Alex's 2ZZ Swapped MR2 Roadster

[Alex Knight]

Big day today.
Left the house at 03:45AM to start my Nürburgring trip.

560 miles covered from Perthshire to Dover. Car didn't miss a beat.
I've never done so many miles in one hit in this car. One very pleasant surprise was that the seats were unbelievably comfortable. Zero numb bum all day long.

Onward to Calais!

[Chilli Girl]

Have a great time @Alex Knight - wish I was there.

[Carolyn]

What fun!

[puma2]

  enjoy   glad the start was good for plus a bit of sun before  you go  

[Alex Knight]

Just got back home to Scotland.
Very tired, but was well worth it.
Proper write up to follow.

That's a lot of miles in 6 days.

[Chilli Girl]

Crikey, over 300 miles per day. A credit to you @Alex Knight 

[Joesson]

That's a lot of miles in 6 days.

Indeed it is!

[puma2]

  your back     now needed a lot of  bed rest  

that is a trip for life's memories   

[Alex Knight]

Greetings all. I'm now rested, and happy to share the details of my trip.

I've always wanted to go to the Nurburgring, and with our impending first new arrival due mid-August, I figured that if I didn't go before then, it would realistically be quite some time before I was able to go!

So a date was booked, and a plan was made, namely:

• Drive from Perthsire to Dover
• Get Ferry from Dover to Calais
• Stay overnight in Calais
• Drive to Nurburg
• Do some TF laps!

I appreciate that this is a trip of significant undertaking, especially as I'm trying to save as much annual leave as I can, so it was condensed into 6 short days!

I had barely driven the car since being put away for winter storage before this trip, so I gave it a good once over. All it really needed was a set of front brake pads (Carbotech XP10), and it was good to go.

I will say that the car completed this entire trip with absolutely zero issues with the small exception of wearing out the top mount bearings on the Tein SuperStreet coilovers. To be fair, I'd purchased them used from Japan, and I've had them on since about 2017!

As for the trip itself, as I've already eluded to, it went without a hitch. The Recaro SR seats are crazy good for long distances, the suspension less so, but still eminently doable. I've got a 2014 Audi A3 as a daily, in which I've done some mega long drives, and the Audi's seats are nowhere near as good.

On the trip from Perthshire to Dover, I calculated 41MPG, roughly sticking to speed limits, which I was pretty pleased with. I stopped checking it after that!

I got to the Air BnB on Sunday afternoon, and prepared for some TF laps the following day.

I had also been in touch with prominent Youtuber and Racing Driver Misha Charoudin, who said he'd like to drive my car for his channel (more on that coming soon), which was pretty cool.
He obviously knew the circuit much better than me. He was able to see about 140MPH before Schwedenkreuz, whereas I saw about 130MPH. It was great to be driven in my car by someone who really knows what they are doing around that circuit, and also gave me a different perspective for a change!

The circuit itself is *mental*. There is no video which can prepare you for the elevation changes, or pure relentless nature of the circuit. It comes at you so fast, it's genuinely difficult to mentally keep up. There are lots of corners with unsighted exits due to the undulating nature of the circuit, so I definitely wasn't pushing flat out. Maybe 6/7 tenths. I was also conscious of the circa 900 mile drive home in the same car!

Misha put me in touch with a lovely chap called David, a former race driver from England who now lives at the Ring. David kindly agreed to passenger with me for my first couple of laps so that he could help me learn the circuit a little better. NB: If you think you know this circuit from Gran Turismo, or Forza etc like me, trust me, you don't. All you will know is which way the corners go!

All-in-all, it was an absolutely awesome trip! I'm so, so glad I went, and I will 1,000% be back for another fix. I can totally see why people get hooked on the place. It's also total petrolhead heaven, with GT3 RSs and race prepped M3s etc seemingly everywhere. It's got a fantastic vibe. I love it!

Quick stop in Calais for some breakfast pastries!



