The Nürburgring Diary

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viperin
Mine has only done 34K km so an oil change is all that is required.
See you at the weekend.
Click to expand...

Actually an engine overhaul will be advised - an oil change won't achieve the same amount of BHP as an overhaul.

But this seems like an interesting choice - I have no idea what this car is going to be like stock. I don't imagine it'll be as fun as the California (just a feeling I have).
 
Odd I've haerd a few people chatter aaout the Spirra saying it is a real handful to drive... and pretty tough to tune (That bit wont matter)

I think I may run an as good as 0/0/0 version - then for fun plug in a tuner set up just to compare - or at least let me spot/feel were the base set up is letting things down and could be fixed with some set up work... Or if these trick set ups are worth the time it takes to plug the numbers in.

I feel a bit more responsible as a guessed the car... forgot about Hyundai.
Gah got to think up a Sportscar/GT for the ring...
Then make up a clever clue.
 
Actually I've found the Spirra to be a decent car to drive and tune in the past. Now I'll have to see if I've still got a stock one in my garage...:drool:
 
Good Ferrari wirteups, guys - Very enjoyable reading. Nice to learn about the Maserati connection, too.

Ah, the Spirra.. its definitely a handful - I drove one recently - a car that has to be treated with respect and doesn't like being pushed at all. A challenging choice!
 
Tried this one last year as part of the now defunct Car Of The Week series, and it is a handful at first, but if you can get used to the MR twitchiness it's a nice drive.

Just don't be heavy on the throttle out of the corners...

I didn't go round the Ring in it so I might give that a go this weekend. I won't be breaking any records though.
 
Spirra - if you push it hard it fights you every corner. Takes a few dozen miles to discover just how much you can get away with in the Spirra.

I Ran with Comfort Soft tyres - and it was like I had just woken it up with a stick.
Sport Hards and the car felt - almost easy! Dangerously fun.

If you run a Spec race with it, the AI runs Sports Hards - and you get a grid of 8 cars. (Never seen a Blue Spirra before)
 
G'Day all,

Thanks for the advice about the engine overhaul, I usually do not bother too much, as it is hard for me to make cash, but I will try with and without overhaul and see what happens.

Ryk
If you run a Spec race with it, the AI runs Sports Hards - and you get a grid of 8 cars. (Never seen a Blue Spirra before)
Click to expand...

I think I will try a Race just for fun and see what happens, I will report on both my efforts.
If anyone else wants to join me, that would be great.

I was also considering using variable track conditions for the occasional
Weekend Rider™ , I would appreciate your thoughts on this.

Have fun,

Later.
 
What time would you be racing? That might be fun for us to try to get together. It might be chaos with a bad car though. :P
 
The "if anyone else wants to join me" part threw me off. I did read that in the OP, but forgot about it when I read that. :)

Edit: I do understand what he meant now. I just briefly misunderstood. :dopey:
 
Proto Spirra V8

I remember this car from GT4 - Sort of an exotic mid engined super car - but without the badge.

I made my car as brand new as I could... no tweaks just closer to a base level car. Engine rebuild and chassis restore. I then painted it (Surefire way for me to know I have mucked about with the car... I painted it in African Violet. (Desperatly trying to cut down the number of paint chips... so may as well use the doubles and see if the chip is good or bad.)

African Violet
A sort of purple violet hue that has had some milk mixed into it... not quite a Miami pastel shade but Minnesota Vikings fans may look at this colour with pride. - Milk drinkers!

The Car!
Looks. Well it has a chunky slab faced look to it. Half way between a Supercar - in proportions - but the parts and placement look a bit Art school drop out. A bit first sketch sort of thing. It is probably just the front bumper and lights but that tends to be the first bit you see, and if it is off... Then it is off. The look is straight lines with a bevelled chiselled look - the rest of the car is quite good.

