Nurburgring claimed me as its female dog today... second lap of the day as i hadnt been out there in a long while only running a 13.22 the lap previous to the current. about 1.30-2.00 in the middle of shifting into 3rd - CRUNCH - the car will not go into gear. no biggie, i just ran the rest of the lap in 2nd and 4th; somehow keeping that 13.22 lap time to the dot.
before we left the track we needed to park to get some food and use the restrooms, suddenly the car won't go into first. odd right? still not sweating too much but cautious of every move i make. 2nd, 4th and 5th are all working fine as we leave the ring's local area. part way home we decide that the car probably wont make it all the way back and that we need gas, few minutes later we hear something banging against the ground akin to a child playing with a bell. we pull off and the exhaust i had booger welded on had finally sagged in an attempt to free itself from the rest of the car. i finish the job of removing the noisemaker on the side of the autobahn, get in the car and I'm about to take off. now, you see, i turned off the car while it was in 4th gear and now it wont come out.
quick recap - part of the exhaust has fallen off, the transmission won't leave 4th gear while stranded on the side of the autobahn and we're dangerously low on gas for the trip ahead.
to make a long story short, it was a very stressful ride on the way home in an attempt to limp the car back low on gas with things falling off of it. the wife was peev'd to say the least, but being the good spirited trooper she is, she was supportive. by the time we rolled in home the car was well into the E mark and the gap in traffic was big enough to dart into the courtyard at speeds that should never be repeated.
thankfully the ride wasn't horrifically bad as we had a good buddy nearby the whole time to help figure something out should the need arrive. that being said.... all this for a measly 13.22 lap? :( sad days
this is what broke, must've began its wiggle in third to slowly lose control of 3rd > 1st > 5th and finally gave out to only have 4th gear. good news - not a whole transmission / bad news - still sucks
as the sun finally sets, is it possible to have a bad day on the nurburgring even when there are a few minor hiccups?
