new E30 build points question

[chipmonroe]

 

I picked up this jewel off of Craigslist last week.  It's an '86 325 that I'd like to build for Champcar.  It is bone stock at this point...

 

I prefer endurance racing after crewing on a class winning E36 team the past two years at the VIR 24 and driving a stint for NLS in that race this summer.  That's my goal but it would be nice to have something to run in NASA as well- it looks like a competitive Spec E30 would be way over 500 points though.  

 

Where should I spend my points for this car?  Is there a way I can have something I can run in spec E30 as well?

Thanks in advance

Chip Monroe

 

[ross2004]

Spec E30 is just that....spec. Which, right or wrong (wrong mainly), puts you over 500 points in CC. 

[tyler_j]

I looked at this exact situation quite a bit with E30, E36 and E46 cars. From what I gathered I would not be able to build a single car that would be competitive in both Champ and Spec racing. Suspension and diffs can be easily swapped, but all of the chassis/engine/aero items that make for a good champ or spec car would prevent it from being competitive in the other series (if eligible at all).

 

If you want to run one car in both, the E30 is probably one of the better ones to do it with. Build a SE30, then swap out the suspension for a champ legal suspension setup when running CC. Its going to be heavy for champ and due to that probably not competitive, but it would still be fun!  Your other option is to not change anything other than tires and run it in EC.

 

FWIW I ended up building an SE46 and will just run it in EC if I ever wanted to do an endurance race with it. For most of my future champ races tho I plan to just keep renting seats as its about the same cost as running my own car.

[obscene]

important thing to determine is how competitive you want to be in champ. you could bring an SE30 and still have fun mixing it up in the midfield. to be at the front though, you'll have to commit to one or the other.

[chipmonroe]

Thanks for the advice. I figured I’d have to go one way or the other. 

So where is the best place to spend my points on this car?

[wvumtnbkr]

1 hour ago, chipmonroe said:

Thanks for the advice. I figured I’d have to go one way or the other. 

So where is the best place to spend my points on this car?

Rear Wing.  Air dam.  Splitter.  Other aero.

 

Or, alternately, an engine swap.

 

That seems to be the 2 paths that have resulted in race winning e30.

[chip]

So for a spec e30 car you would probably want to do the following at a minimum:

Front adjustable camber plates.

Rear Shocks and the spec springs (not the coilover kit)

Front Shocks and the spec springs (not the coilover kit)

Front anti-roll bar- 22mm

Rear anti-roll bar- 19mm

Solid CAB

Solid bushing in the rear subframe

 

Champcar build

e30 325- 450

Front adjustable camber plates- 20

Rear Shocks and the spec springs (not the coilover kit)- 0

Front Shocks and the spec springs (not the coilover kit)- 0

Front anti-roll bar- 22mm- 20

Rear anti-roll bar- 19mm- 20

Solid CAB (but for spec you would prolly like the offset ones, but that will cost points in CC)- 0

Solid bushing in the rear subframe- 0

 

So that would come out to 510.

If you went this route I would suggest getting wider wheels (15x8 or 15x9) and running some 225/45-15 tires for CC.  But for Spece30 you have to go with 15x7 wheels.

 

So the spece30 car isn't that much over the 500 point value.  The other thing is that the car would be heavier than many other e30's in CC.  But you could get the spece30 weight by using ballast and remove it for CC races.

 

 

 

[JDChristianson]

1 hour ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Rear Wing.  Air dam.  Splitter.  Other aero.

 

Or, alternately, an engine swap.

 

That seems to be the 2 paths that have resulted in race winning e30.

You left out, cut and cut and cut weight.  Top CC e30's are really light    And do all the free stuff.  Brakes, Port and flow the head blah blah blah

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by JDChristianson

[chipmonroe]

Thanks guys.  I especially appreciate the Pinkies Out recipe, Chip 

I've got lots of work to do...

[chip]

11 hours ago, chipmonroe said:

Thanks guys.  I especially appreciate the Pinkies Out recipe, Chip 

I've got lots of work to do...

Don't hesitate to reach out- glad to help anyway I can.

[ross2004]

14 hours ago, chipmonroe said:

I especially appreciate the Pinkies Out recipe,

That's not their recipe for either car, just fyi.

[chip]

35 minutes ago, ross2004 said:

That's not their recipe for either car, just fyi.

That's correct- we use a special sauce as well...

We rub that all over the drivers before they get in the car. 

[eyeballs19]

I bought a mid-pack SpecE30 car with the intent of running it in NASA and ChampCar.  Brought it to ChampCar and ran EC as our “rookie” car, while we ran another e30 built to ChampCar rules.  It was a blast in EC.  Was very heavy vs a ChampCar build but handled beautifully on the coilovers and sway bars and got a lot of people a lot of experience.  Eventually converted it to ChampCar spec. Never did run it in NASA.  

 

In retrospect would have been easier to build from scratch for ChampCar.  Simplify, then add lightness.

[chipmonroe]

Thanks for all the info.  It's been super helpful plus now I know why the Pinkies Out guys are so greasy looking after the VIR 24

 

My car has the stock M20B27 engine which makes it a 375 point car to start.  So with the extra points maybe I could use the specE30 suspension...

[chip]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:08 PM, chipmonroe said:

Thanks for all the info.  It's been super helpful plus now I know why the Pinkies Out guys are so greasy looking after the VIR 24

 

My car has the stock M20B27 engine which makes it a 375 point car to start.  So with the extra points maybe I could use the specE30 suspension...

Actually slap a m20b25 in it before you do anything else 

You can thank me later