Awhile back, /Drive bought a $2,000 E30 3 Series to go racing with. At the start of their adventure with the E30, it was a dump. It was in really bad shape and had a ton of homemade modifications that made it a mess. So /Drive had to work really hard to get it back into good running condition and get it prepped for race duty. The really tricky part was getting it prepped for two completely different kinds of racing, both Rally Cross and Chump Car. Both racing series’ require completely different regulations, making it extremely difficult to ready the E30 for both. However, they got it done and the humble E30 successful made it through both races alive. Sort of.
Now, the E30 3 Series is back at Chump Car, except this time it has a new driver — Chris Harris. You’d know Harris from the new Top Gear and his YouTube channel, both of which feature him destroying many, many tires. However, there aren’t any tires destroyed in this video. Though, that’s more to do with the fact that the E30 3 Series has about as much power as an the average blender.
It’s not that the E30 325i is slow, it’s that this specific one is quite old and has lost a lot of power. It’s also sporting very new, very sticky BFGoodrich tires, which significantly limit the amount of oversteer and sliding fun. In fact, it actually understeers a bit, something that is probably typically mitigate by oversteer on healthier, less sticky E30s. Still, though, it seems like Harris likes his E30s, calling it strong and iconic.
The race is on Sunday, where Harris will take the E30 to the track and see what it can do. Considering the fact that he’s the most accomplished driver to ever sit in this E30, it’ll probably fare better than it has in prior races.
