Nurburg Ring

[skidmarkz]

Well the Nova is built, and friday it's being taken to the ring :)

i do hope it stays on the track as i would love to go to coombe and silverstone... Pics and Vids will be uploaded on return, have a good weekend lads :)

[Joe Richardson]

Have a good one mate,im not long just come back from there myself,take plenty of pics:thumb:

[mowgli]

remember, they drive on the wrong side of the road.

[skidmarkz]

2nd trip this year, last one was in the orange nova, this time the black nova, cant wait :)

[karl Rowntree]

Keep an eye open for myself and andy bishop, we are on our way over tomorrow night. Will be out on track friday afternoon.

Karl

[skidmarkz]

in what mate ???

PM me ya number we can meet up if u like..

J

[Count Vaux Alot]

Have a great time James and go easy :roll:

Karl what are you and Andy going out in?

[skidmarkz]

Have a great time James and go easy :roll:

Karl what are you and Andy going out in?

cheers James, by go easy do you mean on the way out their or all the time.. lol

tbh i spent far to much money on this 1 to wreck it, anything under 09:00 mins ill be happy with :)

Plus i wanna get on track with you in the UK Donny i hope :)

[karl Rowntree]

Will be over in the novas! My nova lived out there for 2 years, had a couple of years with a golf GTI but time for the nova again, cant wait!

We will be in a red 16v nova, black 2 litre turbo, Keiths turbo and robs fresh built z-cars mini!

[karl Rowntree]

Under nine minutes!, what spec is your car?

[skidmarkz]

XE nova on TB's, i was talking BTG not a full lap lol....

if i get under 9 ill be astonished, i simply cant/wont push that hard but i think it is very possible in a 2.0l nova if you have the money for the barrier repairs should you have the off lol

[Tidy Max]

how do you lot get your cars there? drive them? do they last the distance!!

[skidmarkz]

drive mate, :) chase as many big Merc's down the autobarns u can lol

my nova made it their very happily got a bit of a battering on the track and made it home :)

[Tidy Max]

bloody hell, i wont even drive down to newquay in mine lol one of the reasons i got my van as a daily driver! although the nova has never broken down on me, yee of little faith haha

[skidmarkz]

bloody hell, i wont even drive down to newquay in mine lol one of the reasons i got my van as a daily driver! although the nova has never broken down on me, yee of little faith haha

heres an intresting fact for you....

the last trip down to the ring included a Porche Cayenne Turbo, My XE nova and a brand new Arctic White Corsa VXR, now on fuel conumpsion the porker is out of the question.. but you would think the vxr would beat my throttle bodied nova....

wrong, the nova used 1 full tank each way, the vxr 3 tanks their and back.. the porker just ate petrol like it was orange juice lol

i was well impressed witht he nova and how smoothe she run, of course ive now totally jinxed myself lol

[Stuart]

its only 250ish miles from Dunquerquququque to the ring, and you dont actually go on any autobahns since the german roads used are X country from Eupen to nurburg lol (unless of course you go a different route)

[karl Rowntree]

I was talking BTG! You will be pushing hard to get under 9 minutes, been going for 6 years, done over 500 laps and still not got into the 8's! Though i have probably only timed about 10 laps, you just know when you have had a good lap. Still learning the bloody thing lol.

Take it easy mate, I find the best option for me is not to time.

See you there mate

Karl

[skidmarkz]

I was talking BTG! You will be pushing hard to get under 9 minutes, been going for 6 years, done over 500 laps and still not got into the 8's! Though i have probably only timed about 10 laps, you just know when you have had a good lap. Still learning the bloody thing lol.

Take it easy mate, I find the best option for me is not to time.

See you there mate

Karl

i dont time, i have a on board cam that does it for me lol, far to bloody nerv racking rmemebering ALL the corners :)

[skidmarkz]

its only 250ish miles from Dunquerquququque to the ring, and you dont actually go on any autobahns since the german roads used are X country from Eupen to nurburg lol (unless of course you go a different route)

i dont go X country, the mountains are fun when ur nova is not full of tyres and tools.....

[Ben]

Swines could of dropped me some cheese and squash off!

[dhdev (Oli)]

I'm shocked you haven't got into the 9's Karl. If you ever see my mate Colin out there he'll be happy to show you the lines, you'll definately crack a 8.xx with the right guidance! ;)

I'll be out there again this August, pedalling a CSL around again :d Novaneil and his cronies will be out at the same time.

[Stuart]

Look out for a darkblue/black S1 elise with a red roof (rhd but with NL plates), The owner is an aussie called Dave. Hes mental and will gladly take you for a pax if you talk shoite to him for all of 30seconds lol.

[Lee]

Im back there next week, but working so unable to play :( Ill be in Adenau if anyone fancies a beer in the evening :)

We have tried convincing the client to hire a Caterham to celebrate the end of the job. Remains to be seen if he goes through with it lol

[karl Rowntree]

Stuart, i know dave, had many a beer with him, excellent driver and a top guy at that.

Never pushed for the 8's to be honest Oli, did a 9.05 in my golf gti 2 years ago but never clocked the evo or the nova. Just happy when i do a lap that feels right to be honest. Always tried to get a lap with colin but we are never there on the same weekend!

Ben, come meet us mate, only down the road for you mate

Karl

[Count Vaux Alot]

I really want to go now especially after all this talk :(

[Ben]

Ben, come meet us mate, only down the road for you mate

No work planned for the weekend so might well pop down and say hello,

[auzzy2000]

How much is a lap around the ring.please.Was told it was £17.00!!Is this how its done?love to get there one day!!

[Stuart]

iirc it was 17 euros when I was there last July (mild scale of economy for buying more eg 4/8/25/jahrskarte))


Karl, I think Dave is known by almost everyone lol He was pace car for me on my first two laps in the pissing rain last year :)

[Jonlem]

Have a good trip James, rather than go for that 8 min lap try and get some pointers from a local, no matter how well you think you know it they will know a far faster and safer line through every corner.

Last time out we had some tuition and its made me far more confident round there but at the same time a bit slower as I just enjoy it more rather than attempt to kill myself.

Look forward to seeing the pics :)

[Plug]

i will be going to the ring one day :thumb:

Hope you all have fun out there

[dj_wudgey]

have a good time lads!!

[skidmarkz]

woohoo!! managed to get 2 laps in yesterday, the weather is awsome, the car handles like nothing ive driven before, im so pleased!

well it's 6:30am, just getting up to sort car and get on track for 8:00, sunny again lovin it :)

2nd lap i managed to get under 9 mins well chuffed, met a local last night he is taking me out in his GT2 today to show me some lines then gonna come out int he nova... he was lapping yesterday at 8:10 LOL

Hope ur having fun lads as it's awsome here, i need to live here seriously lol

I did see the other novas from here yesterday, they are far too shiney and low to be going fast lol

*EDIT*

Wrecked cars seen on track..

M3 Convertable front a rear end
Porker GT3 Lost a Left front wheel
GT40 Run out of fuel - HAHAHA

[Geordie-Chris]

Ah man, wish I was there again!! Good to hear your new builds working well, have fun!!

[Count Vaux Alot]

Good to hear your new builds working well, have fun!!

Too true :thumb:

[skidmarkz]

8:45 first lap today :)

[Southie]

Get off here and get back out there. lol Glad to here your having fun.

I'm jealouse. Any on board camera action? :)

[Steve]

Excellent mate, good times times there, and lucky fecker going out in a gt2!

Have fun.

[Jonlem]

Nice one James, sounds like your having a good time !

[burgo]

:( *sigh* one day ill get out there

[skidmarkz]

Loads of footage on board cam, shat my pants in the GT3 omg fast, dream come true today I not only had a passenger ride I drove the gt3!!!! The owner is a VLN racer he came out in the nova gave me massive pointers on lines and said he was impressed with the nova handling!

