Dipping into Wheel to Wheel - S2000 or E46 M3?

Heya everybody,

Long time reader, first time poster.  

I'm having a bit of a conundrum regarding which vehicle to build for my next step into wheel to wheel racing, primarily looking at AER/WRL, but possibly open classes such as GLTC.  Currently, i have two E46 M3s, one prepped for HPDEs and one not prepped at all, as of right now, but a great base for a track car.  The thing is, i've also got a lead on a fairly well prepped Honda S2000, a car which i'm very much in love with as well, which will roughly end up costing about the same as the prepped E46 M3.

My main question, would the E46 M3 have a "higher potential" for performance than the S2000 in something like AER/WLR?  Running costs may be slightly in the S2000s favor, from what i've seen, albeit not too much, though.  The E46 M3 has become fairly popular, especially in the endurance racing series, so getting parts at the track from fellow drivers would definitely be easier with that chassis vs the S2000.  Power wise, i'd rather remain stock, with basic bolt-ons.  Nothing crazy, definitely not too keen on forced induction.

Anybody have experience with both Chassis on the track?  Even if not, what was your experience with either?

Thanks a ton!

Best regards,

Jakob

One thing to consider for endurance racing is that the interior on the E46 is quite a bit larger than on an S2000, meaning that it's going to be easier to put in a seat and cage that will accomodate a variety of driver sizes.

I've never driven an S2000 on track, but I have an ST4-ish E46 M3 that I'm using for track days and I like it a lot.

The first thing you have to decide is what class, in what organization with which do you want to race? Once you figure that out, you can decide if either of your cars might be competitive in that class, or if you'll need to choose a different class for your car, or choose a different car altogether. 

I know it's not the X > Y answer you want, but you'll have to do some more digging.

Pick what you want to run in and work from there. GLTC is still shaking out, but it's easy to fit damn near anything into their rules.. it may just not be front row competitive right now.

Klodkrawler is a TT competitor with gridlife and I'm friends with the GLTC rulesmakers. I would encourage you to look at where an S2k fits in each series and where a E46 fits in each series and find out which one has closer prep for both series. 

the S2000 is what i would recommend, BUT the F series are getting harder to find and more expensive. although a K swap will work for GLTC 

 

 

Depends where you are too... Out here in the NE, e46 all the way - plenty of competition.

Cheers for the info everybody.

Definitely don't have any sort of visions of grandeur to win or even really be very competitive within the first year or more, so maximizing the rules isn't the biggest priority, at this stage.  On the other hand, i'd like to use a chassis that i can grow and that fits into as many classes as possible to maximize utilization/learning.

Regarding which class and competitiveness, GLTC is fairly open, as it stands, with currently favor more towards lighter, smaller cars.  The S2000 would probably fit in there better than the E46 M3, with it being tailored more towards a (please correct me if i'm wrong) roughly 12:1 power to weight ratio class, but is additionally balanced using different tire sizes and compounds (DoT slicks being the most aggressive).  
To utilize 265 tires (DoT slicks), the minimum comp weight for the M3 would have to be a minimum of 3251lbs.  Below that, it'd be 245 slicks, which i don't think is particularly feasible for an E46 M3.  Compared to that, the front runners in this class seem to be <2500lbs, pushing about 200-220whp, compared to a stock M3 sitting at ~275whp.  

When it comes to AER/WRL, WRL is a Power to Weight based series, with AER being based solely on Laptimes during Qualification, which makes things a lot easier.  I feel both cars can be competitive in these two series.  Not in the top class, but in their respective sub-class for sure.

Thanks again!

Edit: I'm located down in Georgia, Road Atlanta being the nearest track to me.  East-coast would be the playing ground :D

It’s all going to depend on class.

In absolute terms, an E46 M3 will be faster around a track than an equally prepared S2000 ... but that doesn’t really mean anything since they won’t be in the same class anyway.

Personally, I would prefer the M3 because:

• there’s more room inside with a cage (I’m 6’2” and have to think about that)
• I think coupes tend to be a little safer than roadsters, even when caged 
• I’m a BMW guy at heart and just think M3s are cool
• I’d like the option to run in the BMW CCA Club Racing series, where all of my buddies are

The choice would be easy for me, but mostly for subjective reasons. 

I have seen a lot of folks pour time and money into going racing and then realize they chose the wrong car. Not fun to go race with no one. Or lots of different types of cars where it is difficult to figure out what is going on. Lap times don’t tell the whole tale. 

Jcamper