E92 M3 Competition Pack
Discussion
SiT said:
Oh an interesting question..................
as Grant knows this thread has been the source of HUGE temptation for me which up until now I have continued to resist. However it now looks like the stars have aligned so we'll see.
The car is superb and I love the Recaros, I had them in a Clio 200 Cup and they were incredible seats, everyone that sat in them commented the same.
Good work Grant and keep going with the inspiration
Si
Cheers Si, you bought one yet...?? as Grant knows this thread has been the source of HUGE temptation for me which up until now I have continued to resist. However it now looks like the stars have aligned so we'll see.The car is superb and I love the Recaros, I had them in a Clio 200 Cup and they were incredible seats, everyone that sat in them commented the same.
Good work Grant and keep going with the inspiration
Si
The seats are absolutely brilliant, great modification that I've really enjoyed over the past week at the Nurburgring and Spa.
antseddon said:
RS Grant said:
Next up on the agenda was something which I didn't think that I was going to be able to fit in before I go to the Nurburgring and then stick the car away for the winter; fitting Recaro Sportster CS seats. I had been collecting the floor mounts, Recaro sliders and was watching eBay, Facebook, Gumtree, etc like a hawk for any Renault, Ford, Recaro seats appearing for sale... to no avail. Then, by complete chance, I found a pair of seats for sale in the Lake District and they were for an E92 M3, with all the mounts etc included... result!!
What floor mounts did you go with in the end, Grant? I'm thinking of doing the same with my Java Green E92 and would welcome any advice you could send my way to help with the Man Maths! ...that's a really rare beast you've got!! I absolutely love that colour, so if you want to machine gun this thread with pictures then I'm absolutely ok with that. 
The mounts that I bought in preparation are (by complete chance!) the same mounts which came with the Recaro CS that I bought. They're VAC mounts which I sourced from Martin @ MS Motorsport (https://www.raceparts.biz/) who was very helpful and happy to chat about my options when I called him/messaged him. I'm hoping that he's just as understanding when I try to send them back since I found a complete set up and fitted that instead, haha.
Remember at the beginning when I said that the long/wordy posts wouldn't be a common thing.. well looking back it seems like I'm a liar, the last few updates have been nothing but long/wordy!! ...and the bad news for anyone who is bored of reading my waffle is that this one about my recent Nurburgring and Spa trip is not going to be any different!! However, at least I've got a load of pictures and a couple of video links to share with you, so I won't be offended if you sack off the story and just scroll through the media instead, in fact, I'll even hide it in a 'Spoiler' clicky for you.
After my first visit to the Nurburgring in 2016 with my Golf, I was absolutely hooked..
racetracker_2062120_81251 by Grant F, on Flickr
..it's a place which I had wanted to visit for years and to finally be there was amazing, it didn't dissappoint at all. The track, the atmosphere, the area, the people, the cars and the famous steak on a stone.
Afterwards there was a WhatApp group chat created between everyone who had come along and to start with there was the usual post-holiday chat like 'I'm gonna change X,Y and Z on the car' and 'I'm definitely going back there next year' from everyone. But as time wore on, the chat slid into the usual (at least for me anyway?!) WhatsApp group chat mould of sharing funny/horrendous pictures and videos. When it became clear that a 2017 visit wasn't on the cards, the title of the group chat changed from 'Nurburgring Trip 2017' to 'Nurburgring Trip 2028'.
Fast forward to around June this year and Ryan from the group chat mentioned that he'd be keen to go back in September time again; although it was met with 'too late notice' and 'the car needs X, Y and Z done to it' type replies... but I jumped at the chance and was really keen to experience it all again and take the M3 back to Ze Fatherland to see what it could do. However it all went quiet for a few weeks and I had written off the idea that we were going to make it there in 2018... when one of my best mates Paul, who had stayed fairly quiet on the subject when mentioned on WhatsApp, said that he'd be keen to give it a whirl!! Jackpot!! We asked the others in the group chat who gave the same replies as they did when it was mentioned in June and Ryan said that while he was still extremely keen, he needed to wait and see how work was before he committed.
