Anybody ever been to Nurburgring?

Sizzler

I know you can bring your own car there and take a few laps around it but just wondering can you hire cars at the circuit for a few hours and get a spin round it? Sounds like a great idea in theory but just wondered if anybody has done it or heard if its possible

Cheers

SV

Not sure about hiring cars at it...

I know they have the Nurbrgring taxis there though. They're meant to be good craic.

barryfitz

I recall a very similar thread to this before, it might be worth doing a search for same.

rebel.ranter

There are definitely a few companies that hire out track prepared cars near to the Nurburgring. I read about them recently. One company even provides lessons.

It was older BMW 3 series that were set up.

I'll try to dig up details over the weekend.

TheBazman

Havent done it but it is something I want to do soon

also useful link for car (proper) hire

http://www.rent-racecar.de/gb/fahrzeuge.html

I contacted them before with the following questions
1/ When a car is rented, is this driven unaccompanied around the track, or do you provide an instructor?
2/ When a car is rented for a half day, is the car driven to the track where the driver does as many laps as he can, paying each time?
3/ How much notice is required when booking a car?

Response:
You can drive alone, then we drive free the first lap with you and show on track. We can also renn an experienced professional passenger book for you.
A half-day rental is a maximum of 4 hours and includes 130 km ~ 6 Laps.

If you want to drive more, it's no problem, then any further cost driven Km depending on the car in addition.
We need names, addresses and phone numbers of drivers and the driver must be at least 25 or 30 years old.
You only need to pay when you arrive with us.

Prob the best source of info.
http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

4JayZee

Sizzler wrote: »

I know you can bring your own car there and take a few laps around it but just wondering can you hire cars at the circuit for a few hours and get a spin round it? Sounds like a great idea in theory but just wondered if anybody has done it or heard if its possible

Cheers

Search for a previous thread on this for specifics.

Its possible to rent cars in the area but not at the track itself. Most standard rental companies have quite robust clauses to stop customers taking their cars out and the more 'prestige' cars are tracked/photographed. At least one forum had details of a 911 renter that wound up with (IIRC) a large credit card bill and a worldwide Avis ban.

The companies in the area that rent cars out for the purpose of ringing are quite pricey and sometimes choosey about renting to ring virgins.

Climate Expert

I did it a few months ago in a rental car. Certain rental companies do not include the nurburgring in their terms and conditions.

The car I had most definitely had gps tracking but they never said anything to me.

Anan1

TheBazman wrote: »

We can also renn an experienced professional passenger book for you.

That sounds like a very scary job to me..

ronnie3585

http://rsrnurburg.com/

quarryman

"the driver must be at least 25 or 30 years old."

heh?

vengeance52

you can book a ring taxi. where a professional driver, one use to be sabine schmit, dunno if she still doing it, took you on a lap in a M5. Your a passanger but wud still be an amazing drive. AFAIK you need to book way in advance

mickdw

quarryman wrote: »

"the driver must be at least 25 or 30 years old."

heh?

Check his website linked above. 25 for some cars. 30 for the better stuff

mickdw

vengeance52 wrote: »

you can book a ring taxi. where a professional driver, one use to be sabine schmit, dunno if she still doing it, took you on a lap in a M5. Your a passanger but wud still be an amazing drive. AFAIK you need to book way in advance

Is that the one from top gear?

vengeance52

mickdw wrote: »

Is that the one from top gear?

scabine schmit was on top gear. dunno if she still drives the taxi

http://www.nuerburgring.de/BMW-ring-taxi.352.0.html

Vid
http://ring-taxi.bmw-motorsport.com/ring-taxi/de/home/rt_Small.wmv

vengeance52

http://ring-taxi.bmw-motorsport.com/02-3CB51E04876DAF8DD6E9F0B265221257/ring-taxi/en/index.html

yea sabine still drive for them. now that would be a day out. tasty german bird driving a M5 aroung the ring. either way...... your gonna wet your pants

[EDIT] Just noticed its not the full track in the ring-taxi, but would still be a blast

vengeance52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNemK-xKfZY

paddydriver

I was out last September and took a rental of the new C class diesel for the weekend. About 10 of us went and one set of lads received pictures in the post of them flying around the ring and a bill of €500 for new tyres and brakes. They have now paid and are now being pursued by an Irish based solicitor. Another one of the lads got called on the Sat evening to be told by his rental company "We know you are at the Nurburgring - you know you are not insured to drive there in our car" He was genuinely not driving the ring as he had flown across from France to meet his friend there in our group and had rented a car to drive across from the airport and was just parking it in the car park at the ring. Anyway - that's the bad end of it and not the norm.

