Tourist Delivery - Day 11

You can purchase your ticket from an automated machine. One lap costs 19 euros. Four laps costs 64 euros. I went for four (but didn't complete them all, read on). After paying, the machine spits out a little paper tag with a magnetic strip, sort of like a parking garage ticket.

We spoke to a nice guy in the information center. He could tell that we were newbs. He was real friendly. He just told me, "Remember, keep it on the right. All passing is on the left. People are going to pass you. Don't try to do what they do. It's a nice day. Watch the scenery. Take it easy and enjoy it." I asked him, "Is there somewhere I can leave my luggage? I'd rather not have it in the car for this." He told me that I couldn't leave it with them. Ina said, "Leave it here with me." Then the guy says, "No, you have to go with him. It'll be fun. You can't stay here......" Ina was really nervous about this whole thing. He parents tried to talk me out of doing this, telling us horror stories of the many who have crashed on the track.

Before we went, I decided we should both use the bathroom (good idea, because even so, Ina told me she almost peed her pants on the first lap ). There was a restaurant right across the parking lot. We went over there looking for the bathrooms, and as luck would have it, there was a sign there that said something about "Luggage Storage". Upon a little investigation, we found that the restaurant would hold our luggage for us for 2 euros per hour per piece. We dropped off our two large bags and off we went. Now Ina had no excuse. We approached the entrance, which looks like this.



See that guy in the left of the picture looking at us? Well, he came rushing over to us to tell us that photographs are strictly prohibited. That was the end of our picture taking for a while.

We inserted our ticket, it spit it back out, and the gate in front of us lifted. We were off.

At first, there is a real tight path marked with cones to guide you out onto the track, then it's all up to you. We raced down the first straight and into a left hand turn. I was trying to take it easy for many reasons.

1. I don't want to scare Ina into a heart attack
2. I don't want to ruin or beat my car
3. I am very rusty and haven't been on a track in a long time

After the first turn, we went into a series of very simple esses. I shot the Cayman right through them like a pro, which was bad. This made me feel a little overqualified and that is not a good thing on this track. After that initial really easy area, the track becomes brutal. There are several spots that are completely blind. Turns you can't see through, hills you can't see over, followed by brutal turns. This track is down right spooky and way too big to easily memorize. Add a swarm of highly skilled motorcycle riders and some incredible cars driven by pros, and I was clearly the slowest guy out there. Well, not the slowest. I did pass a vehicle or two, but I was in the bottom 5%. These guys knew the track and how to work it. I clearly did not.

Never the less, the Cayman did a great job and we had a lot of fun. The first lap was real slow. I didn't even time it, mostly because I had forgotten to. On the second lap, I started the sport Chrono stop watch. I wish I could tell you guys that I cracked the 10 minute mark, but I wasn't even close. I did that second lap in 12:38. But there is one areas of the track that is under construction and does have speed limits ranging from 50-70 km/h between km 17 and 19.

More about lap 2. At one point I did something really bad. We were moving well and chasing a couple of motorcycles that I probably shouldn't have been trying to keep up with. Then three bikes came up on me and I moved off line to let them by. This sent me into a series of esses too fast and off line. I early apexed the first right which messed me up big time into the next left. This sent me hurling way too fast into a 90 degree left hand hair pin turn. I tried to dial in some steering and experienced some severe under steer. I was plowing straight for the grass, screeching and smoke coming off the front tires. I jumped on the brakes and as the car slowed, the front wheels bit again, gently and predictably. I assume that PSM was going ballistic, but I couldn't say for sure because I was looking straight ahead to where I thought I would be, in the grass. Phew.....

After that was over, I was shaken a little, and so was Ina. But the truth is the car never even came close to the curb. The under-steer and screeching were terrifying, but the car recovered so well that we regained control very long before leaving the track. I played it off knowing that Ina had already realized that what just happened was not cool. I said something like, "Duh Mike.... Way off line man. Slow it down and let's not repeat that....."

OK, so into lap 3. I'm far from memorizing the track, but I have successfully memorized sections. The really scary sections that is, and the blind areas. So I am feeling better and cooking faster. We weren't 2 km into the third lap when we caught up with a bike that was not as comfortable. This bike was holding us up big time and I wasn't comfortable passing. We were stuck behind it for at least 25% of the lap when we were waived by and passed. Then we tore it up. I pretty much aced the rest of the lap and brought it back in. This time, 11:28. A drastic improvement over the last lap, where I hadn't been held up by any traffic.

After that lap, Ina had enough. She said, "Why don't you run the last one without me?" She was a trooper, and definitely left her comfort zone joining me in the first place. I decided to call it quits. If I ran that last lap, she would be worrying about me the whole time. I had enough, and I kind of felt bad for my car. This was the hardest I had pushed it so far.

After we stopped, we got our luggage back and took some more pictures. First of my partially melted front tire, then of my car at the ring.

After the ring we pointed the car south to our next destination, Strasbourg France, the third country we had visited in the car.

A word about Bi-Xenons. This was the first time I spent any long time behind the wheel at night. All I can say is, WOW....! Those things are so bright that I am left questioning their legality. The low beams are not overly bright. They are OK. But the high beams, oh-my-god.... They are so damn bright it's amazing. And the light pattern is so well diffused. No hot spots. Just a wall of daylight in front of your car. I haven't experienced the halogens, but I simply can't imagine that they are anywhere near as bright. These things are incredible and worth every penny of the $1,090 that I paid for them. The only thing I can complain about is that if you use the high beams when there is a reflective sign in front of you, prepare to be blinded. If you are on the fence about this option, don't hesitate for another second. Get them. You won't regret it.

The fog lights are also surprisingly effective. But honestly, I found it easier to see with them off. They add so much light right smack in front of the car, that your eye focus is pulled there making the horizon look darker. In dry weather, leave them off. But I can definitely see that these are truly functional fog lights, not decorative fogs like you find on most cars. Nice job Porsche.

While were talking about lighting. I don't like the dash illumination. I know it's got a light sensor and it automatically adjusts, but in low light dusk like conditions I find the instruments under illuminated. OK, enough on lighting.

Ina and I drove for about 3 hours to get to Strasbourg, an hour or so of it in France. There were speed limits there, ranging from 100 - 130 km/h (60 - 80 mph) and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that even at those 'USA' like highway speeds, the car was still fun to drive and not boring like I had previously feared. Northern France was nice. Pretty and scenic. But no better than Southern Germany really.

This is what signs look like from the passenger seat of a Cayman



We arrived at the Hilton in Strasbourg and checked in. They had a nice private parking lot, which made me feel better. We had a beer at the bar and went to bed. The end to a long day.

More to come.

I hope you enjoyed day 11. If you'd like to discuss it, you can do so here: http://www.caymanclub.net/cayman-sal...rburgring.html