converting to 4wd?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 1:12 pm

what have the guys with the high power e30's engine conversions done to help get the power down on the road? has anyone coverted their cars to 4 wd? what other options are available? ive been quoted around Ãƒ”šÃ‚£2500 to have cosworth 4 wheel drive fitted but i noted that the 4wd cars are slower than rwd. any ideas?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 1:14 pm

They did make a 325iX which is 4wd, nicely rear biased I hear too. So it must be do-able with out *that* much work I guess.

Sat Dec 24, 2005 1:55 pm

I've got a little over 300 brake, and don't have any trouble getting the power down. I guess it may be more of a problem on a YB powered car, but with the S50 the power delivery is very smooth so tends not to break traction without being severely provoked

If you go AWD, you will also increase the weight of the car and have increased transmission losses. Not worth it IMHO.

Ian.

Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:27 pm

YB powered car

What does YB mean?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:45 pm

stevetigger wrote:
YB powered car
What does YB mean?

its the type o engine in the cosworths.

Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:54 pm

YB= cosworth engine code
using cossy 4wd with your engine would be resonably easy to do, fuzzy.
but i dont think it will handle much more than 350bhp, reliably.
i have thought about 4wd for my car but dont know of a system that i could use that would be do-able for a resonable cost.
at the track it was loosing traction in third off the throttle, even at around 70-80mph

Sat Dec 24, 2005 2:54 pm

wide rear tyres

Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:09 pm

at the moment im running about 290bhp but im only running 15psi,after christmas its going in to get grey injectors,chip and boost turned up to around 24psi which should give me around the 350-360bhp that im aiming for

the problem with the bigger t34 turbo is that the boost kicks in quite savagely. what about some sort of electronic traction control, has anyone any experience of that sort of thing? as for the wide rear tyres...can you get a 400x30x17

Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:32 pm

Are you still using the std E30 rack as they are a million turns lock to lock. I would fit an E36 manual rack (cheper than m3) so you have a feel of what cars doing and can correct it quicker and easier. Or just let me drive!

Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:53 pm

yes i still have the standard rack but thats starting to make funny noises now and again so i think a rack change is on the cards soon.is there any other reason other than cost as to why youd use the manual e36 rack over the power assisted version?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 4:57 pm

Just don't like power steering you can't properly feel how much lock you've got on when really trying into a corner. I'm used to mk2 escorts and power steering not needed on those. My 320i has manual rack and it feels vague compared to an escort.

Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:16 pm

darkslider wrote:My 320i has manual rack and it feels vague compared to an escort.

Yeah, but the E30 manual rack is something stupid like 4.2 or 4.4 turns lock to lock. Even an Escort would feel vague with a rack like that.

Ian.

Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:32 pm

darkslider wrote:Are you still using the std E30 rack as they are a million turns lock to lock. I would fit an E36 manual rack (cheper than m3) so you have a feel of what cars doing and can correct it quicker and easier. Or just let me drive!

What's the steering rack got to do with getting the power down?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:36 pm

E30Adam wrote:
darkslider wrote:Are you still using the std E30 rack as they are a million turns lock to lock. I would fit an E36 manual rack (cheper than m3) so you have a feel of what cars doing and can correct it quicker and easier. Or just let me drive!
What's the steering rack got to do with getting the power down?

Good question, was just going to ask that!

Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:39 pm

its went a bit random but its all useful info

but back to the question in hand...does anyone have any experience of aftermarket electronic traction control systems?

Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:26 pm

If your putting 300-350bhp down through vague steering quite a lot. I also have a TR7 V8 rally car that must be around the 300 bhp mark. I certainly wouldn't want to use power steering on it with the ridiculous torque it can snap sideways in any gear. A car has to understeer to a certain point before it oversteers. Try Racelogic for traction contol systems or use a decent electronic rev limiter with full throttle shift facility like an OMEX.