You all did a great job. The M4 has changed my perception of BMW so far, but was it the best choice for our writers’ challenge and showdown at the Ultimate Track Car Challenge? In this article, I will delve into my fellow writers and competitors and assess where their cars stand right now, before we dive deeper into the details. Some have taken a path similar to mine, while others have opted for a full DTM tribute.
Keeping It Simple
To fit some of the cars into this challenge, we made the rules pretty open but straightforward. The rules are as follows: Must run 200tw tires. That’s all the rules. 200TW or what the tracking world calls “street” tires even the playing field a bit. It’s also more relatable to all our readers and peers in time attack and SCCA time trials. Plus, street tires make you more precise with weight management, power management, and setup.
Our vision was to leave it open for each person to take things as far as they wanted. Let your imagination run free. The guardrails are that none of us have infinite resources (time, money, effort), so hopefully no one arrives to Texas with a Daytona prototype.
I’m going to give each jackass, I mean competitor, a “How Concerned Am I?” score based on five categories: weight, power, aerodynamics, reliability, and driver skill. The closer to 50, the greater the risk to my first-place bragging rights. With that being said, let’s kick off with who is the highest risk and likely to go crazy with the rules.
S65 In A E46!
That would be Terry from Vorshlag and their E46 GTR. Well, it’s not a real GTR, but it does look like one. Terry somehow got his hands on a FloBmann body kit, which is regarded as the pinnacle in the BMW community. These kits, known for their use on high-performance hill climb cars and WTCC vehicles, are handcrafted in Germany. It’s hard to convey the level of detail they invest in each kit, but it rivals that of OEM race cars. If you can’t tell, I’m a big fan.
Furthermore, Terry will likely have the lightest car at 2600-2700lbs competition weight (which is the weight of the vehicle as it goes around the track with a human in it). The E46 is such a good dang car too. Like seriously, look at all the motorsports that chassis is involved in, and it’s competitive in all of them. They will also have the lowest hp/tq, too. They are using a stock-ish S65 from an E9x M3 paired with a DCT from that same chassis. Damn, there goes my DCT advantage just like that.
The Breakdown: Terry is the favorite to win this. Caged good chassis, the lightest car, and his home track give him a strong edge. Knowing Terry, he’ll likely have massive tires, possibly starting at 3xx. My only hope is to gain some ground on him down a few of the straights. Swapping a DCT into a chassis it wasn’t intended for can be quite challenging; however, keeping it paired with the engine it was designed for should make things easier. That said, the potential for teething issues and troubleshooting at the track will be a factor, as is common with any swapped car. That’s why OEM powertrains may be the best to drag his ass down the back straight like my next competitor.
Weight advantage: 9
Power advantage: 4
Aero advantage: 6
Reliability risk: 1
Driver factor: 10
Total: 30
Another White F82
A familiar face: Alan and his F82. To give some background, we started this challenge because we both own F82s. Alan’s car has a manual transmission. His approach is analytical and systematic; he’s a smart guy who enjoys diving into the data. I don’t have much information on his car at the moment since he hasn’t shared much, but I know it has some Dinan parts and that it recently hit a deer.
The Breakdown: NEMESIS, the actual battle of the F82s. It won’t be easy because I will sacrifice some speed to make things look cool and as low as possible, and Alan is far more sensible than I am. Alan is data-driven, so I also expect himto make significant improvements throughout his testing and the weekend at Ultimate Track Car. Improvements that I may be scratching my head on how the hell it even happened. I don’t know how many creature comforts he’s willing to sacrifice to win, so it may be the most actual street car out of all of us. Think with Alan, I’ll need execution and consistency to keep up, or I’ll just have to drag his ass down the back straight. Speaking of execution, let’s talk about another racecar.
Weight advantage: 1
Power advantage: 3
Aero advantage: 2
Reliability risk: 5
Driver factor: 8
Total: 19
LS Swap The World
We conclude our discussion with Tom from Grassroots Motorsports Magazine about his LS-swapped 350Z. This Z is a purpose-built time-trial car that has been caged and shed some weight, but it still weighs around 3,100 pounds in competition. It was built for the TT2 class, so it doesn’t produce a tremendous amount of power. According to Tom, it should generate around 425 horsepower to the wheels.
Tom took an extra step by having the car and its current aerodynamic package analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to determine a window of the amount of downforce generated and the envelope of how slippery it is. He also approached the suspension and setup methodically, as he discussed in Grassroots Motorsports. In its last track outing, the car finished on the podium in TTU during its first event and would’ve also podiumed in its TT2 class, which is quite impressive.
The breakdown: Although Tom’s car isn’t the lightest, it’s still lighter than both F82s. Having a system that is already optimized, or at least has a strong foundation for optimization, is a significant advantage above all of us. The Z is also the only car with a double wishbone in the front, which has better camber and bump steer control than McPherson. However, being an engine-swapped car, there are some teething issues. Tom tried to be proactive with the oiling system, using a quality baffled pan with an accusump, but on the used Pirelli slicks, he learned that a dry sump isn’t an option; it’s a necessity. Speaking of the Pirelli slicks, he can’t run those in this challenge, so how would that learning curve be? Either way, I’m going to drag his ass down the back straight.
Weight advantage: 7
Power advantage: 4
Aero advantage: 6
Reliability risk: 2
Driver factor: 7
Total: 26
Lets F’ing Go!
I wish everyone had chosen the Camaro to diversify this challenge a bit, especially since Alan has an F82. However, as I mentioned earlier, would this challenge even exist without the F82? Alan and I would never have connected if it weren’t for that. If you’re a writer and would like to join us, please reach out. The more writers we have, the better!
I need you to do us a favor, though, so we can run this back next year. I need you to FTA this thing, that’s For The Algorithm. Please comment and share it on your socials. Let’s demonstrate that magazine days were valuable and that online media can thrive as well. While you are sharing it on your socials, be sure to visit my Instagram (@imdevingiles) and vote on this post for who you are rolling with!
This is where you can find their builds and posts
Alan’s F82 on Moto IQ
Terry’s E46 on Vorshlag
Tom’s 350Z on Grassroots Motorsports Magazine