Road Trip 2010 (Summer Holiday Plans)

Quick update - we hit the ferry as planned at 2am and got to the Nurburgring for around 11am.

The campsite at the ring is great - lots of space and decent facilities. We had a very cautious lap in the wet on Monday evening. That track is incredible - scary slippy in the wet, traction control on the whole time and still spent most if the lap sideways even being gentle.

We then go some amazing food in Adenau, had a couple of local beers and got an early night.

Tuesday we spent around the ring at the various shops, displays and the excellent RingWerk, including some go-karting. Back to the Nordschleife for 5:30 where we mooches about the paddock and then had a quick lap in the dry.

Totally different experience, high speed and grippy. Breathtaking dips and climbs into tightening and blind corners. It's like a rollercoaster in parts and really works the suspension. The most amazing fun.

First lap was fine but there was an accident in front of us - two bikers in the gravel. That closed the circuit for a while and we only just managed to squeeze an extra lap in before it shut at 7:30.

Second lap was also great - this time we had a camper van and a Porsche Carrera crashing in front of us to contend with. This seems par for the course, it'd be very easy to have your car damaged here as people are going quick - very. Most people wore helmets and a lot were track modified cars with cages etc. I think the carrera was.

Anyway, we survived, we loved it - even my passenger, who didn't even scream, much.

After that we hit the Autobahn and blasted to Stuttgart where we are now, in a cheap hotel near the airport and about to head off for the mercedes and Porsche museums.

I love the Autobahns - great lane discipline and nice fast driving. We didn't quite hit the speed limiter, but the GPS was reading 153mph at one point \o/

I love Germany.

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Not jealous at all obviously - much rather be spending my time at work honestly.

Glad to hear you're having fun - nice gps tracking on your fb feed too.

What colour ring sticker did you buy! :poke:
 
Sounds awful M8, Feeling sorry for you.
I'm with Guiseley, Glad I'm at work :x

:cry: :cry: :cry:
 
I'm back and I'm alive. Amazing holiday...

Car performed nearly faultlessy, aside from this slight problem http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=21458 but I'm sure that would have happened anyway!

Even more in love with the Z4 after the drives I did - it was as equally capable on the Nurburgring as it was on the auto-bahn or blatting through the French alps on the Col-De-Turini. Totally comfortable and lugged 2 passengers and our camping luggage without too many probs (took some squishing in!)

Some road trip pics up on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=202002&id=506477021&l=408d6d8b54

But there are a lot more to come I'll edit and get online over the next couple of weeks :)
 
The owner was a bit girly though, didn't take it on the ring in the wet...

Ok, so I don't blame him. The ring in the wet is the slippiest thing known to man, fiercely scary. I only did 1 wet lap but it was the most buttock-twitchingly scary ~20 minutes of my life. The back end of the Z4 was out all the time with the traction control doing it's best to keep it in line. Every time you breathed on the throttle it'd twitch and step out, there was even understeer going in to some corners - I've never had understeer in the Z4 in the wet even on the worst days in the UK.

Generally though, the ring is bewitchingly good and I'll have to go back.

The fighter jets are at the Savigny Les Beaune aviation museum: http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Europe/France/Savigny-les-Beaune/Chateau-de-Savigny.htm

Well worth a visit for 8 euros, totally crazy place really. Cars, bikes and planes all piled into an amazing old French Chateau. Slightly eccentric old guy who owns/runs it - drives around in a big old American Cadillac and takes great delight in talking to visitors and asking them if they enjoyed it.

:)
 
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