The Ford Mondeo ST220 (reasonably slippery sedan?) gets there with 220hp. The new 325i with a very good 0.30 drag gets there with about 215hp.

That was 162kW at the wheels = about 180kW (241hp) to 190kW (255hp)at the flywheel. Which is about what I said. The touring cars I was talking about are the BTCC and WTCC which have the factory teams so the power they are getting is as much as is reliably possible for those engines.

The Sentra is also fairly old I think, early 90's? And it's drag coefficient isn't that great. From the stats I have seen it is about the same as some of the cars I mentioned. I have seen 0.35 for the Sentra which is the same as an Evo and the Evo has 280hp+ and just gets to 250km/h depending on which Evo.

Maybe it would get there but that would have to be it's top speed, like I said before I am sure I read that the 2L touring cars only get to 260km/h. That is probably gearing related but I don't think your friend would have gearing for maximum top speed either? Anyway, it's definately a quick car and I can believe it could out accelerate a 3L M3, probably even an E36 3.2L as I haven't seen many of them go under high 13's for the quater mile. The 3Ls are struggle to get under 14sec I think? Must have cost a bit though? I know the touring car engines aren't cheap.

Aston