So, let’s have a look at the things we’ve done to it so far in preparation for its inaugural outing. Firstly, we turned our attention to the suspension. We purchased the car with an air ride system so the need for a set of coilovers that were able to withstand the rigours of track use and suitable for the road was paramount. Enter Yellow Speed Racing. We’ve utilised the ever reliable Dynamic Pro Sport kit on the BMW. Not only will this firm everything up for the track, but it’ll also retain OEM-like comfort for the road too. Johnny, co-director of Tegiwa, is super impressed with these coilovers out on the road!

To allow for increased adjustability on the geometry side of things, Hardrace offered to help us with a set of camber and toe adjustable rear arms as well as upgraded trailing arms. This makes for increased adjustability so we can dial in the setup of car to exactly where it needs to be for the track. A big shout out to Area Motorsport who not only fitted the aforementioned parts, but also provided us with a track geometry setup too.

Secondly, we maximised braking performance with a set of Ferodo DSUNO brake pads. DSUNO are the latest heavy duty racing material from Ferodo Racing and has replaced the DS2.11. They’re already race proven in GT, touring car, & rally so we’re excited to see how they perform out on track. We’ve used a set of Ferodo DS2500 pads on the rear to help provide a bit of extra biting force too.

It goes without saying that safety is our number one priority whilst setting fast lap times. So we installed a SW Motorsports bolt-in half roll cage with a rear seat delete kit. This will keep us safe should the worst happen. Inside the cockpit we’ve replaced the OEM seats with two Cobra Nogaro bucket seats complete with supporting hardware. As we know from our Golf GTI build, these seats are perfect for the road but provide plenty of stability for track too. Keeping us strapped firmly in place are Schroth Clubman 6 point harnesses.

To comply with Time Attack regulations we’ve also used a Tegiwa heavy duty towing strap that fits a plethora of BMW’s. Another stipulation of competing in Time Attack is that the car must have a fire extinguisher. This is taken care of by Kap Industries with their fire extinguisher bracket and a Protrust Firesense 2.4 litre handheld extinguisher which is mounted neatly underneath the passenger seat.

Our good friends at Garmin kindly helped us out with their super popular Garmin Catalyst that are taking the market by storm at the moment. This is mounted neatly on the dash so we can see where to improve, check our timing and also when we can take it easy. At Tegiwa we’re massive fans of the Catalyst, and in Time Attack when timing is everything, this is an absolute no brainer when it comes to gathering data and driver improvement.

We’ve swapped out the Rotiform OZR wheels with a set of flow formed 2Forge ZF6’s. These will help to reduce unsprung weight whilst also standing up to the thrashing they’ll endure over the kerbs. We’ve opted for a square setup with our wheels utilising an 18×9 setup at all four corners. For racing, we’re required to use a Pirelli tyre, so we have Trofeo-R 235/40/18 up front with 255/35/18 on the rear. Out on the road though, we’re using the latest performance tyre from Michelin with their Pilot Sport 5’s. The PS5’s that we’re using are a 235/40/18 on the front with a 265/35/18 on the back.

In terms of power, the car was advertised as being mapped, however, it was apparent that this wasn’t the case after a dyno tuning session with Ti Motorsport. It was clear an off-the-shelf remap that was marketed with these figures was being used as the car made a lowly 350bhp, just 15 horsepower more than standard. If you ever needed proof that flash maps aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, then this is it. With a custom Ti gearbox and engine map, the car now boasts a staggering 443.8 horsepower with 451.6 lbs. ft torque. This means that the ZF gearbox now boasts manual characteristics whilst also having a better torque capacity.

This power figure is achievable through the help of an uprated fuel pump, a Tegiwa B58 downpipe and a Milltek resonated cat-back exhaust. A massive shoutout to Milltek Sport for getting involved with this build, we can confirm it sounds absolutely mega and the carbon tips look the business!

We’re excited to get the M240i out on track and put in some hot laps in the Club 2WD class! Make sure you stay tuned to our socials to see how we get on over the weekend.

Over the years the Tegiwa Fast Fleet has seen many cars come and go, with some special builds along the way too, including our Honda NSX and BTCC DC5. Now, when we let our cherished FK8 go earlier this year, the plan was always to replace it with something else that was suitable for track duties, but more importantly it had to be rear wheel drive.

After searching through the classifieds for a couple of months waiting for the right car to pop up, we came across this immaculate BMW M240i. Equipped with a plethora of upgrades already, and sporting BMW’s now legendary B58 engine (which also features in the A90 Supra), this was the one for us. So, here it is, the latest car to the Tegiwa Fast Fleet!

Why are the wheels wider than the tyres?

We’ve already stamped our identity on in the form of a TE61WA number plate and sun strip, but you’d be forgiven for wondering why it’s sat so low and has got wider alloys than it has tyres. Well, that’s because we’ve not given it the Tegiwa treatment yet, but we’ll delve into that a bit later.

The car is currently sat on Air Lift Performance suspension, which literally drops the car onto its backside courtesy of 4 air bags located on each corner of the car. It’s also wearing a set of Rotiform OZR with stretched tyres, again, ideal for turning heads at a show (if you’re into that kind of thing) but not great for putting in hot laps around Oulton Park. With the ride height raised to a more sensible level, it helps to give an idea of what it’s eventually going to look like once the air ride is taken off.

As you can see it also a smattering of carbon goodies already including a front splitter, wing mirrors, diffuser boot lip spoiler and M4 GTS spoiler. We’re not totally overwhelmed by the double spoiler situation happening on the rear, so we’ll most likely be removing one. Black kidney grills make for some nice contrast up front whilst the blue wrapped v-bars are a nice touch by the previous owner too.

What have we bought the car for?

Last year we carried out the ultimate track day tyre test, putting several track day orientated tyres through their paces on our Civic FN2. Due to the success of that test, we thought we’d carry out another tyre test, but this time with a bunch of different tyres and a RWD car. We’ll bring your more information about our latest tyre test in the following weeks, so make sure you stay tuned for that!

What are our plans for it?

We’ve got a whole host of upgrades planned for this car already and with the straight six, turbocharged B58 engine producing 335bhp, things are going to get a whole lot spicier very soon!

First on the cards, of course, is to replace the air ride system with a set of Yellow Speed Racing Dynamic Pro Sport coilovers. These will help to retain comfort for the road but also stiffen things up and reduce body roll on track too. To help improve adjustability, we’ll be adding a host of Hardrace upgrades including rear camber, toe, and trailing arms.

We’ll then be upgrading the exhaust system with an aftermarket down pipe and cat-back system to unlock a few more ponies on the way. An upgraded fuel pump will also feature which will allow us to run more power on pump fuel before we treat it to a Ti Motorsport engine and gearbox remap which should hopefully see us above 500 horsepower!

An Apex Wheel Stud Conversion Kit will then be installed on the car, the perfect upgrade for a set of performance wheels. As we plan to track the car, we’ll be replacing the cast monoblock Rotiform wheels with something a lot lighter and up to the rigours of track such as the popular 2Forge ZF6. Of course, we’re going to be needing quite a few sets of wheels as we plan on testing at least 5 different sets of tyres on our next test!

SW Motorsports have supplied us with a bolt-in half roll cage, that will keep us safe should the worst happen out on track. We’ll be utilising a Corbeau bucket seat sub frame so that we can install one of our favourite seats in the shape of the Corbeau Nogaro seats to hold us firmly in place. Keeping us held firmly in place in our seats will be a set of Schroth Clubman 6-point harnesses, these will allow us to concentrate on driving rather than slipping and sliding around the OEM seats.

We don’t need to worry about the brakes too much as the brakes are the same as both the F80 M3 and F82 M4. However, we’ll be upgrading to a set of Ferodo DSUNO brake pads which will provide a higher friction output and ultimately more stopping power.

What’s next?

We’ve already booked our first track day for the M240i, which co-incidentally happens to be on the same day and track as Rob Baker in his MK7 Golf GTI, so that’s sure to be a good battle out on track which we’ll document. Make sure you stay tuned to our blog as we document the build and bring you more information on the ultimate track day tyre test V2! As always you can find the full catalogue of images over on our Flickr Page.