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Thread: Eric heinrich!!!!!

  1. #1
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    Eric heinrich!!!!!

    I would like to take a minute to recognize the effort put forth by Eric heinriich this past week at the SCCA Runoffs at Road America. Eric battled to put his Gulf E30 M3 on the podium....a major accomplishment


    Eric has been a long time BMW club racer and high level autocrosser. I know Eric as he is from my chapter. I first met Eric at the BMWCCA Club race school at WGI in 2008 where he was an instructor.
    Eric has continued to be a positive influence on me and many others and continues to be one of the guys this sport needs.


    Having run for series championships in my other sport I truly recognize and commend the effort this guy has put forth to accomplish what he did last week. Eric took an older car that only a year ago was a JS car with a radio in it and turned it into a serious contender for a National titlle. I remember him at NHMS listening to Led Zepplin in this same car as he prepared to race!


    This year I watched as Eric took the car from JS to STU. He stripped it, spend a lot of time and money to do motors and tuning, gathered sponsors and did the tedious research to carry out his plan. Eric traveled to the national SCCA races to qualify for the Runoffs and had to endure a few major setbacks along the way. He did it.


    I may be missing some of the details on Erics year, but what I'm commending is the focus he had.
    I think it was in 2004 when the Red Sox won the world series that I heard an interview with Johnny Damon and he said something that stuck with me and I have used on myself and my kids. Johnny said I follow the simple plan of the 5 P's....PLAN...PREPARATION...PATIENCE...PERSISTANCY AND PERSERVERANCE. Well put. This is exactly the plan I saw Erich follow to near perfection this year.


    In closing I would like to congradulate Eric on his efforts , but more I think we should all take notice of the example he has set on what it takes for a privateer to chase a championship of any kind.


    THREE CHEERS FOR ERIC HEINRICH!!!!!!!!

  2. #2
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    Good job Eric

    Ryo

  3. #3
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    So cool to see a e30 M3 beat ex-Speed World Challenge touring cars!

  4. #4
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    Congrats Eric!
    Regards, Nate.
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  5. #5
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    Eric is a class act that is (was) an avid BMW CCA Club Racer. Congrats!!!
    #175 CM E46 M3
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    Occupation= Green House Gas Creator, but I planted a GARDEN last year.
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  6. #6
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    WOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    ..."keep a little love in your heart and a taste of jazz in your soul."

  7. #7
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    Wow....just wow... I have to say I'm completly blown away by the kind words.

    We just got back from Wiconsin les than an hour ago, and have lots to unpack and catch up on, but for now i must ay that I can only take a little of the credit - there's no way I could have done this well without the support of my wife Beth, Jack and John from Elephant Motorsports, Marc at German Performance Service and BF Goodrich, jut to name a few. When i have a chance i'll post more info about the seaon and the event, and some pictures.

    The racing was intense!!! Fast cars, fast drivers...not easy by a long shot. My car was quick, but the lack of torque really hurt at Road America with those square corners leading onto long straights. The Turbo AWD cars shot out of them incredibly fast.

    I'm still looking forward to running with BMW CR, lots of great people, the events are top notch and there's *so much track time*.
    2010 BMW Club Racing E30 M3 Touring Car Champion, 2011 and 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs 3rd Place, STU, 2011 SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year, 2012 SCCA Northeast Division STU Champion, 2015 SCCA Runoffs Pole Position Daytona/STU

  8. #8
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    Nice work Eric. I'll cook you up something to celebrate....
    Eric WONGer
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  9. #9
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    Eric

    Great job..wow.....congrats.

  10. #10
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    Mee too, congrats Eric, I watched the race online and found myslef hoping for one turbocharger bearing and one supercharger drive belt failure, wouldnt that have been sweet!

    Great job and great to see an E30 M3 at the runnoffs! More video posts please.

    Bill

  11. #11
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    Just watched the videos again last night. So awesome to watch.
    A) that track couldn't be less E30 M3 friendly
    B) you drove your ass off.
    C) Great interview afterwards.

    Great job Eric. Congrats on doing what no one has ever done before.
    cheers
    jimmy p
    jimmy p.


