[M2PDX]

Originally Posted by Basketcase

For anyone who doesn't know Jackies driving (I hadn't watched anything before the M2 video)... I just watched this:

And it is DEFINITELY worth the watch! Can't wait for the upcoming M2 content/build

Wow. Awesome vid. A 2:13 on COTA! Holy Hallelujah.

Who was the idiot on this forum who called these guys "some amateur racers"????? Ban that dude immediately.

Best line of the video:

"...commit to just throwing the bitch in there."

[adc]

I’m really keen to see how you guys will develop this car.

My current understanding is that the G8x chassis handling magic comes from a combination of 3 things: suspension geometry, active damping, and the M specific MPS4S tires.

You guys may or may not keep the geometry intact. I suspect you will junk the dampers (hence losing the adaptive feature). And you will replace the tires (although with grippier ones).

Very very curious to see the end results. This could be my next track car, so please don’t screw this up.

[Onurleft]

Love it Jackie

I remember when you ran your S2K at GTA and used our shop (Solomotorsports) to set it up and add some much needed aero tape for Road Atlanta. Good times.

Will the M2 be at GTA this year ??

Love the build and announcement.

[JackiePhD]

OK Part 2 is finally here! The Track Prep finally starts!

First thing is first, before we start I'd love to have a baseline of the car. So as with everyone else out there, we weighed our M2, with half a tank of gas, CF roof, stock everything else.



In context, our car at 3778 lbs is about 30 lbs heavier than IND's manual car with 3/4 tank of gas, so I'd say it's about what BMW quoted as from factory. With me in the car, this number balloons to 3918.

Now let's get the actual fun parts started!

Since the ultimate goal on this car is to fit some big tires front and rear, tire clearance would be key. To eliminate further headache, we installed a set of RKP Fender Liners. Pics below to show the differences between the OEM piece and the RKP modified piece. Still protects the OEM auxiliary radiators just fine, but we did gain quite a bit of tire clearance it seems.



Next, PhD's good friend and uncle Danny Kao gifted us a set of Millway Camber Plates. He had ordered these when he placed an order for a G82 M4, before he found a perfect spec 991.2 GTS and went for that instead. PhD's not affiliated with Millway (yet) but we really liked the design and quality of this piece compared to some of the other options available on the market. We set the camber plate to ~10mm, about halfway to maximum negative camber setting.



One of the first things we do on any BMW's is a set of stud conversion kits, and the M2 received the same treatment thanks to our partners at Motorsport Hardware. We especially like their conversion stud kit, which turns the M14x1.25 fine threads to a more durable M14x1.5 thread. As I'm sure many of you know, stud conversion kits are meant to be wear items just like brake pads and tires. We typically change ours in the Supra out once per year, but might consider doing it more often since the M2 is a little chubbier.



With the Millway Camber Plate at 10mm inwards, the front camber came out to a very nice -2.3 degree on both sides. We also zeroed the front toe, but decided to leave the rear alignments alone for this upcoming event.



Finally, I wanted to show off PhD's new wheels for our M2!
PhD's long time supporters Titan 7 Wheels had these TD6E six spoke wheels available for the G8x, and we snatched a set in the Hybrid Dark Machine finish. I think it looks epic, and adds depth to the car where the OEM black wheels on track just looks a little bit like a black hole. We went for the 19x9.5 front, 20x11 rear options instead of 20s all around.



I would show you guys how the car looks with these mounted up and all, but as of the time of writing, we still haven't received our new tires yet. And we're supposed to on the road tomorrow. Just great

Thanks for all the support on here! It means a lot to us for sure. We'll keep this thread updated and I'll get to answering some questions next too!

[babym_gen]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

We went for the 19x9.5 front, 20x11 rear options instead of 20s all around.

So you went from 10.5 to 11 in the rear but you kept the 9.5 with in front. Why not go 10 in the front?

My thinking here is that BMW must have figured out in their testing the ideal difference between the rear and front wheel width is half an inch.

Edit: I wonder what's the weight after the mods?

[JustinHEMI]

Looking good Jackie! Thanks for the write up!

[JackiePhD]

Originally Posted by babym_gen

So you went from 10.5 to 11 in the rear but you kept the 9.5 with in front. Why not go 10 in the front?

