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Nurburgring Trip
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20-10-2012 8:26am#1Was over at the Nurburgring last weekend for some much need petrol-headonism. Some info and pics below for anyone tempted -
Flew Ryanair into Hahn on Friday night arriving around 11pm so stayed in one of the airport hotels and hired a car the next morning. I knew it was going to be a good weekend when the woman at the desk said that unfortunately she didnt have the Audi A1 we had booked so we would have to make do with an A4 Avant
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Sat Nav pointed us in the most direct route which is only 40 - 50 miles but because the route takes you through loads of villages, up narrow hills, cross country it actually takes around 1hr15mins. There is a longer but quicker route via motorway but we said we would stick to the sat nav suggestion this time.
The forecast was for rain but lucky us - it was dry when we arrived, that night it rained, next morning it was dry and when we were leaving it started to rain again. To say we lucked out is an understatement.
We had two half days of rental (Suzuki Swift stage 1) from Rent4ring. I was a little bit disappointed initially as the all inclusive half day rental includes 6 laps and fuel - what I didnt realise was that if you wanted to do more than 6 laps you not alone had to pay for the lap ticket, but fuel, insurance etc. They give you a Ring card with more than 6 laps and if you exceed that its €55 per lap:eek:. Needless to say we only did 6 each day (shared driving between 2). One guy that had one stage 2 for a full day did 41 laps!! Anyway they get you to sign your life away and give you a 20min intro about the Ring, the car, show you a few clips of what can happen etc
The Swift on the road and in some parts of the Ring (coming out of bends, uphill etc) is obviously underpowered, but the grip in the bends was unreal (Toyo 888's tyres I think).
It takes a while to build up confidence in the Swift but once you have you certainly build up your speed and get more aggressive in your driving (think we maxed at one part around 200kmph)
The Ring was very busy particularly on the Saturday so you do spend quite a bit of time looking in the mirror watching GT3 RS's coming out of nowhere and passing you within inches, particularly if you are close to the racing line. Once your confidence builds however some of your politeness goes and you become more comfortable taking the racing line.
Of the twelve laps we did we say 3 crashes (lovely BMW 1M destroyed, Focus ST and RX8) - so it is a regular occurance and to be honest the way some of the guys are pushing their cars I'm not surprised. We got passed by a yellow Corvette at one stage at warp speed.
In terms of the cars you can see below in the pics - endless Porkers GT3 RS's, the RS 4.0 (at least 3 of those), Turbos, endless 1Ms, several completely stripped out e92 and e46 M3's, a huge amount of Megane and Clio RSs, Focus RSs, some American muscle, Russian and Polish tuned GTRs and two Ferrari 458s!.
On the track the most impressive to pass us in terms of speed and noise were the yellow Corvette, a liquid yellow Clio RS, Merc C63, Vantage S. From one of the viewing points out on track we also say a Mark 1 Golf with flared arches etc absolutely flying - like a bloody go kart.
Saturday night was spent at Hotel Am Tiergarten (around 80 euro for single room) with dinner at the restaurant there (Sabine's place).
On both days when we returned the car they plugged in their laptop to check the car out the diagnostics etc. All good and so we spend Sunday afternoon at a few viewing points around the Ring soaking in the atmosphere. Left for the airport around 3.30 for the flight and back in Dublin around 8.
Enjoy the pics!
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Nice writeup and pics
I was there a few years ago and it really is petrolhead heaven. We were there for the evening sessions during the week, track was quiet enough but still crashes closed the track early each evening.
During the day it was manufacturer testing, some interesting test mules tearing around the track :cool:0 -
Great Right up Barry - excellent stuff!Nice writeup and pics
I was there a few years ago and it really is petrolhead heaven. We were there for the evening sessions during the week, track was quiet enough but still crashes closed the track early each evening.
During the day it was manufacturer testing, some interesting test mules tearing around the track :cool:
We REALLY need to get back there!!0 -
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I'll get there some day, but the idea of not driving my own car on and to the track is just that little bit ewwww. Flying there would just defeat the entire purpose.
EDIT: Didn't see the last post, fair enough. But seriously, put the camera down next time, how much time did you waste snapping! 0 -
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I'll get there some day, but the idea of not driving my own car on and to the track is just that little bit ewwww. Flying there would just defeat the entire purpose.
EDIT: Didn't see the last post, fair enough. But seriously, put the camera down next time, how much time did you waste snapping!
Don't worry - we did 12 laps - 6 each day. All in we were there 12 -13 hours so plenty of time for pics.
Re your own car versus renting one. I see the pros and cons of both. Tbh I would prefer the experience of driving over in my own but having driven the Swifts almost to their limit I think I would prefer that. There is a lot of wear and tear on "regular" road cars - tyres, breaks etc, let alone the risk of coming off the track.0 -
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Thanks a million for taking the time to do the write up and especially the pictures, to say you have made me jealous is an understatement. A group of us keep talking about going over but it hasn't happened yet and it could be another few years but by Jaysus have you whet my apatite 0
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having driven the Swifts almost to their limit I think I would prefer that. There is a lot of wear and tear on "regular" road cars - tyres, breaks etc, let alone the risk of coming off the track.
sure your not even insured in your own car on the ring
the possibilities of crashing and getting a life changing bill
i am starting to think renting is the safe bet + you would learn the track with the swift i guess0 -
JAMES VTI S wrote: »sure your not even insured in your own car on the ring
the possibilities of crashing and getting a life changing bill
i am starting to think renting is the safe bet + you would learn the track with the swift i guess
I wouldn't like to find out but i'd like to think you are insured,the ring is classed as a toll road in German road laws,all the rules of the road apply there - if you crash and it's your fault you are in trouble if it's not your fault then you should be covered by the other parties insurance.0 -
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Looks fantastic, great write up. 
:( 
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