Endurance racing is the ultimate test of man and machine working together. Competing against other teams, the elements, and numerous unexpected variables to survive the grueling battle against the clock. Sometimes these endurance races last four to six hours, maybe even twelve. If your willpower matches your skillset and the preparation of your vehicle is on par with the best in motorsports, you step it up to a race that lasts more than a full day – The 25 Hours of Thunderhill. That’s why The Yost Autosport BMW E92 M3 selected CSF cooling products to provide an edge over the competition.
Enter Team Yost Autosport, a group of 5 men who over the past 3 years have built one of the best amateur BMW race cars in the USA. What you’re seeing here is their BMW E92m3 endurance race car. Now before going any further, I want to make clear that I’m using the word “amateur” loosely. I use this term because these gentlemen are not getting paid to compete, but do it for the love of motorsports. However, the car they have built is as far from amateur as you can get. This rendition of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” is as professional, high-end, and a “no-cut corners” type build as you can achieve.
CSF was introduced to Yost Autosport at the beginning of 2014 to help cool and keep under control the known heating issues of the S65 engine in the E9x m3 vehicle platform. CSF 1st introduced back in summer 2014 the engine oil cooler for the E9x M3, alongside R&D partners VF Engineering.
Yost Autosport BMW e92 M3 Cooling
After introducing the engine oil cooler to the market, a plan was formed to develop 3 other specific coolers for the vehicle; Radiator, power-steering cooler, and transmission cooler. The goal was to work with Yost Autosport to test-fit the design of the coolers, and then use their vehicle as the ultimate testing-bed for the performance and durability of the parts before they were released to market.
By retaining all the brackets, shrouds, fittings, and “quick-connect” hoses, it not only allowed CSF to install all 4 parts on the fully built Yost Autosport M3, but also allowed us to hit the street, occasional track, and repair market with a “drop-in fit” solution that had been tested in a 25 hour endurance racer!
I’m not going to lie, I was very excited, but also feeling nervous before the start of the 25 Hour of Thunderhill race in December 2014. CSF was testing a prototype set of parts on a car that was going to be racing for 25 hours. We did not want to be the reason the car did not complete the race, or the reason it wasn’t able to compete at it’s highest level.
So much effort and time reside in this build. Not just by the core team behind Yost Autosport, but also by all of their supporting manufacturers, vendors, and media supporters as well.
CSF is very proud to be a technical partner to Team Yost Autosport. They managed to finish the 25 hour race in 2014, and came very close to ending the 2015 season with another completion as well. Unfortunately, this past year, it just wasn’t in the cards to finish the race due to a mechanical failure.
They’ll be coming back even stronger this year with the purchase of a new BMW M4 that will surely be a show-stopper. A great platform for them to build another leading BMW racecar. CSF is looking forward to being on board as the cooling partner of the new Yost Autosport race car, and using it to develop new and exciting cooling products for the F80 platform of the new M3 & M4.
Are you still looking for more? Go all the way back to the beginning of this project with our tech partners at MotoIQ.com – written by Yost Autosport’s very own Mike Bonanni!
Part 1 – September 2013 – Voiding the Warranty
Part 2 – March 2014 – Why Do We Have All of These Extra Bolts?
Part 3 – March 2014 – It’s the Little Things
Part 4 – July 2015 – Let’s Do Some Catching Up
Part 5 – August 2015 – Basic Aerodynamics
Part 6 – October 2015 – Roll, Stop, & Stick
CSF offer a wide variety of performance BMW cooling products. Check out our selection now!
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