The Car Thread

[Yakumo]

Not when he was next to me with bass so loud it was drowning out my stereo which is no slouch in the bass department either.

It is quite a site though with all those green LEDs on it, I'll give him that.

[vanpeebles]

Was it a turbo one?

[charlesr]

He must have been fooled by your stealth front mount intercooler. He would have seen your bonnet and thought "9 second car with bling wheels" (like the standard Impreza Sport).

[Yakumo]

Was it a turbo one?

Yes it was but even so it's no match for a normal 2.0ltr saloon, never mind an Impreza.

He must have been fooled by your stealth front mount intercooler. He would have seen your bonnet and thought "9 second car with bling wheels" (like the standard Impreza Sport).

hahaha, could be but if he knew his stuff he would have spotted the areo parts under the front wing which are missing from the lower class Imprezas as well as other bits and bobs.

A bit off topic but I made myself look like a right tit the other day in front of a few dozen people. I was entering a makeshift car park when I had to stop on the entrance slope due to the indecisive slow bod in front. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but the slope was quite steep and made of loose big stones. In order not to flick up stones at the body work I used only a little power and stalled the car twice ohh, the shame of it! Third time I just said f**k it and gave it the beans up the slope. I did get a chip on the rear door though. Bugger. Out with the compound again.

[randombs]

That kei car looks like something out of The Tommyknockers. Glad you beat the geezer.

[TheForce]

Been yesterday at the Nurburgring again. It was amazing fun , it's wasn't too crowded so no lines to get on the track !!
Spend almost half a lap trying to pass a Ferrari 599 (WTF?!) , my god that guy had absolutely no idea where he was going, it's amazing he didn't crash his car at the top of Adenau .. But what a beast is that car when it?s putting down the power ! fantastic sound as well......
Again (to name a few) lots of Nissan GTR, Porsche GT3(RS), Lotus, M3 etc etc.. also a Noble and a Scuderia Ferrari (the noise of that car is mindblowing).. It?s always a huge pleasure going there as a petrol head. I had a great day again.

[Yakumo]

Who takes the pictures as you go round? Is it some sort of automatic camera like that on a rollercoaster?

I wish I could make it to the ring but with me and my car being in Japan it's never going to happen. After watching the Fifth Gear beginners guide I was very surprised to hear that there were no limits to the car, no special license needed, no prep talk, no nothing by the sounds of it. Just pay your cash and drive away. F*cking epic! I guess I have the Japanese mountain roads (not even close to the Nurburgring ring) but you're always on the look out for police and bloody deer and other wild animals

[TheForce]

The pictures are taken by people who do it as a "hobby" mostly, they often run websites where you can order the photo's from.
Everybody with a road legal car and a driverslicense can drive on the ring. From piss poor old cars to brand new Ferrari's , it's all there. That said, every weekend some pretty bad accidents happen there, mostly people don't respecting the simple rules and not knowing the track inside out. I can tell you the expierence is quite different as when you're playing it on your console. The layout is spot on in GT5 and Forza but the expierence and looking out for other traffic makes it a lot more demanding.
But amazing fun it is when you know your way around the track !!

[vanpeebles]

Massive respect for taking the ring on as I've heard of scary expenses if something goes wrong. In the UK most insurance companies have a disclaimer saying your insurance is invalid if you go on the ring.

[charlesr]

I was shocked when my motorbike insurer said "sure we cover you on the ring". I didn't trust them and got them to make a note on file that I was going and that I had phoned to confirm cover. So worth asking.

[nakamura]

Awesome stuff TheForce. Would love to go on the ring one day, planned to in the past but life got in the way.

[Yakumo]

say you were new to the ring, would you get a million complaints if you drove around the tricky looking sections at a slow speed, say 40 to 50 MPH until you knew the course? I have a feeling most accidents are caused by idiots bombing around blind or tricky sections without knowing what's ahead.

oh man, how I wish we had something like this in Japan. Even a bloody normal racing circuit that was open everyday would be bliss. Sadly we have none around here any more and the closet one is about 4 hours away by car and that's used mainly for bloody bike racing

[TheForce]

say you were new to the ring, would you get a million complaints if you drove around the tricky looking sections at a slow speed, say 40 to 50 MPH until you knew the course? I have a feeling most accidents are caused by idiots bombing around blind or tricky sections without knowing what's ahead.

No not really, as long as you keep to the right on the track you won't bother too many people. And if you talk with people there is always somebody who is willing to drive in front of you to learn the track.

It's getting dangerous when people think that after about 10 laps "they know the track"... IMO you need atleast 50laps to get to know the Nordschleife a bit.
It's a great place, even if it's only to watch the amazing cars that are there!

[charlesr]

I came over a blind crest at 100+++mph to find a coach full of tourists doing 30mph. Scary stuff. No one bats an eyelid as long as you keep right

[randombs]

Thinking of selling my car, now. Not sure whether to stick it on eBay or through some other route. It'll be sold as is so not expecting much but wondering whether to sell it to a breaker's yard or other reseller or just sell privately but to someone who understands what they're in for(i.e. not a family run-around car). I'll probably try and get a few ballpark figures and decide. Not looking forward to it but I need the money right now but don't necessarily need a car.