Nurburg ring advice

[Crazypete00]

hi all,

got a phone call tonight saying i'm going to the ring. had no choice on the matter :thumbsup: cant wait always wanted to go.

first up i've read alot of posts on here for what i need and do's and dont's, some great advice so thanks. I've been put in charge of sorting the digs out so anyone got recommendations? the cheaper the better, i've looked at camping but would prefer a bed and a nice shower, looking at staying 4 nights around june time.

i hope to get my car sorted in time for the trip but worst case scenario is i jump in with some one else.

 

[Westy]

Check this link mate:

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/where_to_stay.php

I've stayed at Hotel Nordshliefe loads of times. It's right by the track (it's the hotel you see on all the racing games) and the owner Eddie is very helpful. It is however a little drive to the ring entrance.

Other place I stayed with Prawn and a few other ASN lads 2 years ago was Hotel Bergstube which was close to the Ring entrance and close to the new F1 complex of bars and restaurants.

 

[Crazypete00]

thanks westy, that site is great for information. also any idea what prawn was using to film when he was driving around the ring? it has a picture of the route in the bottom left corner and shows his acceleration and braking?

 

[Prawn]

Harrys Lap Timer on the Iphone 4 used to film the HD vids with data overlay mate.

Hotels wise, there are so many to choose from.

I always stay at the Burgstube, it's lovely there, but there are plenty of others to choose from, Westys place in Adeneau, The Foxhole, loads of guest houses in the surrounding area.

 

[Westy]

I really want to head back for a weekend but it won't happen any time soon. Hope you don't experience a plague of wasps when you go in June crazy pete! That was some nasty shiz.

 

[Crazypete00]

thanks again for the help. time to spend some extra cash on the car i think

 

[Westy]

thanks again for the help. time to spend some extra cash on the car i think

Trust me, spend it on the brakes!

If you have standard callipers and can't stretch to 4 pots just yet, at least get some decent pads and brake fluid before you go.

I did 3 trips in a row a year apart in the S3 as follows:

- Year 1 standard callipers, OEM discs, pads, and fluid.

- Year 2 standard callipers, brembo discs, ferrodo DS2500 pads, Motul racing fluid.

- Year 3 Porsche 4 pots, plain discs, DS2500, Motul fluid.

Year 2 was 100 times better then year 1. Year 3 was then a fair bit better then 2 but the stock brakes are just dangerous.

 

[Crazypete00]

ye that's what i want to do, sort the brakes out and tighten up the front end. I'm sure every bush on it needs replacing. can anyone recommend what bushes I start on?

i was planning on new pads, fluid and braided lines don't think I can stretch to 4pots especially as i'm trying to save for the trip itself. I've also got all the pipe work for a fmic but i need to get a cooler, so after the brakes and front end is sorted i will be looking at that.

 

[Prawn]

Save yourself the time, effort, and money of sorting your own car out.

rent a swift, it'll be better than an S3 around the Ring, safer, and most importantly, legal!

 

[Crazypete00]

ye after reading your ring report i looked into the swifts, i was tempted by it but i think i would prefer to take my car around it and only looking at a small number of laps, maybe 2-4. I'm defiantly not going to hammer it around. The consequences just scare me too much.

but back to my car, it needs sorting out anyway. its been neglected for way to long due to building a new house and refurbishing another one to rent out so finally have some spare cash.

 

[Silky]

I've stayed at Eddies a couple of times. You can get a garage too which is handy for spares and tools

Nice short walk into Adenau too for an evening beer

It's a 10min drive, which is perfect for getting the car to temp

 

[BYD]

Rent! Rent! Rent! The most unforgiving place to go ever. Your car could be all singing and dancing. Believe me you won't be!

