GT4 Zed Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 The weather was great, the zed was finally sorted and after mising the earlier trip with the lads from here I decided spontaneously to go for a Left UK via Eurotunnel at £44 return on Sunday 14:20 and arrived at the Ringhaus hotel at 20:30 after only one fuel stop It was an epic drive. Not alot of traffic and made good progress on the Autobahn. Nudging 160mph Had a good rest and was up at 0700 for breakfast and to get the zed checked over before the opening time at the Ring. Everything was ok but then i notice that my rie height was probably to low for the Ring so had to get it raised. I had all my tool but it would take time so needed a ramp. Jorg at the Ringhaus who also does Ring photograhy called Rent4Ring who set me up with one of their free ramps and while i was there the owner freddie (former formula racer) gave me the perfect setup for the Ring with the KW var3 coilovers! he kept my camber and toe settings which were spot on and overall the handling was just unbelivable . Words still cannot describe how good the zed was on track The downside to all this fettling meant i lost the first 3hours of the day(0800-1900). I bought myself 25 laps(Euro 470 + freebies) and quickly got to business, praying for no closures or interuptions due to crashes. The other side of the coin was that they had opened up the GP track which you joined at the start of T13 corner and left back onto the Nordschliefe at hatzenbach corner I had no experience of the GP track and so hitting the main start finish straight when i got to turn 1 approaching at 150+mph I almost ran wide as the brakes and tyres where still cold despite my efforts earlier to warm them up The rest of the day went smoothly and i got faster and faster as the car felt really good and my confidence grew. As usual the zed had so many admirers and was often referred as Nismo But the biggest complement was the exhaust sound (K1 + dcats + bungs on) which sound like a race car at full chat! i still don't know how i was'nt pulled out for sound check when cars with less noise were attracting the attention of the marshals. i guess they give leeway to foreign cars Any way my plan be was if i was pulled over i would set the D1 to EC5 with quietens things down Talking of the D1 controller, it was amazing as it save me a 1/4 of my fuel cost driving to and fro on EC5. I was regularly at 30mpg at 100mph Sp7 was 22-24mpg and on track 8-15mpg I still think the D1 is under-rated my lots of people but they are round. It just gives you two zeds for the price of one. In the end i got 18 out of 25 laps as i had to leave at 1700 to catch my train for 2120 which was cutting it fine I finally hit the road at 1730 and still managed to reach the Calais Eurotunnel terminal at 2145 and boarded the 2220 train This trip has changed my whole perception of travelling to the Ring for a short weekend. Before i would only go when i knew i would stay for at least minimum 2 nights and have 2-3 days at the track but now i know i can do it in just under 1.5 days and 1 night. I can now just hit the road when i feel like It will be even better to get a co-driver to take of the burden of driving and to this end i will be offering a seat for any party interested at the end of may when i go again. we can share the trip cost and i will let you drive my zed under my tuition of course what better opportunity for anyone wanting to do this but apprehensive of the whole experince . Photos and vids: Of all my time going to the Ring I never managed to get a vid due to the ban and did not want to risk being banned but this time around i hand the £10 mini camera and my HD bullet cam as back up( but difficult to conceal) I used the mini cam all through but had a feeling it may be messing up so braved it and fitted the bullet cam later in the day each time i past the gates out of site of those pesky marshal! It a good job i did this as the mini cam pics were completely unstable and pointing the wrong bits Herewith a few pics take by Jorg and some borrowed. i will put up the vids later after loading them on youtube. could not get them to upload on my photobucket account. Useful info: 1-www.ringhaus.com: Its at 30sec from the main Ring entrance. Real petrolhead go here and the atmosphere is very cool. IF you plan a trip book in advance as they are popular. 2-www.rent4ring.de: They have some nicely prepared cars and are very professional. Their prices are the most competitive too will have to have a go on thier suzuki swift which is supposed to be fun. i diced with one of them on track and it only lost due to power disadvantage but was close in the twisties. 3- http://www.ring-bilder.com: Jorg at the ringhaus runs this service and takes pics of you and you beast at various loacations at the Ring. good prices and overall nice guy Cost: - should be able to work it out at the weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick43 Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 fantastic.... a Zed being stretched to the limit as nature intended (hope it was a passenger taking the 160mph picture.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Mcgoo Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Very It is definitely something I want to tick off my to do list at some point. Good write up and shows the trip hasn't got to be days long, making it easier to convince the missus it will be a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Looks like you had a good time. Not too sure about taking a pic just shy of 160mph. Naughty Ring pics are superb! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 Dash photo was with bullet cam via remote control Ian i will need you help with uploading and editing the vids ...not working sofar when are you back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walbertonio Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Epic stuff, great write up and pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 (just got your msg) I'm back Monday, could slide over when I get back Monday afternoon, and I'll give you a hand with the video and sort bulbs etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 he kept my camber and toe settings which were spot on and overall the handling was just unbelivable . Words still cannot describe how good the zed was on track : Nice work on the quick ring trip! What geo settings do you run on the car? I am about to have mine aligned but wondered if there are preferred settings to standard. How quick did you make it round the ring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted April 28, 2011 Author Share Posted April 28, 2011 @Ian: Monday will be cool as i will be off @Trackpig: I did not really run for time as i would have loved because i had to take it easy on the GP circuit i really don't know but by extrapolating from the vids i was doing the BTG in very low 8mins which is about by personal best anyway With regards to geo i am running -2.5deg camber at the rear, Toe 0.05deg (toe in) and at the front camber -2deg and Toe of 0.1deg (toe out). Makes the car supreme in corners and gets rid of understeer but abit twitchy high speed stability which i have some how cure with very wide tyres but the result is increase in tramlining and bump steer but not enough to make me nervous as its predictable. However to take the geo by itself is not the whole picture as the whole thing works synergistically with having wide sticky/stiff-walled MPS 2 tyres and fully adjustable coilovers and other suspension components Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 Cheers. Pretty similar toe setting as I am aiming for. I am stuck with the front camber settings though I look forward to the vids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacky Posted April 28, 2011 Share Posted April 28, 2011 great write up, interesting stuff and pics look good. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter10 Posted April 30, 2011 Share Posted April 30, 2011 Looks like an awesome way to spend a day or two. I wouldn't have the guts to do it in my car though , I'd love to have a go though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Hi Bennett Thanks for posting this... i read this yesterday and it has inspired me to go next month... So gonna book a B&B and either the chunnel or a ferry (whichever is cheaper). I'll leave early on a Saturday morning, get there for Saturday night, get 3 or 4 laps on track on Sunday morning and then drive home. Looking at the weekends of either June 11th or June 18th... Is there anything else you think i should consider or anything you would do different mate? My car's in great condition at the mo (fairly new Goodyear F1's, new uprated brembos (DBA's all round), new clutch & flywheel, and serviced 2k miles ago. Cheers Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 What happened to the vids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I was helping Bennett last night with the Videos, there's some kind of upload issue with his broadband, so I have the video he's edited so I shall post it up tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacW Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Superb Although from the looks of things there are entire colonies of flying insects that now hold an image of your Z to represent the Grim reaper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 Right, loaded Bennetts video file, he had a little issue with cutting the video and ended up with a nice green section on the video. Something to do with the video size I'd say, so here's a taster until he cuts another version. (You'll notice the video has a cut section, he's cut out the section of the F1 track) I also asked what is the slidding noise in the video apparently it's the video unit slidding across the seat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GT4 Zed Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Thanks Ian for posting this up I will try and edit a more exciting lap with all the vids i have but i have learnt my lessons now with the £10 minicam and know what to do next time to get full uninterupted laps. i will stick the minicam in the back ot grill to get close up action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted May 13, 2011 Share Posted May 13, 2011 I was talking to Jayne last night about the ring, as we are going to see my dad in Hungary in August, so was contemplating stopping off at the ring for a couple of days on the way out, or maybe on the way back? Oh by the way, that video above took 30mins to upload, so depending on what you pay for broadband I'd be moaning at BT or SKY to get a reduction in fee's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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