By Rob
I’m not going to tip off the spy photographers too much, so I won’t say exactly when we’re next going to be at the Nuerburgring. But suffice it to say that we’re getting tuned up for another trip. So I thought it’d be good to go over the basics a little bit.
Many of you might be familiar with it already – perhaps you’ve been there, or know of it from racing lore. For the whole story, go to the official site or consult the many books and other resources about the “Ring’s” incredible history.
The bottom line is that it is the toughest and most-demanding circuit in the world. Today the Ring consists of two courses – the Norsdschleife (“northern loop”) and the GP-Streke (“Grand Prix course.”) The Nordschleife is open to the public at certain intervals and is what is used for vehicle testing. The Grand Prix course is where professional events, like the German Grand Prix, are held.
So, why do they need a separate layout for Grand Prix events, if the track is so great? The basic reason is that the Nordschleife was deemed too dangerous for motor sport. Somewhat paradoxically, it’s deemed safe enough for the general public and auto engineers! Go figure.
The Nordschleife is 20.8 km or just shy of 13 miles in length. That’s extremely long for a track, of course. The elevation changes are constant and sometimes severe. There are more than 100 corners – no one can really agree on the number, too many to count! You can see from the diagram here that the course is divided into nicknamed sections. This is key to driving the Ring with any degree of safety or expertise.
You can’t possibly remember and prepare for all the corners, but you do have some hope of keeping each section straight. One of the major difficulties that the sections help with is vision. The severe speeds, corners, elevation and densely wooded surroundings mean that there is very little forward vision at times. Before you are done with one corner or hill, you are halfway into the next. Keeping the specifics of each section in your mind is the only hope you have, really, of staying on the appropriate line.
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Comments
I hope you can give us some ring lap times with various CTS setups (DI engine vs non-DI and sport suspension vs touring suspension).
Posted by: Paul Eccles | May 11, 2007 12:36 PM
Rob, you mention spy photog's while speaking about the Nuerburgring. Are there sheet
metal and/or front/rear changes to the CTS that are noticeably different from the vehicle we saw at the auto show?
Posted by: Tom Wallis | May 13, 2007 7:53 AM
No, the car we showed at the auto shows is the same one we'll be selling, sheet metal wise. The reason the spy photos might surface is that it's common for us to run cars that are planned for subsequent model year that might have new or different visual elements.
Posted by: Rob | May 15, 2007 3:15 PM