I’m contemplating (and only contemplating at the moment!) taking my car for a few laps round the Nurburgring in the summer; has anyone else done this? other than insurance / keeping to the right anything I need to be aware of?

Whatever you do, don’t overtake anyone in a Toyota Prius. They’ll hate you forever.

😉

I think Crikey has.

Lots of times in car and mainly motorbikes, but stopped about 5 years ago after getting feed up with price increases and constant bad weather! Riding Spa on trackdays was so much better.

Be aware that its a 2 lane road, I wasnt and was deemed partly responsible for someones failed attempt to squeeze inside of me whilst I was holding my “trackline”.

Get ADAC roadside assistance. I use it still as its euro cover, not just UK like AA RAC etc. It certainly used to cover for breakdowns on the ring. Local companies charge. Insist on ADAC to pull you out.

All you’ll ever need to know…

I’ve driven the old and the new ,its one to tick off? but Spa is so much better as less traffic and hitting Eau Rouge fast will make you wee a little maybe combine the 2 on 1 trip hmmm ive got me thinking now ?

I’ve done it a few times over the past 15 yrs with my old style tuned Golfs, Corrado’s and Sciroccos (vw club meets and out wi mates etc) and i’ve done it a couple of times in a mates ABT tuned RS4 – he’s a very good driver having won his class in the RAC back in the 90’s but even he dislikes the “ring”. To be honest you need at least 30 laps behind you before you get the confidence to attack the track and as there can be so many other folk on the track at the same time it is almost a lottery on whether you’ll make it round in one piece or not, We had a trip planned for later this year as a mate has recently bought a track prepared Lotus Exige but i doubt i’ll go back as there are so many other/better racetracks that are open for club events or individual use and the ring is a very scary place to have an off, you’ll see a crash pretty much every single lap and that will drop oil/debris/water on to the surface so in my opinion the circuit is far too busy wi folk who shouldn’t be allowed to drive full-stop never mind allowed to drive round the track – there’s absolutely no margin for error at those speeds and pretty much every crest or corner is blind and whilst i’ve not actually witnessed a serious crash in 40+laps, i have drove past some truly horrific crashes where engines/gearboxes/bodywork is strewn across the circuit – kinda puts a dampener on the fun element.

If we had the track to ourselves and the surface was clean and dry i’d jump at the chance to hit it flat out, but as that will never happen i’ll take my track days elsewhere, shame really as i’d like to see what 370bhp of highly strung Exige and 0-100 in 7 seconds feels like on the ring – a sub 8min lap would’ve been possible with my mate at the wheel, i’d prob crash it driving out the pits.

what car have you got?
would it be fun to do it in any old car?

Been a few times.

Whats the S2 Exige had done to it then must be big power to do 100mph in 7’s, mine has 350hp and wont do that.

Yes, I took my RX8 round it for one lap. Un-insured as I couldn’t afford a day’s track ins. so I basically shat myself round it. It was one hell of an experience as the bikers were swarming around the car like flys and one mad fellow decided to tailgate me for most of the lap. I set out just in front of a coachload of tourists doing a lap and overtook a knackered old VW split screen. I was passed by every single Porsche in the world and a 2 seater Smart on the last corner.

Best bit was hanging round the car park afterwards.

About 20 years ago my dad took us round in an orion ghia was awesome as a kid and we cleared a ton and he went for the banking (dont think my mother was happy) 1 lap and left.

Ridden on motorbike…. it was the worst riding experience of my life.

In 2006 I tried to take an Aygo on there but I couldn’t get insurance cover as it was the holidays. 😆

I did one lap myself in a 200bhp RCZ – I wouldn’t have wanted to be in anything slower (not to say it was slow, was plenty fast).

I had the advantage of one of Peugot’s team drivers sat in the passenger seat giving me advice (“flat out, flat out!”, “zee gear!”). Helped a LOT as others say – lots of blind crests/corners. The scary bit would be having to slow down if you were uncertain, and worry about muppets behind. The racer reckoned it was about 100 laps to learn the track “properly”.

The track seemed fairly quiet when I did it (day after a VLN race – if you can get to watch one, do, it was great). Overtook a few folk, got overtaken by a few. It would’ve been a different story without the co-pilot.

Whilst it was good,even better was when the Peugot driver took me out for a lap to show me how it was done 😯

So in summary, if you can get a lap in something fast by someone that properly knows what they’re doing – go for it. Doing a lap yourself? That’ll be mostly quite stressful.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/anyone-driven-the-nurburgring

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/the-nurburgring-has-anyone-actually-driven-round-it-virtually-then-for-real

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/70s-nurburgring-mayhem

Thats “yellow peril” ^ his old lard ass car, not his new factory Exige which i’ve not had the pleasure of yet, but the s2 was still bloody quick. He knew colin chapman back in the early 80’s and it was colin (or at least clive n’ his team) that used to set up the dynamics on his rally cars and track cars, one of the plus points of owning one of the largest high end exotica body repair and paint shop in london was the industry contacts and pretty much unlimited spare cash floating around to spend on his hobbies n’ toys at the time.

Hundreds of boy racers have done it around my way, well I assume they have as they have the sticker on the back of their cars…

Been out a few times. We do the organised track days, rather than public days. Feels a bit safer, and less likely to come across a 4×4 towing a caravan!!

Loads of times on the bike.
FYI – Unless your insurer SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES IT BY NAME – Nordshleife, you ARE insured.
It’s NOT a racetrack – it’s a ONE WAY TOLL ROAD.
Hence if you do something wrong – you will be prosecuted by the police as if you were on any other road.

Looks like a bloody expensive way to be a boy racer!

tiggs121 – Member

Looks like a bloody expensive way to be a boy racer!

