I went out 4 hours today with a friend that has a 99 Miata. I followed he lad. His car has suspension work, performance tires, roll bar, exhaust, CAI etc... We raced some really nice back roads.
Back about 10 years ago, I drove a Fiat Spider 2000 (had that car 22 years… altogether I drove Fiats for 33 years). It had sport coil springs, reground cams & an Ansa exhaust. This same friend used to follow me, THEN, while I showed him all my secret back roads. My car could keep up with his. He drove a 1991 Miata with adjustable shocks, roll bar & CAI. This 1980 Fiat has been gone now for about 4 years…..I miss it.
This past December a neighbor/friend gave me his 1993 318is. I have been working on this car for about 2 months. It runs well, the interior was trashed, windows did not work (sun, age & 176,000 miles) I put all new KYB shocks/struts, thermostat, new Yoko 520 front tires, old OK Yoko s100 back, new front wheel bearing & new front lower control arm. Everything else is good/fair working condition. Love this car. What a difference from my old Fiat.
Today, we were out 4 hours mostly doing “spirited” driving till we got to this special road he knows. This road is about 15 minutes of twisties & (2) 90 degree turns. The (2) 90 turns were 2nd gear but the rest of the turns were 3rd & 4th. On a couple of turns, I was in 3rd & ran out of rpm…bounced the limiter once. On one straight we hit 115. I could not believe my car could keep up with his Miata. I could hang with him on the turns no problem & he had a slight advantage on acceleration. Racing this same road back, I was more comfortable since I was getting used to the limits of the car. At my advanced age of 62 years of age, this is the fastest I have ever driven any twisties. My 318 was glued to the turns. Only a couple of times the rear came around slightly & just a touch of counter steering & it would track around the curve. My friend did all the hard work since he was in front but he knows this road well (he autocrosses regularly) All I had to do was watch his car. What a blast.
The bad news. I can tell there was some wear & tear on my old car from today…mostly the clutch & brakes. The clutch I knew was already slipping some. Now it feels a little worse. The brakes…the rotors have a ridge & a bit of glaze. They still stop OK. Today I did not use my brakes very aggressively…mostly down shifted but still that was 1/2 hour of flat out driving. Did I say this was a blast. Today was as much fun as flying in my experimental airplane.
Looking to redo my brakes…both rotors & pads front & back.
Any draw backs to buying inexpensive rotors & OEM pads? This is not my daily driver.