So me and Paul booked our hotel ( http://sonnenhof-nuerburgring.de/en/) and our ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam as well.. then time slowed down to a crawl as I started to count down the weeks/days until we left. I'm joking obviously, because I had/wanted/man maths'd my way to a new AP brake kit front and rear, lower mounted/more supportive seats, M Performance steering wheel and some better/new tyres... so time actually moved really quickly and a couple of times I wasn't sure if I'd have it all done before we left!!
The planets aligned for Ryan, who chose to bring his EP3 Turbo rather than his Supercharged S2000. We also had two other lads confirm that they were going to come along too, Lee with his Suzuki GSXR1000 and Jordan with his S1000RR HP4... so a decent group and a nice variation of cars/bikes too.
So, 27th September arrived and an early morning wash of the car before getting ready to leave:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
...it was only me and Paul who were travelling from NE Scotland and it was a fairly gentle sunny drive down the East Coast, round Edinburgh, down the A1 to Berwick, into Englandshire and eventually arriving at Newcastle port with a good amount of time to spare:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Paul was wanting to get checked in ASAP, so we made our way through passport control/customs and into the queue for boarding... only to be met with a guy waving us up an impossibly steep ramp which led to an impossibly tight 'tube' that they expected you to park your car in. For someone like me, who freaks out when people get within 10ft of my car, this wasn't a comfortable situation to be in?!!
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
After waiting until everyone had vacated their cars and made their way past my car towards the doorway/stairs up to the passenger deck, I got my stuff and made my way up to the cabin.
The other guys were travelling from over Glasgow way in the West and had run into some issues on their way; with the towing dolly suffering a blowout and then after changing the tyre they got choked by traffic... it got so bad that missing the ferry had become a real possibility for them! They decided to take the Civic off the towing dolly, allowing them to make 'better progress' and after calling ahead and negotiating an extra 15 minutes grace for check-in, they only just made it.
After a few beers and an early-ish night, we docked in Amsterdam.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
...after a visit to the petrol station to fill the cars (a common occurence for me! ), we set off on the ~3hr trip to our hotels to check in and dump our stuff, before popping up to the Nordschleife for a look round and managing to squeeze in a lap before it closed for the day. Getting a lap in was great, but getting a greasy/cold/damp lap in was something I didn't experience on my first trip in the Golf where it was 30c+ temperatures and bright sunshine the entire time we were there. So a nice, gentle and very careful lap was the order of the day!!
NOS_20180928_192227_IM5_3672_1 by Grant F, on Flickr
NOS_20180928_192228_IM5_3674_1 by Grant F, on Flickr
Turned in a 10m12s lap, which I was surprised about because I thought I'd gone much slower than that, it certainly felt pretty pedestrian at times. However, with a couple of wee slides and a lot of laughs with Ryan and Jordan on board who aren't good passengers, it was good fun.. which is the main thing.
The next day we popped down (everything is down from Landhaus Sonnenhof given the altitude it sits at!) to see the guys at their hotel before we went up to Nurburg for a drive around and then along to enjoy the sunshine while we spectated at Pflanzgarten and Brunnchen for a while.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Gratuitous landscape shot:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
After specatating for a while, we got ready for going onto the evening TF session.. it was only going to be 90 minutes long, so was expecting it to be fairly busy but it was extremely busy, so we decided not to bother going on and tempting fate! The queue to return to the car park stretched back to the Gantry at the start of the last straight.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
The next morning I went to fill the car up and try to wash the crap/brake dust off it too.. but was told that it is illegal to wash a car on a Sunday in that area?! Religious reasons apparently, which were somewhat lost on me I'm afraid... but I stopped for a couple of photos on my way back to Nurburg; the obligatory Nurburgring sign photo and then the BMW M-Testcentre photo too.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
The Nurburgring was open for a whole day, 8am to 7pm of TF madness... so I met up with everyone in the car park around 11:30ish, with the lads on bikes heading out for a lap while I was getting myself sorted. Once the laps were purchased and I was ready to rock, I turned off the roundabout to be met with a red flag and the track closed, so I parked up and went to find Lee and Jordan in the bike car park... unfortunately I only found Lee who said that the track was closed because Jordan had come off his bike at Pflanzgarten. He was fine, but the bike wasn't quite so fine and he'd told the Ambulance people that he didn't need to go to hospital because he only had a very small scratch on his hand... so we headed along to pick him up and take a look at the bike, which was going to be recovered by ADAC.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
...ouch! The reason for this was due to a Dutch-registered Porsche having an off/moment, but continuing with his lap... unaware that he was spewing oil all over the track until his engine let go 15-20 corners later?! When the Police arrived they told Jordan that the Porsche insurance will cover the damage/costs, so in addition to being uninjured, it looks to be about as good as you could hope for in that situation.
