Nurburgring: Trip Report and Track Discussion
05-11-2003, 04:06 PM
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Excellent trip report Chris!!
Truly well-written and informative! My jaw dropped when I saw the pic of the racing TT though! Nice one. I'm glad you had a safe and enjoyable time at the Ring, and I'm looking forward to meeting you later on this month!
Just a few more things I'd like to add:
Metzgesfeld still gives me problems. The braking point is not very clear and the innocent-looking first left-hander will spin you if you hit it incorrectly.
Breidscheid is the lowest point on the track, not Brunnchen. Thus the long drive up Kesselchen to Hohe Acht (highest point) is very long and arduous. The early racecars used to boil up their radiators on this hill, thus giving the curve its name (little kettle).
Kesselchen:
Even in a 240hp S2000, the later curves need to be taken with some care as there is one tight left-hander with two surfaces that catch people off guard (we call it Maddock corner, after a friend of ours binned his Porsche there!)
Steilstrecken Kurve:
I have a similar power band problem in the S2000. You can run past 9000rpm in second coming out here, and it bogs if you start it in third.
Karussell:
It is quite important to enter and exit the curve smoothly to prevent popping out and hitting the Armco. Accelerating out of the curve is not recommended as it tightens, plus the plates at the end can unsettle the car.
After Pflanzgarten, there's a right hander that heads into Schwalbenschwanz. Again, the braking point is not clear, and the afternoon sun will often blind you as you search for it.
The Ring is available for another PC game now, F1 2002 by Electronic Arts, and there is a GTR patch for it that lets you drive sports cars as opposed to '67 Grand Prix cars (so you actually have grip, brakes, and downforce!) Loads of fun. Here's a link:
http://f1racing.servegame.com/TheRing.htm
My first lap saw me doing an unexpected drift at Brunnchen as well! It took me quite a bunch of laps just to build up confidence that I wasn't going to kill myself before I could even think about doing things correctly. That's one nice thing about driving a rental, you sort of switch into "Rental Car mode" and put thoughts of wrecking your own car a bit aside.
Cheers!
///Robin
Truly well-written and informative! My jaw dropped when I saw the pic of the racing TT though! Nice one. I'm glad you had a safe and enjoyable time at the Ring, and I'm looking forward to meeting you later on this month!
Just a few more things I'd like to add:
Metzgesfeld still gives me problems. The braking point is not very clear and the innocent-looking first left-hander will spin you if you hit it incorrectly.
Breidscheid is the lowest point on the track, not Brunnchen. Thus the long drive up Kesselchen to Hohe Acht (highest point) is very long and arduous. The early racecars used to boil up their radiators on this hill, thus giving the curve its name (little kettle).
Kesselchen:
Even in a 240hp S2000, the later curves need to be taken with some care as there is one tight left-hander with two surfaces that catch people off guard (we call it Maddock corner, after a friend of ours binned his Porsche there!)
Steilstrecken Kurve:
I have a similar power band problem in the S2000. You can run past 9000rpm in second coming out here, and it bogs if you start it in third.
Karussell:
It is quite important to enter and exit the curve smoothly to prevent popping out and hitting the Armco. Accelerating out of the curve is not recommended as it tightens, plus the plates at the end can unsettle the car.
After Pflanzgarten, there's a right hander that heads into Schwalbenschwanz. Again, the braking point is not clear, and the afternoon sun will often blind you as you search for it.
The Ring is available for another PC game now, F1 2002 by Electronic Arts, and there is a GTR patch for it that lets you drive sports cars as opposed to '67 Grand Prix cars (so you actually have grip, brakes, and downforce!) Loads of fun. Here's a link:
http://f1racing.servegame.com/TheRing.htm
My first lap saw me doing an unexpected drift at Brunnchen as well! It took me quite a bunch of laps just to build up confidence that I wasn't going to kill myself before I could even think about doing things correctly. That's one nice thing about driving a rental, you sort of switch into "Rental Car mode" and put thoughts of wrecking your own car a bit aside.
Cheers!
