Hey,
Couldn't decide where to put this but just wanted to share my first every Nurburgring trip with you guys. We left Newcastle on the 1st May 2014 and planned to leave Germany on the 5th May 2014. There was a group of 5 people travelling in 2 cars; My E86 and a friends EP3 Civic Type R. Cars were packed and ready to leave 1pm on Thursday, so we headed to Tynemouth to catch a ferry to the Port near Amsterdam on DFDS Seaways. Cars loaded on deck we were ready for our 16hour ferry to Holland trying to hide our excitement.
We arrived at the port on on Friday morning and we were nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road, especially coming up to any round abouts. So we took our first few miles with ease and caution. First impressions of driving experience seems to be that everybody is driving quite quick and with confidence. Just before we got to the motorway we managed to get used to our surroundings and it started to become second nature. Driving on the Motorway in Holland was quite relaxing with the road being smooth and some nice buildings to drive past made the miles fly through. We were all craving breakfast so we made our first stop...and all of us ordered fish and chips :?
Once we were all topped up, we headed off to Düsseldorf to do a little bit of site seeing since it was on the way. There are no signs or anything to tell you that you have arrived in Germany from Holland so we were quite shocked to arrive in Düsseldorf. After some searching and guessing, we managed to find the big tower which has a bar & restaurant; perfect place to stop and get refreshed:
Once done, we headed straight to Nurburg with the weather holding up well so we were aiming to get our first lap in before it closed. As soon we got off the motorway the Civic needed fuel, pretty desperately. Don't think the spirited drives with the locals helped; Polo R's, Golf Diesels, Audi R8, Various bikes etc. Stopped off at one of the local petrol stations disappointed that there was no Shell Vpower; we found out that this station actually sold 102 octane fuel, so we filled up the tanks with excitement!
As soon as we got closer to the track, the weather took a turn for the worse. Limited visibility with quite heavy rain, it seemed like our hopes of getting our first lap done was near impossible. We headed straight to our accommodation to get checked in and settled down. We had book a house in the Linder complex which was literally a minute from the track enterance:
Once we were settled, we headed into one of the villages to try out a Pinocchio Pizza place. We were too hungry to wait in the long queues to site in so we got it to take away and also stopped off at the local Rewe for some bits and bobs and also some drinks; German alcohol is very cheap!!
This beaut was parked outside the Pizza place, very quick around the ring too:
Off for an early night with plans to get up early and hit the ring all day and a plan to visit Cologne on the evening. So once we were all up and ready, cars checked over, we headed over to the ring entrance. Cars were parked up on all the streets with the car parks full too. The ring was closed and after asking a few others who were waiting, said it has been closed all day with the sun shining. Apparently there had been a number closures during the morning due to several accidents on the track and the longer closure was due to a serious incident involving a motorbike. We took the time to walk around the car parks and grab some food as well as buying our laps. We were going to aim for 9 over the weekend, but as a precaution we bought 4 laps due to the length of closure:
Once we had a bit of fun over the walkie talkies and sharing the same frequencies as other groups, word got out that the track was opened around 5:30pm. We waited in long queues for 45mins - 1 hour but finally got onto the track during an incredibly busy time. Video is below and this is my first track day on a personal car, so excuse the extreme caution on my lap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JMHr2-orzg
The car felt like it had flat spots on all its tyres near the end of the lap and I was very cautious, so as soon as we stopped I looked around the car and all seemed well.
As soon as the lap was done, there were further queues as the track was closed again due to a number of accidents and then was decided to be closed for the rest of the day. To give you an idea of how busy it was, this is the main straight:
Once we got in, we decided it was too late to head to Cologne so it was another rest and hopefully wake up in the morning with a plan to do most of our laps and then see where the evening took us. We got up and the track was opened so after we took a few brave pills, we completed our second lap of the weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV_EnOjcaw
We were both quite happy with that lap, car felt really good and felt like it was well within its comfort zone, so with both of us smiling like mad, we stopped and took a pictures of the GP circuit. During this time the ring was closed again but only for shorter intervals this time.
