Trip report- Yellowbird round the nurburgring.
Discussion
Wednesday was public day, so decided to head up to the ring. We left on tuesday night, pretty much after rush hour to make good progress.
I hadnt driven the ctr for quite sometime so it was fun to get reaccustomed to it. The little niggles that you dont have to worry about in modern cars like:
- when you start it you have to apply a tiny bit of throttle just to help it catch.
-To select reverse you have to shift to first and then move a tiny bit forward, then you can find reverse.
-its lumpy and unhappy when cold, takes about 15mins to reach 90 C operating temp with <3000rpm driving.
We took a really good route from my GF's house to nurburgring. If anyone is planning on visiting ruf and driving to the ring or the other way round this is by far the best route imho. Its not a route the sat nav or route planners will give you because it is 20km's further to drive, however it is really worth it.
Our route was:
A7 North to Würzburg
then the A3 past Frankfurt, the first 80kms of the A3 is crap, however once you get near frankfurt and if the traffic is light its quite a drive. 4 Lane derestricted highways which are lighted. You blast past the frankfurt airport and its quite surreal!
The you pick up the A48 followed by the A61 where you take exit 33 to the ring.
We arrived quite late but made really good time.
We were up and ready for the 8am opening. I immediately took a sighting lap and the track was good, however it was a bit greasy in certain predictable places, Exit of bergwerk and Eiskurve. Here is a pic of lisa putting in the card to go out for her first run of the day after my sighting lap.
She did a really good run, and so we thought as traffic was light she should do another.
I had a go and it had been a while since i had driven the car on the ring, (6months or so) Boost ís set to low by the way
(450bhp, 0.8bar)
My limited experience and impression of the car on the ring is that:
Ours is the hardest suspension offered by ruf, however it feels really composed 100% of the time, however this may be because im not going that fast, but really its a bit too confidence inspiring for such a little monkey of a car.
The brakes are superb, i never used them fully as i want to preserve them (I have a woeful reputation with brakes) but the feel and sheer force they exhibit is really impressive.
Power comes everywhere, even with low boost. I find it more fun to short shift and just use the torque. That way you dont have to worry about any "excess" of boost coming in mid corner and making things interesting. Dont get me wrong though, the boost comes in really progressively, a bit like a tidal wave, but to be honest i have neither the talent nor the requisite white socks and mocassins of Stefan "sideways" Roser and really enjoy driving it in the higher gears. Plus it really helps you stay smooth and with that i believe you can make some pretty quick laps without sweating it too much!
However regardless of this fact, as the day went on it got hotter and hotter, and the little car becomes an oven. The engine creates so much heat and it just seeps into the cabin, where the little vents are easily overcome and do little to cool the car down. I love the lightweight nature of the car, but just sometimes a little bit of AC would be nice
by 11am i had done about 8 laps and it was getting more busy. There were of course the requisite imbeciles. When we came back to the car park after a lap i parked up and headed for the loo, whilst lisa wandered about the car park with some of our friends who had joined us. She watched a swedish ferrari F430 attempting to park. He was doing a pretty bad job of it, and crunched the car on a bit of curb, even with the help of some friendly passers by. When parked he noticed lisa watching,pulled the handbrake up and gave a demonstration of the sound of the ferrari. Whereapon lisa told him it didnt impress her, because the F430 is too slow, and has no torque!
So by 1pm with the track filling up, we decided to head for lunch in Adenau with some friends and then head home.
In total we did 1420km, used god knows how much shell Vpower, and a tiny bit of oil. I love this car.
Here are some pics:
My buddy Niek after a passenger lap:
Lisa and CTR:
Exiting Adenaur Forest:
Here is a video of the Yellowbird round Adenaur forest:
http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h20
very best
adam
I hadnt driven the ctr for quite sometime so it was fun to get reaccustomed to it. The little niggles that you dont have to worry about in modern cars like:
- when you start it you have to apply a tiny bit of throttle just to help it catch.
-To select reverse you have to shift to first and then move a tiny bit forward, then you can find reverse.
-its lumpy and unhappy when cold, takes about 15mins to reach 90 C operating temp with <3000rpm driving.
We took a really good route from my GF's house to nurburgring. If anyone is planning on visiting ruf and driving to the ring or the other way round this is by far the best route imho. Its not a route the sat nav or route planners will give you because it is 20km's further to drive, however it is really worth it.
Our route was:
A7 North to Würzburg
then the A3 past Frankfurt, the first 80kms of the A3 is crap, however once you get near frankfurt and if the traffic is light its quite a drive. 4 Lane derestricted highways which are lighted. You blast past the frankfurt airport and its quite surreal!
The you pick up the A48 followed by the A61 where you take exit 33 to the ring.
We arrived quite late but made really good time.
