General 500 at Nurburgring
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General
500 at Nurburgring
Impressed at the one handed steering
You'd be even more impressed with the ocassional no handed steering then! A lap of the ring in Jason's 500 is truly epic, and a once in a lifetime experience
You'd be even more impressed with the ocassional no handed steering then! A lap of the ring in Jason's 500 is truly epic, and a once in a lifetime experience
I've done some laps at Goodwood in a Ferrari, (LHD) but I think yours would have been more exhilarating:devil:
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Love the pictures.
Would like to hear a bit more about the trip.
Lap time on the ring.
Any cars that you might have had a little race with.
Was there much difference between a solo run and being 2 up.
time taken to get from the ferry to the ring.
where you stayed,
etc., etc.
We stayed at eddys in Adenau
Done Spa Italia the weekend before though, do not sure the straight through run from the tunnel, was about 5 hours for us on the return though, although we did stop for McDonald's etc.
Done Spa Italia the weekend before though, do not sure the straight through run from the tunnel, was about 5 hours for us on the return though, although we did stop for McDonald's etc.
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Got any photos of that damn sexy Tipo?
I'd post photos but I was with a group from another forum and I don't want to upset anyone. PM me if you want some links
I wasn't timing down to the second but solo I was doing roughly 9 and a half minutes, a little less on some laps and 2 up I managed a couple of runs under 10 mins. That's on a public tourist day with about half a tank of fuel, the back seat removed and a proper full containment race seat and harness bolted in to stop me sliding about all over the place. I reckon there's 20 seconds a lap in having the seat and harness in. I drove a mates Tipo around for a lap with him in the passenger seat. It was enlightening. Holding the wheel and bracing yourself for corners against the door and centre console distracts a lot.
The difference between solo and 2 up runs were that on solo runs I was inclined to explore different approaches/speeds to corners whereas with 2 up I stuck to corner strategies that I know and trusted. I've done about 100 laps there now so the place is reasonably familiar and this is the first time down there that I could spend time exploring some deliberately different lines to see what happens. In some cases you get some lurid sliding, in others you learn quicker lines. I also used the brakes far less this time around. And when I did it was open wheeler braking, late and hard and deal with the pad kick back. The diff helps a lot in the his regard, it doesn't spin off the power. Some 100hp guys had a go in mine and came away really wanting a quaife for theirs.
The only downfall really is the slow climb back up the hill after bergwerk corner. I need a faster engine for that bit. Supercharger anyone?
I went down for the Spa Italia show at the Spa Francorchamps circuit with a bunch of mates. Then we went on to the Nurburgring for a few days.
We had a hellish run to Spa. Full day at work on a thursday then met at a mates at 9pm and we convoyed down to the Eurotunnel for a 3am train. I think I'd been awake something in the order of 28 hours by the time we got to our hotel in Malmedy near the Spa circuit. I had a bath when we go there and it was heaven. Sitting in the restaurant that night I almost fell asleep in my pasta.
Next day at Spa was huge fun. We had a couple of Panda 100hp's, a couple of Bravos, a Tipo, a couple of GP's and an Alfa Brera. Aside from the Brera having a bit of a moment with the clutch going to the floor (known issue with spring I think he said) it was all good. . We stayed up late drinking around the fire with people singing and playing guitars and it was excellent fun. Woke the next morning only slightly fuzzy to head to the magic croissant lady for breakfast then on to the circuit to do it all again. Huge thanks to MEP for fixing my blown cig lighter fuse that night while we were working on getting drunk again.
I could then participate in the CB chatter on the way home!Then on to the ring the next morning after a massive cleanup. A bit of a trek and all good fun with some silly speeds. We even got flagged through a random polizei roadblock. I thought for sure a convoy of English plated cars would attract some attention but nothing, they waved us through with a smile.
We checked into the hotel an der nordschleife (hi Eddy!) and then went to the beer store to stock up on a bunch of booze. 5 litre warsteiner kegs for 6 euros. Bargain!
The afternoon session was awesome. I got in 11 laps and had a blast. I took a bunch of people out for passenger laps (sorry guys, you had to listen to my music) including a bunch of strangers from the car park. Not much traffic, mid week. Stayed out of the way of the handful of Porsches that were having serious fun. Say what you will but a 911 GT3 4.0 is an absolutely amazing thing to hear fly past you at full chat. When we got back to the hotel, the lambo's from Spa were staying at the same hotel as us so we got to talk and gawp at the beasts close up. A Murci convertible is a terrifying looking machine.
Next day was glorious. I finished off the 25 lap ticket and managed to take everyone for some slidey fun laps. We got absolutely rat arsed drunk that night and stayed up to 4am. Singing and carrying on and guitars playing and drank a bottle of seagrams rye. Awesome fun. I still feel mildly hung over.
Next morning I went for a head clearing blast up the mountains in the fog. We visited the new Nurodisney buildings and it was a ghost town. I was there the week before it opened a few years ago and it was busier then. Terrifying waste of money on that. We got in some late afternoon greasy and semi wet laps at lower speeds. Then we all went to Pistonklause and had steaks on a hot plate and drank ourselves silly again.
Next morning we packed up and headed home. Good to be home and the planning for the next one starts again soon.
Got any photos of that damn sexy Tipo?
When I finally get home (only been back for 12 hours since returning to the UK, and most of that I slept) I'll get all my pics uploaded and send some to you
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Thanks for the write up Jason. I did have a read elsewhere and after re-setting my login and it sounds like a great trip. It's one that will have to go on my 'short list'. It also appears that if might have been your last trip in the 500 judging what's next on the agenda.
