ITS vs ITR

[EkstenRacing]

Is the e36 325 2.5 liter a better fit in ITS or ITR these days. I've heard the intake restrictor they're forced to run in ITS really boggs them down. I've also heard that that it's hard for them compete in ITR with the larger displacement cars.

[snk328is]

I would check the race results for the regions you're interested in racing with. From what I understand the East Coast and Mid Atlantic are the places to be for racing Bimmers in ITS/ITR. My general impression is that most are running ITR, but that's just seat of the pants feedback.

Here in Cen-Div, ITS/ITR is pretty dead.

[Andy Bettencourt]

The E36 325 is the absolute best choice IMHO. It is weighted very well for its power output potential. A 210whp E36 has the potential to win every ITR race with the rest of the stuff right.

What larger displacement cars are you talking about?

[benspeed]

Go with Porsche! 3.0 four cylinder. Tough to find a donor car that's not $10K - torque beats the bimmers and hp is similar. The weight sucks at 3055 lbs - no mercy from the CRB when I begged for a diet....

The smart money 325 E36 for ITR but why be a lemming?

[Z3_GoCar]

The E36 325 is the absolute best choice IMHO. It is weighted very well for its power output potential. A 210whp E36 has the potential to win every ITR race with the rest of the stuff right.

What larger displacement cars are you talking about?

I know someone who dyno'ed their Stickley motor (M-50) with Kromkraft headers, 190hp on a DynoPak. That's the same hp as my 2.8 when it had a M-50 manifold on it instead of the M-52 top end killer that's on it now. There's no way to get 210 at the wheels unless someone also swaps for the S-52 cams too

[Andy Bettencourt]

I know someone who dyno'ed their Stickley motor (M-50) with Kromkraft headers, 190hp on a DynoPak. That's the same hp as my 2.8 when it had a M-50 manifold on it instead of the M-52 top end killer that's on it now. There's no way to get 210 at the wheels unless someone also swaps for the S-52 cams too

I'm not going to race dyno's with you but that number stinks. I have heard that there is a ton to gain with advanced ECU work.

We have 323's up here that make more than that.

[benspeed]

Yep our 323 boys are ferocious - easily laying down 210 or more. Top quality cars with some advanced ECU development. 100% legit. Damn drivers are tops too. :-)

[Ron Earp]

I'm not going to race dyno's with you but that number stinks. I have heard that there is a ton to gain with advanced ECU work.

We have 323's up here that make more than that.

I think that CA IT competition is a bit different than NE and SE competition. With the large fields on the East Coast a lot of development happens that doesn't happen elsewhere.

[lateapex911]

I know someone who dyno'ed their Stickley motor (M-50) with Kromkraft headers, 190hp on a DynoPak. That's the same hp as my 2.8 when it had a M-50 manifold on it instead of the M-52 top end killer that's on it now. There's no way to get 210 at the wheels unless someone also swaps for the S-52 cams too

The dyno work I've seen was during the ITACs investigation back in the pre restrictor day. An average, no build, chipped and headered E36 put down well over 195 on a Clayton dyno. The (many and multiple) sources told me that was a loooow number compared to what the big boys were doing at the time. Conservative reports were over 210 at the wheels. Guys like Whittle had years of development and much more. And, IIRC they got through the tech shed at the ARRCs, where the intake/heads were off, and the main stuff was checked.
(Now, they could, of course, have been running a set of light pistons, rods, etc etc, as the engine didn't come all the way down, but.....)

[Ron Earp]

Conservative reports were over 210 at the wheels. Guys like Whittle had years of development and much more. And, IIRC they got through the tech shed at the ARRCs, where the intake/heads were off, and the main stuff was checked.
(Now, they could, of course, have been running a set of light pistons, rods, etc etc, as the engine didn't come all the way down, but.....)

Yep, and you can go search on this board, and others, and find numbers published by those teams before all the hoopla hit about their weights being wrong in ITS.

And then, of course, there were some BMW's that were a bit more BMW than they were supposed to be. BMWs packing up and going home for the weekend when a cylinder head was displayed at tech registration on Friday night, tales of 325s that were 2.8L when the car changed hands, and so on.

[GKR_17]

. And, IIRC they got through the tech shed at the ARRCs, where the intake/heads were off, and the main stuff was checked.
(Now, they could, of course, have been running a set of light pistons, rods, etc etc, as the engine didn't come all the way down, but.....)

As I recall, tech was getting lax in those years. They were not pulling heads at that time.

210 in a 323? Sounds like ITR numbers to me. Not pointing fingers, but it is incredibly naive to say a car is 100% legit if it has never been checked.