The Nürburgring Diary

[viperin]

G'Day all,

Um, the Ford (AU) 2000 Falcon XR8?

Aussie Road car...

Holden Monaro or Commodore?

I'd guess Holden...

You would think it would have to be one of these however....

As much as I like them ( particularly the XR8 which is a very underrated Car) they are not my favorite.

Dig a bit deeper


Edit : As no more guesses have been forthcoming I will just go ahead and announce the
Weekend Rider™ for this week : Lotus Elan S1 1962

Enjoy !

 

[Ryk]

Missed this one ( - Multi 21 - Did you say something over the radio boss?)

Lotus Elan - S1
Splendid

 

[Ryk]

Okay took a very used version of this classic out.

British Racing green and 218,772.5 miles on the clock - the very blackest of black oil. (Nice to see the Oil Lamp Light illuminated.)

93bhp/13eurotrques 639Kg and 384PP

Car had Comfort Softs.

Had a 2 lap race at 5am. with 7 other Elans.
Initial pace was pretty close, I lost a few seconds on the lead trio but then just about reeled in the leaders, Passing wasn't too easy as the speed differential isn't anything you can rely on you have to get the passes done into and through corners.

During the race it started to rain, which I think really dropped the pace of the AI cars. Even on a wet track the Elan was pretty planted. Comfort tyres and light weight and damp track didn't really matter as the speed of the car was very low. Red lining at 105mph and hitting the rev limiter at 115mph.

However the lack of power made you hit this rev limited top speed in a coupe of places... Swedish Cross and Foxhole. The uphill bits take the snap crackle and pop out of the performance. And the final straight (Dottinger Hohe) is - of course - Uphill.

9m54s first lap in traffic and on cold tyres
9m51.8 on a track that was getting wetter and ended the lap at 40% wet - but I was much more committed in corners - no confidence lifts or safety first early brake points. I was surprised how slow it was, maybe the rain slowed me down... not getting the traction out of corners... no slowing down as fast into them under brakes.

The car was very nice, confidence building, if you did get oversteer you could "Dab of Oppo" your way out of trouble Troy Queef style - and as the Elan is a 1.6litre four pot you won't crash it like the big man either.

Engine note - not that bad - I had previously driven the M3 Coupe - which sounded uninspirational.

 

[viperin]

G'Day all,

My apologies for being MIA but circumstances got in the way of any meaningful game time ( read 'Life" ).
I will always be around though so never fear !

I have some me time planned for tonight, going to save the Elan for a gallop after watching the F1 Bahrain Race.

In the meantime I have tried both the Lupo cup Cars. What a hoot great fun, absolutely spiffing !
I sampled the GT1 Cup Car '03 first ( 63 km , 136 hp SH & no aids ).
I was surprised at the stability and grip, probably could have gone for comfort tyres, instead of the ones fitted. I limited myself to one lap only and after a while I tried to see how many corners I could take without braking.Just backing off was pretty effective a lot of the time to scrub off sufficient speed. If braking was needed a light dab of brakes was enough to drop back a gear and "power" out.
Maintaining momentum is the Key. I also entered the Lupo event for both and had no trouble with AI, passing before Schwedenkreuz and completing a handy win ....9 ' 02 . 329

Very similar story for the Cup Car '00 ( 0.0 km , 119 hp SH no aids ).
I used the same techniques as for Big Brother and found them very successful as well.
No problems ( apart from a couple of minor lawn mowing excursions ) recording an easy 9 ' 14 . 574

I found both Cars very enjoyable, the slower pace suiting my ancient reflexes. I could just concentrate on achieving the best lines possible and being as smooth as I could. I particularly enjoyed whipping through the Technical section, very satisfying 👍.

I will maintain the Elan for this weekend as well to give anyone a chance and post up a replacement mid week unless someone else would like to do the honors ?

Thank for the selection Ryk.