The Drive.
What stands out head and shoulders abvoe all the other features of the car?
Is it that house trained V8 that would probably run to your bedroom and fetch your slippers if you asked it? Not really. People have made easy going lazy V8's for years. The gated manual gearshift. Nice touch, but it isn't a defining feature.
The psychotic woman handling? - Ding ding ding, we have a winner.
The way the car handles will either have you pulling twigs out of your face after it has spat you into a ditch and through a hedge. Or will have you grinning like a Psychotic madman as you give her a 'dab of oppo' at every corner, probably twice per corner.
Twitchy doesn't sum up how changable the car feels to drive. One minute you are fine, grip good, then the car seems to get all Autistic and gets bored at going round corners and lets go at the back... If you deftly apply some counter steering the car will - quite violently recoil back - as if it has remembered what it should be doing... A quite minor slide can transform into a Rémy Julienne style car chase with the back end dancing about like it is connected to the front tyres by a rope.

Mechanical grip is best described as a table top... and once you fall off the edge, you will be scrabbling for grim death to save the crash the car seems to wish upon the driver.

However - as my relationship guru swears - you can learn to live with an axe-murderer for a wife. And the Spirra is such a spouce. You can throttle the corners with aggression and both you and car will have a sweet time. Lead by example so to speak. Or you can let the crazy car have its fun and back off slightly and tidy up the mess the Spirra will leave behind. Or you could muzzle her with a set of Sports Hard semi slick tyres... But where is the fun in that?

I would guess the car will polarise drivers, some will like the way it tries new inventive ways to kill you every 300 yards... Other people will find that sort of love and devotion stomach chilling and will not want to be too close to her incase she puts something poisonous in the cupholder. (Is this diet...?)

Speed. Unfortunaly as you will spend so much of the lap staying alive you will not actually set the lap boards on fire (Though perversly the car may try that on itself with you in it.) However it 'feels' fast - you are never too far from some moment that could end up with you going backwards in a cloud of tyre smoke and a barrage of foul language.

I like the car, as the quote goes, "Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character." Maybe the virtue that it has no badge and years of heritige to help you like the car, is the exact reason why it is such fun to wrestle around a twisty section of german track.


Now the car may actually be "better" if the chassis is a bit old a bit of forgiving flex in it.

I ran with Comfort Softs - and the AI pulled away. save for those behind me. 8m20-8m15 was my times spending some of it looking in my rear view mirror - which didn't help with a car that was out to get me.
A run on Sports Hards made it a bit too easy - 8minutes.
The AI ran a 3 lap race in 24minutes 20 seconds... so 8minutes and 5 for a free lap maybe?
 
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Oullim Motors - Spirra 4.6 V8 '04 - Engine Rebuild - Chassis Restoration - Sports Hard Tire/Tyres - Nürburgring Nordschleife - Start time 05:00 - Time progression 5 - Driving Aids Off - ABS 1

Having never driven this sports car before, and not knowing what to expect from a Korean one, I took my car to Dan's Full Service Auto to have the engine overhauled and have the chassis restored. I wanted to have the car as close to new as possible and I know that the guys at Dan's always do fine work. Dan's: We know our cars and we know yours too.

I woke up early this morning to start what would be a unique day. I arrived at the track just before sunrise. The sky was showing its first hints of blue, but the asphalt was still awaiting the first rays of light. Still cold, still dark.

I hopped into the car and started out. After I crossed the starting line, out of force of habit, threw the car into the first turn and found myself facing the left side of the road, staring at the still unlit grass.

I reminded myself that I wasn't here to set the fastest lap time, and decided to take it easy. Maybe later I would see how far that I could push the car, but for now, I would just relax and take a nice cruise. Or so, I thought.

Coasting mostly down the hill, occasionally feathering the throttle, I settled in at a nice casual pace only to find that the car was squirrely, even at slow speed. The turn at the bottom of the hill was too much for this car and I found myself fishtailing through the turn. Completely unexpected, as I was going quite slowly. I realized that this was not the type of car that I'm used to and I would have to baby it a bit more to rein it in.

