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In Reply to: My car Seems slow posted by Josh Austin on July 31, 2000 at 00:08:02:
Josh,
Well, the problem you present could be a cause of many things. It is very hard to diagnose without the car on hand to examine. The E30 M3 is very sensitive to spark plug condition. Check them and see if they are in good shape. If you just bought the car, I would change them anyways since you don't know when the last time was they were changed. We've found that the Bosch XR4CS are the best (read most effective) plugs for that car. Make sure to check the plug wires and their condition as well, you may want to move up to Nology plug wires, or even the EVO 3 plug wires that are not only an extra millimeter bigger, but are made with out resistors that prove to rob power. Also check to make sure that the air filter is clean.... a clogged air filter could cause power loss at high RPMs. Josh, I am interested in where you got your "9 second" 0-60 times. Please let me know if you are just judging by feel or if you have timed it to that figure. Please realize that the sub 7 second times recorded for E30 M3's come from the EVO series of cars, which range up to 238 horsepower. Also, realize that all four cylinder cars, and in general the ///M series cars tend to be very sensitive to humidity and temperature differences. Torque and HP band curves always play tricks on the old butt dyno. Two drastic opposite examples are if you were to compare the "in the seat experience" between a Mustang 5.0 or an Integra Type-R, both are about as fast to 60 but one would swear that the Mustang is much faster. Its the torque difference. I don't know what car you came from, before buying your E30, but it's power band is very sneaky and before you know it you'll be going very fast. I assume that if you had a bad enough exhaust leak that would be robbing power, you would hear it. And an intake leak, which by the way could also be robbing power, would make your car idle in a lumpy fashion after warmed up. If your intake is leaking after the "oxygen sensor" your DME is registering less air that is actually taking in. These are just some of the possible "check yourself problems" that could be causing your power loss. If you are in the CT area, even in the New England area...we would love to help you. We would be more than happy to pick up your car and bring it to the shop and solve your problem once and for all. Let us know what your findings are and we wish you the best of luck. Together with my partner Peter(who posts mainly on the E36M3 board) we will be checking the board more often and try to help anyone that we can. We are all enthusiasts, and its all about helping each other out. Take care and I hope to hear from you soon...you can email us at [email protected] until our website goes up by the end of the year.
Cheers
Kasra
Innovative Racing Technologies