So last weekend I decided to take the F31 to the track for a HPDE track day. My previous track car was a 2012 GTI with APR Stage 2 tune, custom center mount exhaust (cat and single resonator only), intake, upgraded turbo pipes and H&R Super Sports plus some more goodies. Nothing like passing big power cars in a little German hatchback
While a diesel wagon is obviously no track monster, I wanted to see what the F31 could do and for that, it needed to be tracked. My impressions and comments to follow.
Here is a short video to prove my story, cause no pics no proof.
So, from preliminary testing the Chipwereke module boosted HP by about 16-17% and torque went up about 20%. I also got the Dinan Shockware installed prior to tracking. As far as speed, no real surprises on the track, it's a diesel and it lacks that upper range high end punch. Off the corners it was very quick with that torque launching the 3800lb wagon forward nicely. On the straights it accelerated easily but just didn't run away. Still, the GTI would hit 110mph on the back straight and the F31 managed to consistently hit 98mph on the back straight. Not really that shabby.
Suspension wise it was a beast. I ran this track in Sport and then in Sport+ with all nanny devices turned off to get both impressions. With the stability turned off the F31 would whip the tail out easily in the S's if I let it but it was very tight overall. Carving the corners was easy and the car responded perfectly.
Now, this was done on the factory All Season RFTs and they held grip well, no understeer or oversteer, the X-drive performed very well. The tires however after two 20 minute sessions and two 30 minute sessions took quite a beating. The fronts are missing several pieces of outer tread block and the entire outer ridges are melted ever so slightly. LOL Going to get them rotated and try to even them out before thinking about pulling them off for summers.
Brakes. Brakes are factory standard, can't even option the M-sports on the diesels, and they performed excellently. No brake fade at all, even diving into the first hairpin at 90MPH, hard on the brakes down to mid 40s they just grabbed. The whole day, even at the end of the 30 minute sessions when I hit the brakes, I got brakes. That was impressive to say the least. The M-sport front bumper has great brake ducting for both inner and outer but still was a shocker.
Weak points are the swaybars and could use a stiffer spring with a lower center but these only became blatantly obvious with the stability off. And power, if they gave us these with the 6 cylinder diesels I would go to town upgrading the suspension and slapping sticky summers on and tracking it often.
However, since I have the S3 I replaced the GTI with waiting in the wings I likely will not track the F31 much. Still, nice to know that BMW puts a lot of thought and driving performance into these cars too.
Oh, and as a side note tons of people at the track kept coming over to talk, they wanted to say how cool it was to see a wagon on the track. Lots of wagon love that day