POLL: Whats Your Best Go-Fast Part and Tip

[Guest Anonymous]

Seein's how this is a BMW 2002 Performance/FAQ Forum, lets hear it.

1. What is your best gofast part on your 02 for the $.

2. What is your best low buck (free) tip for 02 gofast

def. Go-Fast : makes your car go faster, handle better, stop better etc.

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

Well i've never driven one without Bilstein Sports and H&R springs, but i'd have to say that is why I go fast in the twisties.

Well it also has sway bars front and back and 15" panasports, but yeah, it handles goot.

Bryan

red73

[Guest Anonymous]

I found a sidedraft setup for free. Can't beat that for low-buck go-fast.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

pun it up!!!

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

including dead beat driver.

[Guest Anonymous]

No kidding.

[Guest Anonymous]

I'm assuming you mean acceleration because top speed is a

non-issue in these boxes imo. So, for speed-hands down a

LSD. If your lucky it's a 4:11. Naturally it's best to mate this

with a five speed. However, the 3:90 cars came with four

speeds so no huge deal. 3:90s are plentiful, cheap, and easy

to install(this is all relative I know). Lightening the car isn't

necessarily parts, but it is a good thing I agree. I dumped

everything extra off my car - underdash panels, carpet,

insulation-that stuff weighs a lot! My battery is a Hawker

under the back seat-weighs a fraction of stock, helps

distribute/remove weight for handling. There's a ton of stuff all

over the car that can go. Once again a proviso. All those

parts made up a whole that BMW designed. When you

remove that stuff, you change the complexion of the car. And

all of the above assumes the car is in good working order to

begin with.

[Guest Anonymous]

I would say in the tii's that I have had, adjusting the kmpump properly is the single biggest bang for the buck. Free HP as far as I am concerned. Every one I have ever bought has been way out of wack. Once you get them dialed, it's a good combo. This absolutely cannot be done without a fuel mixture meter. I was lucky enought to have access at a friends shop. A huge factor in this is linkage slop. If your linkage is sloppy you will never get it dialed. This is key, and I remember it being expensive for new linkage...Also the pump can be out of adjustment, it has to be timed to tdc properly...

As far as early and non tii cars, you can't beat side draughts. The better the motor is built, the better the performance. I notice that adjustment/proper jetting means everything with these as well. I can tell when one carb is not moving as much air as the other. A unison is mandatory for dialing these in. I adjust them on average about once a year. When setup right, with the proper linkage/jetting they are suprisingly low maintenence. I am getting awesome mileage too with the lean jet setting I am currently running

Cheap thrills I like are also:

1.) shorten the shift linkage(but not a c/r gearbox, destroys em)

2.) stiffer suspension/better sway bars

3.) my personal fav: better alternator and h4 insert light lenses. With a 80 amp alternator or better and 80/100 bulbs night driving becomes much more pleasureable. (and you can have the wipers on with headlights ;->)

4.) Improve your cooling system

Money Wasters:

1.) strutt tower brace (my car has one, and I can't tell any difference)

2.) 12 dollar spark plugs

3.) any oil over 1.75 a quart

4.) k and n air filter. Do we really need 40$ air filters?

5.) 32/36. This thing is the weber equivalent of a "type R" sticker. They are reliable, easilly tunable and don't require a ton of maintenence, but are absolutely minimum performance.

If you have the money, the smile factor from a c/r five speed is bigger than any other part I have had. I haven't run slide throttle bodies or twin cam heads (simply because they are too rare to be available that often) but I can't imagine they would make the car any more fun than what a c/r five speed does. Second in my experience would be the c/r steering box. It truly makes the car feel like the often mentioned "go cart".

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/store/index.html

i agree first of all that the best money you can spend on a well-tuned (up) car (im talking about basic tune-up stuff a.k.a. the basics such as mixture, timing, and maintenance items like fresh suspension bushings, etc.) is to improve the skills of the driver. remember, smooth always wins. lighter is better obviously too.

1. the biggest difference you will feel is tires. sticky meats are sticky meats. lower profile ones will give you sharper turn in, faster response, and a more stable contact patch for overall higher speeds. this obviously goes hand-in-hand with bigger wheels obviously. this is a bigger investment at first but someday you're going to need new tires no matter what you do.

2. a big, fat, stiff front roll bar for sharp turn in. if my competition oil pan wasnt in the way, id be using the hollow, short-armed Ireland front bar. a front bar alone will make the car "push" more but this is deal-with-able. a rear bar will balance it but will reduce your ability to put down power in bumpy turns. many racers dont even bother with a rear bar, preferring to just use stiff shocks back there. that being said, i run a 22mm up front and 19 in the rear. my car is more of a streeter than a trackstar, but someday i will make my own stiffass front bar. this is a $200-400 investment

3. a smaller-diameter steering wheel will give you a "close-ratio" feel to the steering. budget between $50-150+ depending on what kind you get

4. for low-buck suspension stiffening and lowering of center of gravity, you cannot beat cutting the stock springs 1.5 coils in front and 1 coil in the rear. cost=a few hours but no $$. name brand lowering springs are $200.

5. Bilsteins, sports in front and HDs in rear. sport rears are VERY stiff. depends if you like the back massage or not (stiff rear shocks feel like a little kid is in the back seat kicking the back of your seat over every bump). that said, i have HDs all around but might do sports in front if i ever do it over again.

6. move the battery to the trunk or put an optima under the rear seat. my optima is under the rear seat.

7. camshaft. decent regrinds are $150. there is NOTHING wrong with using a regrind (use Ireland, not TEP). it sounds like youre recycling something and therefore its inferior, but the brand new cams are ground the exact same way. that said, the camshaft is really the "brains" of the whole motor. it tells the engine (glorified air pump) when to breathe and how much. get a three- (or five-)angle valve job and check all the springs, etc., while youve got the head off. cam = $150, valve job = a few more hundred depending on what you have done. put on a new timing chain while youre in there. all these costs are way higher if you have the head pulled and all that other work done by someone else vs. just getting the machining done by a shop.

8. weber 38/38, 40/40 or sidedraft/s. the LYNX single sidedraft is a GREAT solution because it adds more torque due to runner design vs. double sidedrafts. double sidedrafts only gain an advantage in high-rpm race-type applications. dont bother with a 32/36 unless you need the smoggable version to get your car registered or get it for free. cost=$300-1000 depending on what you do.

9. big brakes... vented brakes allow you to use the brakes harder, longer, before you experience fade. you can also add ducting to help cool the brakes. brakes make you faster because you can brake later, and harder, just before you turn. see the FAQ for your options here. can cost a few hundred to do the whole car if youre smart about acquiring the parts.

10. SEATS and belts! you cant go fast if youre hanging onto the wheel in hard turns! cost varies depending on how lucky you are. ive got some DEEP-bolstered custom velour recaros out of a porsche 911. even with the stock belts (synched down nice and tight) i can keep a light touch on the wheel and focus on the control rather than hanging on for dear life on turns.

well thats my top-ten. id just add extra lighting if you like to drive at night. i love to because there are no damn pedestrians around. i have over 800watts of forward lighting i like it sooooo much.

GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!!!!!!!

-Rob

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.bmw2002faq.com/store/index.html

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

so far I have amassed a stahl header, 45dcoe's, 9.5 pistons, 3.9lsd, lightened flywheel, centerforce clutch, and something I am forgetting, plus a schrick 304 is in the works, and I am months away from testing any of it. Woe is me.

[Guest Anonymous]

part(s) = '77 320 brakes (front & rear on an early 2 piston caliper car)

[Guest Anonymous]

Please tell me more about the 2 piston calipers