I'm thinking about going to Northern Europe for my honeymoon and if so, this will definitely be one of my stops. Has anyone driven the ring? If so, how'd you go about it, i.e. rentals, insurance, lodging, etc. And how was your experience?

 

My wife and I went to Germany on vacation at the end of last May. We picked up an Opel Astra rental car at the airport and drove to Nurburg. Spent the night at the Ringhouse also known as the Altes Forsthaus. Great people and good food. The next morning I went and did four laps in the rental (in the rain!) and them my wife gave me my birthday present, which was a ride in the BMW Ring Taxi. It's expensive, you have to plan waaaay in advance, but it was totally worth it. Our driver was Claudia Hurtgen who has won a lot of touring car races there and she was just amazing. The only downside to all of this was that it was my first time flying that far, I had a bit of a cold and jet lag hit me hard. I barely remember my day at the 'ring other than what we have photos of. Therefore I would suggest doing it towards the end of the trip. Other things I would recomend while in Germany would be a day at the new Daimler-Benz Museum and a half day doing the Porsche Museum and factory tour. Porsche is all free, you just have to make reservations and park far away.

Congrats on the impending wedding and I hope you have a pleasant honeymoon!

Let me know if you need any more info.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Type_RS_59 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My wife and I went to Germany on vacation at the end of last May. We picked up an Opel Astra rental car at the airport and drove to Nurburg. Spent the night at the Ringhouse also known as the Altes Forsthaus. Great people and good food. The next morning I went and did four laps in the rental (in the rain!) and them my wife gave me my birthday present, which was a ride in the BMW Ring Taxi. It's expensive, you have to plan waaaay in advance, but it was totally worth it. Our driver was Claudia Hurtgen who has won a lot of touring car races there and she was just amazing. The only downside to all of this was that it was my first time flying that far, I had a bit of a cold and jet lag hit me hard. I barely remember my day at the 'ring other than what we have photos of. Therefore I would suggest doing it towards the end of the trip. Other things I would recomend while in Germany would be a day at the new Daimler-Benz Museum and a half day doing the Porsche Museum and factory tour. Porsche is all free, you just have to make reservations and park far away.

Congrats on the impending wedding and I hope you have a pleasant honeymoon!

Let me know if you need any more info. </TD></TR></TABLE>

How long ago was this? Everything I've read says that rental car companies expressly forbid you to drive their cars on the ring and locals say they have people at the track to make sure none of their cars end up there giving the employees at the ring rewards for spotting and turning in whomever is there in a rental.

I've seen some local track only rental places, but their cars leave something to be desired.

 

Was there yesterday...one of my favorite tracks on Forza

Hope you have a great trip sounds like a sweet honeymoon!

 

It was May 2006. I know some rental car companies make you sign that you will not take the car there but ours didn't. The one my friend used made him sign but he went anyway. He also racked up a few tickets while he was in Europe and never heard anything about them. I've never heard of the rental companies having spotters at the track but there are photographers who take pictures of all the cars, post them on the web and try to sell them. Anyway, I drove the rental there and nobody ever said anything. Just take it easy, don't do anything stupid and you should be fine. The closest call I had was when the driver of an older rear drive Opel sedan that was practicing his drifting cought me pretty quick when exiting a corner sideways. It scared the crap out of him and he allmost spun but he never came anywhere near close to hitting me. If you haven't done it already, I would seriuosly recomend getting GT4 or Forza and practicing over and over and over and over and over. I used to read about Grand Prix drivers saying that the track was impossible to memorize but I managed it with the help of thousands of laps on GT4. It really helps you to know whats coming up next because when you get out there a lot of it looks the same. You don't want to be thinking you are coming into a flat out 4th gear kink when it is really a 2nd gear hairpin with a yump before it. The Altes Forsthause is about 3 doors up from the gate to the track and they offer a few race cars for rent but they are expensive and I'm not sure if you have to prove that you have any kind of experience or anything.

 

Your other option is to just go ahead and buy your new wife a honeymoon gift - a BMW European delivery.

 

I actually found the website to a hotel 200 yards from the gate, that is also a performance shop. What rental car company did you use? Maybe I could try them to figure out what their contract says before laying down serious cash to rent a track car.

 

was just there 3 weeks ago. un fortunatly it is closed for winter. i was very disappointed. but now i know where exactly it is and when it runs.

the bmw taxi is very expensive, and only runs for a few months. i pretty sure you need to rsvp that also.


i hope to go back in the summer.

oh yeah and def dont go to the rin' on your first few days in deutschland. you are just to tired from the jet lag' . you'll soon find out.

when are you going?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Adam. &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I actually found the website to a hotel 200 yards from the gate, that is also a performance shop. What rental car company did you use? Maybe I could try them to figure out what their contract says before laying down serious cash to rent a track car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That sounds like the place I told you about!

here is the best website we found for Nurburgring info:

http://nurburgring.org.uk

there is no "www"

 

I've always stayed at the Dorint hotel on the grand prix track. The local houses are probably much cheaper, however. I never had a problem with taking a rental car on the track, but I've heard they've started clamping down a lot recently (it's been three years since I've been there). I'd almost guarentee there's fine print in the rental agreement about not driving on the 'ring, but you just need to ignore that part. Oh yeah, if you're traveling with your helmet just don't slap your helmet bag down on the rental car counter.

