Euro tour summer 05

[mo-racing]

shure i am not that naiv to think it´s real siting on the couch with the controler in hands. but every skilled driver who has ever played grand tourismo will tell you it´s damn close to reality ... (as far you can say that)

it´s just my experience .... i also prefere real driving ... but PS2 is good for the times when the car is not running ... like now

hope the nurburgring-visit is coming off. would be a good reason for me to go there and join the group. eldiablo might come along as well.

cheers

[Ivan141]

Hell this sounds like to much fun not to go along.
I'll have to take some efforts to get the car as reliable as possible,
it's no fun to have to work on your car during a roadtrip.

[Mux213]

Mo, very true, it can help you learn the track, but in the end, it is still a game, a very realistic one, but still a game.

[NoHachi]

Mo, it doesn't have any of the track surface changes, no pieces of the track where it stays damp under the trees, no curbs that you simply shouldn't hit etc etc

With that said: it is a great tool to learn the sequence of corners. There are a couple (Flugplatz, Adenau Forst, hohe acht etc) that cannot be seen in advance. It really helps to have an idea when theres a straightaway and where there's a corner.

The problem is that you quickly get overconfident. Its then that the surface changes etc start to make a difference. It happens every day, I can guarantee you that you will see atleast one newbies car beïng towed off on the day you visit, make sure it isn't you.

The best tip I could give is visiting the place first in a 80bhp std corolla. The speeds and risks are lower, without losing out on the funfactor.

The AE86 has the reputation of beïng a grey coffin with people on the ring. There is a reason that they have it.

(CRX's are called kamikaze cars, most short wheelbased-high horsepower cars are tricky over all the hills etc)

To see an example of what a small bump in the road can do to your car look here: http://tinyurl.com/ivlf. This driver has tremendous luck, usually in this corner (schwedenkreuz not aremberg like the video suggests) people lose controll and hit the armco at over 200km/h.

[mo-racing]

NoHachi Wrote:Mo, it doesn't have any of the track surface changes, no pieces of the track where it stays damp under the trees, no curbs that you simply shouldn't hit etc etc

With that said: it is a great tool to learn the sequence of corners. There are a couple (Flugplatz, Adenau Forst, hohe acht etc) that cannot be seen in advance. It really helps to have an idea when theres a straightaway and where there's a corner.

The problem is that you quickly get overconfident. Its then that the surface changes etc start to make a difference. It happens every day, I can guarantee you that you will see atleast one newbies car beïng towed off on the day you visit, make sure it isn't you.

The best tip I could give is visiting the place first in a 80bhp std corolla. The speeds and risks are lower, without losing out on the funfactor.

The AE86 has the reputation of beïng a grey coffin with people on the ring. There is a reason that they have it.

(CRX's are called kamikaze cars, most short wheelbased-high horsepower cars are tricky over all the hills etc)

To see an example of what a small bump in the road can do to your car look here: http://tinyurl.com/ivlf. This driver has tremendous luck, usually in this corner (schwedenkreuz not aremberg like the video suggests) people lose controll and hit the armco at over 200km/h.

you totally got the point! it´s dangerous .... and yes. you can loose your car and your live.
do not worry too much about people going there. normal thinking people (i think we are ) will not go over their personal limits.

i just wanted to point out that its really handy to know whats next especially on a 8 minute lap with 160 corners .... shared with others. thats not that usual.

do not worry about me. i made my practice. a lot of. from 47 to 320hp. every car was on my limit and often over it. i am just a bit rusty

i think the AE86 will be an easy car to handle. my MR2 is more tricky. honda S2000 is also pretty tricky at higher speeds. both are mid-engine. these are "balanced" cars. they are much too good for me to get to the real limit. the hachi with solid axle, as far as i remember, will show the tail early enough to react .... then it will be good to know your car and keep the nerves.

do you have an idea what a nearly standard hachi will take for one lap?

[robokill]

Well that depends if you drive like me along time aint no speeding on the ring for me I am almost to say a little bit of scared for the circuit haven't driven it to often though (1 time)

But still rather give me zandvoort where i know and see what is comming up (or give me another car which we don't care about

[Mux213]

Robo,

Be carefull about that last thing you said. At zandvoort, if you get a car you don't mind crashing, you might crash it, and get it written off, but unless you figure out a way to go head on into a guardrail, you'll probably survive.

If on the ring you have a car you dont care about, you will crash it. You will probably go through a guard rail, into a ravine, drop half a klik, and die.

Best car to drive the nurburg ring is a car you REALLY REALLY care about. That way you wont take risks and you'll have a wonderfull time at the nurburgring.

[NoHachi]

@Robo, the car isn't the problem. Its the guard rails (armco) that I REALLY care about. At several hundred Euro's a meter its probably worth twice as much as your car. Then there is the towing costs etc etc. It adds up onto several thousand euro's.

@Mo, really laptimes should be the LEAST of your considerations. Thats a totally wrong frame of mind to be visiting the ring. I can understand it though.
For a beginner with no experience expect 10+ minute laptimes. Probably somewhere between 12 and 13. You are constantly looking your mirrors and getting of the line for faster competitors (of which there are always several).

Fun on the ring isn't measured in laptimes(although some people are persistent in believing that the length of their penis is).

I'll give you an example: The first time I went to the ring, my laptimes where fast. I underestimated the influence of surface changes etc and quickly settled into a rythem that was way too fast. End result was almost crashing the car at Breidscheid and standing still on the middle of the track in a fast (blind)corner, in a car that wouldn't start. A recipe for disaster..luckily nothinh happend and I got the car started in about a minute.

These days when i go, I just focus on particular sections of the track. Hitting the apexes at hatzenbach, storming through Fuchsrohre and clipping the curbs at the exit, scrubbing of as little as possible speed through hohe acht, finding the fast line through the blind corners of pflantzgarten2 (way cool!)
Sections that I'm not comfortable with I consiously back off the throttle. Kallenhard to wehrseifen is such a place. i never feel 1005 comfortable in the car at those points, so why take a risk? Usually i let the car cool of between Bergwerk and Steilstreckecurve instead of straining the car on the way up. Have a chat with the passenger etc..

This way, i never attempt a fast lap. i always think in sections. Start with the front and work your way to the back.

I'm not saying that me and mux are saints.We were newbies ones and made some mistakes ourselves. We're just giving you the oportunity to learn from them.

[mo-racing]

"NoHachi Wrote:Fun on the ring isn't measured in laptimes(although some people are persistent in believing that the length of their penis is).

hope it will not take a too short periode then

hohachi, maybee we meet at the ring next year? would be great fun i guess!

[JonT]

A quick update !

Nobody has dates for next year available yet, that's the ferry companies, the 'ring, Spa etc, i hope to be able to put forward some potential dates to see how they fit in with everyone in the new year.