You Only Need 68 Horsepower for Nürburgring Fun

I’ll preach the gospel of “slow car fast” for as long as I’m alive. You’ll find true joy behind the wheel of something with barely enough power to get out of its own way, not much grip, and the willingness be driven like a hooligan. It even works on the Nürburgring.

Dale Lomas from Bridge to Gantry demonstrates this ably in an onboard video at a wet Nordschleife track day in an old Citroën C1. The little french hatchback has just 68 horsepower, but it was stripped out and caged for a 24-hour race at Spa, and a propensity for oversteer mid-corner and on exit. So, basically, a perfect car.

The name of the game here is conserving momentum, and that’s true whether you’re on the Nürburgring or trying to keep up with quicker cars on a decent road. Get up to speed and do everything you can to stay there. Don’t brake, keep the revs up, avoid wheelspin, try not to scrub off speed mid-corner, oh, and don’t brake. Done properly, you can keep up with much faster cars, with Lomas doing his damndest to stay with an E36 3-Series and a friend in a Hyundai I20 N. Lose momentum by lifting or braking unnecessarily and it’s agonizing. It takes forever to get back up to speed, but once you do it right, little in life is more satisfying. 

You might be faster in a new BMW M3, but would you be having more fun? I’m not sure.