Through the next couple of sections, the back and forth curves of the road, immediately told me that the stock suspension was not set up very well. The weight shift from side to side was quite pronounced, so much so that I was getting lateral sliding, which lead to more fishtailing through the turns.

After regaining control of the car, I headed into the two higher speed sections, not certain if I wanted to see what the car could do now, or wait until I got to the long straight near the end. With the experience so far, caution won out this time. I decided to take it easy for this lap. Maybe I just needed to get used to the car's quirks.

I did open her up a bit going up the long hill, but slowed way down for the bump. I glanced down at the speedometer and realized I was going 75 MPH / 121 KMH. I would have sworn I was doing 45 MPH / 72 KMH at most. This car seems to give no sense of speed. Maybe it's a lot faster than I had realized, and maybe I had been pushing it much too hard, even though I thought I was taking it easy. Interesting.

Seeing the sun rising through the Yokohama archway was a beautiful sight, but what lay beyond it was filling me with dread. The next section could be deadly in a car that handles so poorly and unpredictably. I pushed the warming rays of the sun out of my mind and focused on getting through this alive.

Somehow I managed to get through it without incident. I was surprised and marveled in the glow of the sun hovering just over the trees in the distance as I passed the 7 km marker.

Heading into the U shaped turn, I had to fight to get the car to stabilize before turning. It was quite a struggle. The car weaved back and forth, nearly sliding, but I managed to stabilize it just in time to avoid an accident. This car was hard to get a handle on.

On seemingly easy sections, it was difficult to control. On some of the trickier parts, it didn't give me as much trouble as expected. I lost control on the straight before this turn, but not during the turn itself. I don't think that I've experienced this in a car before and it was certain that I couldn't predict where I would have trouble and where I wouldn't. Caution seemed wise at this point.

I crept through the next section and slowed for the tight left-hander. Even slowing down to city speed, the car caught a hint of sliding. I'm glad that I decided not to downgrade the tires.

A little more fishtailing around the wide left, then quite a bit turning up the hill. I wasn't pushing the car, but apparently, it was more than it was able to take. The sun over the hill was comforting after this. The guardrails starting to glisten from its light.

Down the hill and around into the high speed section went without a hitch. Again, confusing. I expected to slide at least somewhere, but not even a hint of any. No struggle for control. Not the smoothest turn I've felt in a car, but not a bad one either. Should I push it? Should I not? Who would know at this point. This car is unpredictable. I might be safe. Then again I might fly off the side of the track and wreck the car.

I decided to push it, but inch by inch, rather than floor it. Take the first turn and gauge how much to push it for the second and so on.

I lifted off the accelerator just before each. First turn good; a tad wide, but good. Second turn, even nicer. Third turn, sliding and weaving. I wasn't understanding this car at all. I couldn't get a feel for it, at least not yet.

I managed to keep the car on the road, barely, and headed towards the carousel. Knowing that most cars have trouble with the right-hander just before, I slowed to what felt like a crawl. Just over city speed was pretty much right on the money. I was able to get through it, but I could tell the car wouldn't handle much more speed without giving way.

The carousel went without much trouble. It was far from a smooth glide through there, but not uncontrollable. However, went I headed up the hill, it was a different story.

Even being cautious, or so I thought, I found myself fishtailing back and forth, and it took a lot of effort not to spin out. I wasn't expecting that much struggle, maybe a little sliding. The suspension of this car seemed to almost be backwards. It seemed to cause problems where there aren't usually problems and be smoother during difficult sections.

Maybe I was just expecting more out of this car than it could handle. Korea isn't really known for its cars; not like the U.S., Germany, Italy, Japan, etc., etc.; and maybe they bit off more than they could chew with this one. All that I knew was that, I couldn't be certain of this car for quite some time.

Some more sliding and weaving and I was starting to get to that point where one feels like they are "heading home" on the track. Just a handful of sections before the long straight, but with the bumps and snake-like curves coming up, I would have to be on my toes.

I made it to the 18 km marker driving about half the speed that I'm used to through there; still fishtailing a bit. I expected this, at least, but it felt so slow to have such little control.

