I wanted to share my thoughts on this platform, I see so many reviews. In July 2024, I sold my BMW G80 M3. I had driven it up to Montreal for F1 from Virginia (Born and raised in Montreal, moved to USA in 2020).
My m3 was manual, I bought it when it had 3k miles and did about 12 track days with it, it was straight pipe, minus the stock mufflers and had a Piggy back tune on it. That thing was the most boring M I've ever owned. Heavy, diluted, but fast and capable. Excellent Track car. Just to give you an idea, I had bought it when my wife got pregnant with our first child and I needed to replace my Cayman GT4,
I also owned a supercharged BMW M3 E92. I've had that car for a decade and track it as well. I still own the E92, love that platform and the sound of that V8, one of the most satisfying cars I've owned.
However, as you might imagine, my GT4, up to that point was my favorite car, before it I'd owned a Turbo S 2015 and a Ferrari FF (briefly). Honestly, the GT4 was the ultimate cup car, I enjoyed it on track days and drove it into the city when I needed to go to the office. It was a real weapon on the track. I must of done 20-30 track days before selling it, it was pretty much stock minus a short shifter and an exhaust. It did have it's drawbacks though, mine had the dreaded lifter tick and burnt oil like it was going out of style.
So long story short, I sell the GT4 and drive the E92/G80 for about 2 years. On my way to Montreal F1 in Juin of 25, on I95 near DC, I see a red lotus drive by, the thing sounded amazing and looked like some sort of baby supercar. Loved the look, and I felt like I was done with the M3 after 2 years and 25k miles of abuse. Got back home and started looking for a higher millage yellow Emira. Didn't want to pay sticker and obviously was looking at the manual V6 first editions. Read the reviews, they were about similar to the M3, very mixed, people complained it was too heavy, too muted from factory and fairly unrealiable.
Well, I live on a farm with a hole bunch of unreliable, heavy equipment, so why not add another one I thought.
Day 1 of ownership:
Yes, Headers, 3rd cat delete and Valve controller. I also contacted JUBU and Terry at JB4 for a tune. I'm the complete opposite as most of the folks on here probably, this isn't a garage queen and I live on a farm with no neighbors within 2 miles. I can show you guys (see link), we run go karts on an asphalt track on my property, it's very remote and noise is not a concern.
forums.kartpulse.com
Alright, well, the car sounds absolutely fucking insane. I have no idea why more people haven't done this upgrade. So I have headers (took me 3 hours to install, let me know if you want a video of it, I took plenty of clips with my gopro) 3rd cat delete was 30 minutes and the valve controller was about 10-15 Minutes. Shout out to GRP for replacing the valve controller I received that was defective (Threw a code at around 6000 rpm, wouldn't properly open the valve, drove me crazy).
Here is a video of the car with the exhaust modifications:
I know it's obnoxious, but I mean I drove a Ferrari FF for 8 months absolutely straight pipe, so obviously I'm not really a refined individual, I'm a motorsport junky, I love everything about how this car sounds, it's absolutely insane, if you witnessed this coming around a bend and didn't see the car you'd think Ayrton Senna was coming around the corner in an F1 car. The noise is reminiscent of that era of F1, dirty, unrefined, crackles and pops, just perfect in every way. (I know hate me all you want).
Here are my thoughts on the car after 4 track days and 2 autocross ones (Let me know if you want the videos). The stock platform is good, not great, it's not a GT4 but it has character, it's light in the front like the GT4, but it's not a scalpel or a track weapon in stock form. I'm working with the ETS raceteam that's running one and copying some of their suspension setup. The car has something special about it, especially the sound, the oversteer is really pleasant, I like how loose she is, it's different than the M3, slower, I did 43sec on the dominion raceway track 1 autocross setup with the Emira and 41.8 with the M3. Note the M3 was on a track suspension and made almost twice the HP.
My conclusion, humbly, is that this is a very new platform that will depreciate, it'll lose it's new shiny status and maybe with time people will stop filming me at gas stations or asking me what I do for a living, and I can't wait for all that to happen, but on the other hand, setups will come out, people, like my stupid ass, will modify these, run them into the ground, blow them up and learn this little machines secrets and throughout this period of lost novelty, the real character of this car will shine, it's such a pleasant thing to drive, I love it, it's honest, loose, light compared to my M3, absolutely stunning to look at and beyond all that, it's the best sounding car I've had the pleasure of owning (yes I know).
I will not be parting with this machine for quite a while. Next I plan on proper flash (working with Jubu and Terry Burger). I also will be doing some suspension work to help with the understeer.