We were up and ready for the 8am opening. I immediately took a sighting lap and the track was good, however it was a bit greasy in certain predictable places, Exit of bergwerk and Eiskurve. Here is a pic of lisa putting in the card to go out for her first run of the day after my sighting lap.
She did a really good run, and so we thought as traffic was light she should do another.
I had a go and it had been a while since i had driven the car on the ring, (6months or so) Boost ís set to low by the way
(450bhp, 0.8bar) My limited experience and impression of the car on the ring is that:
Ours is the hardest suspension offered by ruf, however it feels really composed 100% of the time, however this may be because im not going that fast, but really its a bit too confidence inspiring for such a little monkey of a car.
The brakes are superb, i never used them fully as i want to preserve them (I have a woeful reputation with brakes) but the feel and sheer force they exhibit is really impressive.
Power comes everywhere, even with low boost. I find it more fun to short shift and just use the torque. That way you dont have to worry about any "excess" of boost coming in mid corner and making things interesting. Dont get me wrong though, the boost comes in really progressively, a bit like a tidal wave, but to be honest i have neither the talent nor the requisite white socks and mocassins of Stefan "sideways" Roser and really enjoy driving it in the higher gears. Plus it really helps you stay smooth and with that i believe you can make some pretty quick laps without sweating it too much!
However regardless of this fact, as the day went on it got hotter and hotter, and the little car becomes an oven. The engine creates so much heat and it just seeps into the cabin, where the little vents are easily overcome and do little to cool the car down. I love the lightweight nature of the car, but just sometimes a little bit of AC would be nice
by 11am i had done about 8 laps and it was getting more busy. There were of course the requisite imbeciles. When we came back to the car park after a lap i parked up and headed for the loo, whilst lisa wandered about the car park with some of our friends who had joined us. She watched a swedish ferrari F430 attempting to park. He was doing a pretty bad job of it, and crunched the car on a bit of curb, even with the help of some friendly passers by. When parked he noticed lisa watching,pulled the handbrake up and gave a demonstration of the sound of the ferrari. Whereapon lisa told him it didnt impress her, because the F430 is too slow, and has no torque!
So by 1pm with the track filling up, we decided to head for lunch in Adenau with some friends and then head home.
In total we did 1420km, used god knows how much shell Vpower, and a tiny bit of oil. I love this car.
Here are some pics:
My buddy Niek after a passenger lap:
Lisa and CTR:
Exiting Adenaur Forest:
Here is a video of the Yellowbird round Adenaur forest:
http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h20
very best
adam
Edited by adamt on Thursday 7th September 11:32
I've been thinking about taking my C4S for a play at the ring, any advice for a newbie? 
How do you sort out the insurance to cover it in case you get up close and personal with a barrier?
As a first timer and not know the track at all, am I going to get run down by the more experienced boys?
How do you sort out the insurance to cover it in case you get up close and personal with a barrier?
As a first timer and not know the track at all, am I going to get run down by the more experienced boys?
Insurance is a really grey area because basically the ring is a "toll" road....but insurers tend to view it as a race track 
Newbie advice would be for you to get there as it opens, 8am, as most people are not around till 9:30 am or so, and really just watch your mirrors for faster traffic and indicate when they come up
very best
adam
Newbie advice would be for you to get there as it opens, 8am, as most people are not around till 9:30 am or so, and really just watch your mirrors for faster traffic and indicate when they come up
very best
adam
Framps; check out www.nurburgring.org.uk
There are hundreds of newbie questions answered ther, but Adam's right... first thing in the morning is when the best laps are usually done... watch out for a bit of early morning dew on some corners tho'.
Take it easy and you'll be fine.
Insurance wise it's still a grey area but a mate got a 20k claim paid out on his Ferrari earlier in the year on a road policy and they didn't even load his premium at renewal. It is a public road so your policy should cover it UNLESS specifically excluded (as it often is!).
There are hundreds of newbie questions answered ther, but Adam's right... first thing in the morning is when the best laps are usually done... watch out for a bit of early morning dew on some corners tho'.
Take it easy and you'll be fine.
Insurance wise it's still a grey area but a mate got a 20k claim paid out on his Ferrari earlier in the year on a road policy and they didn't even load his premium at renewal. It is a public road so your policy should cover it UNLESS specifically excluded (as it often is!).
Adam,
Thanks for the excellent report.
The A7 is pretty spectacular, isn't it? Something like 100 miles derestricted (apart from the tunnels), much of it with bends to make it better.
If you were at the 'ring yesterday, you will have encountered the early-arrivers for Scuderia Hanseat. There is always a large, rowdy Swedish contingent, which you noticed.
The SH crowd are like the normal TF attendees - some really good drivers and some crap ones. The difference being that, unlike the motley crew at TF, even the crap drivers at SH seem to think that they know what they're doing, including one chap who in 2 1/2 days managed to crash 3 cars.
SH brings some of the best business of the year for Manthey and Ring Racing.