Three laps is a years wear and tear. New brakes, top tyres, just for starters. Get it out your system. Take some 250cc Superkart training here, and frighten yourself ****less! Bonus is you're not going to hit something very hard and totally solid. You will be a much better driver for the cheaper training. The G they pull at full tilt, will knacker you out.
Ring has very little run out, where it is most needed. Oil, fluid and debris at any time. Those that can drive will tempt you to slipstream, next thing you're in a barrier. You won't see what is coming behind you till you're shocked. Seen it far to many times. Know your limits? If you have to go, don't get suckered in!
Last guy I told this to spannered his new Evo IV. £13K damage. Plus the recovery off the track?

 

[Prawn]

^^^ this man knows the score.

Don't risk driving your own car, it's illegal anyway now.

Rent a swift, it's more fun, and safer, and not that expensive at all when you factor everything in.

 

[Westy]

Or just plod around at 50mph with your indicator on to the right of the track. It's a tourist lap at the end of the day and buses go round so there's no shame in enjoying the view at a slow steady pace.

 

[Crazypete00]

ye that will be me at 50mph, the horror stories have made me very aware of the dangers.

 

[Prawn]

If you're aware man, why risk it at all?

Rentals are cheap, more fun, and risk free!

Go to the Ring by all means in your own car, the journey over is epic, the local roads are amazing, just stick to passengering, or renting when it comes to going ON the track during TF.

 

[Crazypete00]

looked at renting and it was 200 euros for 2 laps. i'm not 100% sure yet what i will do, ill just have to weigh up the pros and cons and see how much i can afford at the time

 

[BYD]

200 euros? Cheap as chips! Probably cost you that for recovery alone. If you dont crash, break down, blow up or otherwise cook the engine / transmission. Add two days overnight stay to organise repatriation to the UK. No insurance cover, old ploy was to get it dumped in a local ditch 2K away. Other thing I wouldn't do is be a passenger in any friends car! You want a ride, only with a professional driver.

 

[Prawn]

200 euros for 2 laps would be on an all inclusive, lap tickets, car, insurance, fuel, tyres, brake pads etc etc. We got a deal on a stage 2 swift for 6 laps, all inclusive for 400 euros, so if you went halves with a mate, that's just 66 euros per lap.

Break that down per lap, and you're looking at 26 euros for the ticket, 10 euros for the fuel, and the remaining 24 euros per lap for car rental, tyres, brake pads, car wear, and fully comp insurance! Pretty good value really.

One of my best trips was when I went as a passenger with mates, and rented instead of using my own, it was so much less hassle and stress / cost.

 

[Westy]

All of the above are risks you take. It's all about minimising those risks. I went for 10 years in a row with convoys of cars. I've seen crashes, break downs, and day long closures for fatalities but I always minimised the risks the best I could.

Out of hundreds of thousands of laps that take place each year only a small percentage end badly.

These threads will always cause debate because everyone has their own opinion.

I'd quite happily go again in my car, fully knowing all the risks.

 

[BYD]

How confident are you with the state of your car on a no cover basis? Hoses, electrics, mechanics etc. Thrashing convoy (100mph) it on the way there? On the track no breakdown cover, anything happen, you just pay! Without that you could get hurt! EU card usually means pay now reclaim later. Travel insurance won't cover you. It not that you shouldn't do anything, hell knows I was dreadful. Shouldn't be here. Been there and done that. Paid the price. Still paying.

 

[Prawn]

All of the above are risks you take. It's all about minimising those risks. I went for 10 years in a row with convoys of cars. I've seen crashes, break downs, and day long closures for fatalities but I always minimised the risks the best I could.

Out of hundreds of thousands of laps that take place each year only a small percentage end badly.

These threads will always cause debate because everyone has their own opinion.

I'd quite happily go again in my car, fully knowing all the risks.

Difference is Fred, back when you used to go, you were covered by your insurance, and those days are gone.

Like me, you were covered, you wern't doing anything illegal. The risks were still high, but you chose to take them. We all did. I've done 100 laps of TF myself before the crash, and subsequent insurance changes.

Now, that's changed, and NOBODY has insurance, it's no longer a calculated risk, but simply 100% illegal

 

[Westy]

Difference is Fred, back when you used to go, you were covered by your insurance, and those days are gone.

