It starts early last Thursday morning . There had been a distinct lack of last minute panic up to that point.....although I had a vague concern about a little play in the gearbox bearing that supports the o/s driveshaft. Just after M1 J21, we both noticed a vibration through the car - must be the road surface mustn't it? It got worse & we pulled off at J20 to have a
look.
The o/s innner CV seemed to have got a fair bit worse, so we figured this was the cause of our problems. This meant either a complete gearbox stripdown to fit the new bearing, or a new box.We decided to try & limp the car home & explore our options. the knocking got worse, and we were barely managing 40 in the inside lane, so decided to pull over at Leicester Forest East and get recovered.
By the time we got back we had decided a new box was the best and easiest option. My passenger Simon (luckily he'd worked in a garage for 8 years..) set about removing the box while I tried to source a replacement. We worked out a timetable that meant if I could source one before 11 we still had a chance of getting to the 'ring for Friday afternoon's sessions. By 10.30 I had found a good box (Thanks Daz
) so we were back in with a chance...I arrived back just before 2 and Simon went back to work on the new box. I went out to pick up the essentials like gear oil, coolant and fag papers. By 5 everything was done, we had a Calais hotel booked, and a tunnel crossing amended. Unfortunately the road test revealed the problem had not been fully sorted. By this time I really thought the trip was off, and I was making arrangements to drive Simon down to another mate's so at least he could still get there. But he was undaunted, and yet again managed to fix the problem. The n/s inner CV was the culprit, and when we pulled it a apart, one of the bearings was competely shot. Luckily I had a spare set of s/h driveshafts that had come with the car, and we managed to transfer the bearings (16V not VT, but they seemed to work) over. (when I say "we" of course that means Simon was doing the work and I was passing the tools and providing moral support. At 6.30 we were on our way, fuelled with sausage sandwiches and a mixture of optimism and relief. The car behaved beautifully, and by 12.50 we were in the bar at the hotel in Calais downing a cold beer. We had been very lucky in many ways - the car had failed just a few miles away from home, and I had a passenger with the right skills to fix it. What was more surprising was that it failed on the M1, after standing up to being thrashed round Outon and Cadwell.
The trip to Nurburg was completely uneventful.The car is surprisingly comfortable, no worse than a standard DC2 Teg IMO. The passenger is very snug though, but we got it relatively comfortable in the end. We were on the 'ring for our first lap by 4'ish. Did I take it very carefully on my first lap? not really
. The car was fantastic on the 'ring, grippy, neutral and pretty fast. 
I was out at 8 for the opening of the track on Saturday - weather fine, track clear. This was the pattern for most of the weekend. I got in one very pleasing lap where it felt like I was almost the only person on the circuit - I passed 5 cars all lap, and nothing came past.
In fact, apart from the longer straights, not much caught the Civic. Once they were rolling, the GT3's and the CSL's went past me pretty quick up Kesselschen, down Flugplatz and SX. It wouldn't pull very quickly in top (I realise I do need an S80 now
), feeling quite flat after the manic noise & speed of 3rd & 4th. Fastest I was going was 7200rpm in 5th over the brow before SX, which worked out on GPS to approx. 125mph. Apart from that I am sure the car would be very quick with a braver,more experienced driver. The low weight and high grip meant I didn't need a lot of brakes - for example quite happy with a quick dab after the jump at pflantzgarten.I didn't time any laps, but a mate in the 328 was timed at 8.36 BTG, and I was very close to his pace - my car is a little faster but he has a bit more track knowledge, so somewhere in the high 8.40's I guess. I realised by the end of the weekend that my driving mode had changed from last year from being a considerate slower car, keeping a good look in the mirrors and getting out of the way, to being a considerate overtaker, giving the bikes and cars plenty of room.
- bonnet pin a bit loose in this pic - must photoshop it
I saw 4 or 5 other 4G's but didn't really get a chance to talk to any of the drivers. At least it makes a change from the Golfs and E36's
The rest is pretty straightforward - easy journey home, until the M1 that is, and can't wait until next year. It sounds great on the track as well:D
