Went to zzz Nurburgring (pics and vid)

[bart]

First, if you don't follow Top Gear or think I'm talking about a fancy pretzel, go to another thread please :)

ok ok, vid is here if you hate to read. (pics below): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5376766121685709831&hl=en-CA

Anyway, I decided to go to the Nurburgring and see how good or bad Jeremy Clarkson is as a driver, commentator wise he's very good. I arrived in Frankfurt, rented an Audi A4 TDI Wagon for about 120EUR and drove ~170km to the ring. Laps are 16EUR each or 4 for 56EUR, etc. I bought four laps. First lap I just got a feel for the car and the track, its impossible to memorize the thing with only four laps, I went off twice in the same spot.

Jeremy's Jag had 205hp I believe, my car was 140 so I was at a 60hp disadvantage. I also had an extra 500lbs worth of passengers and almost every lap I did there was a course caution. They close the track once every hour for 30 mins cause some idiot falls off his bike, so waiting was annoying and I had a world cup final to see that day!!

So did a couple more laps, 2nd lap was a 10:39, 3rd a bit better and my last lap down to 10:15 (the taped one).

It was really exciting and it's worth it. I had more fun then I thought, saw lots of nice cars and I could go there every day. I hope to be back very soon and do it again alone with a faster car, but you have to be 25 to rent a porsche or any really fast car from a rental company, so I have to stick with normal cars for now... Also, renting is risky, even though its not a race track (but a public toll road) rental companies have something about it in fine print. So don't go too crazy and don't total the car! I took that chance.

I feel with an empty car, no cautions, a few more laps I could do it (get <10mins). Any pessimists?

There were also lots of GT3 RS' and even saw a wrecked one! Oooops.

If you are planning on going or have any questions, let me know! Comments on the vid also entertained! :)

-bart

http://servfiles.com/bart/nurburgring1.jpg
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[viffer]

fuckin sweet!

[spyce]

wow...thats awesome
i would love to go there and see all that!

[syeve]

Sub 10 no problem! Awesome pictures, sounds like an unreal trip!

[Newk]

I am sooo jealous.

[bituerbo]

Originally posted by Newk
I am sooo jealous.

:withstupid:

[rage2]

I've started booking for my trip for next year. I'm trying to find a place to rent a M3 SMG, but having a tough time finding a place that doesn't exclude Ring usage.

There's a place that rents out F40's and Enzos specifically for the ring, not sure if I can afford that yet haha. The F430's and F360's are fairly affordable for a 3 day rental.

[SilverBoost]

very nice.... what an opportunity.... man what I'd give to do that for a day.

next time practice the laps on GT4. I knew every turn that was coming up. haha ;) -- even though I'm pretty sure real life is different. :D

[rage2]

From the guys I talk to that "live" at the ring, there's tons of crashes there now because kids think they know wtf they're doing after playing GT4 and Forza, only to realize after the first lap that real life is definately different than the game lol.

[Chester]

:eek: That AW CSL is awesome and the GT3RS :drool:

[Dj_Stylz]

Wow looked like fun. Awsome cars:bigpimp:

[Eleanor]

That TVR is hot! :drool:

Any times on any other cars?

[Impreza]

Ok, I know where I am going for my next vacation.

[SJC]

Nice vid - I'm surprised you risked it (or didn't know about it) but pictures/video on the track is strictly forbidden. If they catch you once you're kicked off for the day, if they catch you twice, it's a much longer suspension.

I was just there a few weeks ago and wanted to take pix so badly but the best I got was pix as we entered and left the ticket gate. Fun track, some corners there that really sneak up on you - the two sections where it's a left hand bank (like at 10:02 in your video - I beleive that's the second one) and you can take the inside track that's sloped towards the inside of the track, you can really feel the g-forces adding up as you floor it through there.

Anyway, lots of fun - recommend it to anyone. One final hint...if you rent a car from Hertz and take it on the ring (nothing says you can't in the rental agreement) DON'T tell them about it afterwards...you'll be banned from ever renting a car from Hertz worldwide again. There are a bunch of other useful tips like this on the web, so do your research before going.

:thumbsup:

[bart]

i never played it in a game before, so every corner was a surprise for me, i slowed down for the ones i could not see, but that didnt help much. i think even in the game people go off where i did! its easier if you are following a car, you can assume they know the track better then you. i didnt too bad in keeping up with that white gt3 that passed me considering what i was driving, but it eventually left me.

ok, well people, whoever is going next year lets pick a day and do it, i'm in!

we had the camera out while passing track officials by the toll booths, they saw it and they really say anything.

no idea what other lap times were like, but the new V10 M5 Ring-Taxi does it in ~8:30 I believe.

[rage2]

bart, if you're up for it, I'm going on my own next year for a full week just to stay near the ring, and maybe visit AMG factory misc stuff. Purely a driving trip haha. Shoot me a PM, as I'm organizing and need all the help I can get!

[bart]

ya for sure, i'll be in europe again next summer, as usual. back in poland now from my euro road trip. on saturday i'm going back to frankfurt (meeting some people) ooooo soo tempted to visit the ring again! lol

i can rent a bmw 320d (150hp diesel) should go nice with 50/50 distribution (thats what bmw's are right?) hmmmm :D

[Nissanaddict]

Awesome. What part of Poland are you in and roughly how long a drive is it to the Nurburgring? I might be tempted to go myself as well. (Just roughly...I sure don't know all the small towns, but closer to Krakow, Warsaw, Lodz, Gdansk, etc.?)

[bart]

90km from Lodz, right outside of Wloclawek. Its like an 8 hour from here to frankfurt, no problem.

[benyl]

Originally posted by rage2
bart, if you're up for it, I'm going on my own next year for a full week just to stay near the ring, and maybe visit AMG factory misc stuff. Purely a driving trip haha. Shoot me a PM, as I'm organizing and need all the help I can get!

Do you know what month you might be going in?

[SilverBoost]

Originally posted by rage2
From the guys I talk to that &quot;live&quot; at the ring, there's tons of crashes there now because kids think they know wtf they're doing after playing GT4 and Forza, only to realize after the first lap that real life is definately different than the game lol.

oh don't worry, I realize there are pletny of people out there that can easily confuse how a car works on a track liek that in a game and how one works on that track in real life..... :)

it is cool though to see a drive through on the whole thing in real life....

I have a great movie of a megabusa doing a lap around it.... it's absolutely amazing.... insane and amazing... I should post it up.

EDIT: Actually here's a link to that video. Sorry bart, dont' want to show up your ride here, but this is an insane trip around the track. Click on the link below and then scroll down to, n° 8 - Camera car - Westfield Megabusa al Nurburgring (video 60.0mb)

Might be better if you save it to your drive to watch it.?

http://www.mymegabusa.com/Video/Megavideo.htm

[rage2]

Originally posted by benyl
Do you know what month you might be going in?
I'm flexible, since I'm planning for next year. I wanna figure out when it's the most quiet at the track, weather is (statistically) good, so I can choose the right week to go all out hehe.

[Redlyne_mr2]

I wish they didnt let POS bikes on the track. that looks like such an awesome trip

[kanashimi]

What rental company did you use?
I'm going to Europe this fall and I'm only 21 so what can I rent?
What company will allow you to take the cars to the ring?