Like me, you were covered, you wern't doing anything illegal. The risks were still high, but you chose to take them. We all did. I've done 100 laps of TF myself before the crash, and subsequent insurance changes.

Now, that's changed, and NOBODY has insurance, it's no longer a calculated risk, but simply 100% illegal

Insurance hasn't covered it for a very long time. Even when we went 3 years ago we weren't covered. Every time I've been I was under the impression I was never insurered and that was the main incentive for me to take it very steady.

Anyway, if the OP wants to go then we can all advise him from our personal experiences and hope he has a great time whether it's in his own car or in a rental.

 

[Spares]

hi all,

got a phone call tonight saying i'm going to the ring. had no choice on the matter :thumbsup: cant wait always wanted to go.

first up i've read alot of posts on here for what i need and do's and dont's, some great advice so thanks. I've been put in charge of sorting the digs out so anyone got recommendations? the cheaper the better, i've looked at camping but would prefer a bed and a nice shower, looking at staying 4 nights around june time.

i hope to get my car sorted in time for the trip but worst case scenario is i jump in with some one else.

I always stay at the Ringhaus Welcome to the Ringhaus at the Nurburgring prices are reasonable and it's 400m from the entrance to the Nordschleife and has off road parking. The hosts Frank & Galina are great, very helpful and speak excellent English. I've been a few times in June and it's been wet every time, be warned, there is no grip in the wet, it's really slick.
For a really quick lap, take a ring taxi, we went in an M3, the driver looked a bit long in the tooth, but Christ did he make that car shift ! Seriously quick drivers in the taxi's. When you've had enough of the ring, there are some fantastic roads in the area, well worth having a drive out.
Hope you enjoy it.

 

[BYD]

We can but give out some advice in respect to our own experiences! The young immortals can either take it or ignore it. It doesn't matter that they think they can handle something. Their lives and money to play with and loose.
Until you've lived a life changing event, be it being financially, physically or mentally hurt. You dont know anything.
You can learn more out of skid pans, hill climbing, race training, karts and off roading. Only thrill in blasting around NR is on the limit of grip. The place is lethal. Forgot to agree the place is slick if it rains. Rains a lot.
Safer to train to enter a proper race at silverstone, rockingham wherever, least you know the level of expertise and speed of the traffic, and you all set of at once. NR has had its day, leave it to the manufacturers to set times. They loose cars in the walls all the time!

 

[Prawn]

We can but give out some advice in respect to our own experiences! The young immortals can either take it or ignore it. It doesn't matter that they think they can handle something. Their lives and money to play with and loose.
Until you've lived a life changing event, be it being financially, physically or mentally hurt. You dont know anything.
!

^^^ So true.

Over the 4 years to regularly visited the Ring, every single one of my friends who came regularly crashed, apart from me.

I carried on regardless, thinking it'd never happen to me. Then it did.

It set me back 2 years in the 'grand scheme of life', as all my savings towards buying my first house went to pay costs from the accident, I almost killed myself and one of my best mates at 150mph, and spent the next 18 months recovering from it, both financially, and also in labour on the car, and driving confidence too.

Still have a bad-*** scar on my leg from the impact and red barrier paint on the crash bar still.

Not fun.

 

[Westy]

Like I said, "minimise the risks". I've never come close to 150mph ever, Ring or road.

At the end of the day anyone can have a life changing accident on the road, only difference is you're insured. Insurance won't bring back a dead person wherever you are though.

 

[superkarl]

This byd guy has to be the most depressing person I've ever come across

 

[Prawn]

No Fred, this is true, but you're actively condoning driving on the ring, totally illegally, uninsured.

You wouldn't recommend people do it here in the UK would you? So how can it possibly be considered OK to drive abroad and do it where you don't speak the language, and don't fully understand all the different road laws anyway? the Germans arn't exactly known for being soft, are they?

Insurance won't bring back the dead no, but you can be fairly certain, that if you managed to kill a passenger in a crash and you survived, the resulting criminal charges brought about when it emerged that you were driving uninsured would be the last thing you'd want to deal with at a time like that....

