NURBURGRING

[superkarl]

Hi guys,
just thought id share with you that im going to the ring on the 16th August.

Was wondering if anyone is going around this time, or would like to join on the road trip?
It would be great to have a few S3's in convoy! or anything else for that matter!

This will be my first trip there, although my passenger went last year, im also traveling with a novice in a fairly modded octavia vrs. So any tips and advice is very appreciated.

My ferry is booked for 2pm on the monday, will be setting up a tent somewhere quite late, should be a laugh! Were planning on staying till the friday, with our ferry home leaving at 1pm.

Oh and on the friday the F1 track is open for some fun!

Cannot wait!!!

 

[badger5]

treat it like your favourite B road, not a race track...
be carefull of trying to hang on to some of the locals in what might appear as lesser cars......... you may be surprised how quick they are with local knowledge of the place..

carefull about chasing times and just have some great fun on the best one way system in the world

 

[superkarl]

To be honest my intentions arnt to race and think im a racing driver, i just want to enjoy the trip, the time there, and whatever cars i might see. il try not to get sucked in to driving like a lunatic! hopefully il be careful!
Thanks

 

[luke2702]

Good luck mate hope you enjoy it...

 

[jojo]

My mate just returned from a ring trip, he even rented a Clio Cup racecar @20 euro per lap, and did 6 laps with a best time of 10m 50s. He told me that he was overtaken by everything, it's shocking, but fun at the same time, and that the first lap seems never ending!

Still want to go though.

 

[Prawn]

I've been out there twice before, and I'm going again in 6 weeks time.

FIrst trip out there I mananged a 09:37 in the dry with about 195bhp in the old A3. I didn't know my passenger was timing until after the lap ended! THat was on my 4th lap out.

Treat it with SERIOUS respect though. the track can REALLY catch you out just when you think you're starting to know it. On my first ever lap out (in the Mini) I mananged to bin it twice! I went out hell for leather, and was really chuffed to find myself leaving the rest of our group behind, until I got to adeneau forst for the first time, and it all went horribly wrong.... thankfully, despite two spins I didn't hit anything, although my pride did take a HUGE dent.

Most of all, enjoy it.

As Bill said, the locals are quick too, and it appears that none of them have any brake lights

Best advice I'd say is make sure your brakes and tyres are in top condition. Once you get to know the circuit it's not too hard on brakes, but when you first try it, you'll find the standard S3 brakes won't last half a lap!

 

[s3dave]

you have to pay for armco damage too....

 

[MintyS3]

I will be back there on the 30th August during the week. Should be goot banter

 

[Prawn]

How long you out there for Minty? I'm heading out on the weds (sept 1st) for a week. we should meet up if you're about!

 

[MintyS3]

Im heading back on the Friday of that week so will be about lol. Drop me a pm and we will get it sorted.

 

[Westy]

I'm heading out there next Friday (July 23rd) for the weekend. It'll be my 9th or 10th time and my 4th time of driving.

The most important thing to remember is that the days the track is open to the public it is called a "Tourist" day so treat your laps as "Tourist" laps. Take your time and enjoy yourself.

You'll find that its very easy to get caught up in the moment as soon as your through the start barrier and you'll be nailing it just because everyone else is. Take a second to calm down and go at your own pace.

Constantly check your mirrors because cars and bikes can appear in seconds and will want to overtake you. You need to indicate right and move to the right of the track to allow faster cars/bikes to pass on your left.

And as said above some of the locals drive the track every day and you'll see some strange cars on there that will leave you for dead. For example, I got left for dead last year by a VW Passat Estate that had a roof rack and a child seat in it! This guy clearly drives the track a lot and knew it well.

This is one of the best sites to get some handy tips before you go:

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

 

[superkarl]

thanks for all the tips guys. my tires are pretty mint for the trip and my brakes arn't very old at all anyway, although i might take some pads, or even change to some performance pads rather than the standard items that are in now. I cant wait. Prawn and minty, change your dates lol, ideally i want a more experienced driver with me, bin tryin to get my boss on board as he goes regularly and races semi professionally.

oh and can someone confirm lap prices for me, 250 euros for 15 laps? is that correct?
many thanks

 

[Matt82]

keep the car shiney side up

keep the car between the grass

 

[Westy]

Lap Prices are on that website link i posted before:

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/prices.html

 

[sportstractor]

cool man, just be very careful. I went out last time with prawn and managed to spin once and then on my final lap I left a bit of paint on the armco. decent brakes and tyres are a must. Its a wicked trip and worth seeing the sites and sampling the local food

 

[finesse]

good luck, have fun!

 

[Westy]

cool man, just be very careful. I went out last time with prawn and managed to spin once and then on my final lap I left a bit of paint on the armco. decent brakes and tyres are a must. Its a wicked trip and worth seeing the sites and sampling the local food

What happened mate? I'm guessing you were goig for it a bit or did you find that the car struggled through some of the bends?

 

[sportstractor]

The car struggled throught all the bends in the wet, infact prawns fwd A3 ate mine up on the bends. Just wanted to oversteer massively, which was mostly fine until my last lap where I came unstuck. I wasnt pushing it massively, but expected the car to cope better I must admit. It went into a bit of a tankslapper on a silly bend where it shouldnt have and my front and rear bounced into the the armco, only damage it did was small dent in front wing and tiny ding in rear arch, also crushed the n/s smic and cracked the bumper and the lower grill popped out. No officals were involved and we patched the smic up with chemical metal and drove home the next day. Quite lucky really.

Apparently some guy in a rent-a-swift stacked it into the same corner where i did 10 mins after which makes me belive something was on the track, as it was incredibly slippery. But we live and learn.

 

[badger5]

close call dude

 

[Prawn]

Seriously close call! I **** myself when I saw the armco comming towards me. Braced myself for a big impact, but thankfully it was fairly light!