├ëprouvez l'├®l├®gance!

[BLINGMW]

I'm sure we'll post more about it later when we're less lazy, but for those who don't know, John and I and our Jess's(es?) survived our eurotrip including two days at the Nurburgring. For anyone who'd like to share in the fun, our rental car was a Mercedes E220 CDI, and our experience was summed up by the shift knob:


Don't forget the ELEGANCE! 8)

specs:
http://www.buyacar.co.uk/technicalSpecif...2624.jhtml

6spd, 150hp, 250lbft. It was a sled, but amazingly got out of its own way pretty well. Of course the sticker added a few HP:





And surprisingly we enjoyed it a lot. It really handled quite well, the engine was smooth, and it even got 19MPG ON TRACK (45 highway!). Gas engines are dead to me now.

Anyway, if you want some idea of what it was like, I spent a little time comparing this morning. Fire up GT4, arcade mode, pick the BMW 120d. Then do the "quick tune up", add 10% weight, subtract 10% power, and slap on the worst tires, regular economy tires. :lol: Then take it for a spin. I found the corner speeds, grip and power to be pretty darn close. Gear ratios are way long, but that's ok. Not much fun? Well, shut up. It was awesome. Maybe it'll help if every time it leaves the ground or the tail gets out, you remind yourself that you're driving a luxury car that you can't afford, thousands of miles from home. :wink: Oh, and it's lightly snowing off and on! HA!

Oh, and I'm pretty impressed by the game as well, I thought it was a GREAT model of the track. The elevation seems so much more serious in reality, but I think it's all there in the game, it's just hard to get perspective on it. And the pavement was actually better and smoother than I expected. So keep playing, and save up for some plane tickets.

We had a great time. Here's some pics my Jess took, just a bit in front of the Hotel an der Nordschleife that we stayed in. You can see it in the game!