Looking through some of the Spa Italia 2012 youtube clips I saw that Murci convertible you were referring to but a Fiat 600 (Abarth) caught my eye.
If you got a time of 9 1/2 minutes you weren't hanging about judging by the guy below in his A500. He appeared to do it in and around the 9 minute mark. Unlikely that it had the Quaife fitted to as you had on. If you were struggling on the uphill bits some Nitrous Oxide might be the way to go.
Do you get to fit that Supersprint manifold before the trip ?
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I think the uphill section is too long for a nitrous run. It just needs a bigger engine And nope, I was on standard new manifold. Had to get her past MOT and I got bored of fighting with emissions.
Next up on the car ownership odyssey is an S1 Elise. That'll reset the learning curve to zero on the next trip down there. In theory it should be quicker, being 780kgs and 125bhp but only once I've got the hang of it.
I am thinking of another run down there later this summer. If I haven't found a nice standard Elise by then I'll be back down in the 500. I'll put a post up before going see if anyone else is interested in coming along.
And nope, I was on standard new manifold. Had to get her past MOT and I got bored of fighting with emissions.Next up on the car ownership odyssey is an S1 Elise. That'll reset the learning curve to zero on the next trip down there. In theory it should be quicker, being 780kgs and 125bhp but only once I've got the hang of it.
I am thinking of another run down there later this summer. If I haven't found a nice standard Elise by then I'll be back down in the 500. I'll put a post up before going see if anyone else is interested in coming along.
Some thoughts on the interesting video above. At about 3 min mark through Adenau Forst he has a bit of a messy moment which cost him. It looks like he's wanting to go faster but it's just a crap corner. One sympathises. No real good fast speed through it.
He's very conservative over the bridge at Breidscheid although that could have simply been traffic.
His line through Bergwerk is the same way I was taking it initially but it can be done faster by taking it wide on entry.
Interesting too that he doesn't drop into the Karrussel. That's something that's been on my mind for a while. I reckon you could possibly get around it faster in our sort of cars either half in or on the top but I've never proved it because its just too much fun dropping into it.
7:30 gets a little wobbly as well, bit off the road there. Bet that was a bum clencher for him, especially with a crowd watching.
The multiple right hander at about 8:00 was just beautifully handled! I bet that felt great for him.
I reckon he's getting half a minute on me with power on the uphill section and he's finding about 5 seconds on me in 3 corners. He also looks like he's probably on 17"s that are gripping a lot better than my 15" 50 profile slidey tyres which is finding him a few seconds in a bunch of spots
I'd love to have a go back to back in the A500 and mine, just to see the differences.
He's very conservative over the bridge at Breidscheid although that could have simply been traffic.
His line through Bergwerk is the same way I was taking it initially but it can be done faster by taking it wide on entry.
Interesting too that he doesn't drop into the Karrussel. That's something that's been on my mind for a while. I reckon you could possibly get around it faster in our sort of cars either half in or on the top but I've never proved it because its just too much fun dropping into it.
7:30 gets a little wobbly as well, bit off the road there. Bet that was a bum clencher for him, especially with a crowd watching.
The multiple right hander at about 8:00 was just beautifully handled! I bet that felt great for him.
I reckon he's getting half a minute on me with power on the uphill section and he's finding about 5 seconds on me in 3 corners. He also looks like he's probably on 17"s that are gripping a lot better than my 15" 50 profile slidey tyres which is finding him a few seconds in a bunch of spots
I'd love to have a go back to back in the A500 and mine, just to see the differences.
it wants to come round on the high speed sections doesn't it!
not sure i would want to chance that line at Karrussel either, looks v close to the barrier
he was a bit scrappy in places but a quick lap
not sure i would want to chance that line at Karrussel either, looks v close to the barrier
he was a bit scrappy in places but a quick lap
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...7:30 gets a little wobbly as well, bit off the road there. Bet that was a bum clencher for him, especially with a crowd watching.
The multiple right hander at about 8:00 was just beautifully handled! I bet that felt great for him.
I reckon he's getting half a minute on me with power on the uphill section and he's finding about 5 seconds on me in 3 corners. He also looks like he's probably on 17"s that are gripping a lot better than my 15" 50 profile slidey tyres which is finding him a few seconds in a bunch of spots
I'd love to have a go back to back in the A500 and mine, just to see the differences.
Re-watched those 'bum clenching' moments and it was interesting to watch the facial gestures of his female passenger.
I reckon if he was solo he might have pushed it a little harder but she appeared to be enjoying herself.
A set of Sabelts or racing seats with a full harness might be nice in the 500.
Noticed that he only used 3rd & 4th which allowed the him to keep both hands on the steering wheel - an advantage over you when you might only have one hand on when you're working the 6 speed.
it wants to come round on the high speed sections doesn't it!
not sure i would want to chance that line at Karrussel either, looks v close to the barrier
he was a bit scrappy in places but a quick lap
Picked up this on the AF. Hasn't got the resolution of the previous one but has the 'additions' with the time and a map of where you are on the ring. He got the same time (but solo) in the 'lower powered' 135MA MiTo model (has a Garrett as opposed to a IHI of the A500). I was trying to 'picture' myself in the 155TB with the 6 speed. This run didn't seem to have the 'driving on the edge of your seat' experience and seemed more stable. It's a pity I don't speak any italian - the running commentary might have been useful.
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I always pondered stripping the interior out so it could be a real track day car, but given how clean it always was I didn't want to spoil the original look on a rare car. Glad she finally managed to get there. There is a technique for pinning yourself in there, not quite karousel but...
thats a good driver
car totally planted no dramas
love the italian, molto veloce :devil:
