Lets all live vicariously through Johann shall we...
March 4th 2007..
8:45 I woke up, took a shower and left the house 30 minues after that to pour some gasoline in the C30. While at the pump my friend Emiel arrived and shortly after we were heading in the direction of the Nürburgring...
The C30 had done 600 km's so far most of which was easy driving with an occasional 5K RPM burst, more or less the average break in prodecure behavior.
On the Autobahn speeds went up to 160-200 km/h, RPM's are between ~3600 and ~4200 in 6th gear then. The suspension felt stiff on the concrete roads, very smooth on the A1 which is smoother asphalt. After two hours and 15 minutes we arrived at the Nürburgring for the first time in 2007. The weather was very nice, sunny/partailly lightly clouded and temps were near 10ºC. Our Belgian friend JC was already present at the Ring.
Following the rituals we went for a cup of coffee first at restaurant the "Grune Holle" which means the green hell.. Bought a 4 lap ticket after that and off we went. Emiel and JC were driving JC's 850, I drove the C30 alone.
The first lap of the season in a new car on a track which was renewed at several places, wet in the shadows and damp in some other places. Just take it slow was the intention and so we did. The suspension of the C30 felt right at home from the first km's. The what we experienced as being a stiff ride didn't feel all that stiff on the track. The tires were protesting a bit in some places, sliding in more damp situations, traction of the car was amazing although for this lap I left all the driver aid's on.
Halfway a car aparently had entered the side of the track, propably hit the sideboard and had bounced back. No traces of the car but a lot of dirt, grass and mud on the track in a rather tricky spot. Good for us we were taking it slow. Some parts of the track received a new surface, some kerbs were replaced and smoothened and Karrussel received new concrete at the bottom.
Entering the track driving toward Tiergarten the car felt nice already although the speed wasn't there. Through Hohenrein the car responded very well to a low RPM 3rd gear entrance and the torque picked up the pace nicely. Through the sharp righthander toward T13 where I tried the 2nd gear and I was surprised by the minimal amount of wheelspin on the inner wheel. Just after the apex DSTC/TC gave one or two hickups but a slight turn of the wheel in the driving direction immediately brought back the power. After the first sharp corner entering Hatzenbach the car felt a bit loose or spongy at first, maybe a combination of weight transfer and the track going downhill, but setting the steering for the next corner brought back the solid feel in the car. Hatzenbach went nice, car behaved well with a nice balance. Hatzenbach was dry for a change else this might be a very tricky part of the track. Hocheichen went smooth and after that the throttle went on. Not the acceleration I'm used to but the engine showed a stubborn kind of push and kep building pace nicely. Entering Quiddelbacher-Hohe on top of the "bridge" I lifted throttle slightly because the track appeared wet but this wasn't the case so the throttle went back on and with a nice pace the car went uphill to the double richthander but became light at the top of the hill which gave a bit fuzzy impression specially after coming down on the wheels again just before the first corner. It felt like this were the tires, not the suspension. Under braking the pedal feel is at the spongy side and tire deformation can be felt which make the whole brake exerience slightly fuzzy. After the car settled the throttle went on through both corners on to the direction of Flugplatz which went full throttle and on to Schwedenkreuz. I limited the speed to something near 180 km/h at the hill leaving me plenty of braking space for the lefthander after the hill. For those who do not know, at this part there is a long straight going uphill where really high speeds can be reached but just before going uphill the next corner is basically a blind entrance. In some situations the car can become airborne or will lift out of the suspension almost completely.
After the hill I only braked slightly because the car felt very balanced, used the throttle to keep it balanced and braked hard entering Aremberg. The brakes again felt fuzzy like mentioned before. Aremberg was rounded using 3rd gear and the low down torque of the car made it pull through very well. Next was my favourite part downhill called Fuchsröhre but unfortunately this whole part was in the shadow and very wet so it was taken with caution and lower speed. On to Adenauer Forst the car listened to steering input very well, it wasn't upset going over the kerb and the rear kept it's track exept at the very sharp lefthander on top where it stepped out, mainly because of the sudden weight transfer and braking, I also steered a bit late. Still the whole sitaution felt very natural an no unexpected behavior. Through Metzgesfeld the lesser power of the car became obvious and keeping the throttle on at most places is a weird experience because at one spot there is a braking/lifting point with the SDII..
