Ground control, red stuff, and wavetrac review

[WDBi]

Mod list:

Jb4 g5 iso w/ backend e85 flash running map 5 E60
Alpina auto trans tune
Walbro 455lph
DCI w/ ram air scoops
BMS oil catch can
BMS Oil thermostat bypass
VRSF downpipes
VRSF 7" intercooler
Straight piped exhaust with vibrant resonators
Ground control custom springs and shocks w/ camber plates
Wavetrac lsd (will review this as well)
m3 front suspension components
VMR VB3 18x8.5 255 front 18x9.5 275 rear toyo r888
Zimmerman coated rotors
Type 200 Brake fluid
EBC red stuff Brake pads
Motul power racing 300v 5w30 I think i am switching to Mobil 1 0w40 (I can change my oil 3 times for the price of Motul)
Water Wetter and factory coolant
Front alumalite splitter
Bmw performance cf rear spoiler
M3 front bumper w/ custom brake ducts
Motorsport hardware 82mm studs w/ 2 piece race lugs w/ locks (These guys are great)
Some weight reduction car weighs 3400lbs without me in with a 1/2 tank of gas
47.8% weight distribution without me in the car with me is right at 50.1%

Parts:
I have the Ground Control single adjustable street/school kit. My kit has 440f 700r spring rates with the street camber plates and m3 rear camber arms. Along with this i also installed EBC red stuff pads and a Wavetrac LSD

Install:
Install took about 8 hours. This was installing the front camber plates and coilovers as well as the rear m3 wishbones and the rear ground control components. While the car was up on the jacks we also installed brake pads and included in the 8 hours is eating as well. The install went well with little to no problems at all besides the fact that the oem camber arm bolts need the exhaust to be dropped in order to be removed and reinstalled with the new ones.

Initial impressions:
As soon as i got in the car i noticed the car is a good amount firmer. The car, however, isnt harsh. It hits a bump and the tire feels really willing to get out of the way and then it reacts quickly to get back to the ground to regain full traction. I got the car aligned and then i had the car corner balanced and then realigned. The alignment specs are thanks to some awesome guys over on the m3 forum. Camber is -2.5 front -2 rear. Toe is 0 front -1/16 rear. Caster is 7.6. Car was corner balanced and weighs 3400 without me in it.

Driving easy:
While cruising around town the car feels very good. Like i said it is firmer but the car doesnt break your back. The car lets you know there are bumps there but by no means is it uncomfortable. Basically it still passes the girlfriend test lol. Driving around it feels like the car just wants to be thrown around a turn. There are those moments you hit an on ramp or are on a nice curvy road that you just resist going a bit faster than usual.

Hard driving:
The car with this setup listed above has very little body roll. The car is incredibly neutral. When you go past the limit it is still controllable. With the Wavetrac in its a totally different than i was used to. I can actually power out of a corner now! Between the LSD and suspension the car just wants to go around a corner. It is very eager to turn in and the car just grips and goes. Honestly from how it drives daily i wouldnt expect this level of performance in hard driving.

Wavetrac:
I had the diff put in and right away went out to do some launches and hard corners. Its truly amazing how much grip this car has now. But i guess that is what happens with the tires and a good setup other wise. I can floor it in 1st and nothing really dramatic happens it will spin a little bit and then jsut hook up and go and when it hooks up in 1st oh man does it sit you back in your seat. Around a corner like i mentioned above i can actually power out of a turn as well as get it a bit slideways. To anyone at any power level i highly suggest you get a diff. It just makes driving that much more enjoyable.

Red stuff:
These pads are pretty great. They are not too good when wet or when really cold but other than that they are a great pad with good bite for the street and some spirited driving. However i could see them easily getting faded out on the track.

Overall:
Overall with this setup i am extremely happy and really have no complaints what so ever. The car truly feels like a completely new car and is just so much more fun to drive. As well as being fun the car is 1000x more capable. I am extremely happy with my purchases. Jay @ ground control and Harold @ HP auto were both extremely helpful and guided me through every step of the way with my purchases for my needs.

Oil & plugs:
Id like to make a real quick point about oil and plugs. I did some research into some different high line oils and decided to run redline 5w-40 due to it actually having a higher viscosity than the 10w-40 so far car runs very smooth and minimal noise from the engine.


As far as plugs i went with the NGK 5992's and the car runs much better/ smoother and even idles better.

Future mods:
I think the next thing i am going to do is go with the turner solid diff and subframe mounts. Why solid you ask? Because i recently rode in a solid mount car and the performance and feel way out weighed the very slight increase in nvh. Besides that its upgraded turbos and thats it.

let me know if there are any further questions!

[Sticky]

Very well done review!!

[Torgus]

great review. any reason you went with the wavetrac vs. quaife? I ask as the cost is very close and quaife afaik is better known and proven on other platforms.

[Sered]

Cost really isn't close. Costs about 50% more for the Quaife I think.

I contemplated it and I didn't see any benefit other than a name.

@WDBi What pads were you running before the red stuff? I ask because pad replacement is coming up and I tire of all the dust my Hawk pads put out.

[WDBi]

The wavetrac has better 0 load qualities. And the red stuff dust alot i had performance friction carbon metallics and they dusted a bit less

[Sered]

Bleh. I gotta find some pads that don't dust so bad. I don't mind losing a bit of stopping power as I'm not going to HPDE the car now with the Stage 3s on the way (same reasoning behind the powerflex inserts vs the bushings)

[ajm8127]

Hawk HPS hardly dust at all, and offer increased resistance to fade from stock. They have a nice, linear feel.

Great stuff, OP. I'm gong with the ground control kit, but not until next year probably. So the camber plates you got have the isolation bushing and caster/camber adjustability?

[TRES]

nice

[DavidV]

@WDBi What pads were you running before the red stuff? I ask because pad replacement is coming up and I tire of all the dust my Hawk pads put out.

Racing Brake ET500 pads have great stopping performance without dust. Better than OEM.
Just the initial bite the OEM pads have can never be found in low dust pads.