I'll echo the advice to drive the track as much as you can in video games before going. Many corners are fast and blind--very blind. Unlike anything you've probably driven in the states. Just stick to the right of the track and don't get in the way of the locals while you learn the line. It takes days, but you can memorize every corner. When you feel comfortable with every corner and can go flat out, it's an awesome ride.

Check out the public opening times before you go here: http://www.nuerburgring.de

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JamesS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your other option is to just go ahead and buy your new wife a honeymoon gift - a BMW European delivery. </TD></TR></TABLE>



dont think most people know about this one.. Porsche has one too. What a deal!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by R you serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">



dont think most people know about this one.. Porsche has one too. What a deal!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Wrong! Porsche does offer a European Delivery Program, but they are the only manufacturer that charges you more for the privelage. Most companies offer enough of a discount that you can easily pay for your trip. Still, I plan on doing it if I am ever in the position to buy a Porsche. It's worth it IMO.

 

one day I hope to drive that.

a few Team Integra members drove the ring in their buddy's ITR when they went to visit him at ramstein AFB.

I remember a video floating around Honda tech too.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JamesS &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Your other option is to just go ahead and buy your new wife a honeymoon gift - a BMW European delivery. </TD></TR></TABLE>


whats that? for some reason 'mail order bride' pop'd into my head

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pos_cd5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats that? for some reason 'mail order bride' pop'd into my head </TD></TR></TABLE>

Cliff notes: Instead of buying your new BMW at a US dealer, you order it through the German factory. You fly there and pick it up (tour the factory, etc) and drive it all over Europe on vacation. Then you leave the car at a port city. You fly home, and the car takes a boat to the US. Several european brands offer this.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bender &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Cliff notes: Instead of buying your new BMW at a US dealer, you order it through the German factory. You fly there and pick it up (tour the factory, etc) and drive it all over Europe on vacation. Then you leave the car at a port city. You fly home, and the car takes a boat to the US. Several european brands offer this.</TD></TR></TABLE>


thats awesome. woould the price of vehicle be much different then buying it int he states? and doesnt it have to go through a bunch of crap to be legal to drive in the states?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pos_cd5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
thats awesome. woould the price of vehicle be much different then buying it int he states? and doesnt it have to go through a bunch of crap to be legal to drive in the states?</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.bmwusa.com/bmwexper...ivery/

 

I went to Germany/France back in May of 06. I rented a Mercedes 230 CDI wagon (lol) from EuropCar. They do not have anything that says you cannot drive on the Ring. The only place I know of that specifically forbids it is Hertz. I did 2 laps on the Ring on a weekday, since on weekdays its only open for 2 hours (check their schedule) Weekends (if not racing) you get more time. We were on our way to Trier from Koblenz, so we did not stay the night there. Awesome track, everyone should drive it who is a track junkie like me. Like others have said, doing 100+ laps in video games helps some, but its still a bit different. Here is an incar video my fiance recorded from the passenger seat. Don't knock the heavy turbo diesel wagon, haha.
http://www.norcalmotorsports.o...x.wmv

Additionally, note that you pay per lap for driving on the ring. Read the rules of the road before you get on track. It is a toll gate to get on, and you put in your ticket you get from a vending machine. Be aware that there is everything from tour busses to motorcycles (lots of them) sharing the track with you, as well as very slow people in SUV's. Then you also get the people who must live there in highly modified track cars driving very fast.

 

Went during GP week and it was a zoo. And no one in my family wanted to go to the Nurburgring GP race either - just fishing.

Alas, if you do the Mercedes (awesome) and Porsche (ehh so so) museums you'll also want to check out the Ruf factory as well. Just ask for the tour beforehand. Alois is a great guy and nothing but a car guy.

 

i have an older miata magazine that peaks my interest in this topic.

someone slightly modified an "R" miata, roll bar springs shocks and tires, nothing too aggressive, shipped it overseas and drove the ring and went to Spa, too. i would love to do the ring in my own car, not some rental. but i wonder about import/export issues, and i wonder if progressive would cover me over there? hehee.

 

If you do that, I think shipping is like 10 grand each way.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rochesterricer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you do that, I think shipping is like 10 grand each way.</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats crazy! are you pulling that number out of your ***? for 20 grand you can buy a decent used sport compact over there and drive that at the ring

 

I've heard that number several times, but I'm not positive its correct though. Remember, its not just shipping. There are tariffs involved.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rochesterricer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you do that, I think shipping is like 10 grand each way.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It doesn't cost ten thousand dollars to ship a car to Germany.

 

One can always ask for a quote...

http://www.movermax.com/moving...s.asp