After another spot of spectating at Brunnchen and some high end culinary delights from the wee hotdog van there (they're very good!) we headed down to the car park to put in a couple of laps.
racetracker_5384524_81243 by Grant F, on Flickr
racetracker_5378375_81242 by Grant F, on Flickr
racetracker_5369908_81247 by Grant F, on Flickr
YouTube link to my best BTG lap
...managed an 8m23s BTG lap, which I was really happy with. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres were fantastic, however did start to get a little loose about 2/3rds of the way through the lap; but they're a road tyre, it's a heavy car and I was driving it pretty hard so I will more than forgive them for that.
After Jordan's issues and the TF laps, we decided that the best place to nurse the sunburn was the Pistenklause while we enjoyed a famous 'steak on a stone' meal.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
...and after that, we talked each other into having seconds!!
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
After we finshed that, we rolled our fat ar$es along the road to try and get a night shot at the Nurburgring sign.. stopping to get better pictures of the cars on show at the M Testcentre on the way.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
I think this is probably a situation where a DSLR, a flash or two and some photography knowledge would create an amazing photo... but as you can see, an iPhone 7 pointed at a car in the dark by a man who is struggling to move because he's rammed full of food isn't such a great combo.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
(I'm unsure about what the character/photo limit is per post here, so I'll end it here and follow on with Part 2 in the next post...)
After my first visit to the Nurburgring in 2016 with my Golf, I was absolutely hooked..
racetracker_2062120_81251 by Grant F, on Flickr..it's a place which I had wanted to visit for years and to finally be there was amazing, it didn't dissappoint at all. The track, the atmosphere, the area, the people, the cars and the famous steak on a stone.
Afterwards there was a WhatApp group chat created between everyone who had come along and to start with there was the usual post-holiday chat like 'I'm gonna change X,Y and Z on the car' and 'I'm definitely going back there next year' from everyone. But as time wore on, the chat slid into the usual (at least for me anyway?!) WhatsApp group chat mould of sharing funny/horrendous pictures and videos. When it became clear that a 2017 visit wasn't on the cards, the title of the group chat changed from 'Nurburgring Trip 2017' to 'Nurburgring Trip 2028'.
Fast forward to around June this year and Ryan from the group chat mentioned that he'd be keen to go back in September time again; although it was met with 'too late notice' and 'the car needs X, Y and Z done to it' type replies... but I jumped at the chance and was really keen to experience it all again and take the M3 back to Ze Fatherland to see what it could do. However it all went quiet for a few weeks and I had written off the idea that we were going to make it there in 2018... when one of my best mates Paul, who had stayed fairly quiet on the subject when mentioned on WhatsApp, said that he'd be keen to give it a whirl!! Jackpot!! We asked the others in the group chat who gave the same replies as they did when it was mentioned in June and Ryan said that while he was still extremely keen, he needed to wait and see how work was before he committed.
So me and Paul booked our hotel ( http://sonnenhof-nuerburgring.de/en/) and our ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam as well.. then time slowed down to a crawl as I started to count down the weeks/days until we left.
I'm joking obviously, because I had/wanted/man maths'd my way to a new AP brake kit front and rear, lower mounted/more supportive seats, M Performance steering wheel and some better/new tyres... so time actually moved really quickly and a couple of times I wasn't sure if I'd have it all done before we left!!The planets aligned for Ryan, who chose to bring his EP3 Turbo rather than his Supercharged S2000. We also had two other lads confirm that they were going to come along too, Lee with his Suzuki GSXR1000 and Jordan with his S1000RR HP4... so a decent group and a nice variation of cars/bikes too.
