MarkP Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 This is a 'what do you know now, that you wish you knew then' post. I'm running Spec E30 and thinking about moving to GTS3 so I have more local guys in Arizona to race with. Currently I travel to So Cal for Spec E30, which is a great group, but the traveling makes it tough. I plan to stick with BMW if I make the move and it is difficult to figure out how to evaluate potential cars for GTS3. I'm an experienced racer and I want a car that will be competitive (one reason I like spec - it's me, not the car that gets blamed for a bad race). Is someone willing to do a mini brain dump? In other words - the best platform is 'x', you need at least 'y' horse power, E36 v E46 tradeoffs, you must have this or that brake package, shocks, dot v non dot tires, etc. Again, it's hard to shop for a good car if I don't know how to define 'good' or what is competitive today. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D_Eclipse9916 Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Depends on how competitive you want to be.. Josh Smith just built an e92 M3 for GTS3 and is killing it. The E46 M3 used to be the car to have, that lasted a short while... The E36 m3 is the car to have in gts2. GTS2 is too slow for the e46 m3 to have a huge advantage, and the torque of the V8 + rear suspension design of the E92 knocks the E46 off. That said, Eric wong was only .6 seconds off Josh Smith according to him. If you are racing locally, and no one plans an e92, go E46.. This is a 'what do you know now, that you wish you knew then' post. I'm running Spec E30 and thinking about moving to GTS3 so I have more local guys in Arizona to race with. Currently I travel to So Cal for Spec E30, which is a great group, but the traveling makes it tough. I plan to stick with BMW if I make the move and it is difficult to figure out how to evaluate potential cars for GTS3. I'm an experienced racer and I want a car that will be competitive (one reason I like spec - it's me, not the car that gets blamed for a bad race). Is someone willing to do a mini brain dump? In other words - the best platform is 'x', you need at least 'y' horse power, E36 v E46 tradeoffs, you must have this or that brake package, shocks, dot v non dot tires, etc. Again, it's hard to shop for a good car if I don't know how to define 'good' or what is competitive today. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkP Posted March 28, 2014 Author Share Posted March 28, 2014 Thanks for the response, helps a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcdesign Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I am pretty sure I could head back east with my E36 and do pretty well Everyone said Miller was a HP track... -tony colicchio Depends on how competitive you want to be.. Josh Smith just built an e92 M3 for GTS3 and is killing it. The E46 M3 used to be the car to have, that lasted a short while... The E36 m3 is the car to have in gts2. GTS2 is too slow for the e46 m3 to have a huge advantage, and the torque of the V8 + rear suspension design of the E92 knocks the E46 off. That said, Eric wong was only .6 seconds off Josh Smith according to him. If you are racing locally, and no one plans an e92, go E46.. This is a 'what do you know now, that you wish you knew then' post. I'm running Spec E30 and thinking about moving to GTS3 so I have more local guys in Arizona to race with. Currently I travel to So Cal for Spec E30, which is a great group, but the traveling makes it tough. I plan to stick with BMW if I make the move and it is difficult to figure out how to evaluate potential cars for GTS3. I'm an experienced racer and I want a car that will be competitive (one reason I like spec - it's me, not the car that gets blamed for a bad race). Is someone willing to do a mini brain dump? In other words - the best platform is 'x', you need at least 'y' horse power, E36 v E46 tradeoffs, you must have this or that brake package, shocks, dot v non dot tires, etc. Again, it's hard to shop for a good car if I don't know how to define 'good' or what is competitive today. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcdesign Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I really don't think there is a "best" platform. It really depends on what you start with, what you are capable of doing on your own or having a shop do, and what your budget is. Unless you can do almost all of the work yourself, you will need to budget $50-75k+ for a top GTS3 car. Obviously you can spend much less than that, just depends on what the competition in your region is and how competitive you want to be. -tony colicchio This is a 'what do you know now, that you wish you knew then' post. I'm running Spec E30 and thinking about moving to GTS3 so I have more local guys in Arizona to race with. Currently I travel to So Cal for Spec E30, which is a great group, but the traveling makes it tough. I plan to stick with BMW if I make the move and it is difficult to figure out how to evaluate potential cars for GTS3. I'm an experienced racer and I want a car that will be competitive (one reason I like spec - it's me, not the car that gets blamed for a bad race). Is someone willing to do a mini brain dump? In other words - the best platform is 'x', you need at least 'y' horse power, E36 v E46 tradeoffs, you must have this or that brake package, shocks, dot v non dot tires, etc. Again, it's hard to shop for a good car if I don't know how to define 'good' or what is competitive today. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eric W. Posted April 27, 2014 Members Share Posted April 27, 2014 I am pretty sure I could head back east with my E36 and do pretty well Everyone said Miller was a HP track... -tony colicchio I wanna head west for Nationals West so bad!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grifkylian Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 E46 M3 for GTS3 unless you're ballin' without a budget. Bigger tires and a lot more possibilities with E46 m3 (unless you're a wide body E36). You'll have to drive an E36 a lot harder to match times for E46's (most of the time at least. Ask magnetic1 ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.