Kallenhardt went very smooth, the car felt very well balanced, the tires were at the max of their ability and probably a bit to new also, at least that was my impression.
Next came Wehrseifen where we ran in to a lot of dirt and mud on the track which took out the speed completely, after the dirt the throttle went back on and the limitation of the tires could be noticed. I didn't trailbrake through the corner but in a straighter line before the corner because of the braking behavior of the car.
Breidscheid was done with moderate pace and Ex-Muhle direction Bergwerk again showed the lesser power of the car which made this part more or less a nice sight seeing trip in the country. Bergwerk was very wet, many parts of the high speed uphill part Kesselchen 1 and 2 were wet also so this part was driven at lower speed.
Although challenging corners at high speed it is very demanding for the car because normally the whole part is driven full throttle in 4th and 5th gear. Angstcurve was dry and rounded at the normal pace, Klostertal the throttle went on and the car felt very secure at the small bend halfway. Braking to Steilstrecken-Kurve went well but fuzzy again and rounding the corner again it amazed me how much traction there was available, hardly any wheelspin.
Entering Karrusell the ABS briefly showed it's ugly face, lifting and reengage solved that problem. Karrussell was reworked btw and smoothened a lot. Hohe acht the car felt superb, very sharp steering and feel in the car as did the part after that through Wippermann on to Eschbach. Tires was the limiting factor here as it was entering Brünnchen partially because of the braking behavior as well as the sideways stability which didn't feel capable. Brünnchen exit was wet so taken with caution, Eis-Kurve through Pflanzgarten 1 I was a bit of getting a feel for the tires, With the SDII's Bridgestone tires it feels like the tires are slightly overheated at this point but given the slower pace and also the lower temperatures the Conti tires felt OK.
PG1 the car felt very wel balanced both at the jump and through the corner.At Pflnazgarten 2 the rear became very light at the steep "down jump" but quickly resettled and the remainder of that part the throttle was on all the way up to Schwalbenschwanz where I braked early again with lesser force to keep some feel in the steering, braking can be done through the corner but with a fuzzy brake feel the cornering feels insecure.. Kleine Karrussell the car didn't become upset, kept it to the left to avoid the exit jump with the risk of bottoming out with the body kit.
Galgenkopf, specially the entrance IMO, is a corner which needs a good feel in the tires because it can be taken with a mild slide but since the tires didn't give me that much confidence it was taking at lower speed, the exit of this corner was taken full throttle while letting it run real wide and the exit speed was very good although under protest from the tires.
The first lap of the season, what a long wait that was..
After that I did 3 other laps the last one being the nicest with a good pace, the temps were up slightly, the track was dry. Also the tires felt a bit better at this point, maybe they were rubbed in by now and I developed a bit better feel for them. Lap time was more than acceptable and my co pilot Emiel already started fearing the dominance of the C30 after a chip and some tires.
Conclusion after 4 laps, the car has a very good "base speed" and feels solid most of the time which is a very positive thing IMO because the Ring is the kind of track where it is difficult to set up the car for the whole track. Basically it can be cut in 3 parts where different conditions apply. The C30 did well in all those parts which is a very positive thing. There will always be one spot where the setup will be running after the facts and maybe this is at the beginning of Hatzenbach for this car but after that it feels very nice. The S60R for instance felt very good at that same Hatzenbach part but totally lost steering feel toward Schwedenkreuz and also Fuchsröhre and on top of Eschbach entering Brünnchen where the 4C system went in overload and it felt like the car was hoovering above the track.
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Again a great day. We encountered 3 Focus ST's during the trip and we did some sprints with those cars which appeared to be stock and it turned out they were evenly quick as the C30T5. We exchanged the thumbs up on one occasion btw.
