Sharked M3 power & traction in cold

["Brad Franklin" <bbb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Was 18 degrees F here in Atlanta last night, went out and had a little fun
in my sharked 97 M3 and
was quite surprised. This past summer, I could slowly run it up to about
4000 in 1st gear, then stomp
it and it would screech the tires a little bit and take off, and I could
bark them when I hit second. Last
night, if I ran it up to 4000 in first and punched it, I'd spin all over
the place and hit the rev limiter. Also
I could run it up to about 6000 in first, then shift into 2nd and punch it
and it still would screech and
spin all over the place (although not as much as in first). My tires were
plenty warmed up as I had been
driving for about 20 minutes before (not to mention all of the tire
spinning I had just done in 1st gear).
My rears are Bridgestone SO-2 255's and the road was dry as a bone. Is
traction reduced THAT much
in cold weather, or is engine power up THAT much in cold weather? Does the
sharked OBD-II ignition
and fuel maps respond better to cold weather than the stock setup (i.e. -
does the knock sensor allow 
greater ignition advance in the cold?). The car DOES feel quite a bit
faster, but sometimes I have a hard
time telling (especially if I've gotten used to driving my pickup for a few
days...) Either way, it was kinda
fun, made me feel like I had a real muscle car...don't worry, I rarely
abuse my car & tires that much...
just doing a little testing ;)

Thanks,

Brad Franklin

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