Each to their own and all that! 🙂

FYI – Unless your insurer SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES IT BY NAME – Nordshleife, you ARE insured.
It’s NOT a racetrack – it’s a ONE WAY TOLL ROAD.

So if you take out additional European-travel insurance you’d check this too?

I wonder if anyone has challenged this following a crash there?

I know 3 riders who have all been recovered and paid out without any question after crashes on there.
Another 2 who were part of a large scale oil dump by a German driver who was jailed for not stopping when flagged – bought down 5 riders and 3 cars because of a blown turbo throwing oil everywhere for almost half a mile.

Ridden on motorbike…. it was the worst riding experience of my life.

Why? I know I wouldn’t like to ride around with people three inches off my rear wheel but was that your reason?

You won’t be driving it today: http://jalopnik.com/giant-penis-graffiti-shuts-down-the-nurburgring-471057357?utm_source=gawker.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation

Always wanted to go, but the risk of crashing, cost of travel and doing a decent amount of laps, risk of the track being closed due to accidents taking up all your time meant that I never went.

I did plenty of UK trackdays instead, doing a full day on track means loads of laps, time to learn the track and you can go flat out without as much worry.

It is an experience.
If its busy and you dont know it it should be intimidating.
On balance a uk trackday is lots more fun.
Unless you know the ring and your car inside out it is not a place to test your limits. If you want to push it a trip to any one of a number of uk tracks will allow you far more opportunity with far reduced consequence.

On my motorbike, and I was overtaken by a car.

I was doing 170mph… 😯

On my motorbike yes. Bit like Weeksy, but mine was the best, and worst riding experiences of my life all rolled into one mad adrenalin-fuelled afternoon. Both awesome and sorrowful, people die there all the time, mainly bikers, but on the right day it is the most amazing stretch of tarmac there is, IMO

FYI – Unless your insurer SPECIFICALLY EXCLUDES IT BY NAME – Nordshleife, you ARE insured.
It’s NOT a racetrack – it’s a ONE WAY TOLL ROAD.

Most insurance policies do exclude it specifically by name… mine does.

the Melbourne GP circuit is available to family SUV’s on the way to swim squad:

cyclist on right is on way home to ask “what tyres for…”

konabunny – Member

Ridden on motorbike…. it was the worst riding experience of my life.

Why? I know I wouldn’t like to ride around with people three inches off my rear wheel but was that your reason?

People 3″ off my wheel is cool, i’m an ex-racer and track-day addict. It was the millions of muppets out of control and looking like they were about to crash that scared the crap out of me.

Throw in the fact about 70% of the corners are either blind exit or blind entry….

it was just pure hell.

We’re off that way again for a Spa trackday and trip to Ring area in a couple of months. I’m VERY excited about riding Spa…

I VERY much doubt i’ll ride the Ring.

It was the millions of muppets out of control and looking like they were about to crash that scared the crap out of me.

Its one of the reasons that I never did visit the ‘Ring – even though visiting friends- I literally drove past the place on the way there/back.

Your own skill is one thing but sharing a track with people of dubious or unknown newbie ability like yourself is too bloody dangerous.

I went last weekend. Did 2 days at the ring followed by a closed trackday at Spa. Me personally, I wouldn’t bother doing just the ring and certainly not on a tourist day. It’s normally packed and there are a LOT of crashes so it gets closed on a fairly frequent basis – therefore whilst you might buy a ring card with maybe 4 laps on it, you’ll do well to use them. If its your first (or second or third) time there then drive it like you would an A road. You’ll never learn it in a weekend and it’s said that most people crash when they get to 15 laps because they think they know it well enough to go fast.

Also consider that you get charged if you hit the barriers and charged for recovery back to the pits. It’s bloody expensive (I think £1500 a section) so yeah, don’t crash!

All this said I think everyone should do it once. It’s a pretty amazing place and walking round the car park afterwards is cool.

Spa as mentioned is a far better day. You learn the track quite quickly and instructors will go out in your car with you and show you the lines. It’s an amazing track, if you only ever do one trackday do Spa. You don’t need an all singing all dancing machine (my mates race car broke down on the way there and he ended up doing it in a rented diseasal focus)

(It snowed both at the Ring and Spa when we were there – nice after a 400 mile drive)

Your own skill is one thing but sharing a track with people of dubious or unknown newbie ability like yourself is too bloody dangerous.

Sorry Hora, you’re wrong. I was there on what was essentially the busiest weekend of the year (first proper weekend its open) and there were very few people driving round like loons, if any. The locals who pitch up in the knackered VW Jetta’s and out drive everyone are pretty respectful of keeping their distance. The folk in the posh fancy cars are normally wobbling around and the idiots have normally crashed their brains out before getting through the Old Pits. Newbies are normally pretty noticeable and the track is pretty wide so there’s always space to get past.

We did 4 laps in a 95bhp Focus (basically a mobile chicane) and everyone gave us plenty of room, overtook only on the straights and were all pretty polite.

We did 4 laps in a 95bhp Focus (basically a mobile chicane) and everyone gave us plenty of room, overtook only on the straights and were all pretty polite.

That is good to hear. Hmmmmmmmm.

That is good to hear. Hmmmmmmmm.

Seriously, unless you go out with the intent of breaking records/your back then its not much to worry about. I can understand those that want to put a fast lap in getting upset – tanking round a corner and finding a coach wobbling along is going to get old pretty quickly. But for the general public doing it as a once in a lifetime type thing its fine. Also, there are so many marshals driving round in unmarked cars that anyone driving like a tit soon gets pulled up and kicked out

I wonder what the Prius track record is?

Dunno but it’s probably measured on a sundial