Having visited the Nürburgring several times by car, I have however never 'bitten the bullet', paid my 15 Euros, and taken my own car on a circuit of the North Loop. I've always just spectated.
It's not that I fear hitting the fence or whatever, it's just that if I should encounter the totally unexpected, or if someone extremely rapid should encounter me, and in the happy event that I live to tell the tale, my insurance company won't want to know. I know that plenty of very average cars are routinely taken round - so have they all organised special insurance? or have the death wish?
Oz (as was)
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Given the new car - Don't tempt me....
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It's my dream too. When I get that Impreza.......
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Given the new car - Don't tempt me....
Mmmm...
Even JC would go under 10 seconds in that one.
Oz (as was)
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I meant, er, minutes!
Oz (as was)
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Yep, done it in an M5, an E-Type and an F1 car amongst other beasts. Sorry - that was on GT4.
Seriously though, a friend has done it on a bike. He said it was "rather interesting". I've seen the video. I am jealous.
Did you see Sabine on the re-run of Top Gear tonight taking the Transit around the Ring? "Get out of my way you stupid English biker!". If only she could be a regular part of the TG team...
ATB,
CM
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Yup, a 1988 Golf GTI MkII 8v and a 1989 Ford Sierra 2.0 DOHC (of all things!).
As written here before, the Golf initially appeared perky having lots of bottom and mid range torque, but it ran out of puff pretty quickly. I wrang its neck but was left wanting more being passed left right and center down the long penultimate straight (that now has a chicane in it to spoil the party).
The Sierra - still my father's BT company car at this point in its life! - suffered total brake failure after several non stop laps and I had a sideways moment scrubbing off enough speed to enter the corner ahead.
In truth though, despite two non sporting sets of wheels I had an absolute ball and wholeheartedly recommend the experience. Just beware tourist coaches in the middle of the track as you crest that blind brow.
The next time we take our BSR tuned V70 to the Czech Republic, my wife knows that it is likely to be via the Eiffel mountains. I wonder why? :-)
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Well worth doing. I don't think you need anything special to do it with - in fact to start with you're better off with something easy handling, not too much power and you don't care if you crunch.
You need to be careful and treat the whole thing with respect and not get carried away.
Once you know the circuit (100+ laps before you begin to IMO) then move into something more powerful. A good slab of torque is useful as there are some serious inclines.
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I've done it as a passenger in a 911 GT3 that I own 40% of, teh bloke who owns the 60% did the driving. Great fun. Drive it like a fast country road and you'll be fine, drive it l;ike you're in a race car on a race truck and you'll put you and your car at risk.
If it does go wrong, the financial penalties are severe. Scratch th earmco and you'll pay for its replacement, even if its only an inch long scratch and you'll end up with a bill of a few hundred euros. Have an accident big enough to shut the circuit and you'll be paying a lot of money.
As for insurance? pay the recovery truck a few extra Euros and he'll drop you 20 miles from the circiut.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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I've driven the short cut up the middle a couple of times (the B268)...
The scenery you can see is as beautiful and you are (slightly) less concerned that the car behind you is a Porsche!
pat
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Did it twice (on separate occassions) last year in the Omega 3.0.
Great fun but lap times were marred by 1) continually watching the mirrors for the loonies coming from behind and 2) cases of beer, phones, iPods, maps and anything else movable which I hadn't bothered securing before taking off.
On the second occasion I had to wait half and hour as the track was closed due to a serious incident (seriously expensive too!). Then waited 15 mins for the nutters to go out so that they were in front rather than behind me (that was the theory anyway...)
On that lap I came across 3 separate accidents - don't forget that it had only been open 15 mins - and at one of them I nearly hit a parked motorbike due to rubbernecking...
Great fun, but read the rules and treat it with respect.
I saw Sabine and the RingTaxi but it was fully booked. tinyurl.com/cr6b3 . Intend doing that this year if poss. Zakspeed also do a lap in a race prepared Viper but it was ?260. Item 715-0000 on this page tinyurl.com/acvdp
PS I did around 13.4 minutes on the first lap and over 14 minutes on the second - hardly earth shattering.
I also enjoyed the "getting there and back" - up to 150mph (when it was safe to do so, of course) on the autobahns. But on the way back we were just a few cars behind a major accident (not high speed btw) which held us up for over two hours while upwards of twenty emergency vehicales of different flavours tidied it up.
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Nearly did approx 15 years ago, I was in a company Montego, weighed up the risk of smashing the car and losing my job against the car not really being ideal and therefore not much fun. Decided to go around the museum instead which was excellent IIRC. A couple of years before I had gone through that way in my Metro Turbo, that might have been fun, certainly more so than the Montego.
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Last time I was there one of the fastest cars going round was a Mondeo TDCi Estate. Belgian registered. Other "unusually fast" cars going round were a Volvo S80 and a BMW 760iL both of which were being driven in a very committed manner.
The key thing is to approach it with a sensible mind. It can be and is dangerous but you can minimise this by following a few basic precautions and not pushing yourself. I'd recommend avoiding timing - it puts the driver under pressure and most people who crash are timing themselves.
Ideally for a first time you want to do it one evening when it is a lot less busy than at the weekends.
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YES-as a passeger in a C55 AMG driven by Klaus Ludwig(multiple world champion)I would say only do it if you are an extremely competant driver and have driven on track days before.The day i was there a guy in a Golf GTI crashed and burned to death.But it was the best experience on four(well at times-two wheels)ever.
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Did this in a Cortina 1600E many many years ago. Great fun. Had to be careful of others touring around and looking at the scenery.
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No i have not, but would like to at some future point, with Sabine Schimtz to show me the in's and out's.
I'm sure i could do it in under 10mins with reasonable machinery.
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Brave man to say so.
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Interesting to see the notes about the RingTaxi (Sabine Schmitz).
I met her last summer and she is now driving the new M5, which gives much improved handling over the previous M5, and more laps per set of tyres.
However she said she has reduced the number of days per week she drives the Taxi (weekends only) - don't know if this is still the case, but it would explain her chronic booked-up situation I guess.
Asked how many circuits she has done of the North Loop, she thought for a moment and then said "It would be between 14000 and 15000 - how do I know? Well, I was paid for most of them!"
Nowadays she gives more time to the family run hotel in Nürburg village.
I too would relish a lap in the Taxi - might need to pack some spare Reg Grundies though...
Oz (as was)
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I've been round twice. I don't think any more. It can get addictive, I know someone who goes there most weekends and he's been helicoptered out once already. Another friend with over 300 laps sadly didn't finish his last lap.
Martin
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It is, without a doubt, the single best experience EVER ! for anyone with an ounce of petrol in their veins.
I guarantee that once you've been once, you will want to go back.
We've been 4 times, the only lap I ever timed was my first ever, after that I took the advice of others and focused on learning the lines rather than clockwatching. As Martin123 says - is can be fatal if you arent paying attention, even if you aren't travelling particularly quick yourself.
Going end of May, then July and finally September this year. Can't wait !
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BTW - check this out for a taste of the whole 'getting there, being there, driving there' atmosphere !
www.pistonheads.tv/clip693
Yes its us, but I think it gives a nice 10 minute view of what it's like!
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would like to at some future point, with Sabine Schimtz to show me the in's and out's.
I think you probably speak for many of us there ;-)
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