Outside my accomodation in Kelberg. Very quiet and typical of the area.



It came with it's own private parking, which was nice. The entire apartment was £169 for three nights. 10 minutes from the Nordschliefe.



There was genuinely stuff like this everywhere.



The Man. The Myth. The Legend. And Misha Charoudin.



Obligatory.



The track action.

[Topdownman]

What a great trip.

Cool to meet up with Misha and his friend too, I will be looking out for his video.

What did you do about Ring insurance, a friend recently said he had been quoted something like £220 for it?

[Alex Knight]

What a great trip.

Cool to meet up with Misha and his friend too, I will be looking out for his video.

What did you do about Ring insurance, a friend recently said he had been quoted something like £220 for it?

I didn't. I've enough confidence in my own abilities to sort out any snafu. I wasn't flat out either, and I didn't plan to be.
I know you can't control other folk, but the standard of driving was very good in my experience.

[Alex Knight]

Here's my 4th lap - I was taking it very easy and being quite courteous:

[Alex Knight]

And here's Misha's lap (sorry about the massive over exposure):

[Chilli Girl]

Absolutely f....... brilliant, I so enjoyed watching that, what a brilliant little car.  A credit to you @Alex Knight 

[Alex Knight]

Absolutely f....... brilliant, I so enjoyed watching that, what a brilliant little car.  A credit to you @Alex Knight 

Too kind. ☺️

[Topdownman]

Great videos, nice to have them to supplement the memory!

[puma2]

  what a experxance to have in a life time  
great memories and a good story to tell from now on  
enjoy the videos over and over again  

plus you live in a great  area with great roads and scenery on your own door step   

[thetyrant]

Nice one its an amazing place isnt it and first time you get to the downhill after pits its an eye opener!  ive not had a proper trip there for few years mind , snuck a quick lap in couple years ago on road trip to italy but an X3 is not really tool for the job lol

[Jay]

Looks like awesome fun, glad it went well 

As you say, it really takes you to drive the track to appreciate it - those corners introduce all sorts of G forces!

You could easily get hooked on a place like that.

[MrChris]

Looks incredible @Alex Knight . Just watched the videos too. Not sure I could stomach the risk without insurance though! Definitely a trip to remember for many years to come.

Very interested in your seat set up, what rails/mounts did you use and did you go brand new with the seats or used?

[Alex Knight]

Looks incredible @Alex KnightVery interested in your seat set up, what rails/mounts did you use and did you go brand new with the seats or used?

I picked up some used DC2 Recaro SRs many moons ago (perhaps 10 years ago now?). I purchased new foams for the bolsters from Capital Seating and rebuilt the seats myself.

For mounts, I wanted to do it properly, so I imported a pair of used genuine Recaro subframes specific to the ZZW30 from Japan.

It was then a case of just bolting them together and bolting them into the car.

They still pop up from time to time on Japanese Auction sites:

https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/g1178370033?conversionType=jdirectitems_auction_DirectSearch






Hope that helps.

[MrChris]

I picked up some used DC2 Recaro SRs many moons ago (perhaps 10 years ago now?). I purchased new foams for the bolsters from Capital Seating and rebuilt the seats myself.

For mounts, I wanted to do it properly, so I imported a pair of used genuine Recaro subframes specific to the ZZW30 from Japan.

It was then a case of just bolting them together and bolting them into the car.

They still pop up from time to time on Japanese Auction sites:

https://buyee.jp/item/jdirectitems/auction/g1178370033?conversionType=jdirectitems_auction_DirectSearch

Hope that helps.

Really helpful thanks. Do you need additional brackets to fit the seats or do they just bottom mount on to the rails? Currently looking to do similar myself as would really like a good bucket seat that can also recline.

[Alex Knight]

Really helpful thanks. Do you need additional brackets to fit the seats or do they just bottom mount on to the rails? Currently looking to do similar myself as would really like a good bucket seat that can also recline.

The mounts bolt directly to the bottom of the seats.