adept

I am considering to sell my E36 M3 track car for the purposes of getting into an S2000 that I can dedicate to the track. Since I have a ton of investment into my M3 (financially and emotionally), I want to do a lot of research first before making this decision.

One thing I'm going to consider is the cost of consumables. I've made a draft list below and it looks like the consumables will be a wash between the two cars. However, I have no idea how long the consumables last on an S2000. Fluids are fairly simple to figure out -- just base it on how long you feel comfortable keeping the fluids in the car. Brake pads, rotors, and tires are the item I'm pondering.<br /><br />I have solid data to know exactly how long stuff lasts on my M3. Any experiences you guys can share regarding brakes and tires?



Quick note about tires: yes, I know that the Michelin PSS are not ideal. I have the most data on these so I want to just use these as the best apples-to-apples comparison.

p.s. any other thoughts about the attributes of the M3 vs the S2000 would be appreciated. I already have an S2000 daily, but never driven it on track.

dc2-2-ap1

Few things I saw:
*only need 1 qt for diff (.8 actually).
*you should get more than 6 days out of a set of front pads with an st40 kit - especially with PSS.
*overestimated the rear brake life span. Based on tire and aero, shoot for 6-10 days.
*don't waste money on Stoptech slotted rears, just buy Napa or Centric blanks $35'ish each.
*there are better and cheaper tires than the PSS (RS-4, RE71R, BFG Rival S 1.5)

dc2-2-ap1

Sounds pretty close though. I ran some quick math a few months back and my consumable cost came out to around $220 per track day.
Front and rear brake ducting will definitely help to extend rotor and pad life.

miamirice

• For what it's worth-

i had a track prepared e36. Used pagid pads and star spec tires on my track days. Sold the car to try something new.

got s2000 and used Carbotech pads and toyo R888 tires.

The s2000 was cheaper to run. The m3 went through tires faster (maybe because I didn't have camber plates to adjust). But the m3 also would have little things here and there like leaky diff seals.

The s2000 was/is the more engaging car to drive and will make you a better driver. The e36 is like the spec Miata in that it's more forgiving of mistakes. The s2000 is also faster than the e36 around the track.

BoboTheMonkey

I think the S2000 is pretty easy on tires, since it would be lighter than the E36. I don't know much about the brakes on the E36 and it sounds like you are looking at doing a bbk kit anyways. Factory brakes I would imagine like most BMWs are quite large and would be pretty expensive. The s2000 can use your plain old centric blanks if you want. Again, the s2000 is much lighter and should be easier on these consumables. Rear wheel bearings seem to be a consumable in the s2000 too. I have had my car for 4 years and do a few events every year with one of those being on a road course and the rest Auto-X and have not had that issue. I did run brake ducting in the rear though and I think it helped a lot. I just bought the SOS directional vaned rotors and they helped out a lot in the front. I plan on doing front ducts too, but haven't gotten around to it. I can smell when the brakes are overheating in this car and I have not been able to do it since the SOS rotors and rear ducts. This is on tracks where the top speed is only around 90 going down to 45 though.

pastoli

Your brake pads will last a LOT longer with the BBK then you are projecting. I did 10 track days with my xp10 pads up front on Dunlop Z2 tires and had 70% pad life left. My front was not ducted, if they were I am sure they could have had more pad life left. I ran XP8's in the rear and had a DIY duct for it. I would also run the URGE rear rotors. I plan on doing this for my track car build. Read the reviews from people who have used the rotors, and also read the reviews from URGE's BBK. I think this will shed some light as far as consumables go for your brakes. I am also going to attach another link for a review on the Stoptech BBK.

http://speedfreaksusa.com/n-8351-sto...nda-s2000.html

Flow Rear Brake Rotors | URGE designs

lookstoomuch

Cost of consumables will be cheaper in a lighter and lower horsepower car. While the s2000 is not quite miata levels when it comes to cheapness, it's no doubt cheaper than the German cars.

What's wrong with your e36 that you want out?

DHonovich

I race an s2000 with BBK and get 15-25 days out of pads compared to the 2-4 days I did on stock calipers. As someone who has tracked both cars I prefer the s2000 but the e36 is a dream on track and much easier in the beginning to go fast with.

adept

Thanks for the input everyone. I think the cost of consumables is pretty much a wash... the difference is close to nil. So this isn't going to factor into my decision anymore.

Now I'm moving onto figuring out how much the build will cost. I've got the mods figured out. Looking forward to getting more of your advice on what kind of components are necessary for reliability/common issues.

p.s. not sure why my images don't seem to be working anymore.

Bullwings

FYI on the ST40 rotors. A local that I see frequently at the track has over 80 track days on his rotors. He's using raybestos st43 pads and runs full aero with 255 square maxxis RC-1 rcomps.

Your results may vary, but looking at my own 2-piece ST40 rotors with ~12 track days, I see far more than 30 days on this set of rotors.

As for pads with the ST40 caliper, i expect that I have at least 5+ more track days left, so that's at least 17 days.

Also, the PSS doesn't come in 255/40r17, largest is 245/40r17. I'd also look at a different tire - RS3/4 or VR-1 will be superior. If you want a "cheater" tire that claims to be a "street" tire but really behaves more like an rcomp (NT-01 / RC-1 levels of grip), look at the RE-71R.

I'm sure you'll find consumables and maintenance to be less than an e36