Hey guys. Was just wondering how you have done against stock 330 Cis. My buddy got one and is dying to take me on. We've only raced a little on the highway and stuff and we actually seem pretty even. How do you think I will do against him. Any helpful hints? I plan on racing on <1/4 of a tank. Maybe take out the spare and jack, and skip dinner . Anyway is there anything else I can do. I don't really race that often, so any tips on getting a good lanuch will help out a lot. We talk a lot of sh*t to eachother, all in good fun. But I want to beat him bad just cuz he spent more than $10 more, he thinks he's the sh*t. Any suggestions or race stories please. Thanks guys.

 

my friend has a stock 330i. Okay. u HAVE to get a perfect launch to beat him (if your stock). Those things have so much traction off of the line it isnt funny. What i do to beat my friend is i dont floor it off the line, i give it a hard push then, when i know i got traction, i give it the full thrush It seems like when he used the sport mode that comes with the 330i's (not the steptronic, but sport mode) they are a lil slower. So tell him u will use steptronic and tell him to use his sport mode =) haha. Let us know what happens :P

 

So I should leave it in regular Automatic? Also, you say 330's have great traction off the line. What if we slowed to 20-25'ish and went from there? I should be able to beat him right? In this case should I use the steptronic mode? Thanks.

BTW, in my last post I said that he spent more than $10 more than me, it should have been more than $10 k more. oops.

Anyother suggestions or experieinces anyone?

 

i would say you guys should do it at about 45 mph so you can be in 3rd, and then downshift to second, then you'll give him a pretty good run for his $

 

I thought we decided that we could beat the auto 330i, but would lose to the manny 330i...

 

Hey Iridium.

Got any suggestions? Has this topic already been done? If so where?

Do you guys think we're faster in auto or steptronic?

 

my buddy with the 330 claims he smoked a CLs last night. COuld it be true? I know it might have something to do with the driver, but how much? Especially if left in auto?

Keep the advice coming guys...I'm a "newbie" to the boards...and to the CL-s. I'm still not clear on how to get that elusive perfect launch. Advice on that will help out a lot. Thanks a lot.

 

If start from a dead stop, you should "brake torque." Brake Torque is when you are pressing the brake pedal hard and also pressing the gas pedal slightly to about 2500-3000 RPM on your tach. As the light turns green, release the brake pedal quickly, and start pressing the gas pedal to full throttle. Also turn of the VSA and be in sportshift mode. I wouldn't recommend it to do it to often b/c I blew my civic transmission and drove it hard. Practice it a couple of times before you race your buddy. Plus we don't get good traction on stock tires. Be safe and have fun.

 

Let's find out for sure...I've got a 330ci. I'm not terribly interested in drag racing (I also didn't go to the NASCAR race last weekend -- same reason ), but I do like to autocross and road race. So Phoenix guys, come out to the Nov 11 autocross at Firebird, or to ASRA's track days at PIR on Nov 24-25 (I'm in the BMWCCA run group there), and we'll compare times!

PS - I'm not talking trash at all, because I'm not a good driver and I know I could easily get beat. Let's find out!

 

No takers?

 

i personally like cls better.no there reason. roomier and more powerful. and more reasonable price. better resell price too

 

I'll go to an autocross one of these days, cakennedy. And you haven't seen a bad driver in the twisties until you see me

But it would be interesting to see how much good rubber and the spring/sways help out the inherently disadvantaged CL-S. The car handles 10x better with them, that's for sure.

 

Come on you guys... The 330 would ditch the CLS if you throw in a curve or two. The 330 has near 50/50 weight distribution with better handling / feel for the road. The 330 also has better quality and awesome will hold better value. Acura is an alternative to Honda and Toyota - not the premium vehicles.

 

I raced at Houston Raceway Park, beat him by 3 cars but I had bad R/T so my ET was way better than his. I used 1-2-3 shifting. I had only an intake, dont know what he had. Good luck.

PS. You meant he spent $10K more? . That little K makes 1000x difference

 

So no SS just over to D1, hold to redline and D2 and then D3? I usually over rev first whenever I do that. It comes so quick!

 

over rev? check your tranny fluid.
If you decide to do 1-2-3, remember to check the rpm, I always get put to sleep by the sweet sound of VTEC 'till the fuel cut-off wakes me up.

