Nurburgring - Anyone been?

Kinetic^

Just looking to get some info on the above.

Where exactly is it?
Can you hire a car?
Any other things I should know about?

Max_Damage

This website has a good bit of info.: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

I've never been myself, and I don't particularly want to go onto it with a 1 litre Micra either!

Kinetic^

Max_Damage wrote:

This website has a good bit of info.: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

I've never been myself, and I don't particularly want to go onto it with a 1 litre Micra either!

I've been checking that site out alright, alot of good info on it.

Was thinking about renting a car for it, nothing spectacular, just for a bit for crack

Blitzkrieger

It's about an hour south of Cologne (90 miles?). You can't hire a car but you can book rides in the Ring Taxi where a pro (possibly Sabine Schmidt) takes you out in a tuned M3 for a lap. Didn't do that myself but it looked a laugh. If you do rent a car, they won't stop you going on the Ring but you won't be insured. If you have an accident you'll be liable for damages to the rental car, loss of income and repairing any damage to the track......and possibly yourself. That said - plenty of people do it.

There's a lot of good places to eat in the village of Adenau which is good because prices at the track are sky high. There's some cheap hotels there too including one that overlooks the track (hotelandernordschleife.com?). When I go back again I'm going to stay in Cologne and drive to the track - there's just nothing to do there when the track's closed. Cologne is a great city to go out in.

When you go to the track, go for one of the full day sessions. If you don't leave the brakes cool down between laps their performance goes way down and you can easily find yourself suddenly going into a corner way too fast. Make sure you don't hit the limiter on whatever car you're driving going around a corner too. I nearly lost the back end when it suddenly backed off the power and put the car off balance at 136.

Kinetic^

Any idea how much your trip cost?

What route did you take to get there? Through belgium or what?

WizZard

I've not been, yet. But I will.

Will probably rent a car as I don't own the type of car I would like to take around the Ring.
I'd love to take a ride in the Ring Taxi, but AFAIK it's pretty well booked up in advance for most of the open season.

Blitzkrieger

The ferry was the sauciest part of the trip. I can't recall the exact amount right now but I think it was about 750 return Rosslare to Cherbourg. From there I went through Normandy, though Belgium and then south past Cologne. I used an online route planner (www.viamichelin.com) for a general route but really used waypoints, i.e. : Cherbourg-Caan-Amiens-Le Harve-etc. It was mostly well signposted except for Caan - I swear I went around the ring road three times. There and back was 3,000km, but I did a bit of driving while I was there so all in all I used 6 full tanks of petrol at an average of about 70 Euros a tank. Petrol was already 1.36 for 98 octane over there at the time.*

It was 12-15 Euro a lap depending on what sorta ticket you bought. The more laps you bought the cheaper per lap it was. The hotel was 35 a night and meals were around 10 a pop.

*A lot of guide books tell you to get off the motorways in France if you need petrol and find a small town to buy it from, because the motorway service stations are way more expensive. I found the reverse was true. You have to be careful what service station you use though - some automatic ones only take French fuel cards.

Mc-BigE

If you want to get a feel for the track, rent or buy Grand Tursimo 4 for the playstation 2, and its one of the tracks!

phoenix_nights

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

Just looking to get some info on the above.

Where exactly is it?
Can you hire a car?
Any other things I should know about?

I was there in a rented VW diesel( dont ask) and we just drove up to the gate, gave the man something like 10euros and drove! No questions, no advice, nothing. It was a great buzz and that rental got a serious beating. Heard that it now is stricter or something but i did it back in 2001.

Remember getting a phone call weeks later from the rental office looking for the car. I parked it in arrivals rather than returns.

jhegarty

Mc-BigE wrote:

If you want to get a feel for the track, rent or buy Grand Tursimo 4 for the playstation 2, and its one of the tracks!

also in project gotham 2 for the xbox....

