Well Rounded Machine...
 

Enjoyed the weekend - took the 1LE with the family of 4 to a favorite German burger joint...5 Guys! Hey, it is Father's Day holiday, ok... Exhaust is fun to echo off downtown Stuttgart skyline - you can tell who are the auto enthusiasts. :smiling1:

Following day pointed the black hood 3 hours to Nurburg...commenced to knock the rust off. Been a coupe of months since last track visit and it showed, but the fresh GY's and -3 camber up front made a difference. 70 degree temps and a clean track from previous nights heavy rains made for a good experience.

However, I packed it in after 3 laps (40 miles) due to the catch can hose rubbing on the blower belt under duress...my failure.

A very forgiving and flexible car Chevrolet has put together. The OEM blower only made the car more thrilling...too much for my skills! And gotta love the intoxicating exhaust note... Now I'll give it a bath and drive it to work...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TCSI-OPtSA

Nice

Very nice!!

I just got back from 3 year ex-pat assignment in Germany. We lived close to Stuttgart. Ilsfeld in Landkreis Heilbronn.

I drove a 2017 M2 and also hit the Ring a number of times. My best result was 3 laps under 8 min BTG. Best being 7:52. Here is a fun lap! I miss the 'Ring. I really wish I had the 1LE out there. Curious how much faster I could have been.

We took many trips to Stuttgart mitte, and places like [m]eatery. Fun town for sure!

P.S. Awesome to watch you charge up the back hill after Bergwerk. Definitely a few mph faster than what I was doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cT5ollC5bQ&t=322s

Hmm, I can't seem to get the video to embed. What's the trick?

5.Monster: Not a forum expert, but believe you need to use:

https://www.youtube.com/watch......or just use the link icon in the Reply box.

Seems to work for me...

I think a well-driven SS 1LE could run in the 7:30-7:40's...of course that is not me!

Nice exterior shot of an most exciting corner...fast forward to 5:17 for the action coming in hard and enjoying the youtube corner video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e7YtfLQmjw

Heeey, now you're YouTube famous, but without crashing! :thumbup:

Thanks for the hint!

Loved watching this. With my novice track status and meager skills, i get scared just watching the video, let alone the actual experience, lol.

After doing this many laps here, what will you do if you ever move to the states? I'm not sure i've ever heard of anything getting even close to the 'ring here. ;-)

Edit: PS - Glad you were able to get a proper burger for fathers day. lol

What a fun experience :thumbup: I used to live in the north, Hamburg for ~ 20 years back in the 80s.

Your LT4 blower is installed on a Stock B.E. LT1 engine? Do you run it on a 98 ROZ (93) Octane file without additives (I.E. Meth)?
Which boost levels are you seeing?
What is the WHP?

Tim and I talked about this the day we were able to meet up for a few laps, my ultimate goal is a 7:30 BTG... which he seems to think is possible haha My car is not a stock SS 1LE anymore but I'm not toting around an extra 200hp like Tim is lol we shall see once the car is fixed and I'm back from leave later in July, plan on doing lots of laps in September-November!!

As I mentioned above, by best actual, with traffic and still some mistakes, was 7:52. The optimal projected by Garmin Catalyst based on all the laps of the day was 7:47 flat. Having lots of laps is key, and optimizing one section or corner after another. My M2 had a grand total of 365hp, and weighed in at ~3450lbs. The 1LE is a better power to weight ratio, so 7:30's are definitely possible, particularly if you do track days (which allow you to use the back straight between Gantry and Bridge unrestricted), vs Turistenfahren.

Good luck, that is a FAST time around the Green Hell. Fingers crossed.

My best during TF is currently a 7:58, I think with a traffic free lap I could easily be around 7:50 right now. My car is stock engine but with ZL1 1LE front Aero + APR wing and I'm running 315/30/18 Nankang AR-1s. Once I get properly used to the extra grip and Aero I'm sure I can shave a lot of time off! I really need to do a track day though instead of just TF.

Eric10905: Every track is fun. Admittedly, the 1000 feet elevation or carousel and its 1.4 g turn will be missed, but the states circuits are still quite enjoyable.

Eldi Z: I added a larger pulley than OEM (2.7 now) so boost is only 10.5 at redline - equates to 630 CHP (see my build thread for further detail). 98 is my goal although I still have some Torco I'm using up.

5.M0NSTER: Of course, theoretical is just that. This track's speed, armco the entire way, blind corners, lumps/jumps, and traffic all mean near impossible feat for many of us.

Traffic: some of the best laps were doing early stages of COVID where travel was severely restricted for most. Almost a clear lap...but even then a car or few would be a chicane. The Camaro is quite fast...and typical early weekend tourist times have upwards of 140-175 cars on track at once!

Speed: I've been able to get over most anxiety at other tracks after a few laps, but not this one...I still let off on the high speed sections. I've not gone this fast before except Daytona on a track - just not the room (by design). Nonetheless, 165 mph on the first straight is no issue.

The post-Bergwerk run (up a significant incline which the video doesn't show) is an easy 5th gear run...I've done ~150 thru there, but could do more if I wasn't scared with blind corners.

The foxhole approach is 150 mph and then under braking and heavy compression of the suspension...another area you can't see in the video. Hard to tell how the car is ultimately going to act...until possibly too late.

7:44 is all I've got (with blower). Stock 1LE was a 7:53. I'm sure those time will be surpassed. More laps = more confidence and knowledge. A lap is ~$35. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbfJVPFwvuM&t=346s

Interestingly, I only added the blower to see some better speed on the autobahn - other than valve springs, it returns 190 mph (GPS).

Wish I could get in on an autocross to see how it reacts to cones...and a current quarter mile time.

It still gets 21+ on cruise...pretty impressive car for the price, certainly! And that exhaust note is just incredible...This modern Chevy is quite a success in my book.

Nice video, curious what kind of SD card are you using

Tim and FNx,

Like you said, laps, laps, laps. I wish I had a few more seasons to practice. In 5 days I went from first time ever on the Ring, and 8:38 best, to 7:52. I've had plenty of seasons and experience elsewhere, but the Ring is humbling. 5 more and I'm sure I'd be targeting < 7:40 as well. And yeah, I completely agree. Green Hell is like no other, and it's hard to ever feel "brave" on that track. I left some on the table too by not keeping the throttle pinned longer or in more sectors for sure.

And the thing I like about the Garmin projected time is that it's based on the best times of the sectors you've already done. It simply takes the best times you've already achieved, and smashes them all together. I find it more realistic than extrapolating later brake entry, or carrying more speed like some other devices use. Just my thoughts here.

Great work, 7:44 is already getting to the point where it gets dangerous for a non professional race car driver, so mad respect for sure! Keep at it guys, now all I can do is live vicariously through your videos. There are a few ok tracks around here, but nothing will ever live up to Nordschleife.