flyingkiwi's Nurburging 24 hour experience

[flyingkiwi]

My first 24 hour a-spec is at the nurburgring.

I crazily chose a BMW 320i touring car, 277 hp to do the job. I was weighing up on the starting grid whether to use the stage 2 turbo (344hp) or not, but decided to give myself a challenge against this lineup:

Toyota Superautobacs APEX MR-S
AMG Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II Touring Car
Opel Calibra Touring Car
Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC)
BMW 320i Touring Car

Hour 1

The Opel, Falken and myself have a tremendous battle for the first 3 laps. As predicted, I have a massive horsepower disadvantage and have to drive the wheels off the little 320i through the corners to keep up. I start on R1 so I was hoping I would have a tire wear advantage. The falken passed me on lap 4 and built a 13 second lead. Through lap 5 I was catching him and when he pulled into the pits at the end of lap 5 I was 4 seconds behind him, and thus retook the lead.

I pitted on lap 6 (at this stage I pulled away from the opel to the tune of 9 seconds). I rejoined in front of the Falken by about 2 seconds, but he passed me on lap 8, and as the hour ended I was 6 seconds behind him.

I planned to change to R2 tyres at the end of the first pitstop, but pushed ok before I had the chance to change over. Darn.

I am pessimistic at this stage.


Hour 2

The pattern repeats itself: the falken stops at lap 10, and I gain the lead, the Opel in 2nd. I pit on lap 11, but once again I muck things up and push the button before I could change to R2s!!!

I still come out in 2nd ahead of the Falken. We pass the Opel before he pits on lap 12. The falken passes me on lap 13, and I go off the circuit on lap 14, which could end up being the defining moment of the race.
I pit on lap 16 but put on R2 tyres this time. I hope it will give me a five second gain in lap speed. But crucially I rejoin behind the Falken. That may be the end of my hopes, unless these R2s do wonders. Hoping to get 5 laps out of them.

Fastest lap so far from the R1s is 7:34.069

Hour 3

The R2s did not have the gain I expected. I blame this on me losing horsepower after about 2 hours. Can someone clarify how much your horsepower drops during a race?

I retired after being 27 seconds behind the Falken on lap 19.

 

[Watchman]

Nice write-up up to now.. I'm really interested in how your progress on this one'll be 👍

 

[Maas]

Well Audi Fan, I dont know if u already read the update, if so you're dissapointed, and if not you will be dissapointed mate

I have a suggestion for you, kiwi:
Maybe u can use an RE Amemiya.
Should give you a close race, looking at the specs.
Only 23 bhp more than the bmw but probably much faster.
Nice sound to

Cheers

 

[flyingkiwi]

I have a major problem:

My PS2 sometimes cuts out, a problem with the little needle that the adapter cable plugs into I think.

I bought a new adapter but that didn't work.

Now I might have to buy a whole new playstation

Anyone else experienced this problem?

Certainly not the kind of problem you want for a 24 hour race.

 

[Watchman]

Well Audi Fan, I dont know if u already read the update, if so you're dissapointed, and if not you will be dissapointed mate

Well, not disappointed, but kind of surprised you retired.. But reading your PS2 isn't working well, I'm not surprised anymore..

I have a major problem:

My PS2 sometimes cuts out, a problem with the little needle that the adapter cable plugs into I think.

I bought a new adapter but that didn't work.

Now I might have to buy a whole new playstation

Anyone else experienced this problem?

Certainly not the kind of problem you want for a 24 hour race.

Well, I had problems with my old PS2, too.. I couldn't play any games, because it didn't read them.. I cleaned it and tried everything possible to get it work, but nothing worked.. So, I decided to buy a new one (09.03.2009) and it works perfectly..

 

[flyingkiwi]

There is no way I am doing a 24 hour race and come 2nd. I'm only going to do this once, so want the perfect combination of a close(ish) race but where I ultimately win if I drive well.

There was no way I was going to win with a 250hp BMW 320i (the hp dropped by 20 over 2 hours).

Anyway, looks like a new or a used PS2 is on the cards if I want to do these enduros.

 

[senamic]

Ahh wel flyingkiwi, maybe try the 4 hour with a challenging car. Hopefully you will catch the endurance bug and won't be annoyed at the concept of finishing a 24 hour race 2nd. Hey, I am throwing around the idea of entering a touring car in the Sarthe I 24hr and finish about 3rd, but beat the GT1 cars! Just do what you feel safe with, but I look forward to your return to the ring 24 hour!

 

[Aloha62_2]

kiwi- the hp loss killed my first attempt at the nurb 24, i entered in a lotus with few engine mods just weight reductions mainly and all was well for several hours until the AI suddenly started destroying me on the straight where once i held my own, then the chassis wore out and the car was hit by understeer. I redid the race starting with a extra 35bhp essentially as a surplus.


senamic- my big hope for GT5 enduros (aside from the usual weather, day/night transition etc) is that the extra cars in the race will allow a viable two-tier race.

8 GT1's and 8 LMP's on the same track... sweet.

 

[tHeMaZdAMaN]

kiwi- the hp loss killed my first attempt at the nurb 24, i entered in a lotus with few engine mods just weight reductions mainly and all was well for several hours until the AI suddenly started destroying me on the straight where once i held my own, then the chassis wore out and the car was hit by understeer. I redid the race starting with a extra 35bhp essentially as a surplus.


senamic- my big hope for GT5 enduros (aside from the usual weather, day/night transition etc) is that the extra cars in the race will allow a viable two-tier race.

8 GT1's and 8 LMP's on the same track... sweet.

2 words. CHRONIC MELTDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Lucas]

Was that even worth the post...?