My fabia got a suprise visit to the nurburgring at the weekend

[AlexR]

Something i really didn't want to have to do but oh well needs must. I don't like to use my fabia vRS hard partly because i don't want it to go wrong in future, and partly because i like to care for my cars in general.

My track car decided to catch fire in dover queuing for the port so i had to get it towed back home and take the fabia on a continental adventure.

What a godsend it was, a quiet comfy car with a stereo and space for luggage and passengers!

Took it for an obligatory lap around the ring, 5 up with a full boot in the rain :eek: to earn it's black ring sticker(on a black magic car) just to show some of the newbies the lines and stuff. Pulled 120mph through the foxhole in 6th.

The brakes were truely useless, i need new discs

Luckily i picked up a clio 197 later in the day which was a little more suited to track work, pulling over 140mph through the foxhole

However the fabia came in useful again when a friends 106 rallye decided to consume it's head gasket and we left it out there, so the trip back was done 4 up with a lot of luggage in the car.

Overall a thumbs up for the fabia

Handled the mountain roads and a "touring lap" of the ring better than i thought, transported us all in comfort and safety and most of all, it didn't go wrong, unlike quite a few of the other cars!

Also met a briskodian on the trip as part of our group, a guy called stew from scotland with a mk1 octy vrs.

At the port. Thumbs up to the skoda

Even making good progress the warm weather and clear motorways saw a good MPG

The weather turned nasty though in belgium, aquaplaning at 60mph, thank god i wasn't in the track car on R888s!

We have a ring sticker:

Stew enjoyed his passenger lap in this:

I enjoyed driving this:

Driving a LHD car for the first time is weird, more so when you've had 30 seconds of driving it before plonking yourself in at the deep end of the nurburgring nordschleife.

What a great weekend!

[lewisgraham]

Looks great ! well done skoda

I would love to go to the ring but i couldn't bare to put that many miles on in such few days

......well not really just scared encase i wrote it off

[red-devil]

would love to go there

[AlexR]

Yeah i was very scared about crashing on the ring, that's why i only did one lap in the fabia early in the morning and at a half decent pace, still below 11mins

The clio had a 8000euro excess so i wasn't going flat out in that either, although it inspired a lot more confidence, and my fabia cost me a lot more than 8k euros back in feb.

I would recommend the place to any petrolheads, it's amazing. My 5th trip and i still love the place.

It's only 330miles from dunkerque so not that far, and i live about 70 miles from dover...

[oilburninnut]

anyone wanting to go check out the international section,another trip is coming up:thumbup:

good pics there,nice to see people who prefere to drive there cars rather than polish them:thumbup:

[devonutopia]

Sounds like you know the lines well, as I could never pluck up courage to get up to more than about 100 through foxhole. With the bend in it, you feel like you're carrying too much speed, but the compression in the dip gives some serious grip. One day I will master the ring entirely but I feel it could be 2020 by then.

[vRSLen]

2020 is not too far off Jason, but what will you be driving then?

[AlexR]

There is a lot of grip through foxhole, i always brake slightly before turning in just to stabilise the car a bit and make sure i power through the bottom as the car will go wherever the front wheels are pulling it. The turns at the top of the hill are crucial to getting good speed down there as you can go more or less straight on down the hill with the right lines. Over 60 laps under my belt now and a very good memory! Back in sept/oct hopefully in the other car though!

[Wardy]

Very envious - glad the Fabia did the job

Steve

[devonutopia]

2020 is not too far off Jason, but what will you be driving then?

Have a guess! A very high mileage mongrel.

[ns_sullivan]

God I want to get out there so much and have a run at it. never been and would love to break the furbie in on a proper circuit rather than a trip to brands. Brands is great but the ring is in a different league.

My mate (clio driver) was there the weekend with a couple of others in an RX8 and a Z4, all bloody nutters and all loving it...

it has to be done and soon me thinks.

well once I have all the bits on the car anyway...

ALEXR

I take it your VRS is standard as for the reason you don't take it on long trips and didn't really want to use on the track.

If not whats done to it to get the 120 through the fox

[AlexR]

I love brands hatch, for a UK track day it's pretty good. Wouldn't consider the fabia as a track car anyway, far too heavy.

My fabia is mechanically standard, only mods are debadging, silver indicators, head unit and speakers.