We took it easy in our rental and did 4 laps over the weekend; there was some slight ware on the outer wall of the tyre but nothing that could not be done by a few donuts in a car park. We heard nothing more from the rental company.

I got a spin around in the M5 ring taxi - it was fantastic! I love that car! It was driven by a professional driver (Not Sabine). I was told I got the only cancellation that weekend and shared with two other guys - I paid €60. they said they booked it 12 months previous and that was the norm. We got the last lap of the weekend as there was a pileup just ahead of us at one of the last bends and the track was closed down after that for 2 hours. He still got to give it full welly back up the straight after the pileup:D

I would recommend to anyone that if they like cars it is a great weekend away - just to see some of the cars on display over there! No glanza's or micra's - all top end performance cars. It is a really chilled out atmosphere where you can go around looking at all the cars and taking pic's.

You can also drive out to some of the viewing areas around the track and sit there for hours of enjoyment.

Someone said earlier too re the ring taxi not doing the full track - it does the full lap of the of Nurburgring; it does not do the F1 track, but either does anyone else.

Hope this helps
Paddy

Climate Expert

I was out last September and took a rental of the new C class diesel for the weekend. About 10 of us went and one set of lads received pictures in the post of them flying around the ring and a bill of €500 for new tyres and brakes.

If you have ****ed up the tires then fair enough but I made sure to photograph all the tires and brakes afterwards as evidence.
Never came down to that.

Sizzler

ronnie3585 wrote: »

http://rsrnurburg.com/

Fantastic TBH the clio sport would do for a few laps !

Thanks a mill for all the replies

challengemaster

mickdw wrote: »

Check his website linked above. 25 for some cars. 30 for the better stuff

I take it that doesn't apply if you bring your own car though?

demac

It's definately a trip worth doing if you are any kind of a petrol head. I was around there in a rented Audi RS4 . The track is like a rollercoaster and is very easy to make a mistake.

Each lap is something like €17 or €18 and we did 4 laps for €64. You will see all kinds of vehicles out there. I remember passing a Merv Vito taxi (minibus) on one of my laps but was really impressed by the speed of the regulars.

Even if you don't wish to drive around the track, there's usually a fine collection of supercars and performance machines in the car park. About 40 Porsche's from Sweden were present when I went out. I also remember a Lamborghini Gallardo being there too.

Most of the bikers are awesome around there. I can remember accelerating hard from the right hander before the carousel being chased by a TT and a UK reg fireblade overtook both of us doing a wheelie !!!

Sizzler

How long per lap? Must be a serious temptation just to hammer it

demac

We did hammer it but didn't time any of the laps. On the public sessions, you can't actually do a full flying lap. You have to slow down and come into the pits each time you pass the Start/Finish straight, even if you have paid for multiple laps.

Also, you MUST keep an eye on the mirror because you will be passed by others. You are requested to move to the right and allow the faster cars overtake you on the left. So between watching the mirrors and the bends ahead, I'm sure it wasn't awfully fast time but great fun all the same.

Sizzler

demac wrote: »

We did hammer it but didn't time any of the laps. On the public sessions, you can't actually do a full flying lap. You have to slow down and come into the pits each time you pass the Start/Finish straight, even if you have paid for multiple laps.

Also, you MUST keep an eye on the mirror because you will be passed by others. You are requested to move to the right and allow the faster cars overtake you on the left. So between watching the mirrors and the bends ahead, I'm sure it wasn't awfully fast time but great fun all the same.

A good wkend away none the less

Whats the town like ? Nearest city?

demac

We stayed in Bonn which was about 45 mins north of the track. I think the nearest big town is Koblenz which is nice. The track runs just beside a wee town called Adenau with plenty of places to eat and stay.

