track driving an automatic

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:17 pm

my trusty four door auto is going to be used at the nurburgring in May.

anyone got any suggestions on how best to use the auto box on a track?

i have no manual and its my first auto so i can decide/know if its possible/better to use the 123 setting and shift manually to avoid upchanges mid corner or stick it sports and let it sort itself out.

any ideas or words of experince much appreciated!

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:21 pm

i have a 4 door 325i auto also! but it is not good enough for the ring, but having been twice now i would say either sport mode or just leave it in 3 or 2 in manual mode or flick between the 2. I've found it quite hard to use the 1-2-3 option.

It's a fast circut and in a manual 325 u don't use 2nd. Well i never did

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:34 pm

ive been once before in an elise but as that was such a different car i was up and down the box all the time.

we will have to see what happens this time round!

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 10:45 pm

u won't go as quick around there thats for sure!

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:08 pm

I have an auto and a few guys keep saying to me I should track it, im not sure but then I would be able to see how it reacts on the limit. I have got used to the auto box over 4 years and know when to rag it in the corners and when to feather the throttle to keep it in gear. Would be interesting especially with the K&W suspension and H&R ARB's

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:13 pm

Simon13 wrote:u won't go as quick around there thats for sure!

Yes but it willl still be fun

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:35 pm

i have heard storys that the ATF fluid heats up on the track.

if its switchable sports mode i think it wont kick down if you have a drift

Post Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:38 pm

TBH id rather fly to germany and hire a golf gti or something. Would cost about the same as driving over - just a thought

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:28 am

i'd keep it in 1-2-3 but have heard rumours of overheating the box also.. wouldnt be happy goin round in D tbh

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:49 am

i would take it easy, i suppose it can be done, but i would play with the 2 and 3rd gears and maybe 1 when starting off. Like everyone said above dont over "use" the auto box or the ATF will over heat, plan your corner attacks and decide on the gear before hand. You will be slow around the track but it will be FUN!!!
PS: not many people on here with experiance driving an auto e30 on a track or the Ring, you can be the first and tell us the pros and cons

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 9:58 am

ok this is madness if you take an auto e30 to nurburg it will not be driving back.

of course selecting 1 2 3 is best but as someone said it will not kick down when turning. even when holding it in 1st it will go round in 2nd then kickdown. plus doin this absolutely trashes your auto. i found this out last weekend when after chasing my mate in his RX7 across town then doin a few nuts my transmission slowly died to a point where it was just slipping and the car not moving.

anyway my manual conversion is about 70% complete. it has been a pain and ive been workin on it for an hour or so after work everyday but it will be well worth it. i have drivin a large amount of e30's autos and manual and all i can say is european autos are terrible. they tax heaps of power and are weak. (especially Benz's)

get yourself a getrag 5 speed you owe it to yourself and your car.....

just to re-cap... thrashing auto's = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:25 am

Theres a guy on here, who sadliy I can't remember his name, who trackdays his Sport auto. And he has no problems, think he has a hi performance fluid and a much bigger fluid cooler to stop the fluid boiling, but in theory there is no reason why i can't be done. Hope fully he'll reply to this thread.

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:31 am

Monsport (MONSPORT42) tracks his auto doesn't he?

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 10:33 am

Yeah that's the guy. Said he had problems to start with but that the mods to fix them were easy, and that it wasn't that much slower than amanual, although I think they were all drifting quite a bit

Post Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:11 pm

monsport auto is also a 2.7

driving in austrailia is about 16 times hotter there than it is here or in germany. As the man in question will know your not changing gear all the time round the ring like other tracks.

I really can't see the problem with it.

Post Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:57 am

fair point u got there.

Post Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:59 am

Hence a bigger cooler is needed, it's the heat in the ATF that does them in.

Post Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:02 pm

Hi there, yep I've tracked my Sport Auto for over 5 years. Remember it's a 2.7 though which makes a difference to revs. Yes it does overheat - fluid boils and squirts out of dipstick and then creates smoke on the hot engine. I've found the best way is to use sport mode (gears 2 & 3 only needed on most UK tracks -Oulton Park, Donnington, Brands - with a 2.7) and down shift manually to use engine breaking. At the beginning, I found it was easy to be tempted to over-brake before corners because of that strange freewheeling feeling it's possible to get with an auto. I've got a good suspension set-up and now can carry much more speed into corners. I also use power-on breaking to keep the front/rear balance optimum and also to keep the revs up for the exit.
I was about to get an extra cooler fitted to the auto but unfortunately became seriously ill so it never got done. Am hoping to get back on track sometime this year and will definitely have it done before I do.
I did have to replace my gearbox last year but only after 190,000 miles!
An auto is definitely slower than a manual but with practice it ain't by much.

Post Thu Apr 13, 2006 11:50 pm

There you go guys, from the Auto Maestro.... so stom moaning Nurbergring here you come.............

Post Sun Apr 16, 2006 3:22 pm

i just got back from a weekend elise chasing round north wales and yes the box did get whiny when pushed hard but after cooling down it was back to normal.

it gave me a chance to try different techniques and the power on braking was the most effective way of balancing the car.

as stated above despite the length of the lap the ring does not require thousands of gear changes to get round epseically when your driving something with long gearing. and because it requires so much concentration the car will be running for 12 or so mins then cooling down for half an hour so overheating should be less of a problem.

im really looking forward to it now I go in may and will report back on the results!

Post Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:12 pm

Sounds like you had a good time - Elise chasing round B roads definitely requires concentration! Stick to the road like glue those little buxxers. 12 mins on track should be no problem, with an open pit lane I usually do 15 mins on and 15 off all day (and that was without the cooler). Sounds like you got the hang of power on braking too, really smooths out the corners. But I would suggest you have a good set pads and brake fluid that'll take the heat! Enjoy!!

Post Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:50 pm

i wouldnt say i 'got the hang of left foot braking' more 'i didnt crash'!!!

takes some getting used to but after a while i could really feel the difference!

only had the 325 for 1 month so still getting used to it pads look new but i will be changing the fluid before i go on the ring for peace of mind if nothing else!

Post Mon Apr 17, 2006 2:15 pm

On the last auto I had I fitted a big cooler in front of the rad.
You just need to measure where you can fit it and contact a rad factor and get the pipes made up. You can usually tap into the cooling loop on your car to add the cooling, not having had an auto E30 I'm a bit sketchy on the details but it should be fairly straightforward and gives huge peace of mind (and wads of ATF cooling!).

Post Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:04 pm

What do you recon with a non sport auto box turning a few laps, nothing really serious say 3 laps of Brands at a time with a gap to cool down between

Post Mon Apr 17, 2006 6:17 pm

I did a track evening at Brands in my old 323i (it had the 2.7 in it) with a four speed non-sport box. It did OK but had to change between gears 2 and 3 manually and I do seem to remember it had a habit of changing gear on its own! I spent quite a lot of the time in the right hand lane and getting blue flagged but still enjoyed it. The thing about track days is to only go round as fast as both you and the car can safely do - it's all about having fun not wrecking your car! In answer to your question, if the rest of the car is all up square there's no reason why you shouldn't have a great time and an enormous grin!