yippeekiay
Well-known member
Well, back home now after a cracking trip. Weather was fantastic for the whole time even though somehow I managed to get the flu and still can't taste or smell anything even after 3 days back...lol.
Despite my planning I had a bit of a scare getting to the ferry last Thursday night as I decided to take a route missing the Dartford bridge (didn’t realize it was only £1.50!) and found that the Blackwall Tunnel was shut for maintenance so ended up stuck in horrendous traffic in London. Got to the ferry port 30 minutes before departure after a ‘very’ quick blast to find I wasn't even the last one to arrive. A car we'd passed 15 minutes earlier arrived as we boarded the ferry so my earlier panic wasn't needed.
Got to the Hotel at 7.30am Friday which was in a very picturesque little village surrounded by mountains which although a fair old hike from the track, it made the drive in/out fun due to all the twisty’s and gave the Puma a chance to warm up for it's daily thrashing at the Ring' and cool down for a much needed rest afterwards...lol.
Had about 6 hours kip and then went to the track for a quick lap to familiarize myself to it again and see how the car was running. Steady away was my thoughts and it became apparent from quite early on that it was going to be a busy weekend - I later found out that it was a German bank holiday weekend thus the reason for so many cars & bikes being there to my disappointment.
There was some cracking cars there, the usual stuff, i.e. Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, GT-R's, Viper's, BMW M3/M5/Z4 etc & a Z1!!, Audi's R8/RS4/RS6 etc, Aston Martin, TVR, Caterham, Lotus etc but also some unusual stuff like Wiesmann, Ariel Atom's and a quick as hell full Carbon Fibre KTM X-Bow (yes, a car). Also saw a few sleepers, one being an old Astra in an off yellow colour with matching bodyfiller & rust but with a 2l 16v Turbo engine in it...lol (Was for sale but I never asked how much). Oh, and a couple of FRP's were there too who were nice enough to beep me...lol (X52FLE & W77FRP).
Anyway, First lap was a crap one by my standards, missed/wrong gears, response vehicles & other traffic getting in the way plus me being tentative at the bends until I got the 'feel' for the car and the track. To my surprise I actually got a BTG time of exactly 10 minutes dead!!. I was planning on getting a 10 minute lap as a goal for the whole trip but had managed it on my first lap without going for it....result!!.
My next goal was to have a few more tester laps and then beat it big style by dumping our Liam and most of the fuel in the tank. All this would depend on a clear lap of course which looked increasingly doubtful through the weekend and was to be the case by the end of the trip
Saturday saw us at the track around 9am, it was chokka block so we went straight out for a lap (2) but got stopped on the long run up to the Karussell due to a Porsche head butting the armco and more traffic getting in the way. BTG 10:15.
Parked up in the big field opposite the track and spotted Steve on the roadside so drove over the fields to chat before we went for lunch. Had a quick chat and was going to drive off the field onto the road and didn't see the ditch that I then drove into as I said in my 'Silly boy' thread...lol. Got out of it with the help of Steve, his mates and a bypasser with no harm done.
Went for another lap (3) a few hours later and noticed when we got to the chicane before the pits that I was on reserve...doh!!! This meant a very steady lap as the thought of a 200 euro tow charge stopped me being stupid enough to drive fast. Actually had a great lap waving to all the spectators and actually 'seeing' the part’s of the track that weren’t tarmac....lol. BTG 12:00...my slowest ever
Got a bit of motion lotion and headed straight back for another lap (4) at around 4pm. This lap was a good one but yet again more traffic slowed me down, a pack of lads larking about in an old 3 series convertible, a dickhead in a rented Suzuki Swift who couldn’t take the fact that I kept getting him on the corners and would go past me on the straights and a couple of Porsche’s with obvious novice drivers. Was still a cracking lap – my best driven one in my opinion - but could have been way quicker dammit!!. BTG 10:03
Off home for a much needed rest again, so much excitement really does tire you out, especially at my age…lol.