So, 27th September arrived and an early morning wash of the car before getting ready to leave:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr...it was only me and Paul who were travelling from NE Scotland and it was a fairly gentle sunny drive down the East Coast, round Edinburgh, down the A1 to Berwick, into Englandshire and eventually arriving at Newcastle port with a good amount of time to spare:
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrPaul was wanting to get checked in ASAP, so we made our way through passport control/customs and into the queue for boarding... only to be met with a guy waving us up an impossibly steep ramp which led to an impossibly tight 'tube' that they expected you to park your car in. For someone like me, who freaks out when people get within 10ft of my car, this wasn't a comfortable situation to be in?!!
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrAfter waiting until everyone had vacated their cars and made their way past my car towards the doorway/stairs up to the passenger deck, I got my stuff and made my way up to the cabin.
The other guys were travelling from over Glasgow way in the West and had run into some issues on their way; with the towing dolly suffering a blowout and then after changing the tyre they got choked by traffic... it got so bad that missing the ferry had become a real possibility for them! They decided to take the Civic off the towing dolly, allowing them to make 'better progress' and after calling ahead and negotiating an extra 15 minutes grace for check-in, they only just made it.
After a few beers and an early-ish night, we docked in Amsterdam.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr...after a visit to the petrol station to fill the cars (a common occurence for me!
), we set off on the ~3hr trip to our hotels to check in and dump our stuff, before popping up to the Nordschleife for a look round and managing to squeeze in a lap before it closed for the day. Getting a lap in was great, but getting a greasy/cold/damp lap in was something I didn't experience on my first trip in the Golf where it was 30c+ temperatures and bright sunshine the entire time we were there. So a nice, gentle and very careful lap was the order of the day!!NOS_20180928_192227_IM5_3672_1 by Grant F, on FlickrNOS_20180928_192228_IM5_3674_1 by Grant F, on FlickrTurned in a 10m12s lap, which I was surprised about because I thought I'd gone much slower than that, it certainly felt pretty pedestrian at times. However, with a couple of wee slides and a lot of laughs with Ryan and Jordan on board who aren't good passengers, it was good fun.. which is the main thing.
The next day we popped down (everything is down from Landhaus Sonnenhof given the altitude it sits at!) to see the guys at their hotel before we went up to Nurburg for a drive around and then along to enjoy the sunshine while we spectated at Pflanzgarten and Brunnchen for a while.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrGratuitous landscape shot:
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrAfter specatating for a while, we got ready for going onto the evening TF session.. it was only going to be 90 minutes long, so was expecting it to be fairly busy but it was extremely busy, so we decided not to bother going on and tempting fate! The queue to return to the car park stretched back to the Gantry at the start of the last straight.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrThe next morning I went to fill the car up and try to wash the crap/brake dust off it too.. but was told that it is illegal to wash a car on a Sunday in that area?! Religious reasons apparently, which were somewhat lost on me I'm afraid... but I stopped for a couple of photos on my way back to Nurburg; the obligatory Nurburgring sign photo and then the BMW M-Testcentre photo too.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrThe Nurburgring was open for a whole day, 8am to 7pm of TF madness... so I met up with everyone in the car park around 11:30ish, with the lads on bikes heading out for a lap while I was getting myself sorted. Once the laps were purchased and I was ready to rock, I turned off the roundabout to be met with a red flag and the track closed, so I parked up and went to find Lee and Jordan in the bike car park... unfortunately I only found Lee who said that the track was closed because Jordan had come off his bike at Pflanzgarten. He was fine, but the bike wasn't quite so fine and he'd told the Ambulance people that he didn't need to go to hospital because he only had a very small scratch on his hand... so we headed along to pick him up and take a look at the bike, which was going to be recovered by ADAC.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr...ouch! The reason for this was due to a Dutch-registered Porsche having an off/moment, but continuing with his lap... unaware that he was spewing oil all over the track until his engine let go 15-20 corners later?! When the Police arrived they told Jordan that the Porsche insurance will cover the damage/costs, so in addition to being uninjured, it looks to be about as good as you could hope for in that situation.
