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Drove E36 M3 Turbo

Hey all,

I was in Miami, Fl for a week long seminar and got bored.  Flipped through
the Roundel and saw the ad for Active Autowerke (800) 830-3596.  I gave them
a call and they were very happy to arange a test drive of their M3 Turbo
(stage 1, 340 hp).  The facility is absolutely first rate, even the floors
were clean!  All mechanics there were well spoken and obviously knowledgeable
with BMWs.  So Carl took me in his red M3, suspension stock except for the
eibach springs and yoko A008s (much rougher ride than my H&Rs w/RD bars and
MXX3s).  He must have noticed my anticipation because he apologized for not
having the car warmed up, so we drove around south Miami for a while at a
slow pace.  The most interesting thing during the warm up was that the car
was so quiet, definitely quieter than stock, for some, this is a plus.
 Eventually, we worked our way to some back roads and without warning, he
hammered it in second, no third, no fourth, my god he was running through the
gears faster than I could believe . . . . this car is fast, it is dangerously
fast, heart attack fast.   On came the brakes, one heel and toe downshift,
hammer in third, jeeeeez, I thought my back would be imprinted into the
leather for at least one week.  This continued for about ten or fifteen
minutes, whew, adrenaline pumping, knees knocking and he says, "you wanna
drive?"

Well, YEAH!! I WANT TO DRIVE!!!!  So he pulls over and we switch seats.  Car
is quiet, docile, no warnings on the exterior of what this car is packing
save a 4" exhaust tip.  Off we go, in first gear, I let it creep up to 4000
rpm, the max torque according to Carl, hammer the right foot (heh heh), bad
idea, the car is now facing forward but going diagonally to the right, the
distinct odor of burning rubber fills the cabin, and Carl starts laughing -
pretty cool guy.  Back off the throttle, get traction, hit second gear,
better traction this time but time to shift!!!!  Woops, I see you have the
rev limiter  set at 7400 rpm, a little high I think, but Carl says it's cool
- - his car I guess.  Shift to third, round a bend, throttle on at the apex,
here comes that sliding feeling again, feather the throttle, get traction,
we're gone.  OK Carl, I'll take it, as soon as I sell my first born (who
isn't even conceived yet :-))

The car is phenomenal.  Under the hood is as impressive as the facility,
clean, well fitting, professional.  Would pass for stock (to the unfamiliar)
except the chrome pipe leading into the throttle body.  Drawbacks:  Carl has
no cars on the race track so there is no telling if and where there is a weak
link.  He indicated that there are five of his turbos on the road, one of
which ha been on the road since February without a glitch. He's received 200
calls since advertising it last month.   He tried to explain why there is
just nothing to go wrong with his system except the turbo bearings (which are
protected - I forgot how) and which rarely go bad.  For my money, though, I
need to see his turbos on the track where they are pounded hard.  Hopefully I
will get to drive Will Turner's supercharger in the next year. Will has his
on the track which makes me feel better about laying out that kind of $$$$$.
  Then comes the tough decision, to get or not to get; to turbo or to
supercharge.  May not get either, I am and always have been a fan of normal
aspiration.  I plan to keep my car for eight or ten years, forced induction
may not agree with that plan :-).  In any event, it is way too much car for
me, hell, the stock M3 is still more car than I am driver.  No sense getting
the system any time soon.

Anyone thinking of getting the system is strongly encouraged to visit the
facility, these are nice guys.  BTW, they aligned my car while I was there
and my left rear wheel had 4.4 negative camber!!!!   Worse yet, it only
adjusted to 3.3 negative - too radical for street driving (anybody else have
this problem?  Recall I added H&R 2910 springs).  With some patience and
tinkering (slotting), they were able to correct it to 1.9 negative (per my
request) and even marked the rear bolts so that on track days, I can dial in
3.5 negative rear on both sides, and then they marked the 1.9 negative for
when I finish and I am ready to back to street driving - pretty cool guys.
 My fronts are 2 degrees negative.  I added toe out in the front and kept toe
in stock in the rear.  I'll post my thoughts on the set up after the next
event (some time next month).  I plan on running it with negative 1.9 degrees
camber all around for starters since the fronts are toed out just a tad and
the rears are toed in to stock specs.

Chow,

Dan