Up bright and early again on Sunday and off to the track. It was even busier than Saturday but I spotted a quiet spell and my car was just outside the main gate on little hill to the right so I ran out to get it for a solo lap!.
It was apparent straight away that the car was quicker even without the 60kg of our Liam and a great time was on the cards…..humph!!....as soon as I got to the sequence of bends after the pits came to marshall’s with yellow flags warning us of an accident - a Ford Cougar which I’d spotted leaving 10 minutes earlier had spun into the barrier leaving the passenger rear wheel at 90 degrees to the car – ouch!. I still went for it anyway and the car was handling brilliant and accelerating way quicker with just me onboard. I kept checking my splits at various points on the track and was substantially quicker than my first lap so 10 minutes was going to be bettered easily at this rate. Then I started catching a motorbike and he obviously didn’t want to be overtaken as he kept cutting me off on corners and was away in the straights to then slow me down again at the next corner. I even caught him down the long straight before the Karussell and decided to take the idiot round the outside of the Karussell as he was that useless at cornering. Again he took me on the straight and I was spitting feathers but drove smoothly round the next couple of bends and took him on the outside at which point I was clear and left him for dead round the next few bends.
My time despite him was still very good and I hit the mini Karussell well in sight of a possible 9:30 BTG but then yet another yellow flag before the sweeping right-hander. A Ferrari was in front of me – yes I was catching it…lol – and he decided that about 30-40 was sufficient round the full right-hander. As we straightened out for the finishing straight we saw a BMW in the barrier, god knows how he managed that as he was level with the finishing gantry!! So I belted past the Ferrari to see I’d failed abysmally. BTG 10:15.
As I entered the start/finish area I picked up our Liam and we went to top up on fuel and go to a viewing area at which point I noticed that I’d fried my clutch!!. It was slipping like mad and I knew it was because I’d knocked it down a few gears too many in my exuberance. We got to the viewing area and let it cool down while watching the cars on track. My impatience got the better of me and we went straight back to the track to check if the clutch was ok – I could’ve just drove around a little but I had laps to do….lol.
Anyway, went for another lap (6) and drove it really smoothly, dipping the clutch and not letting it out until I’d matched the revs as best as I could. The lap was a cracking one, not for speed but for hitting all the right lines etc. It really does seem to go better if you don’t try and rush a lap. As I said, not a fast one but bugger me I think it was the clearest of the whole trip!..Typical!...lol. BTG 10:35.
Back to the hotel for more rest but more importantly in the hope that the clutch was now ok as a steady drive back should wear off any glazing that I may have done to it when frying it….lol.
Up early again on Monday, I finally got round to checking the pressure in my tyres, better late than never…lol. Fronts were at 30 and 33 so I balanced them to both at 31 psi. The rears were miles out at 22 & 20 so they too were balanced to 30 psi in both. I’d added a couple of extra over standard purely because of the extra speed and abuse given to them on the track. This weirdly affected the cars handling by a startling amount.
Headed back to the track which was now the busiest we’d seen it so went straight on for a lap (7). Before we’d even got to the pits the rear end slipped out slightly on the little chicane…what!!. This must have only been due to the extra pressure in the rear as now my contact patch was much less than before but I thought it would have given more stability. This same trait was happening on quite a few more corners which affected my confidence a little so I didn’t push as I did in the previous days plus I also had to take my delicate clutch into consideration. Despite my slower entry speeds and slowing down a lot more than usual the lap was still surprisingly good until we got slowed down yet again by traffic and yet another Porsche (GT3RS) who needed a visit to the bodyshop for some very expensive front end re-modelling. BTG 10:11.
Went to one of the viewing areas for a couple of hours and then decided to get the last lap (8) out of the way incase any accident closed the track early as on Friday and Saturday. Not a bad lap this one, drove it nice and steady, still fast but with consideration on every gearchange to take care of the clutch. The back end was still squirming when pushed which reminded me – to late – that I was going to let some air out of the rears….lol.
