Racing a widebody E36 M3 at the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb

[IDBracing]

So now that the car's all finished up (build thread HERE) and we got some testing in on the mountain (video HERE), we're back in Colorado for race week!

I had a money shift during testing a few weeks ago, so we rebuilt the S52B32 with some higher compression JE pistons, Eagle rods, PolyDyn coated bearings, ARP hardware, and a few other bits and pieces. I also built a 410 rear end to use for the race, as the stock 323 that we ran during the practice weekend on the mountain was WAY too long.

We left Texas on Thursday evening and made it here Friday morning so we'd have a few days to settle in and get acclimated. Registration went smoothly on Sunday night, and we breezed through tech without incident this morning. Now we've got driver's meetings for a few hours this afternoon, and then tomorrow morning at 4am I'll be on the mountain for the first day of practice on the lower section!


Stay tuned for updates, pics, and videos!

[DeanP]

Awesome, love the wing.

[rob22sf]

awesome car!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hide1]

like.a.boss

More pics needed.. specifically interior, exhaust, and rear diffusers.

[Frank@AchillesMotorsports]

Car looks awesome, good luck to you!

[bimerok]

Good luck and post as much pictures and vids as possible...

[dejongeyanj]

Car looks awesome, good luck to you!

[IDBracing]

Quick update:


Got two runs in today, one in the dark/cold/early hours and one with the mountain somewhat up to temperature; managed to shave off ten seconds from where I was in testing and managed to move into 6th in class with a 4:55 on the bottom section. Got some damn good video footage of the run, too!


The car is performing flawlessly.


Was good day. Very much happy.


Photos and videos from today to follow soon

- - - Updated - - -

Fun fact: it's VERY hard to keep a car clean up here...will have to try harder tomorrow, I guess!

[DeanP]

It's dirty for all the right reasons.

[Stück]

Good luck Wil!

[IDBracing]

Good luck Wil!

Worth noting that Jordan is a very, very, very, very, VERY big part of why I was able to put a car together this completely, and why I'm here 100% prepared and not wrenching on stuff in the pits like a lot of the other teams. Yay, Jordan!

Now, sell me the E30













...typical BMW, already ate one of the brand-new corner light bulbs

[DeanP]

We had a department meeting today in our corporate auditorium and I got my boss to play your practice run video on the big screen with theater surround sound. It looked and sounded great. Good luck with the race and can't wait to see more.

[IDBracing]

Had a really good run yesterday, felt super comfortable in the car and everything was working perfectly - I wasn't pushing at all the second (last) run yesterday, and knew exactly what needed to be done and where to drop a good chunk of time. We had qualifying on the bottom section this morning (practice on the mountain during race week is from 4am-9am) and, since I had such a great day on the same section yesterday, I was stoked to be able to get out and throw down what I expected to be a decent qualifying time - thus getting me a better starting position for the race and lessening the chances of me having to start my race Sunday in the afternoon once the rain moves in (as it has ever year I've been up here).


I waited until the end of the first session to get ready to go out, when the sun had come out enough to not necessitate headlights and the road was a bit drier. It rained pretty heavily last night, so there were some soggy spots on the track. I told myself that I was going to go out and take it easy and just get a feel for the car, and then come back down and cook it on my second run. Two turns in, I made the decision that I felt comfortable enough to go ahead and hoof it up the mountain and get a good time in, with the intention to just keep an eye out for wet spots and ease off the throttle. I made it a mile or so up the course before it happened....


























As I exited a left-hand non-cambered increasing-radius turn at wide-open throttle, I felt the rear end give. Inspection of the course a few minutes later revealed a small puddle right on the center paint line, with tire marks coming out of it and leading to where the car ended up. And, to top that all off, I didn't turn on my cameras.






Whoops :-/








Luckily, the majority of the damage was to the aero, and the splitter managed to hold up (somehow); the front bumper and rear diffuser are toast, though. I was able to get the floppy bits off and make a run up the mountain to qualify, albeit a full minute slower than I was running yesterday - which is going to give me a starting position waaaaaay at the end of the day on Sunday. Shoot.




But, that's racing! For now we're back at the motel with the car torn apart, it's time to start sourcing parts so we can make it back to practice tomorrow and get things back on the right track!
​​

[bimerok]

Not too bad. Good luck patching it up and getting out there.

[sullypants1]

looks like the most fun hotel parking lot I've ever seen...

[Frank@AchillesMotorsports]

Bummer, hope you can get it patched back up!

[IDBracing]

Lots of overnight parts coming in, and we spent the last several hours driving around Colorado Springs and Denver, but the car will be back up and on the mountain tomorrow morning, and back to 100% by race day.

No one ever said it'd be easy!!!



In the meantime, an awesome photo from this morning prior to my off:

[bostonaudi]

Looks awesome, from the video you still have speed to pick up once you know the lower road better.

Noted you seem to have quite a gap in gearing between 2 and 3?

GL!

Watching that again and thinking about going off side of road, you guys running that have a pair!

[Joshh]

Sedan

[IDBracing]

Didn't get a chance to post an updated yesterday, was freaking EXHAUSTED so I slept most of the day, hah.


This week has taken a bit of a downturn, as the crash put me as qualifying waaaaaaaay behind where I should have been - on race day the cars are run fastest to slowest, so the further down the run order I am the later in the day my run is...which means the possibility for rain/sleet/snow/ice is much much higher. Sucks, but I'll just have to make the best of it. Several other 'fast' guys didn't get a qualifying run in, so I'll be at the bottom of the running order along with folks like David Kern, Dave Carapetyan, and Brianne Corn - not a good week for Texas so far, apparently (Carapetyan and Corn are both fellow Texans). Here's how Brianne's week started out...





After Wednesday's incident, the diffuser wasn't saveable, and the front end was mangled all to #$%^ - but other than cosmetic and aero parts, everything on the car came out OK. We drove up to Denver and picked up a base model non-M bumper from CertiFit and picked up some other miscellaneous race car ingredients from Home Depot (including a not-that-close-but-not-too-far-off metallic black spray paint)...We worked all day and most of the night, but we managed to get the car all back together and back on the mountain at 3:30am for the third day of testing. I went up and did a few runs at a 'relaxed' pace, just to make sure nothing was going to decide to break or fall off, and was only 20 seconds off pace; the car is a good bit less sticky in the rear without the aero, and the engine is definitely down on power as we get higher up the mountain, and the boosted cars are showing a clear advantage above Glen Cove. All part of the game!













And, despite how crappy the run, this clip somewhat shows how sketchy some of the dropoffs are...



So, now I've gotta get another two hours of sleep, and then back up the mountain for practice on the top section!

[herrubermensch]

Great video! Has to be one of the most exciting drives! Good luck!

--Peter

[BJO]

Man, good luck. Looks like a lot of fun. My friend Raymund is there too with the Viper.

[bimerok]

No updates in few days. How did it go?

[NeilM]

Here's another amazing Pikes Peak 2014 video:



Turbocharged 1987 E30, 480 rwhp and 2340 lbs. This car really has the grunt to handle the hairpins nicely.

I grew up riding sport bikes in the Swiss Alps, but those Pikes Peak drop-offs make me queasy...

Neil

[bimmerbumm193]

I just found this thread... good lord what an awesome car and great job, I'm a little jealous. What happened the "Wil Power" visor decal, that really sums up this hillclimb. What tires are you running?