The Nurburgring

[ICantAffordAnLFA]

Originally Posted by atledreier

For those of you going there I actually recommend GT5 or GT6 to familiarize yourself. i have thousands of laps in the game, and it felt totally familiar and I felt secure and knew what each corner was. Of course I took it easy, I was driving 2000km back home, but it felt REALLY good. Did nine laps in one day, and definetly going back as soon as possible. The elevation changes are addictive!

Worth taking a hike around after you have driven, to see how really steep some of it is.

There is some shite advice here on renting cars; do your research on the risk particularly on a TF days.

[SeanBlader]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

If I ever make it back to Germany (I would love to! A stunningly beautiful country!), I'm going to definitely put the Ring on my "I'm not going back to the States without doing this" list.

Where is it, exactly? The only other time I visited Germany (Spring of 2001 as part of a high school trip during my junior year), we stuck to Bavaria, specifically München. So I can't say I'm really familiar with the rest of the country's geography.

I don't mean to give you a hard time, but: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=nurburgring

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by SeanBlader

I don't mean to give you a hard time, but...

Then don't.

[SeanBlader]

About 40km south of Bonn, and just as close to the border with Belgium. Hope that clears it up well enough, otherwise, maps.google.com

[Porsche]

@SirBrass

(I've been unable to quote a number of posts lately.)

The 'Ring is about 107 miles northwest of Frankfurt where there's an international airport.

If you're a motorsports fan, you may wish to include the Spa, Belgium circuit in your itinerary; it is only about 1.5 hours drive to the west of the Nurburgring.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by Porsche

@SirBrass

(I've been unable to quote a number of posts lately.)

The 'Ring is about 107 miles northwest of Frankfurt where there's an international airport.

If you're a motorsports fan, you may wish to include the Spa, Belgium circuit in your itinerary; it is only about 1.5 hours drive to the west of the Nurburgring.

That does help since Frankfurt is where we flew into back in 01 IIRC. And 107 mi is nothing for me... I live in Arizona

[Levi]

The Artega GT is a great good looking car, but the company went bankrupt.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Yeah, that Camaro is expensive to rent.

Seems like your definition of 'expensive' has changed.

Originally Posted by SirBrass

and possibly priced as an "exotic", which basically means hundreds per day.

[Superhatch]

I got to drive the ring last year, and also rented from rent4ring.com (great group of guys there) but was in a Stage 2 Suzuki Swift. Still loads of fun, and I suggest if anyone is in the area they try to incorporate it into their trip. I'm SUPER jealous that you got to drive it in a BRZ...that would have been extreme joy for me. Thanks for sharing!

Gonna hijack for a bit and share my experience.

Here is my write-up that I did on another site, also have some pics there:
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=3025104

So, short write up before I post pics and video.

It was AMAZING! I ended up doing 12 laps instead of the planned 4-6 simply because I was having such an awesome time driving. The first 4-5 laps were dry for most of the track and the 2nd half had some damp spots but nothing that made me lift at all. The second half of the day had some decent rain though. I started driving at 9am and from 9-10 the track was virtually empty. There were maybe 10 other cars on track at that point and we were all spread out, I didn't see anyone on my first couple of laps...really perfect conditions.

The car was great. It had Toyo 888's, race pads, braided brake lines and a solid suspension setup. Without those tires and race pads the day would have been much, much less fun. Most of the guys who brought their rented 3 series, or the like could do 1-1.5 laps before their brakes were gone. Renting a track prepped car meant that I could do 3 laps at a time w/o any brake fade and only came in because the tires were getting a little too hot. Keep in mind at that point you're at about 35 miles of straight racing with just a tiny slow down on the main straight to swipe your ring card again. One guy I met that was also renting a Swift took his MS3 on track just to say he did it and his brakes were gone 1/2 way through the course!