    88 E30 M3 Zinnoberot - street
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  12. #12
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    Congrats Eric, a solid finish at the Runoffs is quite a feat!
    Jake

  13. #13
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    I really, really enjoyed watching the race live on Saturday. Fantastic, smart driving on Eric's part. Even more impressive is the enormous commitment that it must have taken over the course of a season to get there, particularly in a 20-year old platform. well done!
    Ed Phillips // Spec E46 (build in progress)
    Past: Spec E30 and GTS3

  14. #14
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    Well done Eric, excellent job! You've really shown what the E30 is capable of with a solid build, proper set up, and a highly skilled driver. So very nice to see, thanks for all your efforts.

    A lifted beer to you my man.

    Cheers.
    Jack $


    "The original M3 is utterly brilliant in ways the people at M have either forgotten about or choose to ignore."

  15. #15
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    well done man, car looked awesome out there
    Simon
    Spec E30 #116

  16. #16
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    Thumbs up

    Eric, Jack, What motor upgrades were made to be able to run along with the evo?

    Oh and here is a pick from i think 2007 in Topeka ant the SCCA SOLO National Championships...



    Congrads man!
    Chris Conant
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldredm3 View Post
    Eric, Jack, What motor upgrades were made to be able to run along with the evo?

    Oh and here is a pick from i think 2007 in Topeka ant the SCCA SOLO National Championships...


    Congrads man!
    Thanks!!!

    So the progression of the car was from J-Stock, which is, well, Stock, plus chip, intake, exhaust and suspension, to M3T during the 09-10 winter. I still have my Turner J-Stock suspension I took off the car - the shocks date back to 1992, belonged to Gary Bossert and were used as the original test mule shocks for the JS suspesion setup. They have never been rebuilt, they have 50,000 yes fifty thousand RACE miles on them, have been on two cars that have been rolled, completed a 24 hour race and did One Lap of America...and were still setting JS lap records when they came off the car. Turner said they do not need to be rebuilt. Hot damn!


    M3T was a bump in compression, mild Schrick cams, stock header but no cats required, a ltw flywheel and you can change diffs and run a close ratio gearbox. After comparing my M3T O'fest '10 data to the STU runoffs laptimes which were only a month later, I realized I had a shot at getting on the podium there, and my car fit into the ruleset perfectly.

    So we started the season running on the M3T motor. First race qualified on the pole, set the track record and blew a head gasket during the race, limping home to third. Refreshed it, switched to MoTeC for New Jersey, and did well there with an overall pole, set the track record and an overall win from the green flag. Went to Mid-O (in case anyone remembers me asking about gearing and data here earlier this year) and after 14 hours of towing and two practice laps, put a rod through the block. Fork Me. It was a long tow home for 14 hours.

    So we built a new motor for the Glen Double national. Set the track record, qualified on pole both days, won race one, and had...issues...(Fork Me!) on the last lap of the seoncd race. Lower radiator hose popped off and lost all the coolant. I thought it was fluid from one fo the T1 or AS lapped cars in front of me I slid through. I had run well enough that I still picked up third place sitting on the side of the track in the boot, and they didn't release impound until they towed me off the track and over the scales. We now have a double redundant coolant level warning system in place after that disaster.

    We missed a lot of races, and were fortunate to qualify for the runoffs based on the limited results we had.

    Stu is a *whole* 'nother leap from M3T. Compression is limited to 12:1, the limits on cam lift are bigger than what exists for a S14, Aftermarket ECU's allowed....the reality is the ruleset is built off the WC-TC ruleset. The only gearbox rule is "limited to 6 forward speeds; aftermarket sequentials must carry an extra 100#" USDM engines only, so 2.5L is not allowed. 2.5L would require carrying another 220 lbs anyways, and at that point it would be smarter to run an E46 with an M54 built to WC-TC specs. Suspension pickup points can be relocated too, but that also carries a weight penalty. Bigger brakes - allowed up to 328mm, but on the E30 M3 that requires bigger wheels, which are heavier and have a higher polar MOI, and also requires raising the car....there's a point of diminishing returns so we had to choose our preparation level carefully.

    So it really is a speed costs money class, that is also fully populated with past Runoffs champions and current and ex pro drivers.

    We made some big changes from M3T to STU. It's still a 2.3L, and it still has Shrick cams, and still has a lightweight clutch, but the compression is higher than M3T, the cams are...bigger :-) than M3T and the clutch is...a lot smaller than M3T. We are running MoTeC now too.

    I still have all my M3T parts on a shelf, well, all but one of the pistons, which went through the side of the block on the second practice lap at Mid-O this summer. Ugh. I'm torn between holding onto them to build another M3T motor or selling them...

