The Nürburgring Diaries - Volume XVl

[phoenix45000]

Going to try a very difficult challenge, setting a difficult time of the ring in the TVR CERBERA SPEED 12, I thought I'd be lucky to set a sub 9 minute lap thanks to the traction, I was wrong, I not only managed that, I not only managed a sub-8 minute lap, but actually sub 7 minute lap, maybe I was too harsh on this car? Sector times: -

1: - 0'44.686
2: - 1'21.126
3: - 1'49.148
4: - Missed the figure, sorry
5: - 3'16.964
6: - 3'44.325
7: - 4'33.003
8: - 5'13.013
9: - 5'35.016
10: - 6'16.953
11: - 6'35.432
final: - 6'56.407

Which gives it number 6 on my top 10 list ahead of the 'mercedes SLR maclaren', 'ASL atrta (JGTC) 03', 'Honda NSX-R Prototype LM ed '02' and 'BMW M3 GTR race car '01'

I had best get back on the ring with those cars I guess!

[phoenix45000]

Had a go with the DB9, unmodded besides tires, didn't do too badly and were it not for a spin I think I could have got under 7'30'00. never mind though, times: -

1: - 0'47.176
2: - 1'24.951
3: - 1'54.619
4: - 2'50.253
5: - 3'30.468
6: - 3'59.720
7: - 4'52.776
8: - 5'35.039
9: - 5'58.156
10: - 6'42.673
11: - 7'06.963
final: - 7'39.806

[General Lee]

WR: Aston Martin DB9.

I'll be honest here - there is a great B road close to my house, decent scenery, chances to get your toe down and do some miles an hour, chances to KILL YOURSELF WHERE YOU STAND even. Demands total concentration and is enough to put the fear of God Himself into any driver anywhere EVAR.

I was lucky enough recently to have the loan of an Aston Martin DB9 for the week, and all things considered it would have been extremely rude of me not to have a pootle down this twisty turny bendy bit of road. So I did.

Well, what a sexy little number. The curvy beast had my revs rising from just looking at it, all those curves on the bodywork and a purr to make your hairs stand on end. When the business pedal is all the way down however, the purr turns into the roar of a lion and makes ALL your hairs stand on end. And you STILL can't get enough of it.

Anyway, the car, right? Still can't get past those looks. It's like kicking Claudia Schiffer out of bed for not haveing a personality. Ahem. The car.

First couple of minutes was spent getting used to the car, and at first, it didn't really impress me. It felt a little too sluggish, even with it's 440+ horsepower. I put that down to the mass of the car and settled down to enjoy the ride.

Like all women, it had plenty of stopping power, and like all women, at some times it felt as if it had a mind of it's own. I felt as if the car was struggling to quickly change direction, i think this is down to the mass and inertia of the car. All in all, very satisfying, but still lacking...something.

So, down to the garage for a little tune up. One chip, NA tune stage 1, new gearbox, suspension, clutch, drivetrain and a set of racing brakes, I was ready for another outing.

This time the ride was even better. The car was much more repsonsive throughout the rev range, and with ninja-like throttle control, very quick out of the sharper corners.

Well recommended to anyone who wants a good drive around the 'Ring.

Fastest Lap time (no aids) 7.29.XX

****

I have no illusions of being a great GT player but I figured something out on this drive. I turned off the map, and the screen display to simple (no flashing gear indicators etc) and just drove.

Well, bugger me sideways if I didn't dramatically improve. I have driven clean laps of the ring before (many times during license tests) but my first lap was very clean and faster than anything I had done in a production car - 7.41.XX.

I've decided not to look at 'Ring lap times, especially in the WR. I'm looking simply to drive the 'Ring in a way that satisfys me, e.g. was it a smooth, clean drive? Was I in the optimal gear at all times? Did I hit the apex (or whatever marker I have selected) exactly as I intended?
So, in any future WR reports, I'm not going to post a lap time (unless I feel one is required).

Anyway, that's it for now. I think OldGuy should have the next pick and I can't wait to have another decent drive.

[oldguy1957]

Since we're in need of a WR, and since I got a vote of confidence from The General, I'm going to go ahead and post my pick. It's going to be a tufer! Like a combo meal at Burger King, but better!

Just for fun, I started over on a new memory card recently. So, I spent several hours doing license tests. As we all know, many of the cars that we're forced to drive for those tests suck the big one. But there are also a few that are a blast to drive. One in particular caught my attention. Then, when Amarynceus made an appearance, he mentioned that the same car was one he was most anxious to run around the 'Ring again. So, without further adieu, this week's WR is the:

Honda S2000 Type V '03

There are several years of this car available, but this is the only one that you can buy in the dealership. Now, I'm typically not a big fan of Japanese cars on the Ring. But I've had more fun than a barrel of junkies with this little gem. It becomes the most fun right at the edge of adhesion. The best I did with it was an 8'02.9, but I'm sure sub-8's are very much in reach. I had a couple laps going that would have done it, but then made a mistake that set me back.

