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Originally Posted by bullmand  I'm not going to pretend that I'm any kind of hot-shoe race car driver, but my experiences in E30s at HPDEs have been exactly the opposite of yours, dahamler. The instructors I've had have almost all commented on how much they like the SpecE30 suspension set up (H&R race springs, Bilstein Sports, and swaybars) and in particular the fact that it's easy to get the car to rotate. Clearly there is going to be a power and balance difference between an E30 325 and 332ti, but I would suggest that the experience you had was the instructor's fault and not due to some inherent weakness in the design of the ti rear suspension. Besides, everybody know that Porsche drivers are asses anyway  It seems to me that this whole discussion is a little pointless anyway. The thing is what it is and it works just fine. There's always going to be something newer that's claimed to be better but that doesn't change the fact that there is plenty of fun and drivers' education to be had in the E30/ti rear suspension design. I suppose if I had hours and hours of track time under my belt and was regularly not winning races because of my antiquated rear end I might feel differently, but at this point I honestly don't care. My ti gets me to work and back everyday, and the E30s get me around the track, often at speeds beyond my honest comfort zone, without me hurting it or me yet and all of that's plenty enough for me. |
I'm certainly no hot shoe myself and you're right the suspension does work great but it does have some traits that render it less desirable than others.
I don't understand why people think that the 318ti was developed to be a serious performer. BMW built the E30 M3 to go racing and win, which they did. Since then they have altered their design to improve improve their product. The reason why I love the TI is because its an underdog and not expected to perform.
All else being equal a E36 will be faster around a track than a 318ti or E30 because the rear suspension is better.This has been proven time and time again.