    Suffice to say, the STU 2.3L motor is sort of close to an early GrpA 2.3L motor but nowhere near as high strung. We blew up two motors this summer, which took away the chance to win the Super Sweep and the Divisional points champ and the national points champ, so we kinda went all out for the Runoffs, and we went there hoping to win. And our lap times were within hundredths of last years' pole and race fast laps. the problem was the STaSIS/Fall-Line Audi that set them was 2 seconds quicker this year.

    The Evo was really a T2 car, with a 40mm restrictor and about 700lbs heavier than me. If the Evo was built to the limit of STU, it probably would have been faster than the A4. There's no way to keep up with it out of the corners.

    So I had light weight and good top end to my advantage, and no torque and stock aero to my disadvantage. All in all it was pretty balanced. The Tec*mark E46 325 could have won easily too. All that said, it really is a testament to the development the factory Motorsport team put into the car when it was first built 25 years ago - against modern touring cars this thing can still hold it's own! So it's no surprise now that the car was stuck in GT2 with the SCCA for so many years. (GT2 is currently dominated by the Porsche GT3RS, with upgrades.)

    FWIW, data analysis is great. At both the Glen and RdAm we were within .25 secs of our predicted lap times and within 1mph of our predicted top speeds and corner apex speeds.


    Here's the race video uploaded to YouTube

    of course, I had to get a plug in for the Solo2 program while being interviewed....and a lot of people were really excited to see a 25 year old E30M3 running there and as well as it was.

    the smoke they keep mentioning was from an overfilled diff and a couple loose oil pan bolts that allowed oil to drip onto the exhaust.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvJk7U0mqRQ[/ame]
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw9YJCncRJ4[/ame]

    link to video shot by Beth during qualifying https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...=2424257966624

    link to video shot by Beth during qualifying on the front straight from the outer pit wall https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...=2427829975922

    finishing video shot by Beth from the start/finish Gantry

    https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...=2443825375797
    Last edited by JS154; 09-28-2011 at 11:46 PM.
    2010 BMW Club Racing E30 M3 Touring Car Champion, 2011 and 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs 3rd Place, STU, 2011 SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year, 2012 SCCA Northeast Division STU Champion, 2015 SCCA Runoffs Pole Position Daytona/STU

  18. #18
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    Congrats on the great race and the excellent prepaired car.
    I was putting my bets on the 2 front runners having a mechanical,but the cool weather probably helped them a lot with the reliability and power.It it was 90F+ or they were running more closely and fighting each other as you did,the situation would have been different

  19. #19
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    Erik,

    I've got to ask, what you've done with the rear suspension? How about plans for next season? Considered using a DTM style heim joints?

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Z3racer701 View Post
    Erik,

    I've got to ask, what you've done with the rear suspension? How about plans for next season? Considered using a DTM style heim joints?
    We avioded going full GrpA/DTM suspension primarily because of the weight penalty changing it adds. Same with big brakes - big brakes require bigger heavier wheels, which means taller tires, which mean raising the car...rotating weight, higher CG....you can gain back the handling by going nutso on the suspension, but you get to carry more rules weight...

    to really develop this car further would require cubic dollars for fractional gains at best, and nothing will improve the inherent lack of torque of the S14. Also the E30M3 has been developed to the limit over the last25 years, so it;s not like there's something completely different that we can come up with - what works and what doesn't is well known.

    Next year...we have to see how the SCCA chenges the class rules first. If the turbo cars are not weight or TIR adjusted, it's going to be tough to justify this effort again. Same if the AWD cars are not tire width restricted. Without those changes all 3 podium spots next year will be turbo awd cars - A4, STI, EVO, R32.....

    So we wait and see. If the Turbo, or at least the turbo AWD cars or adjusted, then we certainly will consider a full-on effort, and focus on attracting sponsors.

    If anything, results and press coverage are things we've shown we can deliver consistently, even with our shoestring privateer effort. Stepping up to an enclosed trailer this year made a big difference - it saved huge amounts of time, energy and stress. All year the crew was me, or me and Beth. She's got all the enthusiasm in the world, but...all I can say is there's a low limit physically for her as to how much she can really crew. John van Houten from Elephant motorsports came to RdAm on Tues and Wed, and his help was *invaluable* - there's no way we would have done as well as we did without his help those days.
    Last edited by JS154; 09-29-2011 at 12:45 PM.
    2010 BMW Club Racing E30 M3 Touring Car Champion, 2011 and 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs 3rd Place, STU, 2011 SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year, 2012 SCCA Northeast Division STU Champion, 2015 SCCA Runoffs Pole Position Daytona/STU