Allready planning a return trip later this year who wants to come lol James u get first dibs on pass seat :)

[Ben]

Sounds like a top man, get his contact details be good to keep in touch with people like that!

[dhdev (Oli)]

What's his name? Two of my mates used to race in the VLN in a mk2 Golf GTI, Colin Hays and Jamie Martin.

[Jonlem]

Cheers James, I'll ofcourse take you up on that !

This guy with the Golf, old fella ? little bit arrogant ?

A guy who worked there took me out for some pointers when I went years ago with Karl, Andy and Keith etc.. he could pedal very well.

There is usually a red E30 M3 there, properly mint on BBS rims, if you see it go and chat to the bloke and he'll most probably take you out, serious motor and the overall history of the car and build is superb.

This car :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/PF%20Ring%20Trip%202008/IMG_3147.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/PF%20Ring%20Trip%202008/DSC02937.jpg

Car porn

And whilst were talking about GT3's, this one was fast !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/Jatec/PF%20Ring%20Trip%202008/DSC02940.jpg

[skidmarkz]

The GT2 Owner name is Steve, he races a Clio cup, apparently to run a clio for the season is like 75k!!!! he wanted to run the porche but thats like 300k.. how the other half live eh!!

Steve came out last night and made me feel sick he turned up in a GT3!!!! he has 2 cars that live here the GT2 for the track and a GT3... you really can go off some people lol!! sound fella though.

I'm going out for a few laps this morning before the long slog home :(

The nova has not missed a beat, The rose jointed susspension really has transformed the car!, i have ruined a set of top mount bearing again so i think they need to be changed for a roller ball style, the spring are too hard for the ring so on my return i will load up softer springs.

All i can say is Big thanks to James the Count, for all your help and hours on the phone lol it has paid off.

1 thing though..

WIDE NOVA'S FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dhdev (Oli)]

This guy with the Golf, old fella ? little bit arrogant ?


You may be thinking of Bruce, another Golf GTI owner who was very arrogant yes.

This is Jamie in someone elses Mk1 Golf doing a lap during the VLN, both circuits in 10mins... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC5SNSXY_1o

[Count Vaux Alot]

James u get first dibs on pass seat :)

If you mean me i'm all over it - seriously. And i'm really glad for you, so happy its turned out well :d :d

[skidmarkz]

Home, it raining it's england theirs no sexy lambo's rarrri's, porkers nowt.. real depressing living in the uk BUT... the next trip is being planned :)

ill start a new thread for PICs and videos, so gimme some time to download it all :)

[Stuart]

what makes you think the springs are too stiff?
what kind of damper setting are you on (eg very soft/very stiff/middle etc)

[Jonlem]

You may be thinking of Bruce, another Golf GTI owner who was very arrogant yes.

This is Jamie in someone elses Mk1 Golf doing a lap during the VLN, both circuits in 10mins... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC5SNSXY_1o

Sounds like the guy, he could drive but my god was he up in own ****, all his advice did go in though so I gained something from meeting him.

[Jonlem]

what makes you think the springs are too stiff?
what kind of damper setting are you on (eg very soft/very stiff/middle etc)

TBH I ran mine on 275 fronts and 150 rears and ran the damping a few clicks off full soft after some advice from that Bruce fella.

Laps from then on were super smooth and thus felt much safer

[Stuart]

hence why I asked... some people blame the springs for being too stiff when they actually have the damping wound up high.

I'm a big lurver of what ever the springs you like, on near full soft damping (I'm on 425R/475R and near full soft damping, ok its a plstic skip but the principle holds).Almost regardless of the car it seems to work well.

[skidmarkz]

TBH I ran mine on 275 fronts and 150 rears and ran the damping a few clicks off full soft after some advice from that Bruce fella.

Laps from then on were super smooth and thus felt much safer



hence why I asked... some people blame the springs for being too stiff when they actually have the damping wound up high.