Still slippery I took it much easier heading through the next sections before the straight. I was looking forward to opening it up, but didn't want to fight it to get there. A nice smooth turn into the straight to see how much speed that I could get out of it was what I was looking for. Could I manage it in this car?

Success! I hit the Audi sign at over 125 MPH / 201 KMH and yet somehow it still felt like I was driving slowly. This is far from a slow speed at this point on the track. It's very odd how it felt like I was not taking off.

I hit around 160 MPH / 257 KMH coming up to the Bilstein sign and the unpredictability of the car made me chicken out and hit the brakes before the turn. Maybe it could do more, but I wasn't willing to crash to find out. That's not a bad speed at all, especially considering the car isn't tuned properly at all. It still somehow felt slow though.

The next section filled me with dread. Good cars can take it without slowing down at all. Bad cars have to slow down well before the first jog. This was not a finely tuned automobile and I would have to grind it to almost a stop to get it through safely. Or would I?

Yet again, this car ended up being counter-intuitive. I slowed down much more than necessary and after realizing this, I hit the gas again. It gave me no trouble. What's with this car? It confuses me.

Heading towards the finish line, I'm seeing over 10:30 on the lap timer and the track is starting to glow and warm from the first rays hitting it. Maybe warmer tires and warmer road will help. Maybe the suspension wouldn't let that happen. We would see.

And we would have to wait much longer as even with all of the slipping and sliding, the tires, especially the front ones, were still cold. I committed myself to focusing on driving smoother laps and would do so until I managed to get a good feel for this car and understand it better.

Lap 2 went much more smoothly. With the exception of a few spots, I didn't have to fight as much. Was I getting the hang of this car? I managed to get around the track a minute and twenty seconds faster. The odd thing is that I was taking it much easier. This tells me that the car is touchy. Care must be taken. Slower is better. Caution is needed.

Lap 3: The sun was getting up there a bit now. The front tires were still cold. Odd for a car to take this much time to warm up the tires. I would see if I could get through the lap with no slipping and sliding.

Well, yes and no. It ended up being a little smoother and somehow faster, even though I was purposely trying to take it easy.

Lap 4: It's about 10 AM, judging by the sun's position in the sky. The front tires still haven't heated up. They must have somewhat, because I seem to have had much less trouble getting around. It's still a little squirmy though.

Noon: I agreed to meet up with some other Spirra owners for an impromptu race. This may not be the best idea having so many of us on the track in such unbalanced cars, but, hey, you only live once, right? Why do I feel like I will regret that statement? Here goes nothing.

I reminded myself that slow, but steady is faster in this car than trying to push it. We'll see if I can keep that up for three laps.

We'll so much for that. I started out nicely. I let three cars in ahead of me, so that we wouldn't be playing bumper cars. I let them get more of a lead than I had wanted so, I pushed a little too hard in an attempt to catch up.

I found myself in the sand just before the Yokohama arch and watched the other cars pass by as I struggled to get back on the road. This wasn't going to be easy.

Ooh, a not too smooth transition into the long straight, I was 33 seconds behind the leader in a car that I really can't push. Ouch.

I got to the start/finish line and I've lost even more time. Thinking this was due to my bad entry into the straight, I pushed on.

Bad news as I kept driving. At each checkpoint, I was losing even more time. By the time that I got back to the Audi sign on the long straightaway, I was a full minute behind the leader. These guys can obviously drive this car better than I can.

I finished the race 1:27.xxx behind the leader. I shook their hands to congratulate them. I wish I could have asked them how they managed to drive such a sloppy car so well, but alas they didn't speak English.

I decided that I'd had enough and called it a day. My best lap time, without trying to set a record, ended up being 8:26.920. I honestly have no idea what this car should be able to do stock, so that may be good, that may be bad.

Considering that the Koreans made it, it's not too shabby, despite my complaints. There are other sports cars that don't handle flawlessly stock and I think we've all driven them.

