Time to Come Clean; I'm Officially a Chevy Owner

[bento]

6 hours ago, Kidasters said:

OK - I need more.  I have a friend who has an SS that was tuned by Lingenfelter, and now he's thinking about going to an M2.  

 

So - why did you switch?  What do you like/dislike about both cars?

 

 

Happy to oblige;

 

I’m doing a lot more track days than I planned to (15 days 2018 ytd) when I bought the SS, so that played heavily in my decision to switch. 

 

SS shortcomings on track;

-Lack of lateral support in the seats. I was sliding all over.

-No good solution for adding camber to even out front tire wear. Stock adjusters maxes out at 1.6* and the only camber plates available sucked. The SS probably needs at least 3* to keep from destroying tires.

-No provision for a tow hook. Sounds like a small thing, but was always in the back of my mind. 

-Non-existent aftermarket your interests didn’t include car park posing or 1/4 mile runs.

-Hard plastic right where I would brace myself with my knees. Left bruises when I switched stickier 200tw tires.

 

SS strengths on track;

-Other than tires, consumables costs were pretty reasonable

-Excellent brakes out of the box

-Good handling for such a large car

-Good stability control track mode that didn’t intrude much unless you did something stupid.

-Good power

 

SS shortcomings on the street

-Flaky nav system

-Lack of thigh support in front seats

-Fuel economy- I averaged 14mpg but knew this going in.

-A bit noisy on the highway (wind/tire noise, not engine sounds)

-Not a lot of modern parking garages can accommodate such a large car.

-That’s about it, I really liked it as a street car, the seats were only an issue on long drives, such as the trip to Laguna Seca a few posts up.

 

SS strengths on the street

-Comfortable, roomy interior.

-Decent stereo when it wasn’t crashing and rebooting

-Ventilated seats

-Great power delivery

-Fun back road drive if the roads weren’t too tight

-Sounds amazing at wide open throttle.

-Pretty good sleeper; looks like a rental car.

 

I’m still in the honeymoon period with the M2, but I like the overall size, more supportive seats, and a good aftermarket for track focused parts. 

 

Power delivery is a bit different but power to weight SS vs M2 is similar at 4,000lbs/415hp vs 3,500lbs/365hp. I’m hoping that 500lb weight reduction is noticeable on track. Will find out tomorrow. ?

 

I also just wanted to try something new. I tend to switch dailies every 2 or so years.

[irdave]

If you want a little more out of the M2, you can get in touch with my buddy Mark at SCR Performance here in CO.  He has one and there are 2 or 3 others that frequent the shop, both for the M2s and for their race cars (E36s and 46s...)

 

970.203.1127

[bento]

54 minutes ago, irdave said:

If you want a little more out of the M2, you can get in touch with my buddy Mark at SCR Performance here in CO.  He has one and there are 2 or 3 others that frequent the shop, both for the M2s and for their race cars (E36s and 46s...)

 

970.203.1127

 

Thanks Dave. 

 

I’m focused on handling and then braking for now though. Just picked up the M2 from having camber plates installed. That allowed for 2.7* camber up front. Rear is adjustable out of the box and they were able to get 1.6*. That should hopefully put me in a good place for tire wear on a track driven daily. Need to see how the brakes perform with upgraded pads next weekend, swap tires when I wear out the contisportcontact3s that came on the car, then start looking at coil overs.

 

Probably won’t add power for a couple years. I want to keep the powertrain warranty in effect for a while.

[irdave]

Ohlins is getting ready to introduce their DFV set of dampers with more of a track bias than street bias- should be out around the end of the year...

 

It sounds like you have a good shop out there to help you.  Have fun with new car.

[bento]

Good to know on Ohlins. I hadn’t heard about the new coilovers. Will have to check those out. Thanks!

 

I like the full aluminum body for their dampers. Lots of research to do on the various options out there though.

[irdave]

I don't know that it's general knowledge to the public yet- I was just on the phone with them the other day...

 

I've got the regular Ohlins set up on my e46m3 wagon, with GC mounting hardware.  I've been really happy with them for the year and a half they've been on there...  MCS is building some 2 way non remote dampers for my 2002- I'm expecting those to nicer. :)

[bento]

1 hour ago, irdave said:

I don't know that it's general knowledge to the public yet- I was just on the phone with them the other day...

 

I've got the regular Ohlins set up on my e46m3 wagon, with GC mounting hardware.  I've been really happy with them for the year and a half they've been on there...  MCS is building some 2 way non remote dampers for my 2002- I'm expecting those to nicer.

I’m very interested to hear about the MCS dampers for the 02. It’s cool to see some new options hitting the market.