Robbie C's Ibiza Cupra

[Indy]

Now just hoping they can get it to the UK in time for my ring trip in 3 weeks, fingers crossed.

After the Essen Motor show in December last year, we decided to go to Nurburgring but due to the bad weather we were unable to do a lap round the Nordschleife. Honestly its a hair raising experience that every petrol head must experience... Even just being in the place is something.. What we did instead was a tour round the Nurburgring where they show to you the track, pits, stands, press room, podium...

By the way SPA is not too far from there. We also went there but could only see the track from the barriers which are closer to the pits and stands. Spa is only open during a certain part of the year which we were not aware of. As its summer I believe it should open now. If not, you can drive along a road which curves round the hills so you get a sort of bird eye view of most of the track and you can see the Eau Rouge...

 

[Robbie C]

Yeah this'll be my third trip over now so I know what to expect. We normally stop by Spa on the way through, even if it's only to get a view of the circuit and stop for a breather.

I've heard good things about the ring tour so may check that out, it'll be the first time I see the new museum etc too.

There's an off-roading place right next to the track too that I'd love to try, a mate of mine is tempted to take his Monterey over just for that while we're out on track

The VLN races are always really good if you can arrange a trip to coincide with that as well, allowing you to get really close to a lot of the cars in the pits and a great time to spectate on one of the corners.

Here's Burgstube where we stayed last time, though we're going for RingHaus this time which is the closest one to the entrance, just a few metres away.

The castle is well worth a walk up for some good views when you go too, and there's plenty of nearby towns with good driving roads connecting them all up, this is Cochem:

Just got to hope for good weather now!

 

[_chris_]

what date are you at the ring? im going on the 19 may.

 

[Robbie C]

Looks like I'll just miss you unless you're staying over the weekend? We're going from 21st - 24th

 

[_chris_]

Looks like I'll just miss you unless you're staying over the weekend? We're going from 21st - 24th

yeah there all weekend. dont get back to england untill the 25th.

 

[Robbie C]

Ah right cool, may see you there then

 

[IbizaAlex]

Spa is an awesome track. Best ive ever been round so far. Very fast and smooth. Deffo worth a day or two out round there, just watch the weather as its just like the ring for changing conditions.

The main enterance to Spa is right round the other side to your pics rob with another 4 mile drive from there! The rounds around the place are a great drive. I was driving a GT3 about last time

 

[Robbie C]

You lucky sod! Sounds awesome

Well after a lot of thinking recently I've decided to put both my spare sets of wheels up for sale; my D90s and brand new OZ Super Ts, still in the original boxes.

Then once I get back from the ring I'm likely to put the car up for sale to let someone else get some enjoyment from it. I'm at a stage where I need to start thinking about the road ahead and would also like something a bit more mature, though still fairly sensible while I start putting money aside for a house. I'd absolutely love a B5 RS4 or M3 CSL but I can't justify putting the money into either when my priorities are changing, so perhaps something like an E46 330 M Sport will fit the bill, we'll see.

 

[nutzu]

looks great . very clean . good luck

 

[cupracaddy]

Cheers It's from LiteTuned who are based in London; http://litetuned.com/bonnets/seat.html

If you call/email and ask to speak to Ken he may be able to do you a deal


thanks robbie ill call him see what he says

 

[Robbie C]

Well after a LOT of messing around by Devil's Own they finally got their act together and sent me a replacement controller which arrived last Friday, just in time before my Nurburgring trip.

Last night I headed over to Bill's to get it swapped over and working again, which proved a little more involving than we'd anticipated. After replacing the controller which was known to be faulty (loads of erratic/out-of-range readings from VAG COM when wired in, fine when disconnected) we still didn't see any water/methanol mix being injected and after checking over each component we found the culprit to be a blocked nozzle

What's strange is that the blockage was on the outside of the nozzle, as if something had been ingested through the intercooler

I've always mixed the methanol with de-ionised water to minimise the risk of any build-up of contaminants through the nozzle, though this appeared to have been caused by something externally, weird.

After clearing the nozzle out with a pin Bill took it for another test drive and this time all was well, with AITs dropping from in the 30s to 13

Resetting the timing advance to 8.25 degrees as before revealed occasional CFs of 9 so we pulled it back to 6 degrees to err on the side of caution, especially when it's due to get a pasting on track.