My m3 was manual, I bought it when it had 3k miles and did about 12 track days with it, it was straight pipe, minus the stock mufflers and had a Piggy back tune on it. That thing was the most boring M I've ever owned. Heavy, diluted, but fast and capable. Excellent Track car. Just to give you an idea, I had bought it when my wife got pregnant with our first child and I needed to replace my Cayman GT4,
I also owned a supercharged BMW M3 E92. I've had that car for a decade and track it as well. I still own the E92, love that platform and the sound of that V8, one of the most satisfying cars I've owned.
However, as you might imagine, my GT4, up to that point was my favorite car, before it I'd owned a Turbo S 2015 and a Ferrari FF (briefly). Honestly, the GT4 was the ultimate cup car, I enjoyed it on track days and drove it into the city when I needed to go to the office. It was a real weapon on the track. I must of done 20-30 track days before selling it, it was pretty much stock minus a short shifter and an exhaust. It did have it's drawbacks though, mine had the dreaded lifter tick and burnt oil like it was going out of style.
So long story short, I sell the GT4 and drive the E92/G80 for about 2 years. On my way to Montreal F1 in Juin of 25, on I95 near DC, I see a red lotus drive by, the thing sounded amazing and looked like some sort of baby supercar. Loved the look, and I felt like I was done with the M3 after 2 years and 25k miles of abuse. Got back home and started looking for a higher millage yellow Emira. Didn't want to pay sticker and obviously was looking at the manual V6 first editions. Read the reviews, they were about similar to the M3, very mixed, people complained it was too heavy, too muted from factory and fairly unrealiable.
Well, I live on a farm with a hole bunch of unreliable, heavy equipment, so why not add another one I thought.
Day 1 of ownership:
Yes, Headers, 3rd cat delete and Valve controller. I also contacted JUBU and Terry at JB4 for a tune. I'm the complete opposite as most of the folks on here probably, this isn't a garage queen and I live on a farm with no neighbors within 2 miles. I can show you guys (see link), we run go karts on an asphalt track on my property, it's very remote and noise is not a concern.
Home Kart Track Build
I have no clue. I was seeing your start finish and thinking about the wire under most tracks for timing. Speaking of, I wonder what Scott monison uses for his backyard oval.
forums.kartpulse.com
Alright, well, the car sounds absolutely fucking insane. I have no idea why more people haven't done this upgrade. So I have headers (took me 3 hours to install, let me know if you want a video of it, I took plenty of clips with my gopro) 3rd cat delete was 30 minutes and the valve controller was about 10-15 Minutes. Shout out to GRP for replacing the valve controller I received that was defective (Threw a code at around 6000 rpm, wouldn't properly open the valve, drove me crazy).
Here is a video of the car with the exhaust modifications:
I know it's obnoxious, but I mean I drove a Ferrari FF for 8 months absolutely straight pipe, so obviously I'm not really a refined individual, I'm a motorsport junky, I love everything about how this car sounds, it's absolutely insane, if you witnessed this coming around a bend and didn't see the car you'd think Ayrton Senna was coming around the corner in an F1 car. The noise is reminiscent of that era of F1, dirty, unrefined, crackles and pops, just perfect in every way. (I know hate me all you want).
Here are my thoughts on the car after 4 track days and 2 autocross ones (Let me know if you want the videos). The stock platform is good, not great, it's not a GT4 but it has character, it's light in the front like the GT4, but it's not a scalpel or a track weapon in stock form. I'm working with the ETS raceteam that's running one and copying some of their suspension setup. The car has something special about it, especially the sound, the oversteer is really pleasant, I like how loose she is, it's different than the M3, slower, I did 43sec on the dominion raceway track 1 autocross setup with the Emira and 41.8 with the M3. Note the M3 was on a track suspension and made almost twice the HP.
My conclusion, humbly, is that this is a very new platform that will depreciate, it'll lose it's new shiny status and maybe with time people will stop filming me at gas stations or asking me what I do for a living, and I can't wait for all that to happen, but on the other hand, setups will come out, people, like my stupid ass, will modify these, run them into the ground, blow them up and learn this little machines secrets and throughout this period of lost novelty, the real character of this car will shine, it's such a pleasant thing to drive, I love it, it's honest, loose, light compared to my M3, absolutely stunning to look at and beyond all that, it's the best sounding car I've had the pleasure of owning (yes I know).
I will not be parting with this machine for quite a while. Next I plan on proper flash (working with Jubu and Terry Burger). I also will be doing some suspension work to help with the understeer.