Blitzkrieger

It's not completely accurate in GT4. Some corners seem sharper and others less so. I remember being on my first lap and Sabine Schmidt flew past me before the Flugplatz because she was carrying way more speed out of the last corner. I had the foot down and started to catch her coming up to the Flugplatz when I thought : "Hang on - if you get this wrong in the game, you end up in the barrier..........This isn't a game." In retrospect I was crazy putting my foot down on sections like the one leading up to the mini-carousel on my first lap just because I had seen it in the game.

drdre

i have always wanted to go.there is over 20-30 cars going this year with the group destination nurnburg.its around 2000k for 2 people inclusing all sailings,hotel etc.all you have to pay is petrol,fines etc.

it would be a great laugh but i will wait till i get a better car next year.
and id love to rent one of these for the ring
http://www.special-cars.de/

Mc-BigE

drdre wrote:

i have always wanted to go.there is over 20-30 cars going this year with the group destination nurnburg.its around 2000k for 2 people inclusing all sailings,hotel etc.all you have to pay is petrol,fines etc.

it would be a great laugh but i will wait till i get a better car next year.
and id love to rent one of these for the ring
http://www.special-cars.de/

Can you do "Donuts" at the Ring:D

drdre

Mc-BigE wrote:

Can you do "Donuts" at the Ring:D

yes you can, you can do what you like:D .
its better doing it there than on the road.i think i have learnt the lesson.:)

Mc-BigE

drdre wrote:

yes you can, you can do what you like:D .
its better doing it there than on the road.i think i have learnt the lesson.:)

Good for You!:)

drdre

Mc-BigE wrote:

Good for You!:)

Thanks;)

Kinetic^

TBH, it doesn't bother me what car I have, I'd even drive my future 1.3 lancer on the thing, just going for the experience of seeing the place.

drdre

Keyser Soze 5 wrote:

TBH, it doesn't bother me what car I have, I'd even drive my future 1.3 lancer on the thing, just going for the experience of seeing the place.

yes you are right, it doesnot really make a difference it just for the laugh and then once you get the experience you can go the next time and rent a car.i would really love to go but donot have the spare cash yet.

jozi

I have this place high up my list of things to do/experience.

Is the ring taxi not a slightly modified M5 and not M3 as mentioned above? Not that i would car, either would be grand

Vegeta

what kinda times did you do it in and in what cars

drdre

check this out.there are afew people going from dublin.and the prices are including ferry to and from uk

http://www.destinationnurburgring.com/

dubtom

The guys who put my new windows a few months back were telling me about it. It seemed to be a regular thing for them, I think they had an imprezza, Audi TT and somethings else, any way, 15 quid a lap, if you hit a barrier and even if it's scratched it's replaced, at your expence, not 100% about cost, I think it was 50 quid for the barrier and 250 to replace,ouch.One of them hired a car and trashed it, then drove 15 miles away and called the hire firm who then brought them a new car. I would guess it's an expensive trip, love to try it though.

Curran

Love to rent a Transit and try beat 10mins :eek:

Top Gear viewers will understand , im sure most are!

Kinetic^

Curran wrote:

Love to rent a Transit and try beat 10mins :eek:

Top Gear viewers will understand , im sure most are!

Yeah that was class, she was only out by like 8 seconds!!!!

Ba$tard

I would love to go over there but you'd need to have a spare car which you could just simply afford to throw away....just incase anything happens on a bend, etc....
On a side note....The friend won a trip around the Nurburging F1 track in an s2000 by "fisicella" in 2004, on qualfiying day of the euro GP. He was stunned as to what someone can make a normalise road-going car do And he was stunned also by the look of the walk back to the pits. He lives about 100kms from the track but drives a family car right now (Hi C. :-P ) so not much excitement to be had there

optiplexgx270

jozi wrote:

I have this place high up my list of things to do/experience.