I’d given up on beating 10 minutes by now anyway and I was happy in the knowledge that my first of the trip had done 10 on the dot. The ease of the to be quite frank, self inflicted pressure seemed to result in me driving the track better and better each time.
We still encountered a fair bit of traffic but still managed a perfectly respectable time for our last foray of the green hell. BTG 10:06.
That was it for this trip, my car, me and even our Liam were exhausted so we stopped for an hour or so of rest and contemplation at our now regular viewing spot then headed back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for a long trip home.
All in all a bloody great trip. I’m now seriously considering a good fettling for the Puma and not bothering with a new car at all, the speeds it can attain round the bends are just as quick as most on the track, and actually a lot better than some, but it just lack’s that little extra oomph for the long straights which really affect’s it progress.
I’m thinking of getting some coilover’s that I’ve been putting off as not really needed but I now think the extra exit speed that should be possible by going through the corners better with them should benefit the cars overall average speed and give a little bit of a head start on the straights than how it is now.
I don’t think increasing it power wise is really something I want to do to a great degree, this is counter productive in my opinion regarding the Ring’ as too much speed invariably leads to a greater chance of getting it wrong and coming off the track due to excess entrance speed. Handling is king on this track and that’s the route I think is the best option.
Anyway, I scoured various site's but only found one of me on the Ring', at the Karussell no less…lol
http://www.nordschleifenbilder.de/go/displayimage.php?pid=60399&fullsize=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I will upload more pictures of some relatively rare cars we saw once the site let’s me but I’ll upload what I have so far onto facebook soon for anyone who’s interested and has me as a friend. My son has 100’s as he was the official picture taker…lol. He could only transfer a few to my USB stick as his camera was far too high spec and took up the memory in no time especially as the vid’s he took were nearly 1GB a piece.
To conclude:- BRING ON NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO'S UP FOR IT!!!! :drive:
Despite my planning I had a bit of a scare getting to the ferry last Thursday night as I decided to take a route missing the Dartford bridge (didn’t realize it was only £1.50!) and found that the Blackwall Tunnel was shut for maintenance so ended up stuck in horrendous traffic in London. Got to the ferry port 30 minutes before departure after a ‘very’ quick blast to find I wasn't even the last one to arrive. A car we'd passed 15 minutes earlier arrived as we boarded the ferry so my earlier panic wasn't needed.
Got to the Hotel at 7.30am Friday which was in a very picturesque little village surrounded by mountains which although a fair old hike from the track, it made the drive in/out fun due to all the twisty’s and gave the Puma a chance to warm up for it's daily thrashing at the Ring' and cool down for a much needed rest afterwards...lol.
Had about 6 hours kip and then went to the track for a quick lap to familiarize myself to it again and see how the car was running. Steady away was my thoughts and it became apparent from quite early on that it was going to be a busy weekend - I later found out that it was a German bank holiday weekend thus the reason for so many cars & bikes being there to my disappointment.
There was some cracking cars there, the usual stuff, i.e. Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, GT-R's, Viper's, BMW M3/M5/Z4 etc & a Z1!!, Audi's R8/RS4/RS6 etc, Aston Martin, TVR, Caterham, Lotus etc but also some unusual stuff like Wiesmann, Ariel Atom's and a quick as hell full Carbon Fibre KTM X-Bow (yes, a car). Also saw a few sleepers, one being an old Astra in an off yellow colour with matching bodyfiller & rust but with a 2l 16v Turbo engine in it...lol (Was for sale but I never asked how much). Oh, and a couple of FRP's were there too who were nice enough to beep me...lol (X52FLE & W77FRP).
Anyway, First lap was a crap one by my standards, missed/wrong gears, response vehicles & other traffic getting in the way plus me being tentative at the bends until I got the 'feel' for the car and the track. To my surprise I actually got a BTG time of exactly 10 minutes dead!!. I was planning on getting a 10 minute lap as a goal for the whole trip but had managed it on my first lap without going for it....result!!.
My next goal was to have a few more tester laps and then beat it big style by dumping our Liam and most of the fuel in the tank. All this would depend on a clear lap of course which looked increasingly doubtful through the weekend and was to be the case by the end of the trip
Saturday saw us at the track around 9am, it was chokka block so we went straight out for a lap (2) but got stopped on the long run up to the Karussell due to a Porsche head butting the armco and more traffic getting in the way. BTG 10:15.
Parked up in the big field opposite the track and spotted Steve on the roadside so drove over the fields to chat before we went for lunch. Had a quick chat and was going to drive off the field onto the road and didn't see the ditch that I then drove into as I said in my 'Silly boy' thread...lol. Got out of it with the help of Steve, his mates and a bypasser with no harm done.
Went for another lap (3) a few hours later and noticed when we got to the chicane before the pits that I was on reserve...doh!!! This meant a very steady lap as the thought of a 200 euro tow charge stopped me being stupid enough to drive fast. Actually had a great lap waving to all the spectators and actually 'seeing' the part’s of the track that weren’t tarmac....lol. BTG 12:00...my slowest ever
Got a bit of motion lotion and headed straight back for another lap (4) at around 4pm. This lap was a good one but yet again more traffic slowed me down, a pack of lads larking about in an old 3 series convertible, a dickhead in a rented Suzuki Swift who couldn’t take the fact that I kept getting him on the corners and would go past me on the straights and a couple of Porsche’s with obvious novice drivers. Was still a cracking lap – my best driven one in my opinion - but could have been way quicker dammit!!. BTG 10:03
Off home for a much needed rest again, so much excitement really does tire you out, especially at my age…lol.
Up bright and early again on Sunday and off to the track. It was even busier than Saturday but I spotted a quiet spell and my car was just outside the main gate on little hill to the right so I ran out to get it for a solo lap!.
It was apparent straight away that the car was quicker even without the 60kg of our Liam and a great time was on the cards…..humph!!....as soon as I got to the sequence of bends after the pits came to marshall’s with yellow flags warning us of an accident - a Ford Cougar which I’d spotted leaving 10 minutes earlier had spun into the barrier leaving the passenger rear wheel at 90 degrees to the car – ouch!. I still went for it anyway and the car was handling brilliant and accelerating way quicker with just me onboard. I kept checking my splits at various points on the track and was substantially quicker than my first lap so 10 minutes was going to be bettered easily at this rate. Then I started catching a motorbike and he obviously didn’t want to be overtaken as he kept cutting me off on corners and was away in the straights to then slow me down again at the next corner. I even caught him down the long straight before the Karussell and decided to take the idiot round the outside of the Karussell as he was that useless at cornering. Again he took me on the straight and I was spitting feathers but drove smoothly round the next couple of bends and took him on the outside at which point I was clear and left him for dead round the next few bends.
My time despite him was still very good and I hit the mini Karussell well in sight of a possible 9:30 BTG but then yet another yellow flag before the sweeping right-hander. A Ferrari was in front of me – yes I was catching it…lol – and he decided that about 30-40 was sufficient round the full right-hander. As we straightened out for the finishing straight we saw a BMW in the barrier, god knows how he managed that as he was level with the finishing gantry!! So I belted past the Ferrari to see I’d failed abysmally. BTG 10:15.
As I entered the start/finish area I picked up our Liam and we went to top up on fuel and go to a viewing area at which point I noticed that I’d fried my clutch!!. It was slipping like mad and I knew it was because I’d knocked it down a few gears too many in my exuberance. We got to the viewing area and let it cool down while watching the cars on track. My impatience got the better of me and we went straight back to the track to check if the clutch was ok – I could’ve just drove around a little but I had laps to do….lol.
