RE: Ringside Seat: white van man

RE: Ringside Seat: white van man

Friday 21st June 2013

Ringside Seat: white van man

After saying lap records risk irrelevance Dale goes out for one himself



Questioning the latest 'ring record seems to be a staple for my columns , blogs and bar-room banter. Whether it's SUVs, superminis or eco-friendly Formula Fords, there's always a manufacturer somewhere wanting the kudos of beating a record here at the 'ring.

Lap records? Irrelevant. Now where's my race suit?
Lap records? Irrelevant. Now where's my race suit?
But when my mate Paul Cowland told me about a plot to drive a tuned-up diesel VW Transporter to the 'ring and back, setting a laptime in the middle, I have to admit I jumped at it. Absolutely barmy? Absolutely yes.

The 'record' that Transporterland.com and Revo Tuning wanted to break was that legendary lap by the Queen of the 'ring, Sabine Schmitz. In what can only be described as awesome television, she tried every trick in the book to get a stock Ford Transit around the Nordschleife in under 10 minutes from bridge to gantry. She didn't get there, but damn, she was close.

But while Sabine has a decade or two of racing experience and a fair dollop of talent over me, she only had a 140hp stock Transit on standard tyres. The Revo tuned 220hp Bi-Turbo Transporter would be arriving outside my Rent4Ring office with its ply-lined interior full of super-sticky Dunlop Direzzas. There would be no need to take stuff out of the van, like Sabine had to. In fact, the thought crossed my mind that we should LOAD up the Transporter further. Maybe a half-tonne of Bitburger would be apt?

Tyres and dampers made all the difference
Tyres and dampers made all the difference
Until I considered the safety implications of rolling a wobbly 2,000kg piece of tin with a half-tonne load breaking away in the back.

So instead, I just donned my race suit (again, I considered Union Flag shorts and a builder's vest, but was told it didn't look professional) and headed out on to the Destination Nurburgring trackday.

Driving a van on the 'ring is not something new to me. I'm not sure I can say much more than that without alerting previous employers to less than professional conduct. But driving a van with Bilstein PSS14 suspension, and semi-slick tyres was very new. Until we slithered into T13 with an armful of understeer, I'd been courting fears that the whole thing would turn over. Or bend in the middle like a KitKat wrapper, or something.

Actually, despite my best attempts, the ESP system proved impossible to turn off. So the only thing I was battling was my own stupid gear choices and the aforementioned understeer. On the road, you could drive the wheels off it and not have a problem. Quicker than a whole generation of warm-hatches, no doubt.

Coming to a rear-view mirror near you...
Coming to a rear-view mirror near you...
But it was just the final per cent that proved problematic on the Nordschleife. The stability control would actually create understeer by chopping the power and doing something funny with the brakes. No drama, I'm not a diva, I just tried to drive around it.

I only had three laps total, the third lap was going much better than the second, which set the record. But I had to pit-in for a red flag before I crossed the line, so it was the second lap (with bad gear choices throughout) which actually set the record. This particular 'pro' driver then had to leave the track to make the clients coffee and check on the cleanliness of the customer loo after the lunchtime rush.

But, that's it, Revo, Transporterland and even VW Commercial can claim to have the fastest van around the Nordschleife. 9min22sec BTG, nearly 40 seconds quicker than Sabine's DIY-superleggara Transit. Relevant? No. Hilariously irreverent and fun to do? Oh yes. And that's why you're reading about it!


Videos here:

And here.

 

 

Author
Discussion

Gadgeroonie

Original Poster:

5,362 posts

235 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Strange how it takes an Englishman in a German vehicle to break a record on a German track !

I wonder what they think of us LOL

matts4

1,896 posts

190 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Bonkers. But great fun.

monthefish

20,439 posts

230 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Anyone else a bit dissapointed with the time, considering the extent of the mods?

As I said at the time, I was really surprised the Top Gear episode didn't end with Sabine driving one of the Supervans, or the 'Goodwood Maintenance' van (with the giveaway wheels) - any of those would have comfortably gone unde the 10 min mark, despite not being 'honed' for 'ring track work.



Nvertheless, I enjoyed this vid/experiment though. smile

MrTappets

881 posts

190 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Sounds surprisingly good, but that smoke is horrible. Maybe a standard Sportline would have been interesting too.

myhandle

1,182 posts

173 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
No diesel smoke from this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m85XfAMuLwA

Check out 1:41

loudlashadjuster

5,083 posts

183 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Congratulations, 40 seconds is a lot, even considering the extra oomph. Smoking like a Jeremy Kyle guest wasn't the most attractive thing though, was DPF junked in the name of power?

The Karussell sure took its pound of flesh from the van's splitter though!

garypotter

1,483 posts

149 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
vw transporter with race suspension, super sticky tyres and a hug amount of BHP and torque over a standard tranny and only 40 secs quicker.....
thought it would be a lot quicker even with the wrong gears excuses etc


But well done

ringweekends

616 posts

252 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
I had to red flag you Dale, none of the other customers could see through the fog.

ringweekends

616 posts

252 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Kidding - followed you for a while in the ExplodingFistRacing Clio - the T5 looked really, really stable.


































Through the fog smile

goodrood

4 posts

129 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
What up with you guys disappointed by the time? it was a bit of Fun! 40 sec is a right old chunk and Dale even admitted not a good lap, so come on give the guy some credit a 9m 22s isnt exactly slow is it smile

BBS-LM

3,972 posts

223 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
hahahahah

goodrood

4 posts

129 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
ringweekends said:
Kidding - followed you for a while in the ExplodingFistRacing Clio - the T5 looked really, really stable.

Got any onboard ringweekends?

































Through the fog smile

RTH

1,057 posts

211 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
This was way more spectacular

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg6WdboK1nY




jfcole

16 posts

129 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Now Dale, time to contact Ford and ask them about their Super Transit, you know the one with the F1 engine? Tell them its for a Nurburgring Record and it'll be on the back of a trailer quick as a flash.

Once thats done, Contact Renault and look for their F1 engined Espace and set the MPV record!

seefarr

1,461 posts

185 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Does anyone know if the FB1 Race-Taxi ever clocked a bridge to gantry time?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKV9PVHw2xA

I'd think 520hp in a VW Kombi should be enough. . .

JVaughan

6,025 posts

282 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Time to dig out the Goodwood Ford Transit van with the XJ220 running gear, or the original Transit F1 / Espace F1 smile

nick_mcuk

489 posts

199 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Not really a fair comparison a standard ford transit vs a modified VW running semi slicks and tweaked suspension.

Impressive none the less but in my eyes the Transit is a more impressive lap time.

P2BS

3,589 posts

142 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
I recall Car Magazine in the mid 1980's writing an article on the VW Van with a 911 engine sitting in the back - done as a factory prototype thing. Anyone else remember that one?

Also, the driver's (author's?) head posture on Carousel suggests he rides a motorbike too... any comment?!

Ruaraidh_Gamma

69 posts

218 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Can't turn off the ESP? Really?

Try pulling the ABS fuse. End of ESP...

jfcole

16 posts

129 months

Friday 21st June 2013
quotequote all
Ruaraidh_Gamma said:
Can't turn off the ESP? Really?

Try pulling the ABS fuse. End of ESP...
Now go out and do it again and get the gear changes right!