PART II

I was very curious as to how the stock version of this car differed from the Opera Performance version. After running it a few laps, I was extremely impressed. So, my pick for the RR for this week is the:

Opera Performance S2000 '04

It can be won from one of the Extreme Event championships. I ran a few laps with no downforce, and then several with max downforce. Like the stock version, this car also is the most fun right at the edge of losing adhesion to the track. Because of this, I occasionally pushed it just a tad too hard and slipped off the track. My best lap was 7'45, but that included a couple off-track excursions. So, I'm sure times close to 7'30 are possible.

Amuse also has three versions of this car, which I have not tried yet. But if someone wants to do it, I'd be interested in a comparison of lap times between all the versions.

Well, knock yourselves out. I hope you have as much fun with this car as I did.

[amemyarz]

I'll give it a go with an amuse version.

[nightmare75]

I've always thought the S2000 was solid car, despite being a tad underpowered. I haven't driven the Opera version that I won yet, so that should be interesting.

[ckenp]

One of the S2000's is on Sport tires but handles at speeds for which most cars would require racing slicks. Any car that handles that well presents its own unique challenge. It's not about driving well, but can you drive flawlessly? It's in the effort for perfection that the Nurburgring truly becomes the Green Hell. They say there's twenty seconds between a clean lap and your best lap. How many of them can you own?

[General Lee]

I'll give the Type V '03 a crack. Should be fun.

[vitg]

Hey all,

Glad to see things ticking over nicely.

Have not had a lot of time for driving the various Riders due to working on editing archived Volumes for posting, but for what they are worth here are some very quick impressions.

Nissan GTRConcept LM RaceCar

This Car is faster than I am. I just could not relax enough to get the best out of it.
Goes like a cut cat though. Best so far 6 ' 09 . 744
Fairly high strung and I felt as though something not quite right with the setup. I suspect fiddling with the Downforce would pay dividends. Good Car.

Aston Martin DB9
I had an unused Special Gold colour one in my Garage so used that becuase as Nightmare would appreciate it just looks so lush.

So first two laps just did not seem to be going as well as I expected, 7 ' 48 xxx. The Aston felt, how can I put it, Constipated ?
I knew it was heavy and not overly powerful, but should have felt a bit sharper. Then I realised !! Forgot to turn off aids, did'nt I.
Doh !
Much, much better, still a little understeery if pushed too hard, but definitely more "Sporty". Even better when I remembered to change Oil as well !!
Some days it is a wonder I can think and breathe at the same time.
So in summary, great looking Car, goes pretty well too.Shedding a bit of weight and adding another 100 hp would really lift the excitement level. Nice pick.

Best time - aids off + Oil change -
7 ' 27 . 813 , prior to Oil change
about 7 ' 33 . xxx or thereabouts.

I look forward to the S2000 laps. Should have most of the Archive stuff done by end of week.

Thats all folks.

[oldguy1957]

Everyone please visit the "off-topic" ==> "chat", thread, and see the latest post by VitG. We're trying to set up a day and time weekly for as many people as possible to get online and chat. We can get several nominations for chat time, and then we'll vote and pick one.

Thanks!!

[phoenix45000]

Right my go at this weeks challenge car, the S2000, I used the V 2003 version bought stock from the Honda dealer, took it out totally unmodified and boy was it slow, poor acceleration and generally a lack of pace, time was well outside 8 minutes, so I decided to give it a light modification to see how it would perform.

I put in: -

RC Muffler, N/A Tune Stage 3, RC soft tyres

This took the car from 257BHP to 357 BHP, it made a big difference alot more powerful out of the blocks and as a result good fun to drive, first lap was 7'52.111 but featured some untidy corners and poor management of the car so had a better run on lap 2: -

Sector times: -

1 - 0'46.889
2 - 1'26.099
3 - 1'57.053
4 - 2'51.538
5 - 3'32.738
6 - 4'05.543
7 - 4'57.810
8 - 5'43.404
9 - 6'08.529
10 - 6'54.114
11 - 7'18.900
final line - 7'42.851

I am not a ring specialist, so I imagine that this is a good banker lap with such a setup, though I expect someone could easily shave 10 or so seconds from that, expected this to be murder but was good fun.

[amemyarz]

The amuse versions are very lose. had problems with the street version one.
My times were unacceptable.