Anyway, went for another lap (6) and drove it really smoothly, dipping the clutch and not letting it out until I’d matched the revs as best as I could. The lap was a cracking one, not for speed but for hitting all the right lines etc. It really does seem to go better if you don’t try and rush a lap. As I said, not a fast one but bugger me I think it was the clearest of the whole trip!..Typical!...lol. BTG 10:35.
Back to the hotel for more rest but more importantly in the hope that the clutch was now ok as a steady drive back should wear off any glazing that I may have done to it when frying it….lol.
Up early again on Monday, I finally got round to checking the pressure in my tyres, better late than never…lol. Fronts were at 30 and 33 so I balanced them to both at 31 psi. The rears were miles out at 22 & 20 so they too were balanced to 30 psi in both. I’d added a couple of extra over standard purely because of the extra speed and abuse given to them on the track. This weirdly affected the cars handling by a startling amount.
Headed back to the track which was now the busiest we’d seen it so went straight on for a lap (7). Before we’d even got to the pits the rear end slipped out slightly on the little chicane…what!!. This must have only been due to the extra pressure in the rear as now my contact patch was much less than before but I thought it would have given more stability. This same trait was happening on quite a few more corners which affected my confidence a little so I didn’t push as I did in the previous days plus I also had to take my delicate clutch into consideration. Despite my slower entry speeds and slowing down a lot more than usual the lap was still surprisingly good until we got slowed down yet again by traffic and yet another Porsche (GT3RS) who needed a visit to the bodyshop for some very expensive front end re-modelling. BTG 10:11.
Went to one of the viewing areas for a couple of hours and then decided to get the last lap (8) out of the way incase any accident closed the track early as on Friday and Saturday. Not a bad lap this one, drove it nice and steady, still fast but with consideration on every gearchange to take care of the clutch. The back end was still squirming when pushed which reminded me – to late – that I was going to let some air out of the rears….lol.
I’d given up on beating 10 minutes by now anyway and I was happy in the knowledge that my first of the trip had done 10 on the dot. The ease of the to be quite frank, self inflicted pressure seemed to result in me driving the track better and better each time.
We still encountered a fair bit of traffic but still managed a perfectly respectable time for our last foray of the green hell. BTG 10:06.
That was it for this trip, my car, me and even our Liam were exhausted so we stopped for an hour or so of rest and contemplation at our now regular viewing spot then headed back to the hotel for an early night in preparation for a long trip home.
All in all a bloody great trip. I’m now seriously considering a good fettling for the Puma and not bothering with a new car at all, the speeds it can attain round the bends are just as quick as most on the track, and actually a lot better than some, but it just lack’s that little extra oomph for the long straights which really affect’s it progress.
I’m thinking of getting some coilover’s that I’ve been putting off as not really needed but I now think the extra exit speed that should be possible by going through the corners better with them should benefit the cars overall average speed and give a little bit of a head start on the straights than how it is now.
I don’t think increasing it power wise is really something I want to do to a great degree, this is counter productive in my opinion regarding the Ring’ as too much speed invariably leads to a greater chance of getting it wrong and coming off the track due to excess entrance speed. Handling is king on this track and that’s the route I think is the best option.
Anyway, I scoured various site's but only found one of me on the Ring', at the Karussell no less…lol
http://www.nordschleifenbilder.de/go/displayimage.php?pid=60399&fullsize=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I will upload more pictures of some relatively rare cars we saw once the site let’s me but I’ll upload what I have so far onto facebook soon for anyone who’s interested and has me as a friend. My son has 100’s as he was the official picture taker…lol. He could only transfer a few to my USB stick as his camera was far too high spec and took up the memory in no time especially as the vid’s he took were nearly 1GB a piece.
To conclude:- BRING ON NEXT YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!
WHO'S UP FOR IT!!!! :drive:
