Nurburgring Visit

[Toyarzee]

I'll be taking an extended honeymoon soon and will be visiting 17 countries in April and May. I'll be passing by Stuttgart (cant miss the Porsche meuseum!) and surrounding cities in Germany in the first week of May, and one place on my list to visit is the Nurburgring.

I'm posting cause I'm curious who has had experience visiting this place, if not having actually driven some portion of the track. Any recommendations on what to see, what's accessible, if it's possible to rent a car and run an open track day, etc.?

Thanks!

[e1_griego]

You can rent from Rent4Ring, RSR Nurburg and a few other places. It's not what I could call "cheap" but it's totally worth it.


If you're going to the Porsche museum, pre-reg/pre-pay for a factory tour as well -- it's awesome.

[nikitopo]

Yes it is possible to rent a car and have a tourist drive. There are two tracks that you can try: GP track and Nordschleife. If you want to be safe, then you should try only the GP track. The other is the big one and it is quite dangerous, especially on open (tourist) days. They call it green hell for a reason ...

Plan your trip before you go and check the availability dates in https://www.greenhelldriving.nuerburgring.de/#/landing

[Toyarzee]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Yes it is possible to rent a car and have a tourist drive. There are two tracks that you can try: GP track and Nordschleife. If you want to be safe, then you should try only the GP track. The other is the big one and it is quite dangerous, especially on open (tourist) days. They call it green hell for a reason ...

Plan your trip before you go and check the availability dates in https://www.greenhelldriving.nuerburgring.de/#/landing

Thank you, this link is great. Google isnt translating everything I've been searching through

A tourist drive would definitely be my top 10 on bucket list.

[Briankbot]

I ran a Suzuki Swift from rent4ring on the nordschleife. The car was great with a friendly setup and the tires had very forgiving breakaway characteristics. Plan to be there for two days at least if you can. The track can close unpredictability for last minute events, accident cleanup, bad weather, etc and you don't want your visit spoiled because you didn't plan enough time to account for these possibilities. Also, try to go weekday mornings as the track will be least busy. I had planned a Friday and Saturday following a business trip and the track ended up being closed Friday and Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous Saturday afternoon though so everybody was at the track and traffic was absolutely nuts! It reminded me of my street racing days growing ups round NYC.

[Rameus]

I went in summer 2011. Driving the Nordschleife was a bucket list item for me too, so I rented a Suzuki Swift stage 1 from RentRaceCar with one other friend. We did 6 laps each and it felt just right. Doing just one or two laps would have left us wanting more. At that time, one was only permitted to use cameras rented from a little kiosk in the main entry area. Don't know if that's changed since then.

The Nordschleife has the status it has amongst enthusiasts for a few reasons: not just because its dangerous but also because it is simply amazing to drive. I would have trouble being at the Nurburgring and then opting for a GP track run instead of a Nordschleife run. That would be a huge missed opportunity to me.

I was quite nervous before my first lap. At risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I went with no prior track experience and only about 10 hours experience driving a manual transmission. Everyone followed the passing rules very well. I watched my mirrors carefully so I could give faster cars space on the left when safe. Nobody pushed me aggressively. The most dangerous weapons were those who obviously did not know the track. It would be a very good idea to do a few dozen laps on a simulator first, if you can. I'd expect there's more traffic now than ~6 years ago too.

I had a little chase behind a EP2 Civic Si. The Suzuki Swift felt perfect for someone like me. Forgiving, and not fast enough to get into too much trouble. Many corners only required light braking and a downshift. In a car like that, the whole course just flowed together really nicely. Doesn't look like the Swift is available from RentRaceCar anymore, but I had a good experience with them.

Walking through the parking lot was pretty nuts in itself: Carrera GT, GT3 RS4.0s (I saw two), modified GTRs, Corvettes, and endless porsches and bimmers, but lots of interesting other stuff too. Actually, the gas station just on the other side of the main straight had constant interesting traffic too. There's really no replacement to spending your time driving the Nordschleife though.