Is the ring taxi not a slightly modified M5 and not M3 as mentioned above? Not that i would car, either would be grand

Correct and they're white
http://www.pikeynet.com/05/05/14/nurburg010.jpg
http://videos.vault5.com/Pics/Ring%20taxi.jpg

Mr.75

That was Anthony Davidson driving the S2000. I love the smell of brake pads in the morning

Family car! Bate the head off ya LOL

Few pics from that event:








Davidson said he was happy to not have to speak pigeon English for that lap. I didn't say a word for the whole lap LOL

ciarsd

Costs for an off at the 'ring

# Removing damaged armco: €10/metre (x2 or x3 or x4 for multiple-height sections)
# Replacement armco: €31/metre (x2 or x3 for double/triple height)
# Removing damaged armco posts: €5.10 each
# Replacing armco post: €39 each
# Safety car attendance: €82 per 30 mins (car + 2 people)
# The Biggie! Circuit closure: €1,350 per hour
# Recovery truck: €175 (this one includes VAT)

drdre

ciarsd wrote:

Costs for an off at the 'ring

# Removing damaged armco: €10/metre (x2 or x3 or x4 for multiple-height sections)
# Replacement armco: €31/metre (x2 or x3 for double/triple height)
# Removing damaged armco posts: €5.10 each
# Replacing armco post: €39 each
# Safety car attendance: €82 per 30 mins (car + 2 people)
# The Biggie! Circuit closure: €1,350 per hour
# Recovery truck: €175 (this one includes VAT)

omg:eek: , i wouldnot want to be in an accident.

Captain Trips

Yeah but if you had a fast car like say a Ferrari or an Aston, wouldn't you throw a few grand out there to race the entire ring over and over without disturbance.......

WizZard

ciarsd wrote:

Costs for an off at the 'ring

# Removing damaged armco: €10/metre (x2 or x3 or x4 for multiple-height sections)
# Replacement armco: €31/metre (x2 or x3 for double/triple height)
# Removing damaged armco posts: €5.10 each
# Replacing armco post: €39 each
# Safety car attendance: €82 per 30 mins (car + 2 people)
# The Biggie! Circuit closure: €1,350 per hour
# Recovery truck: €175 (this one includes VAT)

Yeah, it's expensive. I had this snippet saved in email from someones diary account of a day at the Ring. :eek:

he said he had let an M3 and CSL past at Hatzenbach 2, and then as he
followed them down to Quiddlebacher-Hohe, the M3 lost the back as the
car turned into the right kink over the brow, corrected, lost the back
the other side and the car then hit the armco on the left-hand side of
the track at very high speed, and then rolled several times, ending up
upside-down on the bank on the far side of the now-flattened armco.
---
I also later saw photos of the car. It was quite unbelieveable, and
the occupants were incredibly lucky to have survived. The armco
basically sliced into the top of the car, cutting through both the
roof and the dashboard! When I saw the photos, I assumed the fire
service had cut the roof to get the driver out, but no, that was done
by the armco. =:-O
---
As for the armco replacement, well, I just hope that they transfer the
driver to the coronary care unit with a crash cart at the ready before
they hand him the bill. 75m of triple-height armco, so 225m total,
plus posts, closure, safety cars, etc, etc, for a total bill of ...
€15,000!

<edit>A nice ring video(Flash)</edit>

ANTO D10 DUB

theres a dude on a moped keyser why dont ye go on your's?:D

ciarsd

WizZard wrote:

Yeah, it's expensive. I had this snippet saved in email from someones diary account of a day at the Ring. :eek:

thats still, to the best of my knowledge, the record cost for damages in any one accident at the 'ring

Our man in Havana

Do they have the whole ring under video coverage? Otherwise you could do a legger.

drdre

Bond-007 wrote:

Do they have the whole ring under video coverage? Otherwise you could do a legger.

they must have it under video coverage as then everyone would run and not stop:D

Kinetic^

ANTO D10 DUB wrote:

theres a dude on a moped keyser why dont ye go on your's?:D

Anto, you're a good skin, will take it into consideration but I doubt she'd make the journey tbh

unkel

WizZard wrote:

A nice ring video(Flash)