After another spot of spectating at Brunnchen and some high end culinary delights from the wee hotdog van there (they're very good!) we headed down to the car park to put in a couple of laps.
racetracker_5384524_81243 by Grant F, on Flickrracetracker_5378375_81242 by Grant F, on Flickrracetracker_5369908_81247 by Grant F, on FlickrYouTube link to my best BTG lap
...managed an 8m23s BTG lap, which I was really happy with. The Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres were fantastic, however did start to get a little loose about 2/3rds of the way through the lap; but they're a road tyre, it's a heavy car and I was driving it pretty hard so I will more than forgive them for that.
After Jordan's issues and the TF laps, we decided that the best place to nurse the sunburn was the Pistenklause while we enjoyed a famous 'steak on a stone' meal.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr...and after that, we talked each other into having seconds!!
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrAfter we finshed that, we rolled our fat ar$es along the road to try and get a night shot at the Nurburgring sign.. stopping to get better pictures of the cars on show at the M Testcentre on the way.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrI think this is probably a situation where a DSLR, a flash or two and some photography knowledge would create an amazing photo... but as you can see, an iPhone 7 pointed at a car in the dark by a man who is struggling to move because he's rammed full of food isn't such a great combo.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr(I'm unsure about what the character/photo limit is per post here, so I'll end it here and follow on with Part 2 in the next post...)
Once me and Paul had booked our ferry and accommodation, I started to look around for things to do aside from wandering around Nurburg. I had heard that Spa-Francorchamps was within striking distance, so I had a nosey on the website to see what may/may not be available to see there and saw that there was a (fully booked) Circuit Days track event on... so I pinged them a quick email asking if I could be slotted onto the waiting list in case there was a cancellation.
Fast forward to the night before we left and I thought I'd send the organiser an email to check to see where I was on the waiting list and he replied saying that I had a space on the event if I still wanted it... happy days, a bucket list track ticked off!!
So the morning after the Pistenklause feast was an early one, 5:30am is not a typical time to get up when you're on holiday, but this was going to be well worth it. On walking through the car park at the hotel, I saw some kind of insane looking Audi on a trailer. I wish I'd had time to wait until daylight to get a proper look around the car, but sacrifices need to be made.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
The roads were good quality, quiet and apart from a couple of road closures which added an extra 20minutes onto our journey time the trip there was largely drama free... until I followed the car sat nav Point of Interest which took me to the town centre rather than up to the circuit.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Finally arrived at the circuit, found the correct paddock, signed in, hung around the main pit garage for a bit and then listened to the Drivers Briefing; which included the fact that you cannot be wearing short sleeved tops or shorts, something I didn't want to hear... given I was wearing shorts. In my defence, I've done plenty of track stuff at Knockhill in shorts but conceed that I should have planned for worst case and at least brought something long legged with me...... instead I had to scuttle over to the onsite shop/trailer to buy some nomex long johns for a less than reasonable 90 euros and wear them under my shorts, haha, but at least I got to go on track.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
YouTube link to a run with a Boxster Spyder
YouTube link to a run with a 991 GT3RS (Part 1)
YouTube link to a run with a 991 GT3RS (Part 2)
What a track, what a trackday and what an experience!! Extremely well run day, people were polite, everyone seemed to be having a great time and apart from one incident with a White E46 ignoring blue flags and not getting out of the way for a couple of laps or so it was very smooth and easy to pass/let others pass... I'll definitely be trying to do another Circuit Days event in future.
Best Lap of 3m08s may be good, may be bad, may be average... doesn't really matter because I had an absolute blast!!
After an early start, the long day at track and the long drive home.. when we had been driving on a lovely B-road for some time, we were met with a road closed barrier.... not really knowing where we were, where to go, or what the signs were saying... we decided to investigate just how closed the road was, discovering that apart from a few raised drain covers, it was smooth as silk through the wee village.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
After that it was smooth sailing all the way home to meet the rest of the lads, have a feed and then go straight to bed exhausted.
