So, our day started VERY early ! 0530 I woke up, and set off to meet nudenut on the A1M, this is where Adaptive Cruise Control is very handy ... set it at *ahem* 70mph, and relax ... 0635 and I hit the A1M section at Peterborough, ring Nudenut and he is 5mins away via the M11/A14 ... good planning !
So I do a go slow in the slow lane until I spot the tell tell LED's of a certain R8
.... drop it into Sport and bury the throttle .... oh yes, the 2 daddies of Audi are in convoy.Nice run up to Cadwell, get there for 0815, just in time for noise testing.
Very funny ... LOON registers his standard 96dB ... but nudenut, who's Capristo is on par with ASBO with valves open, simply pressed a button, closed valves and his car was almost silent for the noise test .... they would soon find out how it really sounded !
Drivers briefing done and also find PhilT, who made a shorter 1hr dash over to Cadwell.
Having never been to Cadwell before, I was really impressed by it immediately, its in the country side, in the forests, lovely and green ! I think its nicknamed the UK Nurburgring, and no I was starting to see why, but I would find out fully why once we got out there
Weather was great, dry first and foremost, but with the sun breaking through the clouds it was actually boardering on hot !
So, out for the sighting laps ... WOW, really impressed by the circuit, a real good mix of bends, dips, blind crests, straights, inclines, sweeping corners, tight chicanes .... LOVE IT !
Only problem was the track is very tight, quite narrow and really not suited to a big 2tonne barge ! well to be fair, i dont think the RS 6 is really suited to any track, but hey, I'll give it a go!
but I think even for the R8 and GT-R its a bit small, but still great fun.
Good mix of cars there, not much exotica, I'd say out R8, RS 6 and GT-R were the best cars there, lots of purpose track cars, including one very very quick widebody Ford Escort.
out on track proper, its great fun ! ok, the RS 6 is big fat and heavy, but can still have some fun in it, but as I was still learning the circuit, was not pushing it, but quickly found the tyre temps getting hot very quickly due to the warm day and lots of corners ... when they got to 80c I would call it a day and come in.
Nudenut took PhilT out in the R8 and so I went to view and take some photos
OMG .... the sound of that bloody R8 is so immense ! It would go past you and you'd still hear it for the next 2 minutes ... I swear at times it was the only bloody car I could hear on track !
another session, nudenut jumped in with PhilT and I went out ... getting faster now
btw, do my brakes look small in this ?
final session of the morning, nudenut came out with me, which is always good as he's quite knowledgable and had some good tips. on his instruction i put ESP into Sport Mode and drove with the paddles in S mode. These two things made a huge difference as now the TC wasnt cutting the power everytime I was exiting a corner and putting the power down, and I was fully in control of the gears .... this made me much faster, and more enjoyable - cheers nudenut !
Afternoon came, it rained briefly at 1pm, but quickly brightened up and back to warm sunshine !
So some more sessions. I went out with nudenut in the R8 ! FECK
Its just epic, epic epic !!
grip everywhere, outright speed, balance, noise, brakes .... wow
also some brilliant sideways action, just laugh out loud fun!
Also, went out with PhilT in his GT-R .... was very impressed. Never been in one before, but its great. Very very quick and hides it weight fantastically, you wouldnt know it was 1800kg. and I had no idea it was RWD in the corners, and you really felt it as a passenger, it was so adjustable mid corner and had loads of grip....also, PhilT can drive, despite him saying he cant! only reveal he hauled a fat ass C5 round the ring in 8.30 !
So, all in all, a great great day out. 420 miles, 2 / 3 tanks of fuel and lots of money later
great track, great weather .... car, mmmm not so great, but its no track car .... need to find myself an R8 V10
nudenut / PhilT - show us your pics !!!
but couldn't think of a better car for it!
