1100 miles, 4 countries, 3 days, and the "RING" in an S3c
Discussion
Last weekend at 4.00 on fri morning me and my oppo set off for the Nurburgring, the journey to Dover was pretty uneventful as usual although we was blessed with a really nice summer morning which made the journey more enjoyable, on arival in dover I refuelled the car ready for the long euro leg of the trip.The ferry trip gave us time to partake in an overpriced and lukewarm full english courtesay of P&O ferries, then it was time to hit the motorways of europe. This part of the journey reminded me just how dull and boring northern europe can be. We headed north east through france and then east through belgium and just when you get to the german border by Aachen we headed south east on the 258 road which takes you all the way to the town of Nurburg itself, we got to the hotel about 6.30 in the evening did a quick check in and drove the last 200 yards to the Ring itself conscious of the fact the track closes at 7.30 and we wanted to get in our first lap then.
The place was packed and due to a track closure we couldn't even go straight onto the Ring. Then just as we were about to head back to the hotel they anounced the track is now open, so with 15 minutes left of track time we ventured out onto the track for my first ever lap of the nurburgring, rather than bore you all with an analysis of what happened all I will say is that it was a truly religous experience one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. The one thing that really struck me was the speed difference between all the cars from countless GT3 Rs's to Volvo 340's it all adds to the mix.
Saturday was spent with more laps of the Ring and more car spotting in the car park.
Sunday we woke to torrential rain lashing the place which did not bode well for the return journey, although it did make the trip over the Eiffel mountains very interesting shall we say.
We left the ring at 0900 Sun morning and got back to Derby at 8.00 Sun evening.The car was bloody brilliant, never missed a beat or overheated or used a drop of oil or water, it didn't even leak through the roof at all in the heavy over night rain Sunday morning and it pulled like a train all weekend, who says TVR's are unreliable. I took some pictures which should appear below.
Waiting for the ferry at Dover
The boring Belgium leg of the trip
Just arrived at the Hotel
Me posing with my TVR in the car park
The stunning view from my hotel room window
On track
It is very steep in places
Other cars will get very close indeed
Just some of the cars we encountered on the track
The miserable view on sunday morning
Back at home tucked up in the garage wearing its Ring badge with pride, if anybody has ever thought about doing the "Ring" the mesage is JUST DO IT you wont regret it.
Cheers.....Tony..
The place was packed and due to a track closure we couldn't even go straight onto the Ring. Then just as we were about to head back to the hotel they anounced the track is now open, so with 15 minutes left of track time we ventured out onto the track for my first ever lap of the nurburgring, rather than bore you all with an analysis of what happened all I will say is that it was a truly religous experience one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life. The one thing that really struck me was the speed difference between all the cars from countless GT3 Rs's to Volvo 340's it all adds to the mix.
Saturday was spent with more laps of the Ring and more car spotting in the car park.
Sunday we woke to torrential rain lashing the place which did not bode well for the return journey, although it did make the trip over the Eiffel mountains very interesting shall we say.
We left the ring at 0900 Sun morning and got back to Derby at 8.00 Sun evening.The car was bloody brilliant, never missed a beat or overheated or used a drop of oil or water, it didn't even leak through the roof at all in the heavy over night rain Sunday morning and it pulled like a train all weekend, who says TVR's are unreliable. I took some pictures which should appear below.
Waiting for the ferry at Dover
The boring Belgium leg of the trip
Just arrived at the Hotel
Me posing with my TVR in the car park
The stunning view from my hotel room window
On track
It is very steep in places
Other cars will get very close indeed
Just some of the cars we encountered on the track
The miserable view on sunday morning
Back at home tucked up in the garage wearing its Ring badge with pride, if anybody has ever thought about doing the "Ring" the mesage is JUST DO IT you wont regret it.
Cheers.....Tony..
Enjoyable read. It's something (admittedly among other things) that I am truly itching to experience. I am also quite taken on how nice your car looks. 
Jaye R said:
By the way - is that carpet on your garage floor?????