Next morning was time to get packed up and start back for the ferry at 17:30 in Amsterdam.. so a quick picture from the hotel car park looking over the town:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Then we stopped for another refill of the tank in Adenau before we left... getting swooped on by ~£1mil worth of BMW M5 filling their tanks for the day in the process:
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Having had to go up onto the 'car tube' on the ferry during the journey on the way out, there was no way that I was going to be stuck on it during the journey home.. so, along with Ryan (whos car couldn't clear anything), I said that my car couldn't make it up the ramp on the side and would need to stay on the bottom deck with the trucks. Preparing for a bit of a discussion, I was surprised when they just agreed and let me wait with Ryan until almost the end.
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr
Apart from the unfortunate situation with Jordan and his bike it was an amazing trip, loads of new memories, great track time and so much fun. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't going to be and I went in with my eyes open... which was good because I spent nearly £700 in fuel alone.
Highly recommended, if any more pictures drop into my inbox then I'll fire them up.
Fast forward to the night before we left and I thought I'd send the organiser an email to check to see where I was on the waiting list and he replied saying that I had a space on the event if I still wanted it... happy days, a bucket list track ticked off!!
So the morning after the Pistenklause feast was an early one, 5:30am is not a typical time to get up when you're on holiday, but this was going to be well worth it. On walking through the car park at the hotel, I saw some kind of insane looking Audi on a trailer. I wish I'd had time to wait until daylight to get a proper look around the car, but sacrifices need to be made.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrThe roads were good quality, quiet and apart from a couple of road closures which added an extra 20minutes onto our journey time the trip there was largely drama free... until I followed the car sat nav Point of Interest which took me to the town centre rather than up to the circuit.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrFinally arrived at the circuit, found the correct paddock, signed in, hung around the main pit garage for a bit and then listened to the Drivers Briefing; which included the fact that you cannot be wearing short sleeved tops or shorts, something I didn't want to hear... given I was wearing shorts.
In my defence, I've done plenty of track stuff at Knockhill in shorts but conceed that I should have planned for worst case and at least brought something long legged with me...... instead I had to scuttle over to the onsite shop/trailer to buy some nomex long johns for a less than reasonable 90 euros and wear them under my shorts, haha, but at least I got to go on track. Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrYouTube link to a run with a Boxster Spyder
YouTube link to a run with a 991 GT3RS (Part 1)
YouTube link to a run with a 991 GT3RS (Part 2)
What a track, what a trackday and what an experience!! Extremely well run day, people were polite, everyone seemed to be having a great time and apart from one incident with a White E46 ignoring blue flags and not getting out of the way for a couple of laps or so it was very smooth and easy to pass/let others pass... I'll definitely be trying to do another Circuit Days event in future.
Best Lap of 3m08s may be good, may be bad, may be average... doesn't really matter because I had an absolute blast!!
After an early start, the long day at track and the long drive home.. when we had been driving on a lovely B-road for some time, we were met with a road closed barrier.... not really knowing where we were, where to go, or what the signs were saying... we decided to investigate just how closed the road was, discovering that apart from a few raised drain covers, it was smooth as silk through the wee village.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrAfter that it was smooth sailing all the way home to meet the rest of the lads, have a feed and then go straight to bed exhausted.
Next morning was time to get packed up and start back for the ferry at 17:30 in Amsterdam.. so a quick picture from the hotel car park looking over the town:
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrThen we stopped for another refill of the tank in Adenau before we left... getting swooped on by ~£1mil worth of BMW M5 filling their tanks for the day in the process:
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrHaving had to go up onto the 'car tube' on the ferry during the journey on the way out, there was no way that I was going to be stuck on it during the journey home.. so, along with Ryan (whos car couldn't clear anything), I said that my car couldn't make it up the ramp on the side and would need to stay on the bottom deck with the trucks. Preparing for a bit of a discussion, I was surprised when they just agreed and let me wait with Ryan until almost the end.
Untitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrUntitled by Grant F, on FlickrApart from the unfortunate situation with Jordan and his bike it was an amazing trip, loads of new memories, great track time and so much fun. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't going to be and I went in with my eyes open... which was good because I spent nearly £700 in fuel alone.
Highly recommended, if any more pictures drop into my inbox then I'll fire them up.
Edited by RS Grant on Tuesday 9th October 13:10
RS Grant said:
Java Green?!! ...that's a really rare beast you've got!! I absolutely love that colour, so if you want to machine gun this thread with pictures then I'm absolutely ok with that.