The suspension, and I'm pretty certain the brake balance is off on this car. The weight shift is terrible at times, throwing the car completely off-balance.

With that said, it doesn't look too bad, but with that said, it's similar in looks to other sports cars. A little bit of this one, and a little bit of that one. If you look at it from different angles, it'll remind you of about 5 different cars.

All in all, it's not a horrible car, but there are other cars that I'd much rather own, given a choice.

I may take it back to Dan's to see if he can make it handle better and bring it back to take another run around the ring with it to see what it can really do. :dopey:

 
ERm next weekends car I think is up to me to pick...

If you say "Road Car" and "Nurburgring" many GT players would think of this car.

Clue "Rubberduck"

Sorry if that is too obscure. But ask .

Second clue
Not a V8 engine.
 
Ryk
ERm next weekends car I think is up to me to pick...

If you say "Road Car" and "Nurburgring" many GT players would think of this car.

Clue "Rubberduck"

Sorry if that is too obscure. But ask .

Second clue
Not a V8 engine.
Click to expand...

Not the Yellowbird? Please not that!
 
"Heading home"

I always felt the run after Hedwigs hohe was the on the way back home bit. Down hill through Wipperman and Esbach...

I guess it is the faff of Karussel then up the twisty hill to the top of the hill climb (Hohe Acht) with those testing corners and the tight fast blind entry left right over the crest bit. Then it is downhill party time excellent.

Suppose really we could break up the sectors of the ring... and put together our "top ten". Which parts do we look forward to (Pflantzgarten is golden), and which bits are not so good (Karussel, I'm looking at you.)

Not the Yellowbird

erm, well I had another car in mind but noticed they had all (both of them!) been V8's.

But running a Yellowbird here is an idea.

"3.4 litre flat six, twin turbo with a Bosch Motronic fuel injection, 13 inch brembo brakes and dunlop Denloc tyres. Will go from zero to sixty in three point seven seconds.... and I even like the colour."

"Your Highness, the keys are in the ignition..."
 
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G'Day all !

Sorry for the delay in posting my comments but I had to put in a big day at work ( 12 hours ) including driving 666.1 km ( I kid you not :sick: ).

I did manage to put in 2 TT laps and completed one of two 1 lap single make races.

I also took advantage of Dan's excellent engine and chassis refreshing service 👍 otherwise I ran it as it came, apart from changing brake balance to 6 / 4 (F/R).

I am not sure if it is just my innate caution but I found the Spirra much easier to drive than the Ferrari.
Still a terrifying prospect when pushing it really hard but otherwise a pretty stable platform ( numerous lurid slides notwithstanding !! ).
I found the brakes to be very strong, in fact at times I felt I had come to a complete stop and had to gas it up to reach the apex :grumpy:
I took advantage of this braking power to scrub off the speed late but in a straight line and gentle on the throttle on exit.
My first lap ended in disaster though, as I dropped a wheel off at Galgenkopf from being too cautious, and ended up facing the Armco :dunce:
Happy after completing a valid second lap of 8 ' 20 . 434 with no crashes.

The one make Race was interesting as I ended up in second early with a bit of argy bargy but could not catch the leader for love nor money, eventually having a humungous crash at Plantzgarten( a terminal case of snap to oversteer) and withdrawing.

The second race I tweaked the settings by reducing TCS but switching on ASM and I think skid recovery was on ? but not sure.

This time I got in front at Flugplatz and was never headed although it was very close all the way, immense pressure but I was adament "none shall pass". Car handled really well and was very controllable ( bearing in mind I approached each corner carefully).
Ended up with a better time than my TT a reasonable 8 ' 17 .992

This is my Black Spirra :

SpirraNuumlrburgringNordschleife_zps004d8a11.jpg


"All over me like a cheap Suit"


I would guess it is the Yellowbird as well, a prospect that both terrifies and excites me as I remember doing this combination in GT4 many times, eventually working out a way to get round without dying ( too many times at least :) ).

Excellent reports my friends, really top notch, keep it up.

Later.
 