  21. #21
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    Great spokesmanship eric.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by JS154 View Post
    We avioded going full GrpA/DTM suspension primarily because of the weight penalty changing it adds. Same with big brakes - big brakes require bigger heavier wheels, which means taller tires, which mean raising the car...rotating weight, higher CG....you can gain back the handling by going nutso on the suspension, but you get to carry more rules weight...

    to really develop this car further would require cubic dollars for fractional gains at best, and nothing will improve the inherent lack of torque of the S14. Also the E30M3 has been developed to the limit over the last25 years, so it;s not like there's something completely different that we can come up with - what works and what doesn't is well known.

    Next year...we have to see how the SCCA chenges the class rules first. If the turbo cars are not weight or TIR adjusted, it's going to be tough to justify this effort again. Same if the AWD cars are not tire width restricted. Without those changes all 3 podium spots next year will be turbo awd cars - A4, STI, EVO, R32.....

    So we wait and see. If the Turbo, or at least the turbo AWD cars or adjusted, then we certainly will consider a full-on effort, and focus on attracting sponsors.

    If anything, results and press coverage are things we've shown we can deliver consistently, even with our shoestring privateer effort. Stepping up to an enclosed trailer this year made a big difference - it saved huge amounts of time, energy and stress. All year the crew was me, or me and Beth. She's got all the enthusiasm in the world, but...all I can say is there's a low limit physically for her as to how much she can really crew. John van Houten from Elephant motorsports came to RdAm on Tues and Wed, and his help was *invaluable* - there's no way we would have done as well as we did without his help those days.
    If you want more torque you might consider a motor swap. That's what I did when I couldn't get them to allow the OBDI manifold on the M-52, I've got a rare M-50 powered Z3. At this point I'm concentrating on suspension and areo development, I'll put the motor package togeather later. If the turbo motors aren't more restricted, we could alway swap to one too. I'll write the letter to have AWD and TIR sizes reexamined and possibly restricted, I think it should be a small change. Lat thing I'd want is to suddenly make all turbo's and AWD cars uncompetetive.

    I'm glad you were able to podium on such limited resources. I am my own engineer and crew also, still with an open trailer.

  23. #23
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    Eric can correct me if I'm wrong but the major point of campaigning an E30 M3 is the S14. If it was only about winning he'd likely choose a different car. The E30 M3 can be competitive as he's shown. The S14 has some short comings relative to a turbo car but each car has its short comings. It's up to the driver and development to overcome these....assuming the rules are reasonable.

    My guess is Eric has no interest in ditching the S14.

    Cheers.
    Jack $


    "The original M3 is utterly brilliant in ways the people at M have either forgotten about or choose to ignore."

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Z3racer701 View Post
    If you want more torque you might consider a motor swap.
    Last edited by jimmypet; 10-01-2011 at 06:37 PM.
    jimmy p.


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  25. #25
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    Red face

    Quote Originally Posted by RacerX View Post
    Eric can correct me if I'm wrong but the major point of campaigning an E30 M3 is the S14. If it was only about winning he'd likely choose a different car. The E30 M3 can be competitive as he's shown. The S14 has some short comings relative to a turbo car but each car has its short comings. It's up to the driver and development to overcome these....assuming the rules are reasonable.

    My guess is Eric has no interest in ditching the S14.

    Cheers.
    yeah, pretty much. We did go there with the expectation of being able to win, not be walked away from. The Audi was almost 2 and a half seconds faster than myself and the E46 there, and that was with no pressure to push the limits.

    Pretty close - it's about the 2.3L S14. For one, 2.5L is not allowed, and even so, you have the 1.1 weight factor. So you would have to run at the same weight as the E46 2.5L exWC cars, which have better suspension aero and brakes and can fit bigger tires - and still doesn't have the torque to weight of the boosted cars.


    I think the Toyota MR2 Turbo could be a sleeper for the class along the lines of the Turbo Miata that showed up.

    Or a TT/A4 or EVO which are proven dominant. The Evo was a T2 car, so far from optimized for the class.
    2010 BMW Club Racing E30 M3 Touring Car Champion, 2011 and 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs 3rd Place, STU, 2011 SCCA Jim Fitzgerald Rookie of the Year, 2012 SCCA Northeast Division STU Champion, 2015 SCCA Runoffs Pole Position Daytona/STU

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