Yes it is carpet on the floor,I used to be a carpet salesman and I got it free, it is actually rubber backed commercial carpet, the rubber backing keeps the damp out of the garage, and the carpet itself also eliminates concrete dust and makes working on the car easier.Cheers.....Tony..
Chris71 said:
How did you find the S on track?
Pretty good really, the main thing is you never know just how much speed you can carry into a corner until you have learned the track which takes hundreds of laps, handling was fairly neutral but having said that it will switch from understeer to oversteer relativley quicky but both easy enough to catch, pace wise there was one lap where a golf gti and a focus st couldn't pass me because I had the legs of them on the straights so they couldn't expolit their better handling. you must make sure you have very good brakes and a strong engine as it will spend a lot of time at high revs, it is extremly hard on the car.sleeptalker said:
was it a case of 'turn up and drive' or did you have to get any special documents?
All you do is just turn up and buy some laps which they put on a "ring card" no need to book, just pay your money and off you go.Cheers.....Tony..
Edited by tozerman on Friday 13th August 20:53
Sounds like you had a superb trip. I've only been to the Ring once (in a friends Alfa Romeo GTV that he kindly let me drive
) and I have to agree it is something every petrolhead should experience. Even if you don't fancy taking your pride and joy around there are other options, 'taxi' rides or hired cars. The atmosphere is great and even a walk around the car park is interesting
I can't wait to go again and I may even brave/risk taking the 'S' this time. Just have to remember to keep indicating right so all the GT3 RS Porsches can overtake!
) and I have to agree it is something every petrolhead should experience. Even if you don't fancy taking your pride and joy around there are other options, 'taxi' rides or hired cars. The atmosphere is great and even a walk around the car park is interestingI can't wait to go again and I may even brave/risk taking the 'S' this time. Just have to remember to keep indicating right so all the GT3 RS Porsches can overtake!
Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us. Certainly brings back memories for me 
First time I went I also had wet weather. Got a couple of dry laps in, then a couple with it wet in parts and dry in others, but by the end it was very wet everywhere! I was glad I had arranged to follow an experienced "ringer". It was just like following Senna at Donington in the wet GP (well, nearly!) in that every corner was taken on the opposite line you'd expect so we kept off the very slippery normal line. Apart from the Karussell - there is only one line through that corner!!
Last time I went (last June) the track was only open for approx 30mins of the scheduled 2.5hrs. I normally wait for the local loonies to go before heading to the gate. However, seeing as it was "now or never" when it reopened with 15 mins to go, we joined the queue in the middle of load of tuned porkers & fezzas. The speed differentual meant I spent most of that lap looking in the mirrors rather than where I was going, but it great to see some awesome machinery really going for it!
It's worthing have a look at the local photo sites, you may find some pics of yourself...
First time I went I also had wet weather. Got a couple of dry laps in, then a couple with it wet in parts and dry in others, but by the end it was very wet everywhere! I was glad I had arranged to follow an experienced "ringer". It was just like following Senna at Donington in the wet GP (well, nearly!) in that every corner was taken on the opposite line you'd expect so we kept off the very slippery normal line. Apart from the Karussell - there is only one line through that corner!!
Last time I went (last June) the track was only open for approx 30mins of the scheduled 2.5hrs. I normally wait for the local loonies to go before heading to the gate. However, seeing as it was "now or never" when it reopened with 15 mins to go, we joined the queue in the middle of load of tuned porkers & fezzas. The speed differentual meant I spent most of that lap looking in the mirrors rather than where I was going, but it great to see some awesome machinery really going for it!
It's worthing have a look at the local photo sites, you may find some pics of yourself...
chrischat said:
Brill sounds a great trip, 
I can feel an S club expedition coming on for next year i wonder who we could get to organise it 
Now, who would be daft enough to arrange a trip across Euroland for a large of group of people in S Series cars...? I can feel an S club expedition coming on for next year i wonder who we could get to organise it Gassing Station | S Series | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff