F10 M5 on track

[StuH]

J-P said:

Perhaps but M6 is stupidly expensive around £20k more than an M5 and still no lightweight! I'd take he M5 all day everyday.

Not so much with the LCI model. The base spec on the M6 now includes a load of options that you have to pay for on the M5. Allowing for larger dealer contribs on the 6er the actual difference when I build the 2 cars was about £6k. And the M6 GC to me eyes is one of the best looking cars on the road.

[0836whimper]

Jazzer said:

CSLs sound great and handle superbly on track.

Not that quick though, not really, especially as road cars.....used to have no trouble with them in my Evo days.

M5, any of them, all day long for me!

No, CSL's aren't that quick in a straight line, e.g. a M135i is about the same.

But throw in some corners,and that's when these fastish but heavy and rolly road cars become undone and will be quite a lot slower. And a Caterfield etc that much faster again.

[e21Mark]

Great to see someone taking their M5 on track. I don't imagine too many owners do?

[Wills2]

bigtime said:

Wills2 said:

High praise indeed for the M5 considering your coming from a Cayman R, the M5 is probably the best M car at the moment all things considered.

Isn't the M6 better as it weighs a bit less? Ian sure a few tests have said the new M4 is quicker round the track. I know this doesn't make it a better car as M cars aren't exactly track focused.

I guess it weighs less but it was more about an all round appraisal of the car, "all things considered".

[theboss]

e21Mark said:

Great to see someone taking their M5 on track. I don't imagine too many owners do?

I'm taking mine to the Nordschleife in a fortnight... If it's quiet and dry I'll be tempted to do a gentle lap or two... if not then I'll try for a ride in the taxi. The risks are a little unnerving!

[W8PMC]

theboss said:

I'm taking mine to the Nordschleife in a fortnight... If it's quiet and dry I'll be tempted to do a gentle lap or two... if not then I'll try for a ride in the taxi. The risks are a little unnerving!

Quiet & dry is a combo rarely seen. If it's dry it will be busy & if it's quiet it will likely be wet.

Saying that, i heard the weekend just gone was quiet which for a 4 day TF is almost unheard of. May have got busier on Sunday though.

You should defo do a lap as the car is far more capable on track that you may think. Only managed a couple of TF laps last year as incidents kept shutting the road (was pretty busy).

Should have said, wet laps are some of the best as you're hopefully carrying less speed so can explore the layout more naturally. I find tracks a lot easier to learn when wet as i'm not pushing on & my attention can be diverted a little more to the layout.

Edited by W8PMC on Monday 1st June 14:31

[theboss]

Thanks for the advice... I am taking a trip over to Germany on business and taking my 15 year old son too... so the plan was to head down to the ring on the Sunday afternoon to watch and generally enjoy the surroundings hence having plenty to see and enjoy without feeling as though I *have* to take my own car out. I'm planning to stay overnight locally so thought I might find a quieter moment either late Sunday or Monday morning, but I appreciate that may be unrealistic!

Any recommendations for accomodation / restaurants?

[e21Mark]

theboss said:

e21Mark said:

Great to see someone taking their M5 on track. I don't imagine too many owners do?

I'm taking mine to the Nordschleife in a fortnight... If it's quiet and dry I'll be tempted to do a gentle lap or two... if not then I'll try for a ride in the taxi. The risks are a little unnerving!

Good on you. I don't see the point of owning a proper M car if you're not going to spank it every once in a while. I hope to take my E30 M3 someday, although I do take it on UK tracks.

[Schermerhorn]

You guys need to come to Yorkshire. Plenty of racing tracks here from 4:30am to 7:30am on the country roads during the summer.

[theboss]

e21Mark said:

Good on you. I don't see the point of owning a proper M car if you're not going to spank it every once in a while. I hope to take my E30 M3 someday, although I do take it on UK tracks.

Thanks... the 'ring is just a stopover on the way back from Berlin, so its fair to say the car is going to gain some real autobahn mileage!

[JMBMWM5]

W8PMC said:

Is a lot of fun, but i bet it cost me more in consumables too as the brakes took a pounding & i killed the front tyres & drank a good few tanks of fuel.

