Nurburgring!!!

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg) 07/05/2016 at 14:12 • Filed to: None

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I’m going to be spending my birthday in Germany, from September 15th to the 24th. My sister and brother in law are living there, so I’ve got a place to stay and people to hang out with already. And we’ve got tickets to Stuttgart’s local Volksfest and to Oktoberfest on the Friday before I leave, so there will be lots of birthday celebrating!

But there’s one other thing I want to do while I’m there... The Green Hell! Last time I went over seas to visit my sister, she was living in Italy and I rented a Ferrari and got to tool around Maranello. So this time I think it would be fitting to do the ring.

I’m kind of torn, it seems like an intimidating track, so part of me wants to do a Ring Taxi ride and let a pro scare the bejeezus out of me. The other half of me wants to say “F it!” and rant a car and drive it myself. My brother in law has been in the area but hasn’t actually visited the track yet, so I think he want to do it too. Looking at prices, I think it will be close either way, if we do a ride or split a 4 to 6 lap session renting a small sports car like a VW Golf R, Toyota GT-86, or BMW 1 series.

So my question to you all is, has anyone been to the ‘ring? Has anyone gone on a Ring Taxi ride or rented a car? Thoughts? Any information I should look into before I commit?

yitznewton > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:15

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IMO, 100% rent a little Euro hatchback or something else easy to drive, and do it yourself.

http://www.rsrnurburg.com/product/public…

JDIGGS > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:15

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do both

E90M3 > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:18

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I rented a car, it was my first time on a race track, wasn’t terrible. The car I rented had under 150 hp, so not enough power to kill yourself. I’d recommend renting a car, it was an incredible experience. That’s me and my friend on the ring, he was driving. We both did two laps, but sadly when it was my turn to drive, the photographers had left.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > yitznewton 07/05/2016 at 14:23

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Thats one of the sites I was looking at! There’s another one, Rent4Ring, which offers a GT-86 for rent. I have a few friends that own them and love driving them every chance I get, so I think it would be a sweet car to take because it’s decently fast, and handling is fantastic.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > JDIGGS 07/05/2016 at 14:23

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That would be the dream, but I don’t think I can swing it financially.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > E90M3 07/05/2016 at 14:25

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Thats awesome! I was thining of doing something very similar. We could rent a car with a 4 lap package and split it, looks like most places charge a modest 30 to 50 euro fee if you want to do that.

E90M3 > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:28

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That’s exactly what we did, and I’d recommend the same. Sure a pro will get you around the track faster, but you’ll have a lot more fun doing it yourself.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:31

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I’m probably going there in a couple of weeks, but it is just a 250 km drive for me, so not much of planning is needed. Still doubting if I’m going to rent a car or just take my Twingo on it, though I’m leaning towards renting, since a friend also wants to have a go, and I don’t want him to wreck my Twingo. So if I go the renting route, I’ll keep Oppo posted.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 07/05/2016 at 14:37

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Please do. My sister and BIL bought an older BMW 535i and they love it. I’ve been chiding him to take it on the ‘ring, but he won’t cave. To be fair, I don’t blame him, I don’t want to see him (or me) bin his daily driver. So I think we’re leaning towards the rental route.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:54

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Yeah, that’s the same reason I’m hesitant to take the Twingo on there, it’s my daily driver, and I need to drive 250 km back with it, and if it goes wrong, even with me driving, the insurance might be a pain in the ass, since some insurance companies have a track use clause, forbidding track use.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 14:59

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just play the shit out of n-ring on Gran Turismo and you’ll be a pro

Snuze: Needs another Swede > OPPOsaurus WRX 07/05/2016 at 15:01

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That’s the second part of my plan. I’m really leaning towards the rental, just trying to get the brother in law onboard. But once I have it setup I’m just going to drive the hell out of it in sim so I’m ready.

Of course my luck the day I get there they will be running reverse course or some dumb shit. Haha.

Scott > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 15:19

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I’ve been to the Ring several time, but did not go out on it on the Nordschleife. I lived in Germany for six years, and had a Motorcycle that I took out on the Hockenheimring several times. However going out on the Nordschleife on a motorcycle was a bit to intimidating, especially after watching some videos of others riding the ring on similar motorcycles.

A decent car would have been a different story, but I would suggest something sporty, but not overly powerful . Your choices seem like the right kind of mind set.

If you rent a car, understand this will essentially be a wild track day. Don’t try and race someone. Keep very attentive, cars will be going much faster than you, but you’ll also likely pass faster traffic. The Nordscheife is difficult on it’s own, but dealing with the differentials in speed of both traffic you may be over taking and traffic that is overtaking you can keep you more than occupied.

If you can, you may want to go out to some of the spots where you can view the track. On my first visit I was seriously considering going out on my motorcycle, but after viewing it I decided to wait. When I got home I looked up videos of motorcycles taking a lap of the nordschleife, and when I saw them catching air at Flugplatz even after breaking before you can see over the crest at the corner that lays just beyond I knew it was too much.

Viewing others going around may help you make your choice, but not sure if you must reserve earlier than that. I regret not either renting a car, or taking the ring taxi. I often considered doing both, but I guess like often happens when you live there you think you'll always be able too. I'm sure I'll get back though and do it eventually.

duurtlang > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 07/05/2016 at 16:10

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That’s exactly why I haven’t driven the ‘Ring either. I passed by that place relatively closely countless times.

RWS Motorsport > Snuze: Needs another Swede 07/05/2016 at 16:18

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Awesome! I would go for the rental option. Having taken my personal car around the ring, the stress was very high, mostly because if I wrecked it i was stuck in Germany. Don’t get me wrong, it was amazingly good fun, but also surprisingly intimidating (which it kind of should be. It’s very easy to get it wrong and say hello to a barrier if you arent careful).

Ring Taxi does seem like a very good option, but personally id do that at the end of the day, so you don’t get lulled into thinking ‘i could totally do that’. But yes, you should absolutely drive laps yourself, because even having driven it hundreds of times on the playstation (I did a 24hr race solo, whilst at uni, because why not?...) the difference from that to the real world was profound.