[Orta]

I'm so planning a trip to the nurburgring next year. How long does it take to get there? Is it travelable in a day?

[AlexR]

Realistically it takes 5-6 hours from calais/dunkerque to a hotel in the area, i have done it in under 4 before but that's with no traffic(unlikely unless travelling at night, always crashes in belgium, their shocking driving never ceases to suprise me). When we get the 8am ferry that arrives in france around 11am(if going to dunkerque, lose an hour with european time too) then aim to get to the ring for 4pm or thereabouts with a short stop for lunch.

The food out there is awesome and well priced.

Diesel is quite cheap too, equivalent to £1.19/litre.

I'll post up the official trip report in a few days when i've finished typing it and received all of the pics for it.

[Lance]

I'm so planning a trip to the nurburgring next year. How long does it take to get there? Is it travelable in a day?

About 4 hours from Calais.

[Orta]

I wouldn't wanna set any records in my lil' diesel skoda, but would love to take a stable at europe's best track with it.

Is the ring open all day every day? Or is it a thing you have to prebook??

[Lance]

Realistically it takes 5-6 hours from calais/dunkerque to a hotel in the area, i have done it in under 4 before but that's with no traffic(unlikely unless travelling at night, always crashes in belgium, their shocking driving never ceases to suprise me). When we get the 8am ferry that arrives in france around 11am(if going to dunkerque, lose an hour with european time too) then aim to get to the ring for 4pm or thereabouts with a short stop for lunch.

Done in the region of 30 trips to the Ring since 1993 and don't ever recall any crashes in Belgium nor any particularly bad driving:confused:. The traffic on the Brussels ring road can add time if caught during rush hour, but other than that it's a straight run through and an easy route.

Lance

[Lance]

I wouldn't wanna set any records in my lil' diesel skoda, but would love to take a stable at europe's best track with it.

Is the ring open all day every day? Or is it a thing you have to prebook??

No not open every day and no pre-booking required.

google Ben Lovejoy and have nose around his site. Very very useful.

Lance

[AlexR]

Well we got held up twice on the way in stationary traffic caused by crashes, delaying us by over an hour. And also once on the way back this time. And have been caught up in numerous belgian traffic jams before. Probably just my luck lol

And i always encounter bad driving in belgium, they never indicate to change lanes, and if you leave a gap between you and the car in front big enough for a car, someone will pull into it, leaving you with no braking zone as often in traffic they will then slam their anchors on. But then again english driving isn't much better...

[Taxi 219]

Looks great:thumbup: glad you had a good time there.I would love to go oneday.

[Wardy]

No not open every day and no pre-booking required.

google Ben Lovejoy and have nose around his site. Very very useful.

Lance

That's a superb resource by the way, that Ben Lovejoy site - covers everything you'd possibly need to know!

Ben Lovejoy's Nurburgring Nordschleife website

Steve

[devonutopia]

That's a superb resource by the way, that Ben Lovejoy site - covers everything you'd possibly need to know!

Ben Lovejoy's Nurburgring Nordschleife website

Steve

And joining the northloop forum is also worthwhile. Good forum, good atmosphere, pleasant banter, and a wealth of knowledge about the Ring.

[Lance]

And joining the northloop forum is also worthwhile. Good forum, good atmosphere, pleasant banter, and a wealth of knowledge about the Ring.

Must admit that I prefer Northloop & Bridge to Gantry as they have a far more relaxed attitude to the Ring, whereas the BL site tends to preach and almost take it on themselves to assume responsibilty & law for the Ring. On more than one occasion I've seen members of the 'Ringers' dictating to people in the car park.

Obviously my comments don't relate to all of the 'Ringers', however some of them are so pompous it's untrue.

Still a very useful and appreciated site nonetheless.

[TaviaRS]

as I could never pluck up courage to get up to more than about 100 through foxhole.

Jase I've driven through it at about 165 in a RUF - the owner was not impressed

[TaviaRS]

Done in the region of 30 trips to the Ring since 1993 and don't ever recall any crashes in Belgium nor any particularly bad driving:confused:. The traffic on the Brussels ring road can add time if caught during rush hour, but other than that it's a straight run through and an easy route.

Lance

Miss Brussels, come off near Dunkerque and head across to LIege