bluesaint

Nurburgring and Automechanika photos

So went to Frankfurt Germany two weeks ago to attend the biggest automotive convention in the world called "Automechanika", SEMA can't compare.
When the convention was done, drove(averaged 160kmh)an hour and 30minutes on the autobahn to the village of Nürburg (Nurburgring is inside)

btw, passing a car on the right is illegal you basically tail gate someone on the left lane and they'll move to the right lane.

Couple observations:
1. Never saw so many Porsche 911 GT3's (standard, cup and RS) in my life at a single location. Mad props to those using the car for it's intended purpose
2. There really are tons of folks in SUV's, stationwagons, motorcycles, beaters, etc.. all driving at the same time.
3. The two days I was here, it was considered as public toll road days, meaning, anyone can buy a lap, so it was scary trying to pass some of these guys.
4. On public days, accidents are handled by the Polize, as they will take accident reports same as driving on public roads, and could careless about you explaining your driving lines or hitting apexes.
5. Unlike the other tracks I've been on in CA (laguna, BWcw13, thill, infineon) Nurburgring lets you experience continuous Vertical G! You can feel yourself being pushed down hard into your seat, and can easily get airborne on a few turns

Car #1 SEAT Leon (NA 1.8L 125 PS) hatch, first time on the track:
-First lap, managed 11minutes and 35 seconds (timed with iphone stopwatch by passenger)
-Swiped my ring card for second lap, and it started raining, and a motorcycle washed out, hit the barrier caused the entire track to be yellow flagged, so no time, but it is scary driving an unfamiliar course in the rain.


Car #2, Rented a Citroën DS3 (Turbo 1.6L ~170hp) hatch from: http://www.rent4ring.de/en/info/rent...dschleife.html
with the following specs:
• Stripped out interior with a full Weichers rollcage, Recaro bucket seats and racing harnesses
• Lightweight 15" Motec wheels with wider Toyo R888 grooved semi-slicks
• KW V3 coil-over suspension system with our own alignment settings
• Mousketier racing exhaust system and K&N intake
• Fully upgraded brake system with Endless Racing pads, fluid and hoses.

Managed a 10:40 lap first time out with this car, the car has grip and definitely makes up the hills a little better, but I know for a fact my S would've had more TQ than this thing going up the hills.

Managed a 10:25 lap on second and final lap with this car despite being stuck behind a 1 series bmw that spun out and caused a yellow flag.
I'm sure a S would be much faster!

Now here's a tip for those planning on renting a prepped car in the future, the Rental place sits the suspension to FULL soft, which kept causing the suspension to bottoming out! And it is SCARY to drive fast because on turns similar to slaloms, the rebound is so slow you feel like you are 3 wheeling, and not feeling the tires beneath you at high speed turn is nerve racking! So the solution, make sure you dial up the clicks if you run into same issue. I wished I knew that's how they tuned it, and would've done it myself. I later discussed with them and they said its so the first timers won't freak out from braking mid-turn or doing stupid things. Which makes sense i guess, but for those who drives more, its scary as f*ck.

Prices:
Buy a ring card with 9 laps, and it will only cost you 198 Euros, which translates to 22 euro per lap. This is cheaper than most track days we have in US!

With 4 laps under my belt, I wish i can have my S! There was only one S on both days i was there, the rest were Porsche's, BMW's, and Audi representing the majority.

Enjoy the pix!

Nurburgring and Automechanika photos

MarcoPiper

rob-2

I cannot wait to do it. Aiming for a euro trip in 2014 or 2014. Hoping there is an S2000 I can rent than.

bluesaint

Depending on your wallet, you can rent from: http://www.rsrnurburg.com/car-rental...ce-car-rentals

-Lotus Exige
-Nissan GTR
-Ferrari 458 Italia
-Vette Z06
-Etc...

MMisencik157

So badass! If I end up doing a study abroad program in Europe, I plan on doing exactly what you did.

TougeHorseman

Sounds awesome.

danvuquoc

Yikes over 3K for 10 laps in a race m3.

Snisen2.2L

That's awesome... hope I can do this one time in my life! How did the DS3 drives? I guess this is the street version of the legendary WRC car? I assume is a front wheel drive? The swift that they have doesn't look too bad either.. I am sure it was well worth it....

bluesaint

Unfortunately the Fwd DS3 was crap for me, because the way they tuned the KW V3's to full soft, was only able to go 6/10th as it was not confidence inspiring, and I've yet memorized the 90+ turns to know where the point the car all the time.

Majority of turns on this track are blind due to the elevation changes, and with combination of motorcycles, beaters, SUV's etc on the course, it does take some gut to go gun ho.

After one lap is enough to have 50% of the fear go away though. Also there are many photographers around the track, knowing where they are allows you to do this

This is me in the SEAT Leon:

rob-2

Yikes over 3K for 10 laps in a race m3.
[/quote]
It's a little rich for my blood. I'm fairly certain I can get a container to port for about $700 with my S inside.