Once we had eaten we headed out for our third lap and I was focused on trying to be faster through the corners:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqAA16VTr8
This was my fastest lap of the weekend which worked out to be 9:21 B2G. We decided to head back to the house for a little break as all the lads were quite tired and we planned on our final lap to be quite late on. On the way home, drove past some lovely motors:
I was anxious to head back out so we put our final lap in around 5:30pm that afternoon. Around this time, the ring was very quite, and we managed to get straight to the gate and onto the track straight away. I was aiming to improve my time but got held up by bikes and an incident on track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zgPA91-NnA
The lads were eager to visit Cologne so we rushed and drove all in the Civic. Really got to appreciate the scenery at Nurbug, its truly spectacular! We arrived at Cologne and soon found out that Sunday is the only day where there is no night life. So a few drinks and grub in HardRock cafe, we wondered the streets and decided to head home. About a mile away from home the Civic decided it didn't want to go into gear. After pulling over, I had to drive the car home by matching the gears and parked up for the night. My friend had got up early and organised recovery for the car to be checked out. We got checked out and met my mate in the garage where he was waiting for the hire car:
It got to mid day and there was still no sign of the hire car, so I had to leave to make the ferry home. After a very good drive to the ferry, 250miles in just over 3 hours including a stop for food and fuel; we boarded and had a few drinks wishing we didnt have to leave
So there you have it, my first ring experience and it was so good I have decided to go every year! The car was amazing all weekend. Front wheels we rubbing over some surfaces on the track but overall it was faultless. Really impressed with how well it handled, and there were a couple of times where I had turned in sharply to see if I could get the back end to twitch but it just didnt want to. The lowering springs were the biggest surprise considering I have only ever lowered my car on coilovers, I had the impression I would still get too much body roll but the suspension set up worked really well.
Heres to the 2015 trip!
Couldn't decide where to put this but just wanted to share my first every Nurburgring trip with you guys. We left Newcastle on the 1st May 2014 and planned to leave Germany on the 5th May 2014. There was a group of 5 people travelling in 2 cars; My E86 and a friends EP3 Civic Type R. Cars were packed and ready to leave 1pm on Thursday, so we headed to Tynemouth to catch a ferry to the Port near Amsterdam on DFDS Seaways. Cars loaded on deck we were ready for our 16hour ferry to Holland trying to hide our excitement.
We arrived at the port on on Friday morning and we were nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road, especially coming up to any round abouts. So we took our first few miles with ease and caution. First impressions of driving experience seems to be that everybody is driving quite quick and with confidence. Just before we got to the motorway we managed to get used to our surroundings and it started to become second nature. Driving on the Motorway in Holland was quite relaxing with the road being smooth and some nice buildings to drive past made the miles fly through. We were all craving breakfast so we made our first stop...and all of us ordered fish and chips :?
Once we were all topped up, we headed off to Düsseldorf to do a little bit of site seeing since it was on the way. There are no signs or anything to tell you that you have arrived in Germany from Holland so we were quite shocked to arrive in Düsseldorf. After some searching and guessing, we managed to find the big tower which has a bar & restaurant; perfect place to stop and get refreshed:
Once done, we headed straight to Nurburg with the weather holding up well so we were aiming to get our first lap in before it closed. As soon we got off the motorway the Civic needed fuel, pretty desperately. Don't think the spirited drives with the locals helped; Polo R's, Golf Diesels, Audi R8, Various bikes etc. Stopped off at one of the local petrol stations disappointed that there was no Shell Vpower; we found out that this station actually sold 102 octane fuel, so we filled up the tanks with excitement!
