Boring guy's talk == CAR

Wednesday – 22nd November


Yet more Ipswich for me, this is my 4th week here and I think there are going to be at least a couple more weeks to come… Why is that? To put it simply, why would someone pay this amount of money to buy this piece of crap? It sounds very harsh when there aren’t any good platforms out there. In fact, ours is probably the best available, which is shocking indeed.

Still no news about my application for the job in Canada yet, I am a bit edgy as usual but let’s hope something good will happen.


“Once upon a time I was falling in love. But now I'm only falling apart. There's nothing I can do. A total eclipse of the heart.”

“I'm lying alone with my head on the phone, thinking of you till it hurts”
“So many nights I sit by my window. Waiting for someone to sing me his song. So many dreams I kept deep inside me. Alone in the dark but now, you've come along”

I have forgotten about these songs completely. I came across them when I was in university. I used to listen to them quite often but since found it hard to sit down and appreciate them. Somehow, they came back to my playlist after a long absence and they do sound different with age, my age, that is. All nicely written, can’t remember any beautiful songs like those from the recent time.

Life is ok at the moment, looking forward to a long break away from work. Still nothing on the dating side so I guess I have to sit out the year as a single man yet again.

A thought came into my mind. I always want to drive around Europe for 2 weeks to 1 month and I might as well think about when I should take time out to do that. I have to get ready for my…


Nurburgring Challenge 2007

Providing I am still in the UK/EU by April next year, I am going to drive through a few European Countries and test my skills at the technically challenged Nurburgring circuit in Germany.

First, let’s start with the most important component – CAR.

I can’t drive my current Renault Megane automatic on such a track. I have to get familiar with THE car for at least 3 months before Nurburgring, so… have to change now. I prefer to take a 4WD car with electronic diff control plus a minimum of 250 bhp to the track. However, due to the age discrimination in this country I am unable to get any insurance for such vehicles. It would be fun to take a RWD 350Z, but not possible, what a shame. There are only two options for me at the moment.

Toyota Celica 190 – FWD, like a go-kart, low centre of gravity, looks good but not enough torque for a twist circuit I think.

Honda Civic Type-R – FWD, faster than the Celica, hatchback so I don’t need to adjust the way I drive in terms of finding the right line.

I will probably go for the Type-R because I know I can get rid of it when I want to sell.

RWD would be great but I will probably die in it as I am not confident about doing 160+ MPH in a RWD car. A 4WD gives me the best chance if I can set the diff, not easy to lose it. But FWD is the safest option available, don’t want to die just yet.

My target is 10 mins but I would settle for 12. I will have 2 taster laps and then 4 laps for time attack. I will take breaks in between to cool the brakes down, analyse my lap etc etc… Anything to give me the best chance to break 10 mins mark.

The overall journey plan is to take the ferry to France, then through Normandy, Bordeaux then east to Switzerland, Germany (Nurburgring), Holland, Belgium, France and back to UK.

If possible, I really want to drive further east into Austria, Czech, Poland before taking to the track. Anyway, to make sure my car and I become one unit, I need to get it before Christmas, then 1 track day so I know how to push the car before my trip… A lot to think about, lots of money to spend before the trip.