Yes, I've had it just over 3 years now, DCT with just over 51k on the clock. The only thing I dislike about it is the driving position so I'm hoping the Recaros will sort it. ...that's a really rare beast you've got!! I absolutely love that colour, so if you want to machine gun this thread with pictures then I'm absolutely ok with that. I don't want to spam your thread too much, but here are some pictures of it in cleaner times!
Let me know if you have any issues returning those floor mounts. I'd be happy to take them off your hands.
jaybarts said:
Excellent write up, had our first ring trip this summer and already can’t wait to go again!
What did you take over? It's a brilliant place and I loved having the M3 over there, but I think I'd enjoy myself in almost anything. SiT said:
Looks like an amazing trip!!!!! What’s next?!?
Si
I'm unsure... I had planned to take the seats back out over winter and send them off for retrimming, however the local(ish) place I had lined up to do the work have seen the car now and said that matching my Fox Red leather is going to be impossible; as will getting hold of BMW to buy some OE leather to use. So I'm going to do a bit more digging and research about who is well regarded in the UK because I'm not against boxing them up and sending them off somewhere if people can guarantee a colour match.Si
Aside from the seats, I'm weighing up the benefits of coilovers at the moment. I got chatting to another E92 owner over a petrol pump at Spa and he was running Ohlins Road and Track coilovers, which he really rated and was very happy with... they're the ones I had been reading up about prior to the trip, so it was good to have some real life feedback rather than relying on the sales chat/literature from suppliers. But the huge downside in changing the suspension for me is the loss of EDC, which I like to mess about with on the fly depending on the situation/road that I'm driving on; so I'm really not sure about losing that function and need to remember that this is still a road car and not an attempt to build an out-and-out track toy, so a switch to coilovers is possibly a step too far.
antseddon said:
Yes, I've had it just over 3 years now, DCT with just over 51k on the clock. The only thing I dislike about it is the driving position so I'm hoping the Recaros will sort it.
I don't want to spam your thread too much, but here are some pictures of it in cleaner times!
Let me know if you have any issues returning those floor mounts. I'd be happy to take them off your hands.
That is lovely. I've no idea what number of Java Green E92 were made, but it's such a striking colour and right up there with Santorini Blue and Japan Red for me. I don't want to spam your thread too much, but here are some pictures of it in cleaner times!
Let me know if you have any issues returning those floor mounts. I'd be happy to take them off your hands.
I'll wait to see how I get on, but will PM you and let you know if the VAC floor mounts become available.
Jez m said:
Awesome writeup, thoroughly enjoyed that as well as the YT vids.. watching you drive Spa and especially Eau Rouge corner has made me think i'd rather go there than the Ring!
Looks like the brakes were a worthwhile upgrade.
Thanks Jez, it's a tough call.. but there's not really a 'wrong' answer, you'd the experience on both!! I must say though, that driving them both back to back, it was nice to know that there were some rules on the Spa track day after the 'gloves-off' nature of the Touristfahren laps at the Ring... along with lots of nice safe run-off areas if you/others made a mistake, something which is quite rare on the Ring.Looks like the brakes were a worthwhile upgrade.
Brakes were awesome, definitely not a cheap upgrade but worth their weight in gold when you're leaning on them as hard as you do on track!!
MikeGoodwin said:
Looking good, looks like you had some good use out of it.
Sold my Monte Carlo last week. Regretting it so looking at a new one now.
You get on OK with the manual? Ive never tried one but people are so negative about it
I saw that you'd sold it.. and then to regret it afterwards too, nightmare!Sold my Monte Carlo last week. Regretting it so looking at a new one now.
You get on OK with the manual? Ive never tried one but people are so negative about it
The DCT gearbox is awesome and very well suited to the S65 engine, I'll conceed that the manual gearbox isn't as good a match.. given the increased shift time and longer ratios; but the interaction of the manual is a huge positive for me as is the control you get from being able to select gears yourself.
I'm very used to the throw of the manual gearbox now, but it isn't a short throw and isn't a super precise action. I know you were a fan of the DCT (especially with GTS software) so I would definitely say that you need to find a manual car and have a drive of it to see how you feel and how it changes the package for you.