I was thinking of the Yellow bird.

But if you can't manage that - How about a French Alternative...

(Dieppe - Northern France.)

Alpine A110 1600S

I ran a 3 lap spec race at the usual place. (Nurburgring, you've been before? Good.)

The AI run Comfort Soft tyres, but are not that fast.

The car itself is modestly powered. Aluminium-block Renault 16 TS engine. With two dual-chamber Weber 45 carburetors the TS engine puts out 125 horsepower.

My own Alpine had 145bhp (Fresh oil)
It would cost 18,000 credits to overhaul the engine (And get 145bhp)
And 30,000 to tighten the chassis.

My own Alpine had 732.1 miles on it.

Now you can buy any Alpine - so long as it is Blue. SO I gave mine a coat of paint.

Bordeaux Red Mica

Quite nice - the dark grey metalwork on the Alpine looks okay on it. And the Metalic nature has the look of the ALpine Blue the car comes with.

3 lap race.
I start on Comfort Softs. but it was obvious my "fresh" engine had more ponies at the back. So after a single lap I dove into th epits and switched to Comfort Mediums... and slipped back into 4th place.

This was much closer. - I imagine a black oil ALpine would be closer to the pace of the 7 blue Alpines AI cars.

I ran no driver aids, the car Softs or Medium doesn't spool up the rears... all that weight over the back axel plants it to the tarmac...

However I ran3/2 Brakes and under hot and heavy driving the tyres will get over worked. The back end will break loose, but a bit of counter steering early will let you ride it out.

I enjoy a wild drive. But you don't have to drive like a houligan

houligan (n.m.)
1.marginal brutal, fauteur de troubles, d'agression et de vandalisme dans les lieux publics.

Once you do get dialled into the car it is a pocket rocket. Klostertal is effortless... infact many testing corners are all about setting up the corner early and driving a smooth easy line through them. The car will let you express your wishes.

I quite enjoyed my first lap on Comfy Softs just running in Formation with the other AI cars...

A few laps with this will let you get a feel for the basics in handling that a RR car has... like the Yellowbird.

Next step could be to power up your ALpine - Or run the Yellowbird with a restricted engine - then have a dash as nature intended.

The Yellowbird is a cracking drive, but for now enjoy the easy going punchy Alpine A110.
 
Damn - you guys are already into the Alpine? :rolleyes:
I'm still trying to find time to get the Italia going. Urgh. Missed the Spirra, too!
When are we closing off on the Alpine? I have a bunch in my garage.

Some nice write-ups by the way. Both humourous and informative.
 
Fat Bottomed Girls Make My Head Go Round​

So I decided to accept this challenge to try and tame these fat bottomed gals with some success. My journey started in France, where I picked up a mint condition classic Frenchie named Alpine. The A110 boasts all of 134 horses, and I kept the stock tyres because I thought if I liked it enough, I would drive it back home from Nurburg.

Once I arrived at the 'ring in Nurburg I was faced with the challenge of a Time Trial - how I was I to know this car could get me round the track without dying, or totalling the car itself - and I just trusted my instinct that said this car would fly round the track given a gentle touch. After the first lap I understood that it liked a bit of a fondle on it's rear end, but not too much - this is no hussie, but a classy french cougar - so it took me 20 minutes to gather my senses and get her round the track without leaving it once.

And I managed to do just that, so I felt the need to record the lap time because I thought it was quite impressive and I had no idea I could get such a good time out of her - three laps later, and all of 30 seconds faster than when I first started I completed the Time Trial with a 9:08.999. She was not too hard to manage under the circumstances, an old French maid would be considered wild at first thought, but once I got under her skin (or she mine) it all went rather smooth and I found the right buttons to press to get her to go faster.

