just got back from a fantastic ten days at the nurburgring.it was my fourth visit and my first with the scooby.i knew she was pretty quick but the pace really surprised me and a few of my sportsbike riding mates, not to mention a lot of people in very expensive cars.
in all my visits i have only timed one lap[its not allowed] a mate jumped in and used his stop watch.it was early in the week before i fully remembered where i was going and we got held up a couple of times by cars that would`nt move over. also there were warning lights on and cones out for some barrier repairs at one point so we reckon at least 20 seconds could come off the time, i was pleased to see 8mins 52 on the clock.about an 8.30 then and we definatley got quite a bit faster as the week went on.
on one memorable lap i followed one of my mates on his gsxr1000 he`s done about 800 laps round the ring so knows the track well.he got away on the straights but i always had him in sight and by the gantry at the end we were only about 50yds behind.awsome.
HOWEVER at a cost.i thought about doing allsorts of things before i went suspension,brakes etc but being a bit skint at the minute i thought it`s a scooby,she`ll be able to cope.WRONG.
she`s not doing mega horsepower.just an 06 sti with pipe and remap[340ish bhp]
i changed the diff oil checked the pads and tyres before i went and had it serviced just to be safe.
on the 1st day/2nd lap when we got back to the car park the water boiled over so we had to do cool down "laps" of the road leading to the ring and keep checking the level and topping up every time we went out.she used over a litre of oil[we did about 30 laps]the bridgestones i thought had about 5000 miles left on are shredded,the brake pads i thought had about half the material left lasted about 15laps.it cost 500 euros to get front and rears but we put pagid race ones in which squeal like a bugger and have warped the discs.
the windscreen got cracked by a stone thrown up by a car infront and has spread and needs replacing.
but by far the biggest expense, even more than the brakes and the half season ticket was petrol.
we did all the way from home to the ring on less than a tank but could`nt get four laps of the track.we reckon under 8 to the gallon!!!!!!!!!!!
i filled up three times one day, three tanks of 100 octane super cost about 180 euros,gone in 12 laps,ouch.
so the credit cards are maxed out yet again and i would love to here from anyone with similar experiences and/or suggestions to cure the problems cos i could`nt wait till next year we are off back in october if i can sort the car.can`t wait.

 

Did you take many pics? It's something i'd love to do at some point.
How far was it from Ponte?

 

Do a search for Pics re the ring m8 gutmanpug ( sorry if thats wrong ) goes a lot and puts great pics up. His site is something like northernloop.co.uk sorry got to leave work would be better help normally

 

Close it's :: northloop.co.uk :: we're not playing games :: nurburgring galleries and more :: if you register on the forum linked to the site there will no doubt be pictures of you on there somewhere

Oh and your mate who has done over 800 laps on a bike needs to try putting it into second, your wouldnt see him for the dust

 

i`ll mention that to him i`m sure he`ll find it amusing.obviously your an expert on the "ring". perhaps not the nurburgring though.

took loads of pics nearly 2000!! there was a german touring car race on the new circuit so took a lot there plus the usual exotica at the nordshleiff, tons of porsches,plenty of ferraris,couple of lambos,audi r8`s and all the rest there was a couple of gumpert apollos which i`d never heard of but looked and sounded amazing apparently they use audi engines and pump out about 600 hp.nice.
there was a couple of brit scoobies going round too i`ll put some pictures up when i`ve got through em all.
we go overnight ferry from hull to rotterdam then its only about 200 miles on the motorway then the last 50 0n some decent twisties.

 

Cheers mate. I didn't realise it was so close! (I was brought up in Ponte) Even more tempted now!

 

Sounds good mate, i've been a couple of times now. Sounds like maybe you overdrove the car to get a decent lap time, have some mechanical sympathy .
I did find the brakes take much more of a hammering as you start to get confident with the place and like you I found the petrol disappearing rapidly, almost ran out not noticing how low if had got.
Get some pictures up when you get a chance, also do a search in Google for ring photos 'cause there's usually people around the circuit taking piccies of every car lapping and they put them up for sale on a couple of sites. Might have got some shots of yours you haven't seen?

Here's mine in action just before what I call "The Bombhole!" not being a Ring geek I don't know what the proper name for it is....



Get some photos up for us

 

sound like your car gots lots of abuse at the ring
martin

 

Just got back myself, Out there from Saturday till today.

 

Calm down mate.
Gary was merely pointing out that a GSXR would lose anything this side of a Carrera GT

7.35 on a GSXR - bridgetogantry.com - 7min35s, GSX-R1000K7

 

Glad you enjoyed it, I went for the 1st time earlier this year and plan to go again next year, great fun

 

dont mean to sound knarked or make out that i`m some driving god but i was chuffed with my only timed lap and i know the lap with the gixer was quicker.that would put it around 8mins which is only 25 seconds slower than ya bridge to gantry.com which is bloody quick.
weather my mate was holding back or not i don`t know.i think he would av left me if he could.self preservation comes into it for most of us.
we passed plenty of porsches during the week including gt3 rs`s etc a lot of it is down to track knowledge.
think the "bomb hole" is pflanzgarten[cant spell it]ace section.a lot brake for it but you can keep some real speed through it if you know whats coming.