For what it's worth, I don't wish I'd got a DCT car and am extremely happy with my choice. But as I said, it's not perfect, so I will be looking to order a proper short shift kit at some point because I'd like to sharpen up the action and reduce the throw distance a little too.
d_a_n1979 said:
Bloody brilliant write-up 
Cheers buddy. MRobbins1987 said:
The photograph at the entrance to Spa made me twitch. Car looks superb I really need to get over to the ring at some point.
Hahaha 'twitch' ...I've not heard that for a while, brilliant!! Thanks mate, if you make it over then I'm sure you'll love it there. I think I've found all of the photos taken by photographers at both the Nurburgring and Spa, so thought I'd share the new ones I found on the thread too. The pictures at the Ring are all Karousel based:
racetracker_5375133_81245 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_4676 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_4682 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_9867 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_4684 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_4687 by Grant F, on Flickr
IMG_4693 by Grant F, on Flickr
...and the ones from Spa are dotted around the circuit a little more:
spa7 by Grant F, on Flickr
spa6 by Grant F, on Flickr
spa5 by Grant F, on Flickr
spa4 by Grant F, on Flickr
spa2 by Grant F, on Flickr
spa9 by Grant F, on Flickr
racetracker_5375133_81245 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_4676 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_4682 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_9867 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_4684 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_4687 by Grant F, on FlickrIMG_4693 by Grant F, on Flickr...and the ones from Spa are dotted around the circuit a little more:
spa7 by Grant F, on Flickrspa6 by Grant F, on Flickrspa5 by Grant F, on Flickrspa4 by Grant F, on Flickrspa2 by Grant F, on Flickrspa9 by Grant F, on FlickrLooks fun...and back in one piece is the main thing.
I'm off to Spa Saturday for Monday/Tuesday, may drop down to the ring depending on weather. I've done Spa before but not the ring and stories if something happens sort of put me off a bit. I was thinking of hiring a hot hatch/instructor just to do a few laps in...just to tick the box .
I'm off to Spa Saturday for Monday/Tuesday, may drop down to the ring depending on weather. I've done Spa before but not the ring and stories if something happens sort of put me off a bit. I was thinking of hiring a hot hatch/instructor just to do a few laps in...just to tick the box .
AndrewO said:
Looks fun...and back in one piece is the main thing.
I'm off to Spa Saturday for Monday/Tuesday, may drop down to the ring depending on weather. I've done Spa before but not the ring and stories if something happens sort of put me off a bit. I was thinking of hiring a hot hatch/instructor just to do a few laps in...just to tick the box .
Yep, back in one piece is the primary goal.. anything else can be fixed!I'm off to Spa Saturday for Monday/Tuesday, may drop down to the ring depending on weather. I've done Spa before but not the ring and stories if something happens sort of put me off a bit. I was thinking of hiring a hot hatch/instructor just to do a few laps in...just to tick the box .
If you've not been to the Nurburgring then I'd definitely urge you to visit, the whole set up/area/atmosphere is great.
Going out on a Touristfahren day is a little hectic at times; so while the headline figures seem high, I do see the value in spending the money to sign up for the likes of a Destination Nurburgring type event instead, which appear to be well run and will cut down on the number of loonies which are on track at the same time as you... regardless of what you're driving or what day you venture out on track; just remember to go as fast or as slow as you are comfortable with and keep an eye on your mirrors because certainly on a TF day the fast cars/locals will seldom lift off when approaching you and expect you to see them and move over, that's one of the biggest differences I've seen compared to UK track days.
Just got back...spent the whole time at spa in the end, will have to do the ring another trip.
Had a good mix of wet on Monday and dry all Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon it was all coming together nicely, consistent 140mph Kemmel straight and 100 out of eau rouge. Good enough for me, got kemmel at 145 a couple of times but the following corners were all screwed up.
Had a good mix of wet on Monday and dry all Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon it was all coming together nicely, consistent 140mph Kemmel straight and 100 out of eau rouge. Good enough for me, got kemmel at 145 a couple of times but the following corners were all screwed up.
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