July 08 Ring Report - New Pics

[Martin B]

Wow, what a place! If you haven't yet been to the Ring make plans to get there, it really is like no other track.

After a hectic couple of weeks getting the car ready my Brother and I trundled down to Folkestone in the Impreza early Friday morning.
We arrived a little bit late for our booked train but got shuffled onto a later one without any hassle.
A rather boring and uneventful trip through France and Belgium (will check the iPod works next time) got us to the town of Cochem, about 25 miles South of the Ring, where the parents were on a camping holiday.
The car was quickly emptied, the vitals checked and before we knew it we were in the Nordschleife car park with a fresh 15 lap ticket in a slightly nervous pair of hands.

Friday 5:30pm - My first ever lap of the Ring, and my first time on track in the Impreza. We planned to start gently with smooth safe laps to begin with. I had borrowed a Playstation a few weeks previous in an attempt to learn the track but it doesn't come close to preparing you for the assault to the senses that just one lap gives you. I can't really remember too much of the first lap, but it passed without drama and left a desire for more. A quick cool down for driver and car and it was back out for a 2nd lap. Again, no drama and back in safely but with a hell of a lot to learn!
That was enough to begin with following the days traveling, plus the BBQ was being fired up so it was a dash back to base for a much needed feed.

Saturday Morning - A good night's sleep provided some missing energy. We were chomping at the bit to get back on track, having been greeted by fantastic weather. We found a B&B, Celine's Guesthouse in Meuspath, just a few Km's from the circuit and unloaded the car.
It was then straight onto the track for a fantastic days worth of laps (7 in total.) The circuit was starting to become vaguely familiar and the car was stable and predictable.
Unfortunately the Goodyear Eagle's fitted to the car were struggling on track, a capable road tyre but not up to the punishment they were receiving. I had planned to replace them after the trip, so after lunch we took a drive to the nearest tyre shop (Radermachers) to see if replacing them earlier was an option. The tyre shop had nothing in the correct size so it was back to the track for more Goodyear abuse!
Fortunately the Performance Friction brakes fitted the previous week were performing faultlessly, giving huge stopping power with control and coping well with the heat, a great product.
Oil temps during the afternoon had begun to creep up. They were peaking at 120'C, which was rising to 125'C by the end of the day. Slightly more than I wanted. The cause was revealed to be a small amount of oil consumption which was working the remaining oil harder towards the end of the day. I'm pretty sure it doesn't burn oil so I suspect the oil is escaping via the breathers back into the intake. Maybe a catch can is necessary?

We called it a day at roughly 6pm happy to be slowly learning the track more, with no scares or near misses. Seeing a British M3 sustain big damage after a heavy front end impact before Bergwerk (I think) was a reminder of the dangers.

A good meal at the Pisten Klause gave us a chance to meet fellow Brits and share stories of the days exploits. It's great how you can just start a conversation with complete strangers!

Sunday - More fantastic weather and a reasonably empty track, what more could you ask for. 6 laps left on the ticket so let's get on with it. The first couple of laps saw damp patches in the shaded areas, just easing a off a touch through Adenauer Forest kept things safe. Corners were becoming more and more memorable, the faster ones especially allowing time savings from the day before. 3 laps over and time for lunch as a lengthy track closure stopped play, not sure why.
After lunch brought on the reason for the trip in the first place. A lap in the taxi with Sabine bought as a 21st Birthday present for my Brother, but a treat for me too! If all else fails she could make a career in drifting! It was a good chance to confirm we were on the right lines on the whole and showed where we could make time, mainly the faster parts of the course.
The final 3 laps, was it really almost time to go? Time to practice what Sabine preached, and some good improvements in time. The Goodyears were struggling in the 30'C heat though. I think I need to play with hot tyre pressures more, instead of setting them once in the morning when cold.
Traffic was reasonably light and the circuit clear apart from yellows from Quiddelbacher through to Fuchsrohre, due to lots of gravel being dragged onto track. Speeds were kept down through here as the marshalls were on track sweeping, but to my amazement we still squeezed in a 8:50 BTG on lap 15 without feeling like we were ever close to overstepping the mark. No more laps left, but car and driver in one piece having exceeded my expectations of what we would achieve. Time to quit whilst ahead and get home in one piece!

A quick cooldown lap on the local roads and back to the guest house. Car loaded and on the road for another boring motorway run through torrential rain for the 9:20 train back to England.

I really can't explain just how good the Nurburgring track is. The gradient & camber changes are something else, and we only really scratched the surface. I imagine that you can learn something new every lap even if it is your first or your hundredth.

Sorting out the oil temp and consumption is now a priority before the next trip as well as sourcing some spare wheels with 888's or RE070's. Might be worth checking the front wheel bearings too as pad knock off was giving me cause to tap the brakes with my left foot just before any big stops. Only 22k fairly gentle miles on the car though so not sure if this is just a 'feature' of the Impreza when cornered hard. The year after mine went to bigger wheel bearings which may be a bad sign!
Increased front end grip would also be nice, just to lose a bit of understeer and better balance the car, although this may be a bigger job. I fear I am approaching the top of an expensive slippery slope!

Anyway, enough ramblings. Thanks to everybody for inspiring me to go and advice along the way. I wrote this report incase it is just enough to give you other Ring virgins a reason to go, you wont regret it. Apologies to Nige, I tried to find you a couple of times when seeing the Golf in the car park but failed.

Pics will follow, but it's past my bed time!

Cheers,

Martin

[Bealo]

Excellent write up.

This is one place i keep meaning to go visit.

Look forward to seeing the photo's.

[duncan]

Great write up Martin - glad you like the PF brakes, they have never let me down. 8)

It is a perfect place, not just the track but the whole environment/atmosphere is breathtaking.

Good time too :thumb:

[RX7]

Superb write up mate, I can vouch for you regarding playing Gran Turismo on the playstation. It really looks completely different and you dont get the sense of gradients that are there in real life. Maybe when it is done again for GT5 it'll be better.

Looking forward to seeing the pics !!!

[duncan]

Might be worth checking the front wheel bearings too as pad knock off was giving me cause to tap the brakes with my left foot just before any big stops. Only 22k fairly gentle miles on the car though so not sure if this is just a 'feature' of the Impreza when cornered hard. The year after mine went to bigger wheel bearings which may be a bad sign!

Common failure on 100pcd imprezas and especially at the ring - this was the main reason for the change to 114pcd and the larger bearings in the later cars.

[duncan]

Loads of pics on:

http://www.sportfotoart.de/

and:

http://www.nordschleifenfotos.de/en/

[Martin B]

Dunk, is there a known fix for the pad knock-off? The wheel bearings are quiet with no noticeable play. Or is the fix a Spec-C?! I can only see it getting worse with grippier tyres.

A few photos below, still waiting for some on track pics that I have ordered.

In the car park



Checking the tyres - barely legal.



Post lap with Sabine - I'm the ugly bloke on the right!


It's Nige, out of focus, I'll get him next lap.


Bugger.


Sorry Nige, this was best I could manage. Either you were too fast or I was too slow!


The start of the Journey home.


Martin

[duncan]

Some good pics :thumb:

Nice to see Nige harrassing bikes

[Gerry H]

Great write up and pics. Makes me want to lose my virginity. :oops:

[IWANT1]

Great write up and pics. Makes me want to lose my virginity. :oops:

Come on Gerry get ya bag packed :lol:

I so cant wait for the 15th, looks like you had an ace time Martin.