That's exactly the situation I witnessed 2 years ago, where a young lad from Yorkshire managed to kill his mate in an accident in a clio. Not only did the poor ******* have to phone england to inform a family that their son was never coming home, but I'd imagine at some point he'd have to drop the bombshell that he was also uninsured. God knows what would have happened to him.

 

[bigal 1]

I think a BIG problem with the Ring TF days is that you can get hit by a very fast car driven by an idiot even if you are only doing 50/70 mph.

 

[Crazypete00]

thanks for all the advice, i will take it onboard. i'm still undecided if i will take my car around the ring or just drive it to the ring.

thanks to those that have given me names of b&bs will be googling them later

 

[s3dave]

I think most people know the risks, i personally would recommend any petrol head to go before they die, driving or not, people can sue you on the M1 in this country if they see fit...
You must be 10x more likely to crash at 150mph than going steady at 70 enjoying the environment without a stop watch..
Why are not people suing the owners of the ring for blatantly allowing, and charging for an unlawful act....hmmm

 

[superkarl]

Prawn you are such a hypocrite

 

[ScottD3]

I always thought you was nerve insured when on the ring and there was always something in the small print that made your insurance void?

 

[Prawn]

Prawn you are such a hypocrite

Why?

I had full and written cover when I went there, and wouldn't have gone on track otherwise. it was almost 2 years ago when cover was still widely available if you knew where to look.

That cover has now ceased to exist, so I shall not be returning, and will be actively advising people of the facts, despite most people burying their heads in the sand and pretending 'it'll be alright'

Simples.

 

[Prawn]

I think most people know the risks, i personally would recommend any petrol head to go before they die, driving or not, people can sue you on the M1 in this country if they see fit...
You must be 10x more likely to crash at 150mph than going steady at 70 enjoying the environment without a stop watch..
Why are not people suing the owners of the ring for blatantly allowing, and charging for an unlawful act....hmmm

Do you show your documents every time you go over a toll bridge? it's no different.

it's a public road, classed as a one way derestricted circular toll road. it's down to you to comply with the laws of the country you are in, not down to them to check compliance for every single vehicle.

 

[BYD]

Depressing business. Could be the know all idiot that ****ed up my life for a very long time. The place is now full of new age rich who have all the power and really are no idea! Thats just the deterioration of general european driving habits.
I did some club sport, i wasnt great but not bad. My worst off was many years back, nearly killed my now wife, we didn't know she was pregnant. She wasn't after we returned. Messed her up and introduced years of disappointment and lots of pain.
Took 3 months to get the porsche repatriated. It was getting stripped by the time it came back. What wasn't stolen before, went missing here. Battle to get it back was bad enough. I totally lost out on the car. Totally screwed my insurance. It wasn't my fault at all. Hit from behind. Traffic is much faster now, a ****** production pug can do 140mph. They queue up to show off, follow each other round and off. Some people are just lucky, there the ones that hurt the rest, and they dont care what they do either.

 

[ScottD3]

From the horses mouth.
Nurburgring Insurance

Since insurance is the main talking point.

 

[daz-20vt]

I see both sides to this. I personally wouldnt go again for my own reasons which have been mentioned. But what if someone takes you out.
you break your back in the crash and can never work again and the guy who hits you doesnt have a pot to pee in. So what use is sueing them?
Insurance on the road would protect you and fund your life after that point. But at the ring you would become a massive financial and emotional drain.
I judge no one for going and in a way i envy you Guys. Just not for me. Too old too cautious maybe.

 

[superkarl]

Could be the know all idiot that ****ed up my life for a very long time.

not everyone goes there thinking they're race car drivers timing themselves like the pros do.
I suppose one could blame manufacturers for the types of idiots that go there trying to be fast, comparing times to the fastest in their class etc.

Anyway, the OP only wanted accomodation advice! And wants to go there for the experience and likely tick it off his bucket list.