Nurburgring - The Last Blast of the Season

[markcanderson]

Gents and Girls :

If you want to go with us to the ring for the last blast of the season.. then be at the IKEA Eindhoven NL Car Park for 09:00 am this coming Saturday.

Saturday 8th November 2003. The ring is open from 09:00 until 11:00 and then from 13:00 until 16:00.

And is open for most of the day on the Sunday too.. so if you're already in NL then why not join us for the day, meeting at the IKEA car park in Eindhoven.. or otherwise. drop over for the weekend.. and we'll meet you at the ring for at lease the Saturday..

Since the season is kinda finished.. expect the track to be fairly empty.

So stick your name down if you will be there...

1) Maarten : 270HP Mitsu TD04 equipped Saab NG900.
2) Mark : Audi RS2.
3) ...

[s6plus]

hello mark, maybe I´m at the ring on sunday. If I´m there I will see you for sure.
do you allready know this site: www.8200rpm.com
It´s a site with people who often visit the Ring

Hope I can make it, so we can run those "verhuiswagens" over the track!! [img]images/graemlins/rocker.gif[/img]

[markcanderson]

It would be great to see you at the ring.. I know the 8200rpm site.. I'm also a member of the yahoo 'ringers' list of nurburgring.co.uk.. are you as well?

I've only been at the ring this year 7 times.. so need to get my fix before the snow really comes.

S6 Plus?.. that's quite a beast of a wagon isn't it?

Where are you normally located in NL ?

[wazza]

I've only been at the ring this year 7 times..

Only?

[s6plus]

Unfortunately can´t make it. [img]images/graemlins/033102bad_1_prv.gif[/img]"lekke keer-ring", but we will fix it.
I live in Zwolle, but the country isn´t that big. I´m also member of the acgn(www.acgn.nl). Not that active, but they have a meeting next week in Assen. There are some members with a rs2.
You can find some pictures of my car under the s6plus part of this forum. The plus is quattro´s gmbh´s first car....but it´s really unknown..

speak to you later..
greetings,david [img]images/graemlins/033102bigblink_1_prv.gif[/img]

[markcanderson]

Preparation for the trip started a few days previous to today:

My RS2 had previously been running on 245/40 tyres, but for ring use
these would be no use... so a quick call to the local Profile tyre
centre secured 4 x 225/45zr 17 Michelin Pilot Sports at very short
notice on Thursday (we really plan ahead for these trips.. not).

Thus fitted on thursday afternoon.. I washed the car and on Friday
morning dropped it off to the RS Mechanic at our local Porsche/Audi
dealership (Wittbrug) to fix a boost hesitation problem and give the
brakes a good service.

Boost hesitation problem turns out to be a mixture of a corroded clip,
thus loose intercooler hose, knackered turbo diverter valve and dodgy
airmass meter. All fixed (except the airmass meter.. unfortunately
completely RS2 specific and not in stock [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] ) picked the car up on friday evening and retired if for the evening.

Checked the ring forcast on-line.... 6c cloudy with a chance of rain..
hmm okay.. we'll see.

Early on Saturday morning (06:00am !), the morning looked likely to be
lovely with clear skies and chilly. Fired up the RS2, and took a
leasurely run down past Rotterdam to pick up Eric van Spelde at his
place.. after a coffee and a chat.. we head to meet up with the rest of
the guys at Eindhoven. Maarten van Dorst was there with his heavily
modified Saab 900, along with Tijn. Desmond with his Saab 9000 CSE and
Felix with his lovely TSL modified classic 900.. a quick coffee at the
local truck stop cafe and then on the road.

On the way down, a lot of horsing around on the autobahn was done, with
various sprints and in-gear acceleration comparisons between the c900,
the NG900 and the RS2. Oh and a few top speed runs...

We arrived at the ring at around midday.. the track was closed from
11:00am to support a 70s/80s car rally.. so whilst we were waiting we
had lunch.. hmmm Schnitzel..

Eric Burr joined us with his Hirsch fettled 9-3 along with PhilipH and
his Maptun tuned 9-3 Viggen cabrio... so now there was quite a few
friends..

The Weather in the region was awesome today... lovely blue skies.. temp
sitting at around 6c and a fully dry track... you just can't ask for
better than that... along with the beautiful autumn leaves... it was
bliss.

The track opened a little late.. laps bought I headed out alone with
the RS2. I've never driven the RS2 at the ring before.. so the lap was
very exploratory. How were the gears, how was the traction.. what
happens when you are heavy on the brakes. etc..

The turn in on the car is very keen, the acceleration is explosive, the
traction is awesome.. but you can still play with getting the back out
either under braking or under acceleration out of a corner.. it's
really adjustable. The steering is probably the most communicative i've
ever driven... you know exactly when you are sliding, when you have
grip and how much there is.. it's awesome.

I did 6 laps in total, and the car was eager to do 6 more if there was
time.. the brakes didn't fade, or feel different or spongy.. just the
same every time I wanted to brake..great brakes... and this is no small
feat considering they were hauling a 1600kilo car plus fluids, driver
and co-pilot down from in excess of 140 miles per hour in places for 50
odd corners per lap!

Oil temps climbed a little, but the huge front mounted oil cooler took
care of that, water temp was pretty much rock solid.

This car was made for the ring.

Had a great tussle with Eric Burr.. where he was laying down smoke out
of corners my daily driver TiD would be proud off.. I got caught behind
a Porsche 911 964... which meant that we eventually lost touch on the
track... but it really shows how much faster a driver EricB is to me.

I took Eric vS out for a lap, Tijn, Desmond, Philip and Eric Burr
during the course of the day.. all were keen to see what an RS2 was..
and how it performed.

Desmond and I had a memorable experience trying to catch an old Opel
Kadett .. I caught him.. but I couldn't pass him.. he was fast.. I
guess it helps when you have over 130 laps under your belt.. and a 2.7
engine in a 900kilo car.. mind you it was an auto and he was shifting
manually ! .. respect!

A very fun day, rounded off with a great autobahn blast back home, a
good McDonalds (aren't McTastys the best burgers ever ?)

We won't mention the little traffic light grandprix action.. or the RS2
versus RS4 tussle on the way home north of Rotterdam!.......

.. okay.. let's just say that the RS2 is quicker! [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img].. okay the RS4 was standard.. and well they do weigh a lot!

Thankfully the RS4 owner also lives in the same city and had a sense
of humour.

Cheers,

Mark.

[Scotty]

Sounds like a fun trip. There's a couple of really quick Kadetts that seem to be there all the time. Was it the green one?

[markcanderson]

It was a green one..

this one?

[Scotty]

I was actually thinking of a darker green one.

The thing with all the ringmeisters is that it doesn't seem to matter what car they are in! [img]images/graemlins/bowdown.gif[/img]