My thinking here is that BMW must have figured out in their testing the ideal difference between the rear and front wheel width is half an inch.

Edit: I wonder what's the weight after the mods?

We haven't gone with 10 in the front because T7 doesn't make a 10 front, yet!
The goal is to make some custom size wheels with T7 down the line and offer that as a PhD Spec. It will likely be a squared size, i.e. same width front and rear. But for now, we want to try the stock-replacement wheels that don't require any additional modifications to fit and similar sized tires before we go very crazy down the line.

We did not weigh the car as it sits after the small amounts of mods, since I feel like the majority of the weight difference would be in the new wheels (hard to weigh when the tires aren't here). If I had to estimate everything else, I think it's negligible, maybe +/- 1 lbs.

[babym_gen]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

The goal is to make some custom size wheels with T7 down the line and offer that as a PhD Spec.

That would be an awesome idea if it's a data driven spec. You have a track and the skills to put consistent times so if anyone can do it, it's you!

Thanks for the reply.

[JackiePhD]

Quick update before we REALLY need to start packing and get ready for leaving!

NEW TIRES JUST GOT HERE!



Just to be 100% clear, PhD Racing Lab has a working relationship with Nankang Motorsport and we helped developed their 200 treadwear Nankang CRS tire. But for the sake of this post and really for our own understanding of the car, as well as the general upgrade path for these cars, we bit the bullet and ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, BMW Star Spec, in OEM sizing (275/35/19 F, 285/30/20 R). While we had the option of ordering the CSL special Cup 2R, the competition event we are headed to this weekend requires at least 200 treadwear for tire ratings, so the Cup 2R would not be legal.

Yes yes yes we've watched the UK Tire Review guys' video on these tires, and how these were barely any faster in the dry and MUCH slower in the wet, but we still wanted to find out for ourselves if the M2 G87 in full factory spec can take an even grippier tire than the OE equipped PS4S*. Even still, their results showed the Cup2* was about a second faster than the PS4S* on a 70 seconds track. If the track was longer, the gap likely increases. So we'll find out for ourselves whether the Cup 2* is a solid upgrade or a waste of money!

[adc]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

Quick update before we REALLY need to start packing and get ready for leaving!

NEW TIRES JUST GOT HERE!



Just to be 100% clear, PhD Racing Lab has a working relationship with Nankang Motorsport and we helped developed their 200 treadwear Nankang CRS tire. But for the sake of this post and really for our own understanding of the car, as well as the general upgrade path for these cars, we bit the bullet and ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2, BMW Star Spec, in OEM sizing (275/35/19 F, 285/30/20 R). While we had the option of ordering the CSL special Cup 2R, the competition event we are headed to this weekend requires at least 200 treadwear for tire ratings, so the Cup 2R would not be legal.

Yes yes yes we've watched the UK Tire Review guys' video on these tires, and how these were barely any faster in the dry and MUCH slower in the wet, but we still wanted to find out for ourselves if the M2 G87 in full factory spec can take an even grippier tire than the OE equipped PS4S*. Even still, their results showed the Cup2* was about a second faster than the PS4S* on a 70 seconds track. If the track was longer, the gap likely increases. So we'll find out for ourselves whether the Cup 2* is a solid upgrade or a waste of money!

Will you go to the same track for the comparison (even though it's not on the same day or conditions)? Run the OEM wheels/tires vs the upgraded ones?

I guess I'm curious how you will measure the difference from before.

[JackiePhD]

Originally Posted by adc

Will you go to the same track for the comparison (even though it's not on the same day or conditions)? Run the OEM wheels/tires vs the upgraded ones?

I guess I'm curious how you will measure the difference from before.

Since we are not members of Autobahn Country Club, we can't go back freely and compare everything perfectly back to back as if it's our own private track. But since it's fairly close to us, we're looking to go back at some point when schedules work out.

As for how we'll be testing the tires out, we'll be running the PS4S* at this weekend's event before switching over to the Cup 2* if weather permits. Currently they are rain forecasted so we'll see how everything shakes out.

[Tag]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

We haven't gone with 10 in the front because T7 doesn't make a 10 front, yet!
The goal is to make some custom size wheels with T7 down the line and offer that as a PhD Spec. It will likely be a squared size, i.e. same width front and rear. But for now, we want to try the stock-replacement wheels that don't require any additional modifications to fit and similar sized tires before we go very crazy down the line.

We did not weigh the car as it sits after the small amounts of mods, since I feel like the majority of the weight difference would be in the new wheels (hard to weigh when the tires aren't here). If I had to estimate everything else, I think it's negligible, maybe +/- 1 lbs.

Hey Jackie,
You may find this video interesting. It was a real eye opener for me.

[Tag]

IG Post

jackiejding
What a debut!!! Second Place for our @phd_racing M2 at Gridlife Watkins Glen! 24 CARS in our StreetGT class!!

We came into this expecting nothing, as it was very much a learning experience. With just a pair of front camber plate, the M2 did a 2:05.2 on the factory PS4S, and we survived the rain in the podium shootout. I wish I had more time in the dry to experiment with our new @titan7wheels with Cup 2’s, but we’ll be back out on track soon enough.

True pace, in the dry, I think we had enough for maybe P3 or P4, but the rain really helped our chances and put the M Traction Control to the test. The car drove awesome and felt super comfortable to push in the heavy rain conditions, and of course the PS4S has been supreme in the wet.

Over the moon. What a car. This is gonna be such an awesome platform for us to push further.

[JustinHEMI]

Well done!

[JackiePhD]

Haha Thank you guys for sharing so fast!

Working on getting office work & video done but I'll have a write-up done on the event this week for sure.

Our little M2 blew everyone's mind, and once they realized how quick it was, they all came to tell me how good it looked in person haha.

A lot more to look forward to!

[zero21]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

Haha Thank you guys for sharing so fast!

Working on getting office work & video done but I'll have a write-up done on the event this week for sure.

Our little M2 blew everyone's mind, and once they realized how quick it was, they all came to tell me how good it looked in person haha.

A lot more to look forward to!

Typical reaction to success - ha!

You're posting the first track experiences (which are obviously very good) and we're eating it up. Can you provide some more technical feedback on understeer/oversteer, trailbraking, on-throttle/off-throttle turn-in, etc? How'd the brakes hold up? Looking forward to the write-up and videos.

[cmgbk75]

Originally Posted by JackiePhD

Haha Thank you guys for sharing so fast!

Working on getting office work & video done but I'll have a write-up done on the event this week for sure.

Our little M2 blew everyone's mind, and once they realized how quick it was, they all came to tell me how good it looked in person haha.

A lot more to look forward to!

Nicely done, 2 out of 24 with no expectations. Who/what came in first? Thanks for bringing us along, definitely looking forward to the rest of the journey.

[InspectorSeb]

LOTS of great information in here on factory suspension geometry and aero!

[ourlee]

once they realized how quick it was, they all came to tell me how good it looked in person haha.

so damn great lol

[Squidget]

The engineer in me has to ask. Since those brake line duct covers are removable, there's gotta be some reason to leave them on.

Usually these kinds of things increase MPG for street driving, but that doesn't seem likely in this case? So are those covers for debris protection?

[JackiePhD]

Originally Posted by zero21

Typical reaction to success - ha!

You're posting the first track experiences (which are obviously very good) and were eating it up. Can you provide some more technical feedback on understeer/oversteer, trailbraking, on-throttle/off-throttle turn-in, etc? How'd the brakes hold up? Looking forward to the write-up and videos.

I'm gonna make some head way on the video and get all this posted as well! Looking to get some more pictures from our photographers so I don't have to make a post with just a wall of text hah

[JackiePhD]

Originally Posted by Squidget

The engineer in me has to ask. Since those brake line duct covers are removable, there's gotta be some reason to leave them on.

Usually these kinds of things increase MPG for street driving, but that doesn't seem likely in this case? So are those covers for debris protection?

You're correct in that it should increase MPG since it basically *almost* seals off that duct. As far as debris protection goes, I'm not sure what is there to protect. If anything rocks/other debris are far more likely to damage the uncovered coolers in the nose of the car than sneak their way through the brake duct and damage anything suspension or brake wise. Not impossible but chances are you're ok.

Like we said in the video, most likely it's there for hard-core track guys to help further manage brake temperatures on track. But since most street guys are never gonna overwhelm the OEM brakes, it's covered up.