In my little, 130hp Swift sport I was easily keeping pace with M3's and a couple of the Porsches that were there. On my last lap I actually had to slow down twice because a Z4 and an M5 were holding me up and not letting me pass. I know many of you suggested that I rent something with more power, but honestly a smaller car with upgraded brakes and semi-slick tires could hang with most other things on the track that day. There was a Mini Cooper S that was all over a Ferrari 599 every time they passed me.

The fastest cars on track when I was on were a GTI, a Mini Cooper S, and a GT3 RS which was a full blown race car. The other thing is that many of the M3's and Porsches that I was hanging with were at 7-8/10 because 1. It was a little wet most of the day, 2. They were driving their own cars which were not really track prepped, 3. They had to drive home. So hanging with an M3 in a Swift wasn't specifically a victory of any sorts, but I spent WAY less money renting a Swift and ended up being just as fast or faster than the majority of the cars on track.

Crashes. Oh, there were crashes. The first victim the Green Hell claimed was a beautiful early 90's, mint condition, black Porsche 911. Back end came out after a corner and he continued into the barrier. Head down I saw him walking in the grass on his cell phone totally dejected. He was on maybe his 2nd lap. After that the cars I saw in the wall were:

E36 M3 Sedan
Rental GTI
New Audi TT
E36 M3 Coupe

Those cars all took serious damage and wouldn't be driving home. I was on the tail of a yellow/black TT ("tuner graphics") in the first part of Hatzenbach that went in too hot in the rain and slid off and then he let me pass and I didn't see him after a couple corners. I think he was a bit shaken. There were a few offs where you could see tire marks, but no impact marks.

I drove from 9-2pm usually in 2-3 lap segments, stopping for lunch at the diner there, and getting a 1/2 tank of fuel once out on the main road.

Costs:

Gas: $120 (15 gallons @ $8/gal)
Track tickets: $408 (12 @ $34/lap)
Car rental: $375 (Rental of the car from 9-5, full insurance coverage included).
Hotel: $78 (stayed at the Tiergarten)
Rental car + Gas from Darmstadt to Nurburg: $215 (two day rental of a Ford C-Max from Avis)

These are just the costs added to any normal trip you are on (assuming you didn't rent a car). It's not cheap, at all.

Final I'll note that throughout the day I kept hearing about the "fastest man on track" and how he would likely show up at some point on opening day. He's 65, and drives a track prepped VW Polo, on the public days he is almost always the fastest guy around, wished I would have seen him.

[Superhatch]

Originally Posted by atledreier

For those of you going there I actually recommend GT5 or GT6 to familiarize yourself. i have thousands of laps in the game, and it felt totally familiar and I felt secure and knew what each corner was.

I did the same and also suggest it. The funny part was coming back home and then playing the game again. I knew the track even better after having an actual tactile experience and I crushed my old times.

[Villy]

Originally Posted by runny_yolk

....
Here's my friend in an Artega GT (a weird German mid-engined sports car)....

That wierd German car is a piece I certainly would love to lay my hands on It is actually Dutch - made by Fisker with 300hp Audi engine. Looks great too, in fact I think it looks awesome, and as austere as it is inside I will trade my BRZ for it any day of the week

[atledreier]

I've driven tracks with elevation changes before, but on the Ring there's so many, you're going so fast and everything just feels like "more" than other tracks. And some parts are REALLY steep. I seem to recall the steepest ascent is 17% and the steepest descent is 11%, or maybe the other way around. The compressions you get in several places is incredible, and feeling the suspension cluck back to mother earth after some of the crests is exhilarating and VERY fun.

Easily the best time spent in a car, and I've done stuff in my car that doesn't stand repeating.

[Turbowned]

I just got back from a week in Germany and yes, I rented a GT86 for four laps of the Nurburgring with RSR Nurburg! It was incredible fun and I'll post pictures up tomorrow!

[Mad1723]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

I just got back from a week in Germany and yes, I rented a GT86 for four laps of the Nurburgring with RSR Nurburg! It was incredible fun and I'll post pictures up tomorrow!

Did the same not too long ago! You met Miguel? Such a nice guy at RSR Nurb