Grant:
RC:
I think the "problem" with lap times is the Nordschleife myth (= fast Nordschleife time, good driver, good car). I know people who drive on the Nordschleife almost every day and achieve sub 9 minutes times with really crappy cars. Does that mean they are very good drivers and/or their cars are amazing? I don't know. Smiley

So, now we complain if someone uses too much percentage of his car’s capability also? Smiley

I’m just teasing, but obviously it’s important to keep oneself safe.  I won’t bring my 73 911 to the Ring (I would be too scared).  A new GT car is about the safest way to drive the Ring - either stock or reasonably modified.
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18 GT3 Manual, 73 Carrera RS 2.7 Carbon Fiber replica (1,890 lbs), 06 EVO9 with track mods. Former: 16 Cayman GT4, 73 911S, Two 951S's, 996 C2, 993 C2, 98 Ferrari 550, 79 635CSi

 

Actually, I would recommend a crappy car for first drives on the Nordschleife or something reasonable. My first car on the Nordschleife was a BMW 325i (over three decades ago...I realize how old I am Smiley) and I drove my first round pretty slow but still had a couple of issues (this was my first RWD car after several AWD Lancias and a Toyota Celica 4WD) which I remember pretty well. I actually have a few photos of this time, I need to find a scanner to scan all that old crap, so I can actually save it for my grandchildren. Smiley 

My last drive on the Nordschleife was, I think, five years ago. It is too far away (500 km) from my home and I like I said before, I just don't want to take any costly risks (including new tires, damaged rims and/or paint, etc. or just some crazy tourist driver shooting you down by mistake) anymore. The Nordschleife is only fun if you really push it in my opinion and I just don't feel that "drive" anymore I had when I was younger. If I had more money and no family, maybe. Smiley

I agree with you: I think someone driving a crappy car on the Nordschleife and doing fantastic times (for that type of car) certainly drives that particular car at probably 90-95% of it's capabilities. Which is quite admirable. I sometimes wonder what these drivers would be capable of in a "good" car but a friend told me that he watched a guy he knew transfer from a quite fast VW Polo GTi to a BMW M3 (V8 model) and at some point, he had two crashes with the M3 (pushed it too hard) and the times in the M3 were barely better than his times with the VW Polo (highly modified for track use though, also stripped of almost everything). So I guess sometimes some drivers profit from a "slower" car to achieve better times. 


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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Lamborghini Huracan Performante (2019), Mercedes GLC63 S AMG (2020), Mercedes C63 S AMG Cab (2019), Range Rover Evoque Si4 Black Edition (2019)