Please give my best regards to your dad and to Estonia and Alois.
Cheers.
Thanks for the excellent report.
The A7 is pretty spectacular, isn't it? Something like 100 miles derestricted (apart from the tunnels), much of it with bends to make it better.
If you were at the 'ring yesterday, you will have encountered the early-arrivers for Scuderia Hanseat. There is always a large, rowdy Swedish contingent, which you noticed.
The SH crowd are like the normal TF attendees - some really good drivers and some crap ones. The difference being that, unlike the motley crew at TF, even the crap drivers at SH seem to think that they know what they're doing, including one chap who in 2 1/2 days managed to crash 3 cars.
SH brings some of the best business of the year for Manthey and Ring Racing.
Please give my best regards to your dad and to Estonia and Alois.
Cheers.
pikey said:
Great report Adam - and fantastic car
One question though.... how do people manage to get pics of themselves on the web cam? Do you phone up some bloke at a PC and say "grab this"?
One question though.... how do people manage to get pics of themselves on the web cam? Do you phone up some bloke at a PC and say "grab this"?
Great question- my poor father was stuck at work and he was watching the webcam for us!
all the best
adam
flemke said:
Adam,
Thanks for the excellent report.
The A7 is pretty spectacular, isn't it? Something like 100 miles derestricted (apart from the tunnels), much of it with bends to make it better.
If you were at the 'ring yesterday, you will have encountered the early-arrivers for Scuderia Hanseat. There is always a large, rowdy Swedish contingent, which you noticed.
The SH crowd are like the normal TF attendees - some really good drivers and some crap ones. The difference being that, unlike the motley crew at TF, even the crap drivers at SH seem to think that they know what they're doing, including one chap who in 2 1/2 days managed to crash 3 cars.
SH brings some of the best business of the year for Manthey and Ring Racing.
Please give my best regards to your dad and to Estonia and Alois.
Cheers.
Thanks for the excellent report.
The A7 is pretty spectacular, isn't it? Something like 100 miles derestricted (apart from the tunnels), much of it with bends to make it better.
If you were at the 'ring yesterday, you will have encountered the early-arrivers for Scuderia Hanseat. There is always a large, rowdy Swedish contingent, which you noticed.
The SH crowd are like the normal TF attendees - some really good drivers and some crap ones. The difference being that, unlike the motley crew at TF, even the crap drivers at SH seem to think that they know what they're doing, including one chap who in 2 1/2 days managed to crash 3 cars.
SH brings some of the best business of the year for Manthey and Ring Racing.
Please give my best regards to your dad and to Estonia and Alois.
Cheers.
Hi Flemke
The A7 is the most spectacular road- it is my favourite road in germany. When we were driving back the road had light traffic - at 5:30PM! And I later heard that on the A8 which runs pretty much parallel to it had huge traffic jams....
The swedish ferrari was a complete imbecile, he nearly completely lost it at the exit of Brunchen II but it was very clear the car gathered things up and saved his a$$ so to speak.
Will you be at the ring on the weekend by anychance?
very best
adam
adamt said:
Will you be at the ring on the weekend by anychance?
Adam, I was planning to be there.
Then a friend called. His F1 GTR has just been refurbed and fettled by the factory and he invited me to join them for the test session this weekend.
It would have been rude to decline.
Might you be at the 'ring another time this year?
framps said:
I've been thinking about taking my C4S for a play at the ring, any advice for a newbie?
How do you sort out the insurance to cover it in case you get up close and personal with a barrier?
As a first timer and not know the track at all, am I going to get run down by the more experienced boys?
How do you sort out the insurance to cover it in case you get up close and personal with a barrier?
As a first timer and not know the track at all, am I going to get run down by the more experienced boys?
I made my first trip a couple of weeks ago and asked pretty much exactly these questions in this thread:
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=&t=297747
The advice (esp. from flemke) was exactly spot on.
In particular I would strongly advise a number of passenger laps first preferably with someone who knows the circuit, and, even more useful in my view, on you first lap(s) is to have a passenger with you who knows the circuit - someone who can advise you what corner is coming, etc. - incredibly useful. And watch your mirrors - an awful lot of other traffic is faster than you, and a surprising amount is slower (don't suppose I'll overtake a 996 turbo on a circuit very often
). As already suggested Ben Lovejoy's site is a mine of information and well worth a careful read.
Edited to add: gorgeous car adam, and a great report - if I ever see you at the Ring I would love a pax ride ...
Edited by tertius on Thursday 7th September 13:07
flemke said:
adamt said:
Will you be at the ring on the weekend by anychance?
Adam, I was planning to be there.
Then a friend called. His F1 GTR has just been refurbed and fettled by the factory and he invited me to join them for the test session this weekend.
It would have been rude to decline.
Might you be at the 'ring another time this year?
Superb
Have fun, im sure you will!
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