As soon as we got closer to the track, the weather took a turn for the worse. Limited visibility with quite heavy rain, it seemed like our hopes of getting our first lap done was near impossible. We headed straight to our accommodation to get checked in and settled down. We had book a house in the Linder complex which was literally a minute from the track enterance:
Once we were settled, we headed into one of the villages to try out a Pinocchio Pizza place. We were too hungry to wait in the long queues to site in so we got it to take away and also stopped off at the local Rewe for some bits and bobs and also some drinks; German alcohol is very cheap!!
This beaut was parked outside the Pizza place, very quick around the ring too:
Off for an early night with plans to get up early and hit the ring all day and a plan to visit Cologne on the evening. So once we were all up and ready, cars checked over, we headed over to the ring entrance. Cars were parked up on all the streets with the car parks full too. The ring was closed and after asking a few others who were waiting, said it has been closed all day with the sun shining. Apparently there had been a number closures during the morning due to several accidents on the track and the longer closure was due to a serious incident involving a motorbike. We took the time to walk around the car parks and grab some food as well as buying our laps. We were going to aim for 9 over the weekend, but as a precaution we bought 4 laps due to the length of closure:
Once we had a bit of fun over the walkie talkies and sharing the same frequencies as other groups, word got out that the track was opened around 5:30pm. We waited in long queues for 45mins - 1 hour but finally got onto the track during an incredibly busy time. Video is below and this is my first track day on a personal car, so excuse the extreme caution on my lap:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JMHr2-orzg
The car felt like it had flat spots on all its tyres near the end of the lap and I was very cautious, so as soon as we stopped I looked around the car and all seemed well.
As soon as the lap was done, there were further queues as the track was closed again due to a number of accidents and then was decided to be closed for the rest of the day. To give you an idea of how busy it was, this is the main straight:
Once we got in, we decided it was too late to head to Cologne so it was another rest and hopefully wake up in the morning with a plan to do most of our laps and then see where the evening took us. We got up and the track was opened so after we took a few brave pills, we completed our second lap of the weekend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXV_EnOjcaw
We were both quite happy with that lap, car felt really good and felt like it was well within its comfort zone, so with both of us smiling like mad, we stopped and took a pictures of the GP circuit. During this time the ring was closed again but only for shorter intervals this time.
Once we had eaten we headed out for our third lap and I was focused on trying to be faster through the corners:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PqAA16VTr8
This was my fastest lap of the weekend which worked out to be 9:21 B2G. We decided to head back to the house for a little break as all the lads were quite tired and we planned on our final lap to be quite late on. On the way home, drove past some lovely motors:
I was anxious to head back out so we put our final lap in around 5:30pm that afternoon. Around this time, the ring was very quite, and we managed to get straight to the gate and onto the track straight away. I was aiming to improve my time but got held up by bikes and an incident on track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zgPA91-NnA
The lads were eager to visit Cologne so we rushed and drove all in the Civic. Really got to appreciate the scenery at Nurbug, its truly spectacular! We arrived at Cologne and soon found out that Sunday is the only day where there is no night life. So a few drinks and grub in HardRock cafe, we wondered the streets and decided to head home. About a mile away from home the Civic decided it didn't want to go into gear. After pulling over, I had to drive the car home by matching the gears and parked up for the night. My friend had got up early and organised recovery for the car to be checked out. We got checked out and met my mate in the garage where he was waiting for the hire car:
It got to mid day and there was still no sign of the hire car, so I had to leave to make the ferry home. After a very good drive to the ferry, 250miles in just over 3 hours including a stop for food and fuel; we boarded and had a few drinks wishing we didnt have to leave
So there you have it, my first ring experience and it was so good I have decided to go every year! The car was amazing all weekend. Front wheels we rubbing over some surfaces on the track but overall it was faultless. Really impressed with how well it handled, and there were a couple of times where I had turned in sharply to see if I could get the back end to twitch but it just didnt want to. The lowering springs were the biggest surprise considering I have only ever lowered my car on coilovers, I had the impression I would still get too much body roll but the suspension set up worked really well.
Heres to the 2015 trip!
would love a wee road trip like that.