[oldguy1957]

After reading amemyarz's brief review of the Amuse S2000's, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to take them for a spin myself:

Amuse S2000 Street Version '04

Amuse apparently designed this to be a full drift model. amemyarz is right. The back is all over the place! I did, however, enjoy the drive. It was definitely a challenge to keep it on the track at high speeds. It took me several tries to get a full lap in with a respectable speed. It was pretty controllable for a drifter, but drifting at 120+ MPH is a white-knuckle, heart-pounding experience, to say the least. I had more panic-corrections than I can count. It has slightly more horsepower than the Honda version, but much harder to keep on the road. I was able to eventually get under 8 minutes with it, but just barely, with a 7'59.7. If someone wants a wild ride, this is your baby!!

Amuse S2000 R1 '04

This was actually the most neutral handling of all the S2000's. It had a slight push to it on entry, and then sometimes stepped the back out just bit on exit. It was extremely stable. I ran it for three laps, and finished all three laps within a second of each other, the fastest being 7'34.5. On the Ring, that's saying something. I was impressed!

Amuse S2000 GT1 '04

This baby comes with 535 hp...nearly double what the others bring to the table. For those of you who were complaining about a lack of power, give this car a try. It had the typical S2000 handling...a little loose on exit...but not as severe as some of the other versions. You DO need to take it easy on the throttle coming out of slow corners, though, if you drive with the aids off like most of us do. It'll swap ends in a hurry in 2nd gear if you jump on the gas too quickly. The challenge for the GT1 is to get under 7 minutes, instead of 8. I managed to clock a 6'58.0.

Personally, I enjoy the lower horsepower models more than the more powerful versions. It makes it too easy when you have a rocket under your foot to make up for any cornering mistakes. The lower power forces you to take perfect lines through the corners so you can carry max speed through the exit and onto the next straight. One bad corner can cost you dearly. To me, it's all about the corners, anyway. Who cares how fast you go down the straights? It takes no skill to plant your foot to the floor and hold the wheel straight. Nope. Give me a car that's fun to corner...at any speed, and I'll have fun till the cows come home! But, to each, his own.

[nightmare75]

The S2000 WR Report

This car handles extremely well. Like was previously said, it takes some corners at speeds that most cars need racing tires to achieve. For example, I was able to carry 48 mph through the Karrussel, with is something most cars need racing tires to do. I also liked how the car was nice and stable at high speeds and went exactly where you told it to. The car likes to let the back end come around quite a bit, especially when you brake in anything other than a straight line. This makes the car pretty fun to drive. The only problem with this car is that it's woefully underpowered. 246 hp is not enough to move a 1200 kg car around the track. If it had more power, it would be an awesome car. Instead, we have to go drive a tuned version to get awesomeness.

This car yielded me lap times in the 8'07 range.






I also ran the Opera Performance S2000. This car was a little different.

First of all, you have to go in and adjust the downforce so that wing on the back end is doing more than generating drag. Make sure you do that because that makes this car handle much better. The main differences between this car and the stock version is that this one weighs 300 fewer kg and has about 30 more horsepower. This combines to make acceleration much snappier. Adding the wing to the car makes it more stable at high speed and allows it to take the high speed corners like Flugplatz and Shwedenkreuz flat-out. Low speed handling is better as well, but that's also due to the softer tires employed by Opera. The back still likes to come around, but it's a little tamer. It also feels like the brakes were updated during tuning. This all combines to make the car much faster, with a lap time around 7'18. This car is pretty likable, but could still use some more power to go with the sweet handles.




Here's some other pics from the days Ringing:

i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/nightmare_75/GT4/S20002.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/nightmare_75/GT4/S20003.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/nightmare_75/GT4/Opera2.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/nightmare_75/GT4/Opera3.jpg

i168.photobucket.com/albums/u166/nightmare_75/GT4/Opera4.jpg

[vitg]

Hi all,

Nice selections for WR & RR Oldguy ! I will get to them soon.

amamyarz - there is no such thing as an unacceptable time, the Riders are not foer the purpose of winning a fastest lap competition. Just use it to post how you got around the 'Ring, how you were able to improve , impressions of the Car etc.

Faster laps will follow as a matter of course.

Now I would like to ask a couple of favours -
I am overloaded with Ringdiary jobs at the moment and was wondering if I could get some assistance.

Nightmare75 - Would you be interested in helping out by running the Ringdiary Photo album ?

Would anyone be interested in helping out by taking over editing the WR & RR lists with Picker and dates etc. ? I am way behind in doing this.

Welcome to any new Ringers I have not greeted before, not being rude just a bit overwhelmed at the minute.

Bye for now.