Project SC300 Road Racer: Part 36 – I Can’t Stop (Enough)

Project SC300 ain’t dead. It’s just taking a bit of a vacation. Those who know me more personally understand that there was a rough few years of family-related issues of all flavors. These resulted in some wildly unexpected costs and, so, ultimately, Project SC300 took a break.

Pun intended. Because now that we’re back, we’re taking on the brakes.

Don’t groan so loudly.

I’ve reached a point in my professional and personal life where I am no longer willing to do half-baked things. I’m either going to do it the right way, or I’m not going to do it. You may be familiar with the saying “do it right or do it twice.” Well, when it comes to Project SC300 (affectionately known as Damnit, if you remember), I have done most things thrice, if not more times.

When we put on the widebody we also outfitted the car with the awesome Titan7 TS-5 wheels and the Nankang AR-1 semi slick tires. And, when we first did the wiring on the car, we also eliminated the factory Lexus SC300 ABS system and solenoid.

Unfortunately, when you combine the massive StopTech calipers with racing pads and semi-slick tires and any amount of either track dampness or off-balanced braking you get some amazing wheel lockup. I remember a moist day at Road Atlanta where I was wondering why the car around me was making so much tire stink, only to realize that it was me locking up the inside front wheel entering T6.

What does all of this have to do with doing things right? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words. Or, in this case, many thousands upon thousands of dollars.

There is essentially nothing better that you can purchase short of working directly with Bosch as an OEM when designing a car from the ground up. When BMW or Mercedes or GM set out to build a ground-up race car (GT3, etc.), they might do that. Other than the dedicated engineering support and perhaps some custom programming, there’s not a lot of difference between the M5 Kit Clubsport and what the OEMs get.

Many of you might be laughing at me in dollar signs thinking about how I wasted so much money when I could have done something like a Teves MK60 upgrade. But let’s think about that for a moment.

First, you can’t really buy a new Teves MK60 ABS system. You have to source used parts from an E46 M3. You need to source or build a wiring harness. You have to figure out how to adapt things to your car. And, if you want some adjustability, you have to find someone to program or alter the Teves firmware. At the end of all of that, you have a used ABS solenoid that was manufactured somewhere in the mid 2000s, nearly 20 years ago. And you spent $3000+ to get all that used stuff where the main component is not exactly easily replaceable.

The Bosch M5 system here is $7000. It theoretically comes with a warranty. It was manufactured within the last decade. It comes with a wiring harness. The only thing you have to figure out how to adapt are wheel speed sensors. And, it comes with a knob for adjustment. Woah, it goes to TWELVE!

What else?