Track forum general chit chat.

Does anyone have experience with opening a claim with their aftermarket warranty company with the intent of getting reimbursed for the rod bearing job?
I'm going to be doing this and would love to hear some experiences.

roastbeef wrote

Does anyone have experience with opening a claim with their aftermarket warranty company with the intent of getting reimbursed for the rod bearing job?
I'm going to be doing this and would love to hear some experiences.

I think from what I've heard is that they will not reimburse for preventative maintenance. You have to actually let it fail to claim anything

elim11 wrote

I think from what I've heard is that they will not reimburse for preventative maintenance. You have to actually let it fail to claim anything

it has been discussed that one would open a claim, pay for the rod bearing job, the company sends out an adjuster, and they reimburse you. i just haven't actually talked to anyone that has done this yet.

it absolutely sounds like a longshot... like its too good to be true. fingers crossed. if they tell me to pound sand, i'll get a pro-rated refund and use that money for the job. not much left anyways, and not much else to worry about once they are done.

i started a thread in the maintenance forum to catch more views. hopefully someone can share an experience either way.

roastbeef wrote

elim11 wrote

I think from what I've heard is that they will not reimburse for preventative maintenance. You have to actually let it fail to claim anything

it has been discussed that one would open a claim, pay for the rod bearing job, the company sends out an adjuster, and they reimburse you. i just haven't actually talked to anyone that has done this yet.

it absolutely sounds like a longshot... like its too good to be true. fingers crossed. if they tell me to pound sand, i'll get a pro-rated refund and use that money for the job. not much left anyways, and not much else to worry about once they are done.

i started a thread in the maintenance forum to catch more views. hopefully someone can share an experience either way.

I was actually gonna do this but somebody give me their messed up bearings first. LOL

we should just keep them in a big basket and roll them into the front desk of BMW NA.


or make one of these floaty things in the shape of an m3 out of spent rod bearing shells.

C-M2 wrote

Purchased the wing directly from Mario at MK-RennsportTechnik.

Can't compare them unfortunately due to not running them. I was pleased with the tire once I finally got the pressures right. These like to be in the 32-33 range hot lots of grip for a supposed "200" treadwear tire.

Car looks awesome!

Just picked up some RaceQuip 112005 Single Layer Driving pants and a few Carhartt flame resistant t-shirts off of Amazon, small price to pay for a little added safety! I plan to grab a race suit at some point.

Volunteered at COTA and was the blue flagger at F1! But F1 uses this software that collects algorithms for the lead and last car predicting where the pass is going to be. Then the software will turn on the blue TSP light at the precise moment, thus making me obsolete lol.

chamba002 wrote

Volunteered at COTA and was the blue flagger at F1! But F1 uses this software that collects algorithms for the lead and last car predicting where the pass is going to be. Then the software will turn on the blue TSP light at the precise moment, thus making me obsolete lol.

cool. so you're in a corner booth in case the blue light doesn't work?

chamba002 wrote

Volunteered at COTA and was the blue flagger at F1! But F1 uses this software that collects algorithms for the lead and last car predicting where the pass is going to be. Then the software will turn on the blue TSP light at the precise moment, thus making me obsolete lol.

This seems like an awesome experience. Was it awesome????

ayao wrote

This seems like an awesome experience. Was it awesome????

Oh yeah! It awesome and totally free with food, drinks, and parking! I was able to see Sebastian Vettel, and honestly was a douche. He got out of his car, walking to the paddock, and I said hi but he just ignored me. We even made eye contact too, so you know I was saying hi. Daniel Recardo was nicer because he said hi when he got out. My wife and I have volunteered for 2 years now. After the races there are concerts. We saw Justin Timberlake and Stevie Wonder, and if you are lucky (depending on the security person) you can get into the VIP section of the concerts. At the end of the day, you get some cool COTA swag like sunglasses and shirts. If you want to volunteer, you can register at motorsportreg.com. I think openings start in the summer around May or June.

roastbeef wrote

cool. so you're in a corner booth in case the blue light doesn't work?

Yeah I was in turn 18A, and every corner station has a blue flagger. You'll be on the radio listening to the lap times, leader and last place driver. The system is too good, because right when you are about to pull a blue flag, the blue light comes on. Lewis can really close a gap and lap the drivers. I was timing it and I would get a 13 sec gap, then next lap it 8 seconds. What's really impressive is Max Verstappen racing skills. He started further back on the grid because of a qualifying penalty, and then managed to get to 3rd place! After the race he placed 4th due to illegal passing.

i said hi to cj wilson at the track once. said hi back and seemed friendly, but i didn't want to bug him. he had a few cars there and was tracking a gt350r.

also ran into robby gordon when getting gas before heading up to laguna seca. super nice guy, and we had a short conversation about tracking.

thats all my stories. lol

Chamba, sounds like a great experience, thanks for sharing! That was possibly one of my favorite races to date with the action at the tail end, good stuff.

I tried to look for Kimi, but I couldn't find him. Probably smiling in some isolated spot :/

I just came across an old thread that talks about the spring rates and motion ratios for our cars and some rear subframe considerations regarding spring selection for aftermarket kits, good read. LINK

At 600/900 I calculated that my spring rate selections are ~3.7x the stock rates in the front and ~1.5x the stock rates in the rear assuming the motion ratios are still close to the OE ratios after lowering the car.

This analysis also doesn't take sway bar rates into consideration and maybe it should.

Wonder how long before the M4 GT4 wings can be sourced.

///Mobbin wrote

I just came across an old thread that talks about the spring rates and motion ratios for our cars and some rear subframe considerations regarding spring selection for aftermarket kits, good read. LINK

At 600/900 I calculated that my spring rate selections are ~3.7x the stock rates in the front and ~1.5x the stock rates in the rear assuming the motion ratios are still close to the OE ratios after lowering the car.

This analysis also doesn't take sway bar rates into consideration and maybe it should.

It's interesting to note that they thought anything over 800 in the rear could cause damage to the sub-frame but I've heard of others running 900 or 1000 with no sub-frame damage.

Well, the car is at MRF getting new rod bearings. Can't wait to see how the looked.

roastbeef wrote

Well, the car is at MRF getting new rod bearings. Can't wait to see how the looked.

Hell yah! I went with VAC coated bearings and ARP rod bolts

macdude357 wrote

It's interesting to note that they thought anything over 800 in the rear could cause damage to the sub-frame but I've heard of others running 900 or 1000 with no sub-frame damage.

I noticed the same thing.
The 800 was a guesstimate with no real factual data, but it does point out the added stress on the subframe.
This type of stress may not show itself for several years .....or not at all.
It does however have me reconsidering a coilover rear.

And there they are, gentlemen. The new and improved 2011 bearings. More details to come.

Uh... what's with the spots?