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Re: and you are contacting the body

HRE 19x9 in front and 19x10 in rear

Re: Save your wheels for me!

I can certainly help you to buy them here in Germany, no problem to get them. I am sure they can be shipped to the US.

Save your wheels for me!

I've been trying to find a set of RD2s, but they no longer offer them in the U.S. I might buy yours if you switch. Wheels are always subjective, but I think the RD2 has a classy "factory" look to complement the Z8.

Re: and you are contacting the body

it's the design of the rims unfortunately, combined with the offset.
I may change to different wheels next year to be able to fit wider tires as well.

Which rims do you use?

and you are contacting the body

with your tires? Yikes! I have 295/19 rear and 265/19 front but without spacers.............then again, I am not tracking the car the way you are. But I would like too.

I have the same brembos BTW.

Re: What size

19" Racing Dynamics, PZero Rosso Asimetrico
Front 245/40, rear 275/35

The brakes are from Brembo
Front 380 mm 8 pot
Rear 340 mm 4 pot

Cheers,
Dieter

Re: i guess that most running stuff will go on the

Andrew.. careful what your caling a beater there buddy.. when Shadowman gets done with it I'm not sure your going to feel the same way about your new gal.

Sean

PS: I got more info on those wheels you were looking for.. call me over the weekend if you like.

What size

Wheel and tire combination? Are you using Brembos?

you are right about that! WOW! great pics!

As Andrew said...

the ACS kit is a very good compromise between handling and cruising. The car doesn't become too stiff.

However, I considered the car to be weakly dampened, resulting in quite a bit of rolling (even with the Dinan bars) and shaking.
A typical bend on the Ring is a bend that you take at around 90 to 100 mph, with substantial load on the outside suspension of course. Then right in the midst of it you hit a bump, and immediately the car starts to work, especially on the tail end.

The coilover set up lets you adjust the hight to avoid body contact as much as possible (yes, it happens, and quite easily), plus you can set the rebound, which lets you finetune how stiff you want your car.
On an even track you can quickly go to a setup that glues the car to the ground by simply rotating an adjustment wheel on each shock absorber. Takes 5 minutes.




This picture gives you an impression of the load on the car in certain situations. The Z8 is right in the midst of the Karussell of the Ring, almost down to the ground.
(Yes, Andrew, I will send you the full res pic ;-) )

I am using a stage 2 setup now, there is also a stage 3 setup that allows you to adjust the pressure side as well.
Grease Monkey is right, you may have to add slim spacers, however, this shouldn't matter. I had to add 15 mm on each wheel because of the brakes, and I have plenty of room for the coilovers. So my guess would be that you don't need more than 5 mm max.

I have to apologize that I still haven't found the time yet to write all this up and document with photos, but I will once the driving season is over here in Germany...

If you still can do this...



or this...




you don't want to be sitting in front of a screen instead... ;-)

Cheers,
Dieter

Same issue here with ACS.

Re: thanx, maybe I'll try your suspension on it...

Mac, are you sure the KW coil-overs will fit with the stock wheels? As I read there info, spacers may be required.Grease Monkey

bouncing and hopping

Are what I wish to eliminate. Adjusting ride height another plus.

I clicked on the link, Andrew are you going up to Fresno to have it installed? Is the system 2995 Euros?

Dieter lives by the 'ring, and has been searching

for the best suspension set up for the car based on his addiction to hustling round the 'ring in his now 500+ HP monster Z8 as fast as he can.

He has thoroughly tested the AC Schnitzer set up, which many of us early moders had, but he said they weren't surefooted enough, making the car bounce and skip around too much on the very uneven and rough surface there, if I remember correctly.

This new set up sounds like a really good way to go, but I guess all will become clear when we get the settings and feedback from him in two weeks or so.

The chat is here;
Z8 images & info

http:www.bmwz8.us

Educate me...

What's the advantage of these?

cool news, I've already ordered it, and will await

your recommended settings before fitting it on the car.

Incase anyone else is interested in these coilovers here is the link to the US Importer's info page. I will be taking them to the track at Button Willow on Dec 22nd (if they are here by then) so will have some thoughts on how they perform then.


The chat is here;
Z8 images & info

http:www.bmwz8.us

Re: thanx, maybe I'll try your suspension on it.....

I am using a KW coilover suspension now. So far, I have been playing with height and rebound adjustment, feels better than the ACS setup, especially on smooth tracks (like most of them are). For the Nurburgring, stronger springs may be necessary because of the frequent ups and downs.

Link to KW

At this point, I clearly prefer the KW over the ACS kit if you drive in a "spirited" way.

I will see the guys from KW in a couple of weeks to make final adjustments, then I can report about my personal settings.

Cheers,
Dieter

Re: thanx, maybe I'll try your suspension on it.....

Which suspension is this one? I am still debating going to a coilover.

thanx, maybe I'll try your suspension on it.....

are you happy with your set up now you've had some time to live with it?

The chat is here;
Z8 images & info

http:www.bmwz8.us

saw it on EBay, and by chance

the dealer is about a mile from my home, so I went down, had a look, and made a deal with him. I also had a pal at a BMW dealership run the history, 3 owners, IL, FL & Northern CA. Seems to have been regularly servced by BMW, and although it is a little tatty round the edges it is sound overall, and will make for a perfect car to play with, use as a daily driver, and even take back to the track. One of the silly things I really liked was the car's number too, 60789
link

The chat is here;
Z8 images & info

http:www.bmwz8.us