Change the belt or not? (Ring stuff too)

[JamesO]

Now that was fun! First time on any kind of a track (baptism of fire!), got shown round by a mate who goes a lot which helped massively. Did 8 laps too then drove back to Reading. Did a tank of fuel each way and half a tank on the ring, so not too bad. Car was great, and has far more talent than I do. The only times I wanted more power was up the hills (needs to be lighter!) Had to adjust the O/S/F wheel bearing and sort a rev limit issue of my own doing. Not bad for a 20 year old car, I did worry about the ball joints through the carousel though, It seems very hard on the car. All in all it was great and the 944 did me proud, used no oil, water or cam belts.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

James sounds fantastic but we want to see the pics! Mike

 

[JamesO]

Here's a couple the take, I got a bit carried away with the moment so there is a lack of pics. Will find some more.

 

[JamesO]

Both are taken at the same point where the car goes very light as you can see from the front lifting.

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Looks like its moving nicely and cresting a rise with a certain eagerness! Thanks Mike

 

[MarkK]

Just got back had a great long weekend,did 1200 miles or there abouts,Just added fuel and oil,car ran really well,weather was a bit tricky as i had track tyres on -made me a bit unsure when it was greasy and wet,did Spa yesterday and it was REALLY raining... i was driving like miss Daisy was in the car...... was behind a late 90s M3 coupe and it just lost it going up the pit straight.... and did a 360 into the pitwall backwards...[],group i was with was really great mixed bunch with young lads in their late 20s in a recent track prepared M3 to a couple of older gentleman in a AC cobra replica. The nurburgring has changed so much... it is way more commercial now with Casinos and nightclubs etc..very different... The car had a new steering shaft fitted before i left plus a last minute wheel bearing and the front feels so much tighter no slack feel anymore,managed a quick blat on a limit free bit of autobahn and it was steady as a rock -sat at quite big speeds.. Today on way back got from Spa to Cambridge on one tank of fuel i was pretty impressed by that car is totally filthy so am hoping to get it clean tommorow. James sounds like you had fun aswell ,your car sounds brilliant on fuel and oil!I didn't get any pics of the car on the ring but i have a couple from spa i will try and put up.Looking foward to next driving trip hopefully next year,looks like Autumn arrived over the weekend!

 

[Diver944]

Any pics Mark?

 

[MarkK]

Yes!

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Sounds like a great trip Mark Looks lovely and flat in the pic - a comparison shot of the black one would be interesting! Mike

 

[JamesO]

Oops just realised I posted 2 pics the same

 

[JamesO]

Markk if it was you I spoke to on sunday, sorry I didn't hang around to chat. Was a bit of a tight schedule with having to get the tunnel at 8pm, the fuel consumption was good even at a constant high cruising speed! There are lots of pics of your car on pistonspy, I think the camera man liked your car!

 

[MarkK]

Hi James,it wasn't me you chatted to,i came in the morning lateish, did my laps all in one go then retired to the bar as it started to get rainy(my excuse) and drank copious amounts of Pils,it was SO good,i think i would go back just for the beer!!Thanks for the piston spy tip i will have a look!![]Just went to some local car valeting lads to get my car cleaned it was totally black and covered in road grime and brake dust that was really not going to come off without big doses of chemicals (PFC brakepads[&:][]),what do they make them out of???OMG Glad you enjoyed it and got there and back in one peice.Your car looked cool in the pics.!

 

[JamesO]

Cheers, yours looks even cooler Low and flat. I found the wet fun but scary, it amazed me how even a first timer like me could correct a slide really easily in this car. I didn't realise how tacky road tyres get when pushed. Heres some better pics I found:-

 

[JamesO]

From the front.

 

[MarkK]

Really like that second one,you can see the gradient!!The wet scares the living daylight out of me![]

 

[Hilux]

Slightly OT - but why do they not allow taking a vid?

So you dont post vids of bikers being killed and car crashes with potential fatalities on YouTube. It is after all still a public road, a scary place, bloody dangerous if you are into lap timing yourself and people do die there every year probably an average of 3-4 a year over the last decade.