As always, massive thanks to Bill, Paul and Tony for their help in giving up their time to sort a problem not even caused by them, really appreciate it!

 

[Indy]

Thanks for sharing this info. Interesting to know that the blockage was the culprit.

 

[Robbie C]

No probs, in this case it was the combination of the blockage and the controller it seems.

Either way, it's nice to have full power on tap again

 

[redcupraboy]

Pleased you got it sorted out Robbie, at least now you can fully exploit the cars pace and potential at the nurburgring, bet you cant wait, you lucky sod

 

[Robbie C]

Well, after what turned out to be a painstaking 12 hour drive over we made it in one piece - Brussels in rush hour is no fun at all

Saw a fair few nice cars on the way, most of which ended up here in Nurburg too and even ended up playing with a 430 Scuderia once into Germany

From a rolling start at around 80 he'd pulled ~8 car lengthes by the time I noticed I was sat off the clock He couldn't quite seem to get away at least, though whether he backed off at the top end is anyone's guess.

Once we arrived in Nurburg it was 10:30 so a cheeky lap was out of the question and we ended up grabbing some pizza and a couple of beers. The next morning I checked the car over and noticed I'd used half a litre of oil on the way over (~500 miles)

I'd emptied the catch tank before I left and when I drained it again it in Nurburg it had caught about 50ml, hmm. There's no visible signs of any leaks or smoking, only a brief puff when I first put my foot down after cruising/idling for a while, then nothing.

Something to keep an eye on I guess... I topped it back up and decided to back the ignition timing offset back to zero to be on the safe side just in case, especially with low-mid 20s ambient temps. Oil pressure and temps read fine all the way over.

With that we went out for lap #1 and it turns out I remembered a lot less of the track than I thought All in all a very sloppy first lap, but finishing just within 10 minutes going loosely by the dash clock only.

After that I brought it back in to cool down and check my levels which have stayed where they were, phew. I'm tempted to fill it with 10w40 next time when I saw how thin the 5w40 is in these temps. After that we spent most of the rest of the day spectating at various points around the track and getting well and truly sunburnt.

This morning I headed out for laps 2 and 3, with things going much better than yesterday and a best timed lap (BTG) of 9:21, that's more like it! I believe the car is definitely capable of mid 8s with a better knowledge of the track, not to mention better tyres.

The Rainsports are good allrounders but they soon started screaming and by the last few kilometres you could feel the tread blocks moving all over the place, with one interesting moment on a curb

Anyway, that's it for now - just off to check out the new exhibition centre before a bit more spectating and a couple more laps later on once everything has cooled back down.

 

[Albe 20VT]

Hello Robbie C,

i was today @ Nürburgring,and i see you drive bye and later your car.
Very nice car and good drive .Much fun for the other days.

 

[Robbie C]

Cheers, were you out on track too?

I got lap #4 in this afternoon but after the track had been closed for a big accident there was every man and his dog out on track and we passed 5 accidents on my way round It's been a very expensive weekend for a lot of people it would seem, though always the way here.

I'm now much happier with the corners and managing to exploit more and more of the car's potential, though there's still more to be had but I also want to come home in one piece too Holding it flat through foxhole is an experience in itself, absolutely immense. It wasn't a problem on Revo 1 power but it's a different game now, requiring larger cahunas

I seem to be in the very low 9s now which doesn't seem bad after 4 laps when I've not been here in over 2 years. I know 8s are entirely possible so I'm hoping to get a nice clear run for a last lap in the morning before we leave to see if it can be done. We'll see, though either way it's been an awesome weekend and can't wait to organise another trip back soon.

I'll get some pics up from a mate's phone as and when I can and maybe even a video of mine in the morning

 

[Robbie C]

Here we go then, a few pics of the weekend:

Lotus Espirit and others we were parked next to on the outbound ferry:

Anyone for ass?

100 Octane VPower Nice and pricey though!

At the petrol pumps with my mate's Octy vRS behind:

Ringhaus where we are staying:

Letting things cool down after our first lap:

 

[Robbie C]

Few shots from spectating at various points round the ring:

Tasty A5 parked up outside PistonKlause in Nurburg

Few car park shots:

More to follow later

 

[Hartosh1]

Looks really good mate! A ring trip is something id love to do at some point in my life