I am looking at buying an ITB 318, and would like to know if it can be reasonably competitive. The car might be interesting, as it can be reverted to SpecE30 rules fairly easily.
there is an itb 318 for sale here in the washington dc area that was pretty competitive until the guy stopped racing a year or so ago. it is a pretty complete package with lots of spares, complete ground control suspension and a new engine, cheap! http://www.kwyjibo.com/ispeed/raceteam/
Keith Wilbanks won the ECR series with one in 2002 (he tied with a golf gti for 1st) and his co-driver made some of the fastest laps in the 2002 ARRC sprint race (a spin on the first lap took him out of contention for the win)
The 318 has several advantages over the other cars in class.
1) reliable
2) big wheels thus big tires
3) arodynamic (more so than the other bmw's)
4) its a BMW
5) good power to weight ratio
6) lotts of room for improvment over stock
7) good gearing
8) good suspention
This is a car that looks good in both the numbers and the little intangibles.
If i ever build another ITB car the 318 will be one of the cars I consider.
Allan
Congrats on your win. I didn't know your car was for sale. Email me with the details, II've actually been looking for one for enduro racing. [email protected]
Originally posted by 14itb318: hello, fellow racers I own the itb 318 that won the 12 hour and it was listed on this site for sale and recieved only one reply ALLAN
Well basically the engine is stock with the exception of a k&n filter and a header car has ground control rear spring collars eibach springs front and rear adj rear cambertoe bushings korman sway bars ground control camber plates not much else
I've seen Allan in this car on numerous occasions over the past several years. He clearly has the car very well prepped but the boy is just seriously fast as well. His performance last year in a totally unfamiliar 944 at the Summit 12 hours is additional proof. I still think an equally well prepared 2002 equally well driven is a tad faster than the E30 318i and the Volvos from Hell (which arguably are misclassified) were as fast as the 2002. Allan's car is a really sweet 318 and now his brother is getting his own 318 sorted out and doing well.
I have driven Keith Wilbanks car in several ECR events with him. That car is fast and it is competitive in ITB. Because it is a BMW it does cost a little bit more to build than say a VW but the car is awesome. You can drive it like a go-cart. Just remember that the brakes suck on it though. That is the one big problem with the car. Other than that there have not been many problems with it from the start.