diference between e36 and e46 in racing

[mitja]

Could someone tell me what are the diferences between e36 and e46 in racing. Mosltly I would like to know about handling diferences and things that one car has and other does not have.(like brake cooling or something like that...)

If somebody has done some racing or knows someone who raced both cars please answer.

[Vitolo]

E46 chassis is 50% stiffer than E36

[Rob ITR1035]

and heavier

[Vitolo]

It's only about 100lbs heavier, which is reasonable given the increase in overall size. Its all the extra crap put on the car that adds significant weight over an E36.

[r6e36]

According to BMS's literature The E36 M3 weight in at 3175 lbs while the E46 weight in at 3415 lbs. that is more than 100lbs difference. That is like having a fat guy on your passenger seat all teh time. I don't know where you got the 50% stiffer. maybe compared to your 318it

Originally posted by Vitolo
It's only about 100lbs heavier, which is reasonable given the increase in overall size. Its all the extra crap put on the car that adds significant weight over an E36.

[single]

It really depends on what your talking about. If you are refering to like the Turner E46's vs. GMG E36 M3, there are a lot of differences. Turner buys the cars gutted, and then does them as the rules allow(Motor, Suspension, Cage, ETC...) I know that the gutted E46 you can buy from BMW is like 3185 with the cage in it. I am not sure where the 3415 came from, but that seems a little bit off. Both of the cars run Moton Tripples with HR ID Race springs. Typically the E46 understeers while the E36 has an oversteer issue when setup like this, but at a track like Road Atlanta, they were both sideways. Auberlen's car(E46) was very situated in the turns. Rarely did I see the car understeer/oversteer vs. Richmonds E36 M3 4-door which couldn't keep it giong in the right direction. Richmond spun out twice at the Road Atl. race last weekend. For the most part, they are pretty much the same car minus body/chassis as the rules govern everything they do. As for the chassis being stiffer in the E46, this is true to some degree. From the factory yes, but we're speaking race car vs. race car, and once you add in an 10-point cage, and x-braces etc.... there is really no way to compare.

Wes

[Matthew C Smith]

-> Track Talk