Here's one of the best info sites on the track and what not to do

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

Sizzler

demac wrote: »

We stayed in Bonn which was about 45 mins north of the track. I think the nearest big town is Koblenz which is nice. The track runs just beside a wee town called Adenau with plenty of places to eat and stay.

Here's one of the best info sites on the track and what not to do

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

Cheers man

cianclarke

I've been trying to organise a trip myself with a few mates, but hard enough to figure the logistics of getting a car around the circuit unless I bring my own over by ferry. Will probably rent a car from a company who aren't so bothered, take it handy enough, and tour Germany while I'm at it.

paddydriver

Sizzler wrote: »

How long per lap? Must be a serious temptation just to hammer it

Lap averages about 10-11 minutes but record is late 6's. If you saw Top Gear episode where Clarkson tried and tried to get a Jag diesel under 10 mins and finally did it. Sabine then said she could do it in a van but no matter how much weight she removed (including the hamster) she could not get below 10.

We stayed in Nurburg in the main hotel overlooking the straight of the F1 track - you are woken each morning to all sorts of cars just coming into the straight and noise is awesome! We got it for €180 B&B per person sharing for Fri/Sat. Think it is gone up somewhat this year. Supposedly the room we had is approx €4k on a GP weekend!... not sure if that's B&B though:p

Like anothee poster said too - the cars on show are worth the trip. GT2's and 3'd galore. Loads of nice BMW's etc. Just lots of everything fast.

Neilw

paddydriver wrote: »

We stayed in Nurburg in the main hotel overlooking the straight of the F1 track - you are woken each morning to all sorts of cars just coming into the straight and noise is awesome! We got it for €180 B&B per person sharing for Fri/Sat. Think it is gone up somewhat this year. Supposedly the room we had is approx €4k on a GP weekend!... not sure if that's B&B though:p

Thats the place I have booked for 2 nights, cost €204 for both nights. Can't wait

Andrewf20

Rentracecar.de seems a good bet. However I emailed them about insurance cover, for the car, other drivers and damage to the track if I went off. Their reply was vauge, but suggested that theres no insurance cover for the track if damaged. The bills for this can be scary. If you crash, and the track has to be closed, I think its 1500euro an hour bill!, never mind medical call out, damaged armco replacement etc.

ronnie3585

For any of you that were lucky enough to visit the Nurburgring - did anyone drive to get there? A few mates and I are thinking of going on a bit of a road trip to the ring sometime in July. Just wondering what kind of driving time it is? Google Earth is telling me about 18hrs but I usually find it a bit on the optimistic side. Would it be possible drive there in two days or would that be a hell of a lot of driving over two days?

SV

ronnie3585 wrote: »

For any of you that were lucky enough to visit the Nurburgring - did anyone drive to get there? A few mates and I are thinking of going on a bit of a road trip to the ring sometime in July. Just wondering what kind of driving time it is? Google Earth is telling me about 18hrs but I usually find it a bit on the optimistic side. Would it be possible drive there in two days or would that be a hell of a lot of driving over two days?

It's a driving trip..a lot of driving yes, but well well worth it!

ronnie3585

ClioV6 wrote: »

It's a driving trip..a lot of driving yes, but well well worth it!

Was asking whether it is too much driving to pack into two days, that's nearly 10hrs a day if you include stops and traffic!

SV

ronnie3585 wrote: »

Was asking whether it is too much driving to pack into two days, that's nearly 10hrs a day if you include stops and traffic!

10 hours in a day isn't too much driving! especially with a stop every now and then..

Go for it!

peasant

If you take the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam it'll be far less driving, interrupted by a night of beauty sleep as well,. (Holyhead-Hull and Rotterdam-Nuerburgring come in at around 5 hours max each)

ronnie3585

peasant wrote: »

If you take the overnight ferry from Hull to Rotterdam it'll be far less driving, interrupted by a night of beauty sleep as well,. (Holyhead-Hull and Rotterdam-Nuerburgring come in at around 5 hours max each)

Thanks for that. Makes a lot of sense to get an overnight ferry. Didn't even know there was a ferry from Hull.