Traian
07-15-2006, 06:30 PM
Wooowweeeee, wow that was the most fun I have had in any car, ever! And it was an Audi! My friend and I wanted to rent an economy car to take to the Nürburgring for a few laps, but ended up with an Audi A6 3.0 TDi instead of the Opel Astra they promised us. Oh well, we are fine upstanding citizens, so we put up with the turbo 3.0L power, quattro AWD, sat-nav, leather, DVD player, etc... That's life you know, you gotta live with it! ;)
Well, Nürburg is awesome, it's just packed full with every type of car and bike nut you can imagine, from vintage BMW 2002s and Steinmetz Opel Commodores to Porsche 911 GT3 RSs to Lotus Elises to the most gorgeous E34s I've seen outside of this site. I only had my poor 35mm camera with me, but as soon as my friend's digitals are up, I will post them!
Well, to cut to the chase we bought 56 Euros worth of laps (4), and I went out first. It is an absolutely wild, magnificent ride! I've only once or twice played the track in a video game, and the real thing is just so far removed from that its unbelievable. The track is gorgeous, it winds through the forest for about 22km, the elevation changes are huge and knock the wind out of you under throttle, the majority of corners are blind, and everything is set up so that if you get it right it's the most satisfying piece of driving you've ever experienced (or at least it was for me). The camber changes are huge and sudden, but they flow into one another somehow so it almost seems like the car is dancing, and the S's are designed so nice, even with our diesel it was challenging to get a really nice line thoughout.
After the first lap, all my fingers were shaking and I couldn't stop laughing. Our car stank like burning rubber more than any other in the lot, and plumes of smoke rose up from the rear wheel wells. We actually did quite well, there were a few embarassements like a little VW Lupo with a roll cage and a mean sounding exhaust that left us standing, but otherwise we managed to keep up with and even pass much faster cars, not to mention pretty much all the motorcycles. Not a bad showing for the TDi. And we hit 220km/h on the Autobahn a couple of times, which is, you know, always a bonus (I think the highest we hit on the ring was about 190 on the back straight).
Best of all, at the end of the day there was no overheating, no warning lights, no failed brakes, no dings or scratches, just the most fun I've ever had in a car in my whole life!
Well, Nürburg is awesome, it's just packed full with every type of car and bike nut you can imagine, from vintage BMW 2002s and Steinmetz Opel Commodores to Porsche 911 GT3 RSs to Lotus Elises to the most gorgeous E34s I've seen outside of this site. I only had my poor 35mm camera with me, but as soon as my friend's digitals are up, I will post them!
Well, to cut to the chase we bought 56 Euros worth of laps (4), and I went out first. It is an absolutely wild, magnificent ride! I've only once or twice played the track in a video game, and the real thing is just so far removed from that its unbelievable. The track is gorgeous, it winds through the forest for about 22km, the elevation changes are huge and knock the wind out of you under throttle, the majority of corners are blind, and everything is set up so that if you get it right it's the most satisfying piece of driving you've ever experienced (or at least it was for me). The camber changes are huge and sudden, but they flow into one another somehow so it almost seems like the car is dancing, and the S's are designed so nice, even with our diesel it was challenging to get a really nice line thoughout.
After the first lap, all my fingers were shaking and I couldn't stop laughing. Our car stank like burning rubber more than any other in the lot, and plumes of smoke rose up from the rear wheel wells. We actually did quite well, there were a few embarassements like a little VW Lupo with a roll cage and a mean sounding exhaust that left us standing, but otherwise we managed to keep up with and even pass much faster cars, not to mention pretty much all the motorcycles. Not a bad showing for the TDi. And we hit 220km/h on the Autobahn a couple of times, which is, you know, always a bonus (I think the highest we hit on the ring was about 190 on the back straight).
Best of all, at the end of the day there was no overheating, no warning lights, no failed brakes, no dings or scratches, just the most fun I've ever had in a car in my whole life!