Ever get "The Willies" from watching in car footage?

Caterham 620R at the Nurburgring.

I had never heard of such a device, so I looked it up.  311hp engine and the 620 comes from having 620hp per ton.

I've seen Caterhams at the Ring before but never seen them pass people on the straights.

I'm not sure what does it to me in this video.  Is it how exposed they are?  Is it how much they are moving around in the car?  (Heh, not really "in" so much as "on").  Is it how much the suspension is moving?  Is it all of the above as they blast past other vehicles like they were standing still?

Bonus Pulsar GTiR while in line to enter the road.

I've always wanted a 7. This is why. 

Yeah, prettymuch every WRC incar gives me the willlies...but now I'm looking fwd to this bit of insanity!

Guessing that’s not their first lap?  Whole lot of trust in the slower drivers to do the right thing and yield heading into corners.  Also,yeah when you’re passing sport bikes, you’re moving right along.  

Edited to add: From the Caterham website, 2.0L supercharged Duratec with 310HP / 297 torque.  Claimed 2.8 seconds 0-60 and 155 mph top speed.

7's handle so much better with a passenger! My first one, I couldn't understand why it turned one way better than the other until I had a buddy in the passengers seat. After that, I always looked for a "victim" when heading out on track!

There was a LOT more traffic than I expected.

I've been to the 'Ring a dozen times of more, and I think I saw more Miatas in this one video than I have in all my trips there combined. It's the weirdest thing about going there. Like, you;re at a track day, but there's no Miatas. It feels unnatural.

Also, being behind bikes is absolutely as anxiety inducing as it looks in this video.

At the start I was really impressed how well that silver Miata was holding him off...then the Caterham drive actually had room to use the throttle. 
 

I wonder what the specs are for that Porsche that kept walking away from him?

The closing speeds on traffic did it for me, and not knowing the relative skill levels of those drivers (it's a public road, right?). He seemed to really attack it from the get go (I would have been worried about cold tires).

dj06482 (Forum Supporter) said:

The closing speeds on traffic did it for me, and not knowing the relative skill levels of those drivers (it's a public road, right?). He seemed to really attack it from the get go (I would have been worried about cold tires).

From what I have been told (never been there) it's a public, one-way, toll road that's open to anyone who pays the toll on some days (and closed for other events on other days).  That's why all the passing is on the right, even if a left-side pass would fit better with the track flow.

To me it looked like he was being fairly conservative on the passing with most of the traffic and a bit more aggressive with others.  I wonder if the others were folks that he recognized/knew?  Some of the slower cars looked like they'd be pretty frustrating with their lack of awareness of faster traffic behind them.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

At the start I was really impressed how well that silver Miata was holding him off...then the Caterham drive actually had room to use the throttle. 

I don't think the Miata was holding him off -- the Caterham driver looked like he was just coasting along behind it waiting for a passing opportunity.  He waited til a straight bit, presumably because he didn't know/trust the Miata driver enough to pass in a corner without explicit acknowledgement.

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

At the start I was really impressed how well that silver Miata was holding him off...then the Caterham drive actually had room to use the throttle. 
 

I wonder what the specs are for that Porsche that kept walking away from him?

I'm guessing the Porsche had a top speed higher than the Caterham.  Seems like the only difference as they didn't seem to have a problem keeping pace through the corners and slower areas just the long straights.

Edited to add:  I just forwarded the tubes link to a coworker, the description says that was the drivers first lap of the Nurburgring!  

In reply to 11GTCS :

Maybe his first lap in person but you can bet he'd been around it a bunch of times in sim racing.

The bike rider seemed to be a bit of a tool, get out of the way!

Anyone notice the Caterham fuel consumption?  It couldn't have completed a second lap with what was left in the tank.

Sometimes, yes. WRC videos, PPIHC videos, this video at times when they pick up a frightening amount of speed for a no-downforce skinny-tired vehicle. Also most any downhill MTB video, but that's not in-car

Also I didn't see a Pulsar GTiR in the lineup, but I did see an EP90 Starlet (which has a similar rear end shape) behind the Lotus Exige

Not even a little bit.

I would have gotten so close to that bike he'd never, ever, do that again.

What gives me the willies was that video of the old guy rolling the Vette. I've been over like that a number of times and it's really scary because you have no idea what's coming and you have no control over it. It's one of the few times I've been really scared.

KyAllroad said:

The bike rider seemed to be a bit of a tool, get out of the way!

Yeah, you can see him glance back as they get to the straight, notice the Caterham that's been on his rear for the last few corners politely staying far enough back not to kill him and... whack the throttle open to stay ahead.  Really?

My cousin's husband in England has two Caterhams, an R500 and a Cup car (or whatever the one for the one make race series in England is called). I got to ride around a track day in the R500 (the previous fastest model). It was pretty ballistic.

Wonder how much it costs to do a lap...?

stroker said:

Wonder how much it costs to do a lap...?

Google says 25-30 Euros per lap.  Figure that's between 2 and.4 dollars per minute, which isn't too far off what you'd pay for admission to a track day.

The view from the BMW and Miata at 5:50 when he shifts to Plaid:

Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) said:

I wonder what the specs are for that Porsche that kept walking away from him?

Me too. Looked to be a 718.

I guess I've done too much track time as that video (while cool) didn't really frighten me any. I still think the Ruf turbo video is the best Nurburgring video ever made. Ruf CTR Yellow Bird

In reply to ddavidv :

Hans Stuck in a M3 GTR is another good one:

Nordschleife, BMW M3 GTR, Hans Stuck, turn by turn commentary + video enhanced + captions - YouTube

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

stroker said:

Wonder how much it costs to do a lap...?

Google says 25-30 Euros per lap.  Figure that's between 2 and.4 dollars per minute, which isn't too far off what you'd pay for admission to a track day.

It'd be nice to pay for track days in smaller increments.  $400 for a day is a lot and a lot of wear and tear.   $40-$50 for a 45 minute session sounds perfect for someone who just wants to go fast for a bit but not have to buy a new set of tires after.