Expecting to be very close to that time in October as will have uprated the springs, pads & tyres. How come only 112 down Kemmel as that seems a little slow even with 125bhp. Difficult to tell what the variety of Caterhams & Westfields i encounter are running power wise, but most were quite a bit quicker than 112mph down Kemmel. That's probably the only section where the M5 can muller or at the very least play most things, however braking for Les Combes is a bit of challenge so 160 wasn't representative of most laps, probably a 150 average down Kemmel.

My old Nissan R35 GT-R with circa 640bhp that was there with me last September managed a 2:58.

How did you find the GRT Paul?, I always fancied one but the road noise from the tyres just gave me a headache.

[nickfrog]

theboss said:

Thanks for the advice... I am taking a trip over to Germany on business and taking my 15 year old son too... so the plan was to head down to the ring on the Sunday afternoon to watch and generally enjoy the surroundings hence having plenty to see and enjoy without feeling as though I *have* to take my own car out. I'm planning to stay overnight locally so thought I might find a quieter moment either late Sunday or Monday morning, but I appreciate that may be unrealistic!

Any recommendations for accomodation / restaurants?

Yes. I always stay at the Care Home opposite Rent4Ring, great parking, very cheap - http://www.nuerburgring-hotel.de/index.php/en/

And eat at the Pistenklause, which is 2 min walk http://www.am-tiergarten.de/en/restaurant_nuerburg...

Both 5mn drive from the TF entrance.

[W8PMC]

JMBMWM5 said:

How did you find the GRT Paul?, I always fancied one but the road noise from the tyres just gave me a headache.

They're an extremely capable car & i'm certainly glad i owned one, but it was a car i got bored of as a daily driver. It's current owner who bought it off me uses it as a weekend & track toy, as has a Q7 TDi for daily driver duties. That would be a better combo. They're just a pain to drive at normal speeds, as you say they're noisy & the build quality isn't very good, but they built the car to a budget so quality wasn't as high on the list as performance & performance is epic.

Now my F10 M5 is a little quicker it can stick with the/a GT-R in pretty much all driving aspects other than wet weather launches where i'd suffer with traction issues. I think the F10 M5 is by far the better all rounder, but that takes nothing away from just how capable a performance car the GT-R is.

[JMBMWM5]

W8PMC said:

They're an extremely capable car & i'm certainly glad i owned one, but it was a car i got bored of as a daily driver. It's current owner who bought it off me uses it as a weekend & track toy, as has a Q7 TDi for daily driver duties. That would be a better combo. They're just a pain to drive at normal speeds, as you say they're noisy & the build quality isn't very good, but they built the car to a budget so quality wasn't as high on the list as performance & performance is epic.

Now my F10 M5 is a little quicker it can stick with the/a GT-R in pretty much all driving aspects other than wet weather launches where i'd suffer with traction issues. I think the F10 M5 is by far the better all rounder, but that takes nothing away from just how capable a performance car the GT-R is.

Thanks.

[J-P]

W8PMC said:

JMBMWM5 said:

How did you find the GRT Paul?, I always fancied one but the road noise from the tyres just gave me a headache.

They're an extremely capable car & i'm certainly glad i owned one, but it was a car i got bored of as a daily driver. It's current owner who bought it off me uses it as a weekend & track toy, as has a Q7 TDi for daily driver duties. That would be a better combo. They're just a pain to drive at normal speeds, as you say they're noisy & the build quality isn't very good, but they built the car to a budget so quality wasn't as high on the list as performance & performance is epic.

Now my F10 M5 is a little quicker it can stick with the/a GT-R in pretty much all driving aspects other than wet weather launches where i'd suffer with traction issues. I think the F10 M5 is by far the better all rounder, but that takes nothing away from just how capable a performance car the GT-R is.

I drove a GTR when I was looking for a new car a few years back. I loved it when you were on it but thought it was dire at low speed. Agree on the build quality piece too! For me though, the biggest issue was that it only got comfortable above 50MPH. I just couldn't have used it for everyday scenarios. I didn't like the engine noise either. The F10 M5 is very very fast though. My mate's one held on to the coat tails of a GTR on the long straight at Bedford despite a slower exit speed on the previous corner. Very impressive!

[RWD cossie wil]

I went out in the ring taxi F20 M5, have to say its amazingly capable on track for such a big car! I was very impressed with the grip level in the wet as well, pretty special car all round really. Still, the driver took great delight in showing off just how to make one dance as well, lock stops got hit a few times, epic fun!

Think I would be banned in seconds if I had one in the UK!!