Our Ring Trip

[fake ben taylor]

I totally disagree with you.

When I went in 2005 with a mate of mine, Id done about 50 real life laps at that point, he'd never been before but had logged 2000+ on the playstation.

He knew the lines FAR better than me.


Dont get me wrong, you need to still get a few laps in before you go hell for leather as you need to feel the gradient changes etc which make the car go light in ways you dont notice on the game, but in terms of learning the lines its an epically useful tool!

My first Ring lap i was like 'OMG this is nothing like Forza!!' but on the second lap once the overall shock had worn off it all came back and i felt i knew what corners were coming really well thanks to Forza - its a good tool for learning 'left, right, long right, left' etc and then build on that foundation in person

 

[NorthloopCup]

Serious question... I'm selling my 1.25 Fiesta for a cheap(ish) daily that will be fine for a trip to the 'Ring in May. Some people think I'm bonkers looking at 182's saying they'll break/won't make it/too old/French tat blah blah blah...

To those of you who've done road trips to Germany in your Clios, how do they cope? Any issues? Any recommendations in terms of special preparations? I've owned both a 172 and 182 but both were nearly new at the time, so buying an older French car concerns me slightly!

Mines perfectly fine for the journey across to the ring and it's not let me down (touch wood) so far. It's a stripped and caged cup that I go over in.
What do you class as special preparations though? I take a few spares with me like a coilpack, injectors and rear discs (bearing failure) but other than a few tools, that's it.

 

[Mr Burns]

Mines perfectly fine for the journey across to the ring and it's not let me down (touch wood) so far. It's a stripped and caged cup that I go over in.
What do you class as special preparations though? I take a few spares with me like a coilpack, injectors and rear discs (bearing failure) but other than a few tools, that's it.

Well I'm not mechanically minded, so like many people I worry about the 'what-ifs'. This is why until now my cars have all been nearly new. I've been looking at 182's, Type-R's and Fiesta ST's and the Clios definitely seem better value.

 

[NorthloopCup]

ASW? Me? Yes! Lol![video=youtube_share;zMwiIwex2uA]http://youtu.be/zMwiIwex2uA[/video]

 

[NorthloopCup]

Well I'm not mechanically minded, so like many people I worry about the 'what-ifs'. This is why until now my cars have all been nearly new. I've been looking at 182's, Type-R's and Fiesta ST's and the Clios definitely seem better value.

Yeah fair enough mate. Just do the usual checks of all fluid levels and adjust/top up as necessary, check brake pad thickness and replace if low. It's that sort of thing you want to do really.

 

[not normal dan]

I went over in my trophy trouble free, gave it a good going over and service before hand. Took a few spares (plugs, leads, coilpack, alloy spare and tools, tape and zip ties).

We do have the comfort of a car transporter which carrys two cars but I drove the 182 the full trip.

 

[Mr Burns]

Yeah fair enough mate. Just do the usual checks of all fluid levels and adjust/top up as necessary, check brake pad thickness and replace if low. It's that sort of thing you want to do really.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no idiot... I do loads of trackdays so I'm constantly maintaining my car, and I've been to the 'Ring twice before too but only as a passenger. I feel that this time I need to drive over myself, but the Mazda isn't practical enough so I need a daily driver that will be ideal when the time comes. Whenever I go there's always a large group of us so I'm sure we'd all knuckle in if any of us had issues.

 

[Mr Burns]

I went over in my trophy trouble free, gave it a good going over and service before hand. Took a few spares (plugs, leads, coilpack, alloy spare and tools, tape and zip ties).

We do have the comfort of a car transporter which carrys two cars but I drove the 182 the full trip.

Just out of interest, how much do plugs, leads and coilpack cost?

 

[not normal dan]

I had spare leads and coil pack of another Clio which I knew worked fine and the plugs I think were around 40quid can't quite remember.

Injector may also be worth it as there fairly common too. I'd only had the car just over a week too when I went.

 

[dmallett]

The first time we went we took 3 ph1's that were all reasonably modified. DannyR took his supercharged car after only doing 500miles in it before hand, anyone that thinks taking a 182 is crazy is crazy. We made it there and back two years in a row problem free, touch wood!

I like this from our trip, lewistaylor fixing radiator brackets, Danny changing brake pads and my flamer just looked wrong with the bonnet down. This was in belgium somwhere

 

[Mr Burns]

Awesome.