///Robin
05-12-2003, 06:18 PM
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One continuing topic regarding the Ring is corner counting. There are so many little bends within corners or along straights that make counting difficult. Plenty of them you just take straight anyway, so this complicates the definition. So far, there have been 73, 74, 84, 173, or 174 corners depending on how you count. To make things easier to describe, they divide the track up into sections with names and each section will have a series of anywhere from 1 to 20 bends.....
For example Aremberg is just one big wide right-hander, but the following Fuchsr
For example Aremberg is just one big wide right-hander, but the following Fuchsr
05-13-2003, 02:14 PM
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Hi Chris,
reading your roundup was like driving there again with you...!
I truly enjoyed meeting you at the Ring, and I have to let everyone know, that you took this serious enough (what a great preparation!) so you could enjoy the pure thrill and fun that the Ring can offer, as long as you keep the respect for it....
I have seen so many accidents and a lot of bent metal....like the beautiful green Carrera RS just before Eschbach, the day we were there!
I spent another great day there yesterday, and will be back next Monday.
This is my only addition to your great report: Mondays are the best days to go, when the Ring usually is open from 1pm to 7:30pm as opposed to most other days, when you only get about 2 hours of driving. And this only, if they don
reading your roundup was like driving there again with you...!
I truly enjoyed meeting you at the Ring, and I have to let everyone know, that you took this serious enough (what a great preparation!) so you could enjoy the pure thrill and fun that the Ring can offer, as long as you keep the respect for it....
I have seen so many accidents and a lot of bent metal....like the beautiful green Carrera RS just before Eschbach, the day we were there!
I spent another great day there yesterday, and will be back next Monday.
This is my only addition to your great report: Mondays are the best days to go, when the Ring usually is open from 1pm to 7:30pm as opposed to most other days, when you only get about 2 hours of driving. And this only, if they don
05-13-2003, 06:06 PM
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Hi Soeren,
Gracious and kind words. Thank you. You're the man.
Thursday, 22 May, and Friday, 23 May, (as well as two-laps on Saturday, 24 May, with my girlfriend), I'll be back at the Ring. This time with a BMW Z4. Any chance you'll be around?
As for the annual pass, you know I was thinking it's something I should have just gone ahead and bought. I've done 22 laps, and I suspect I'll do another 18 there next week (less than before given that Friday's a half day schedule). I'll be only ten short, and there's seven more months to go!
All the best,
Christopher
PS: you've a couple emails from me on your t-online account if you've not checked that recently. PM me if they disappeared in cyberspace, and I'll resend them.
Gracious and kind words. Thank you. You're the man.
Thursday, 22 May, and Friday, 23 May, (as well as two-laps on Saturday, 24 May, with my girlfriend), I'll be back at the Ring. This time with a BMW Z4. Any chance you'll be around?
As for the annual pass, you know I was thinking it's something I should have just gone ahead and bought. I've done 22 laps, and I suspect I'll do another 18 there next week (less than before given that Friday's a half day schedule). I'll be only ten short, and there's seven more months to go!
All the best,
Christopher
PS: you've a couple emails from me on your t-online account if you've not checked that recently. PM me if they disappeared in cyberspace, and I'll resend them.
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05-14-2003, 12:13 PM
#8
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One nice thing about the yearly pass is that it really takes some pressure off, and thus can add to your safety. You can safely slow down and ignore traffic or construction knowing that you can always come back another day or next lap to play. One downside is that it is non-transferable, whereas the lap tickets are. Not that they check very much, but still something to think about. I've only got 13 laps to the breakeven point on mine, and it's only May!
S
S
05-14-2003, 12:31 PM
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Hi Robin,
Sounds great. What day will you be there? I'll be driving both the Thursday and Friday sessions and will do another few laps on Saturday morning. Look for me in an obviously new Z4, and, of course, I'll know you when I see the coolest car on the track.
CB
Sounds great. What day will you be there? I'll be driving both the Thursday and Friday sessions and will do another few laps on Saturday morning. Look for me in an obviously new Z4, and, of course, I'll know you when I see the coolest car on the track.
CB