Driving a GT86 at the nurburgring

[AJPS]

So my friend and I were lucky enough to go to the 'ring...which included some 250 speed limited autobahn runs to get there

when we were looking at what car to drive i spied a couple of gt86s in the back of the garage.

I enquired about driving only to be told they were still testing them and they werent available yet as they had only been released in mid september (in germany)

they were dead stock apart from advan neova ad08s and race brake pads, 2200 kms on the clock.

I kept asking, and we left and came back later and I asked someone more senior and they eventually said we could take it...since the weather was good and we didnt seem like dickheads...

so we were one of the first members of the public to drive the car on the ring - never expected to be driving an 86 when I went there

anyway

it was amazing and took a flogging all day
car was neutral, balanced and confidence inspiring, even on the limit
felt settled through corners and chicanes at 180+
fun
rewarded good driving and punished mistakes (missing gears etc)
perhaps a little lacking in the mid range but still got to 215

for a car around the $30,000 price range that could do what it did is crazy.

And easily lapped under 10 mins bridge to gantry

I will upload some pics tomorrow

highly recommended/dream come true



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[Matt]

Thats awesome.... Keen to see the differences between the au model and the o/s ones....

[AJPS]

i can send you some more when i get more time on the net

tried to do it again today but booked out

[Matt]

How'd you find the LHD side of things... I hated driving in the states in peak hour traffic...

I turned onto the wrong side of the rd a couple of times too in the suburbs.

[AJPS]

I am fine with it. Semi ambidextrous and done a fair bit of driving here. In the city centres (amsterdam especially) its pretty shit. I reckon there is a few seconds in it around the ring for me. But yeah all good.

[ach_66]

I need to know more about this! Just paid for flights to Germany August next year, and driving the 'Green Hell' is high on my priority list. Dave, can you give some tips or info on how I might be able to get my backside into an 86 to do it!

[AJPS]

definitely do it

the place feels like a bit of a skatepark - local heros, newbies, tourists (which brings some ego and stupidity) etc all in one place

met some decent guys there tho

the track its self (i had pretty much no knowledge of the track layout before i went there - no ps3) is pretty flowing and in a moderately powered car doesnt have too much that can fuck you up (but weather, and other people are the x factor and driving 10/10s probably isnt the greatest idea in a hired car

im sure in the next few months it will be added to the rent4ring.de site

they didnt have a price yet so they charged us the same as the scirroco on there

if you need anything or want to know anything else just ask

[ach_66]

Yeah, Scirroco or Suzuki Swift were the options I saw on their web site a month or so ago. Will have to keep an I on it to see if the 86 pops up! I was thinking of doing the ring Taxi too, but I think they have canned it?

If I think of anything Dave I'll hit you up. Thanks

[AJPS]

Ring taxi was running

[Leigh]

I cant say ive ever had any desire to go to germany (snow seems better in other european countries and same goes for country roads mountain passes etc and im allergic to barley so octoberfest doesnt interest me...) but now i reckon i wouldnt mind checking out germany looks like a cool trip man ...more pics would be good too :-) as always