Yeah, Herr Stuck is pretty good with his M3. Looks like a decent lap time too, although idiots like the driver of the red Porsche held him up. BMW - sheer driving pleasure

528i

these guys usually head out at least once a year in convoy (do a search for nurburgring) wouldn't drive nails the lot of 'em but shir how 'n ever btw, the ring taxi is an M5 (not m3) with the only mod being harder brake pad compound, and yes I would give Sabine one after a feed of drink although she's getting abit rough around the edges now at this stage (she'd do for practise i suppose), new blood / young wan with perky tits and mini-skirt is what's required now for brand loyalty now I rekon :cool:

ScumLord

I'm dieing to go to the nurburgring..

I'm planning on going to the ring later in the year, can't wait to take me new car out for a rip and see what it can really do. It's only a 1.6 C4 diesil van but I can have fun driving any ol thing.

It looks like the ferry is going to be the biggest kick in the teeth, I'm trying to decide which way would be best through England or direct.

I also need to go to Amsterdam on that trip, and maybe Slovakia depending on the weather.

matt cork

ive only been once, for the first time in the beginning of may, had a great time

drove from ork to rosslare, then across to dover, all in all the ferries (rtn) cost only €280, alot cheaper than the direct ferry to cherberg or roscoff, gave me the opportunity to get a decents night kip in the travelodge in ashford. from there it was a 4 hr blast to the ring and as suggested already stayed in a cheap hotel in ardenau

it was about €100 for an 8 lap ticket which was enough for one day as a first timer

one of the guys who i met up with there, robert, has a couple of video's on he's site http://www.147gta.nl/ which are worth a little look

optiplexgx270

For a GTA the times arnt great, i did like the bit where the bike nearly creamed itsself pulling out infront of the overtaking VX220 (shame he breaked in time)

Elessar

Really thinking of going to this after a friend of mine recounted his experiences last summer. I'd be driving over.

I'm kind of worried though, the fact that there are so many crashes - all I want to do really is go around the track once at a steady pace, keeping to the right - should I be ok? I'm worried about getting rear ended!! Would I be better off just renting another car once I'm there just in case?! Would I still be safe?

I'd imagine there are nutcase drivers on that track.

P.S. Sorry for dragging up an old thread!

Pete4779

Elessar wrote: »

Really thinking of going to this after a friend of mine recounted his experiences last summer. I'd be driving over.

I'm kind of worried though, the fact that there are so many crashes - all I want to do really is go around the track once at a steady pace, keeping to the right - should I be ok? I'm worried about getting rear ended!! Would I be better off just renting another car once I'm there just in case?! Would I still be safe?

I'd imagine there are nutcase drivers on that track.

P.S. Sorry for dragging up an old thread!

Join dtdirl.com, or join a forum/group based on your type of car. PistonHeads is probably the largest forum on the net and you will find links to several different road trips being organised.

You have the option of going as you like, turning up on a Touristfahren open-driving day (many days are booked by manufacturers or events), or going with a pre-booked group who may have the track booked for a day or two. The second option has less traffic and might be cars only.

look on google for ringersforum, and Ben Lovejoy's website.

Blitzkrieger

Elessar wrote: »

all I want to do really is go around the track once at a steady pace, keeping to the right - should I be ok?

There's a bus that does tours - you could hop on that.

It sounds like you'd have the most fun booking a lap in the Nurburgring Taxi. IMO there's no substitute for a proper balls out, foot to the floor lap though.

drdre

Blitzkrieger wrote: »

There's a bus that does tours - you could hop on that.

It sounds like you'd have the most fun booking a lap in the Nurburgring Taxi. IMO there's no substitute for a proper balls out, foot to the floor lap though.

How much does it cost in the M5 Taxi, Is there any web site link?

ciarsd

drdre wrote: »

How much does it cost in the M5 Taxi, Is there any web site link?

It's in and around €180 from what I've read in the past.

drdre

ciarsd wrote: »

It's in and around €180 from what I've read in the past.

Thanks,I would love to go some day.