I decided against driving her home just yet, because I found whilst I was in Nurburg a used car dealer trying to pawn off a nasty looking car that he called the "Yellow Bird", it looked older than the 1973 A110, but in fact it was made in '87, younger than I am, but it looked nothing like it. I managed to secure the deal at a good price and thought I would try it on the 'ring. I had no idea what to expect, the name felt mysterious - no afterthought, but certainly intended to suggest a "personality". I thought I'd take this ugly duckling through it's paces as it was also an RR drivetrain (fat-bottomed birdy) like the Alpine and was expecting a similar experience; namely something quite pleasant after a few wrestling matches.

Boy, was I wrong. It handled like big bird that's had too much tequila - never have I seen a big yellow thing sway so much, it was more of a beast than a bird, let's just say, and I don't think I ever managed to tame it. It's still got it's wildness in it, as I left the settings as they were as I bought it, just a spruce up of the engine and a firming of the chassis as it did look a bit rust-ridden and the oil was nearly black, what with it's 60,000 miles on the clock. But I guess this only served to make it harder to handle.

After the spruce up I was getting 475 horses to pump through the rear wheels and it certainly felt like it too, throttle control was critical to getting this bird beast to stay on track, let alone get around it safely. Which was a harder task than I had first realised. It took a lap longer to maintain the level of concentration and stamina required to get a clean lap under the strict conditions of the steward at the 'ring - and the result? Well a rather lackluster 8:17.592, but under the circumstances I found this to be a startling result. Given more time with the car and a return trip to Nurburg I could probably find a few more seconds - maybe as much as twenty, but my skills as much as they were put to the test on this occasion, were not up to pushing it any further and by no means could I have gotten under the 8 minute mark.

I can see now why the dealer was so quick to sell it to me, and I feel lumbered with it - how am I going to get it home? I'll take the Alpine home and send a crusher for the "Yellow Bird" because that's the best place for it, really, I wouldn't take it out on the road, let alone the track, so sorry big bird, but me and the old French maid have hit it off and I'm taking her home.​
 
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:lol:

Great write-up - and good for a laugh at the end, too.
Makes me want to do the same tonight; wonder what hell I'll go through - a mix of Green and Yellow. After pining away in Blue.
 
G'Day all, greetings from Oz :)

I was rather chuffed to see the Alpine 110 1600S selected as
Weekend Rider™ as this was a favourite in the old Diary days. Good times.

I looked and found I had a 0.0/0/0 example, from whence it came I have no idea.
All I know is, it had 134 Ponies and Comfort Soft's as standard.
It was also Blue.

Alpine_A110_zpse32e2b28.jpg


So I left it alone, turned everything off and went for a spin ( figuratively speaking).
You have to love the French, they certainly know how to do things with style, the Alpine being no exception.
A beautiful looking Car with no real vices, the low weight and power keeping the "Fat Bottom Effect" under control.
I did find it was possible to light up the Rear and maintain some very easy drifts :

SacreBleu_zps90d9aa69.jpg


Generally though, a dab of brakes to turn the nose in, clip the apex
(or somewhere in the vicinity would do ! ) and smoothly power away.
No dramas at all unless you try too hard, smooth is the way to go.
The way I went was a very rich and buttery (but slow)
9 ' 28 . 476
A very nice selection and very enjoyable, thank you 👍

Here is an "Arty Farty" shot for you, very French , n'est-ce Pas ?

NuumlrburgringNordschleife_2_zps4b2ee81b.jpg


Looking forward to the "Angry Bird"
 
G'Day all.

As it is getting close to the weekend thought I would see about picking the next Car.
Although we did not end up running it this round iainoflo85 correctly guessed the Yellowbird so, if you wish, it is your selection.

No pressure, I am always ready to do the honours, I will check back later and see what happens.

Later.
 
viperin
G'Day all.

As it is getting close to the weekend thought I would see about picking the next Car.
Although we did not end up running it this round iainoflo85 correctly guessed the Yellowbird so, if you wish, it is your selection.

No pressure, I am always ready to do the honours, I will check back later and see what happens.

Later.
Click to expand...

Yeah, okay I'd like to choose the next one.

Clue for this weeks Weekend Rider:

Classic British wildcat.
 
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Hmm the Swallow Sidecar Company evocatively named 'Tiddles?

Ryk drives... The RUF CTR "Yellowbird"

The 3.4 litre flat six engine revs like a fat kid’s heart, releasing its torquey goodness in thick blobs all over the power band to a red line of 6800rpm, a task made all the more accessible by a gearshift that’s as easy as the Crossword in the Beano - and to make things even more simple, you will only need the top cog (5th) at speeds over 150mph and first gear is only needed for parking.
The car is a bit of a beast at times, getting twitchy when you try to slow down from high speeds and also at high speeds the steering becomes a little bit vague.
You will need to be vigilent at high speeds as the car is fighting against the laws of physics... the big lump of weight at the back of the car wants to be at the front of the car. Best of all, this CTR is very at home when you get to the twisty stuff. Chuck it in hard, feel the nose bite like a starved vulture, squeeze the throttle like an unloved orange and just let it kiss the apex like a much loved german cousin. For the more committed CTR Flugzeugführer there are many hours of fun to be had. A mid corner lift form the throttle and you will feel the mullet like spoilered tail step out. I simply gave it a dab of oppo and planted the throttle and I was away in a satisfying cloud of vulcanised tyre smoke and countersteering excellence.

I painted my Yellowbird in Subaru's WR Blue Mica - which kind of made it look like someone had covered my Porsche 911 with stonewashed denim. The long dangly spoiler at the back is, of course, a homage to those 80's German Mullet hairstyles.

Plenty of power - but the lack of aero downforce can make high speed driving very testing. At medium speeds the car is a bit tail happy, but if you know this before you drive then you can perform some 'nap of the earth' aerobatics any display team would be proud of.

My car had Black oil (429bhp - 52 Euro-Torques - 1150 Kg - 516PP) 31,339miles

However if you need to spruce goose your Yellowbird then here is what it would result in and how many Kazula Credits it would set you back. - I did none of these.

- 456bhp (525PP) (Oil change - 25cr)
- 480bhp (533PP (Engine rebuild - 70,500cr)
- xxx xxx (Chassis overhaul - 118,000cr)

I raced at the Schwatrzwald League B
The R8 is the car to beat, and the AI field runs Sport Softs
If you run Sport Hards expect to lap about 20 seconds a lap slower.

Overall a top fun drive. The Spirra was borderline dangerous when you get to the limit of grip - the CTR is slightly more intuitive, once you feel out when it is going to lose rear traction you can balance it out like a hero. However it is very fast and so a small mistake at high speeds will limit your reaction time and you won't have much tarmac to prevent a solid crash.

SS tyres car get 7m40 - SH good for 8 minute laps. (No driver aids - Of course.)

I use 3/2 brakes
perhaps a 3/1 would reduce the snappy nature into corners if you enjoy trailbraking.



Sorry for typos, and Sorry to Troy
 
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iainoflo85
Yeah, okay I'd like to choose the next one.

Clue for this weeks Weekend Rider:

Classic British wildcat.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I am almost certain this has to be the E Type Jaguar but a left field guess would be the Triumph Spitfire

Either or would be fine 👍

I seems I need to also dust off the Yellowbird (no blue ones for this purist :yuck: ) and do a few laps as well :)
 
viperin
Hmm, I am almost certain this has to be the E Type Jaguar but a left field guess would be the Triumph Spitfire

Either or would be fine 👍

I seems I need to also dust off the Yellowbird (no blue ones for this purist :yuck: ) and do a few laps as well :)
Click to expand...

Yes it's the E-Type well done.

Will finish the writeup tomorrow.

276 BHP with engine overhaul
1219 kg
445 PP

8:32.617 with stock transmission

8:27.324 with fully customizable transmission
Click to expand...
 
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The Jugular - Nice.

After all that Mid Engined/ Rear Engined nervousness will be good to have a car that isn't out to kill you. (Spirra - I am looking at you!)

Looking forward to this... I think I had a dash in this car back in GT4 at the ring in the Mille Miglia event on my second go at it.
 

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