I'm a big lurver of what ever the springs you like, on near full soft damping (I'm on 425R/475R and near full soft damping, ok its a plstic skip but the principle holds).Almost regardless of the car it seems to work well.


I have 28 position damping, now advice from Spax Tech is to start in the middle, if its too hard go back 5, if then its to soft go up 2. with this in Mind 18 seemed to give the best handling Grip over bounce. I did over 200 miles on the ring this weekend so believe me when i say i tried nearly every setting.

Steve with the GT2 later introduced me to a English garage based at the ring i needed some more 10/60 oil lol burning it we was :) They had a corner weighting system and the guy their has been setting up the cars for the ring for the last 18 years, i showed him some laps and he instantly told me my spring are too hard.

I explained the front has 350lb spring he said for my car with the engine i needed a max of 200, 150lbs would be perfect for the ring, also due to the camber changes crests ect i need to run helper springs.

I then handed over 80 euros and had my car setup, final damping was position 20, the rears are on 18.

You can see the difference as Sunday laps where with the new settings, check the vids for me trying diff settings...

i have the correct rate springs in the garage and will refit them on my return and get the car setup again when i go back :)

[Stuart]

helper springs are only needed if the ride hight you have means that if you crest anything the spring dislocates....and thats usually rare to have that much of a problem unless you have mega short dampers running a "high" ride height.
spring rate isnt everything, length and ride height are also key ;)

80 euros for a corner weighting is great value... its almost worth going out for a day trip to get it done compared to the fisting anywhere in the UK gives you for the same service lol

sounds like this chap knew his stuff for the ring though :)

[dhdev (Oli)]

The ring is a strange place suspension wise, you definately need to run softer there than at any normal circuit. I think being too stiff there will punish harder than being too soft.
The way I understand helper springs is that they allow for the suspension to droop using the helper spring and maintain contact during conditions of unloading and when driving normally/compression they go coilbound and the main spring rate is used. Therefore I reckon they could be of benefit on the ring with its various crests and rough surfaces. AFAIK.

[Stuart]

or just use a longer spring and adjust the ride height accordingly :D (assuming it permits the desired height to be used)

[dhdev (Oli)]

or just use a longer spring and adjust the ride height accordingly :D (assuming it permits the desired height to be used)

But surely having a single rate spring of sufficient poundage will mean that it doesn't compress under static conditions by very much at all, thus when un-weighted will become loose? If the poundage is soft enough for sufficient compression would it not be too soft for cornering purposes :confused:

[Stuart]

you add a touch of pre load to the spring to keep it seated at all times (bit like a mcphearson strut setup), but have the right poundage you want and ride height that you want. (pretty much how I run the VX)

[dhdev (Oli)]

I get ya. But that requires sufficiently short dampers to pre-load the springs. But yes you're right :thumb:

[skidmarkz]

Edit**

so how would i work out the length to run 1 single spring, ? whats the benifits over running a helper system>?

[Jonlem]

I wasn't aware there was a benefit.

Most top brand dampers use them, works cars included

[skidmarkz]

cool.. well ill keep running them then the guy did say for a smoother circuit then my 350lb spring would be good but out at the ring they are next to no good lol

[Stuart]

swings and roundabouts.

imho less parts to have fail, less stuff to have to think about. More adjustment etc.
a lot of the works stuff is using tender springs, a slightly different concpept to a true helper, essentially a two stage progressive spring setup. (rallying would use helpers as they spend a lot of time airbourne lol)


Damper length shouldnt matter too much with the single spring as you can get nearly any length you need for feck all monies.

[Jonlem]

Some good points made there Stuart

[skidmarkz]

far to techy for my liking :)

[Count Vaux Alot]

One of the few threads actually worth reading lol

[Stuart]

One of the few threads actually worth reading lol

best change that then

[skidmarkz]

One of the few threads actually worth reading lol

Well get an MOT on your beast and come play!