[Racecomp Engineering]

I haven't been yet, but when I do go I also plan to check out Spa Francorchamps which is in Belgium and not very far away. The Nurburgring is probably amazing, but flying through Eau Rouge at Spa is my bucket list item.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circui...-Francorchamps

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfoVqAt0lIM[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P1QmCswql0[/ame]

Also drink lots of beer, eat chocolate, and go to a soccer game.

- Andrew

[stevesnj]

Been to Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Silverstone, Indy 2001-2004 F1, but just the drive through the Eifel mountains was amazing and the track very amazing. So far the best track i've been to. Hockenheim, not so nice.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by stevesnj

but just the drive through the Eifel mountains was amazing

There are also some nice canyon roads outside LA, California. Not very far from Costa Mesa:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29hROktPoo"]s2k had fun with frs - YouTube[/ame]

[BlaineWasHere]

I rented from Rent Racecar. But Rent4Ring is good too. They were closed the day I was there since their cars are on slicks they did not let cars go out in the 35F rainy day. Rent Racecar does have Toyota GT86 and tons of cool cars if you want something cool. Rent4Ring cars are more "race prepped" but the only have Swift and 128i.

Make sure you reserve a car if you go on a busy day or weekend.

I was there on a rainy weekday and I had the track to myself! Was just there in April 2016.

[Toyarzee]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

There are also some nice canyon roads outside LA, California. Not very far from Costa Mesa:

Lol while I appreciate the suggestion, I'm also well aware and frequent GMR, ACH, Malibu, and Ortega amongst other roads. Also, horrible driving in that video...

But this thread is about driving in Germany!

[Toyarzee]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

I haven't been yet, but when I do go I also plan to check out Spa Francorchamps which is in Belgium and not very far away. The Nurburgring is probably amazing, but flying through Eau Rouge...

Also drink lots of beer, eat chocolate, and go to a soccer game.

- Andrew

Bitchin! I'm passing through Belgium and will want to try adding a few more stops there too after reading your post!

[Toyarzee]

Originally Posted by Rameus

I went in summer 2011. Driving the Nordschleife was a bucket list item for me too, so I rented a Suzuki Swift stage 1 from RentRaceCar with one other friend. We did 6 laps each and it felt just right. Doing just one or two laps would have left us wanting more. At that time, one was only permitted to use cameras rented from a little kiosk in the main entry area. Don't know if that's changed since then.

The Nordschleife has the status it has amongst enthusiasts for a few reasons: not just because its dangerous but also because it is simply amazing to drive. I would have trouble being at the Nurburgring and then opting for a GP track run instead of a Nordschleife run. That would be a huge missed opportunity to me.

I was quite nervous before my first lap. At risk of sounding like a complete idiot, I went with no prior track experience and only about 10 hours experience driving a manual transmission. Everyone followed the passing rules very well. I watched my mirrors carefully so I could give faster cars space on the left when safe. Nobody pushed me aggressively. The most dangerous weapons were those who obviously did not know the track. It would be a very good idea to do a few dozen laps on a simulator first, if you can. I'd expect there's more traffic now than ~6 years ago too.

I had a little chase behind a EP2 Civic Si. The Suzuki Swift felt perfect for someone like me. Forgiving, and not fast enough to get into too much trouble. Many corners only required light braking and a downshift. In a car like that, the whole course just flowed together really nicely. Doesn't look like the Swift is available from RentRaceCar anymore, but I had a good experience with them.

Walking through the parking lot was pretty nuts in itself: Carrera GT, GT3 RS4.0s (I saw two), modified GTRs, Corvettes, and endless porsches and bimmers, but lots of interesting other stuff too. Actually, the gas station just on the other side of the main straight had constant interesting traffic too. There's really no replacement to spending your time driving the Nordschleife though.

So cool, thank you for the input! Getting me excited to go

Also, I apologize for the separate replies, technical difficulties with + button on phone

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Toyarzee

But this thread is about driving in Germany!

Just wanted to emphasize that there isn't anything different in Germany. At least on the track side or on the canyon road side. In fact, given the automobile history and the size of the country there are very few tracks! I agree that Nordschleife is special, but only for the professionals who can run the track when is closed for the public. Maybe the most special thing that we have is the autobahn with the no speed limits. I am sure this will be fun for you, but you'll need to have a fast car. Like a fast Audi, BMW or something similar