BTW, I raced an auto.

 

i wouldn't reccomend 'power braking' with our cars. Our torque converter is wound up very tightly. Doing this can cause major stress on the converter, and since it being so tightly wound, will cause a split second slower launch. It would take more time to unwind; thus a bad launch

 

I took out a 330Ci 5-speed from a 5 mph roll up to 70 mph. May not have been fully broken in, but the guy ran me anyway. We were about dead even through first and second and I began pulling a car length in third before I hit the brakes for my turn.

Still a sweet-ass car and would MUCH rather be in it right now. Actually, I probably will be in that car next. Call me a traitor, but if you've seen the '02 330Ci with the optional 18" wheels, you know it's one bad-ass looking motherfucker.

 

All black 330xi's give me fits...

 

Thanks guys.

BTW, I tried the "torque brake" technique. I didn't like it at all...I went from about 50 mph to to a dead stop in just a second or two.

No, really I haven't had the chance to try anything yet (lots of traffic in the mornings). But definitely looking forward to it.

Could someone post a little mor info about the 1,2,3 shifting? I mean at what rpm's do you shift etc.

 

Whatever you do try to video tape the race.

 

uhmmmmmm, how the fuck did you go from 50mph to 0mph from doing that? wtf did you do? hahahahah that sucks.

 

I was on the road and wanted to really get on it. Then I remembered what they said about torque braking, so I stepped on the brake really hard and skidded to a stop Just joking man, that didn't happen. I just thought it was funny how he said "from a complete stop" step on the brake hard. That would be pretty funny though.

 

considering that torque converters are generally viscous coupling, I'm a little confused by what you've written here. there isn't anything to "wind up" as that would imply some sort of mechanical coupling (like a clutch assembly) which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

This is me on sunday

 

Kind of depends on what types of curves are 'thrown' in. With just sways and comparable tires (224/45/17s on summer tires for both) I would expect the lateral road holding ability to be even. So in a situation where there are more sweeping turns or the turns allow for proper set up this could go either way.

If there turns are erratic requiring constant correction or transitioning; the Bimmer would definitely come out ahead. Regardless of what (within reason) is done to the CL-S it will never have a slalom ability of the 3 series.

I've witnessed this while driving some turns near my home in my CL-S and my wife's E46 328i. I can maintain or exceed the speeds through some turns in my car versus my wife's. But ask the car to immediately change directions is somewhat scary and a burden in the CL-S whereas the Bimmer does it without complaint and inspire confidence in the maneuver.

 

Why turn the VSA off? My "salesman" told me it would'nr affect power at all.

 

If too much slip or a possible uncontrolled condition is detected the VSA can closed the VSA throttle which will cut power.

 

And you trust your salesman...who probably drives a Civic...
The VSA is awesome for normal driving, but it is overreactive...and kicks in very aggressively. Aggressive driving requires the car to be pushed to 80%+ of it's max ability....the VSA kicks in at like 70%...

 

Keep in mind the main reason the CLS could not touch a BMW in a road course is because of one major thing - BMWs have 50/50 weight distribution. Always remember that 0-60 is only one component of performance.

 

That is a broad statement and can't be an absolute. I know my E46 328i would destroy my CL-S in a parking lot cone course. But I would have to say that the CL-S would probably win at Road Atlanta due to the layout not requiring quick transitions.

 

so in your world the integra type r with a 60/40 weight distribution couldn't possibly run with bmws (with a near 50/50 weight distribution) on a road course?

most fwd cars are at least 60/40, and some, like the type r, have been real gems on the track. you can't just make a blanket statement like that and expect it to hold water in the real world of compromises.

I think a bigger handicap for the big acura is the extra poundage it's heaving through every turn (and the fact that most people try and drive rwd lines with a fwd car, which is the slow way around a track).

 

Definitely, I think Pierre Kleinubing might feel a bit different about the FWD and the 50/50 issues.

 

Unfortunately, the real world is not made up of road courses....so, I would probably smash your bimmer...

 

Well, there's one way to find out for sure...

Who wants to race?

 

I would definitely head out there, if I lived in AZ....it's all about having fun...

 

too bad it's 2 states and most of texas away from me...

ah well, at least tws is reasonably close by.