Nürburgring FAQ: Everything you need to know about the Ring & ED

[TIME89]

From our friends at Bimmerfest new post - Nürburgring FAQ: Everything you need to know about the Ring & ED By chaz58: A lap (or more) of the Nürburgring Northschleife is one of the highlights of many an ED experience. You can find a lot of info on the Ring here if you do a search for "Ring" or "Nurburgring" . Hopefully this thread will focus the information into one place and make it easier to plan your trip. 1) First – where is it? Its west of Frankfurt, probably 5-6 hours from München: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sadd...57&ie=UTF8&z=8 (no it is not near Nürnberg or anywhere near München) 2) Can you drive on the track during your trip? Check the Touristenfahrten schedule to see when the track is open for public driving: http://www.nuerburgring.de/North-loop.361.0.html and what the opening hours are on the day(s) you want to go. Weather conditions and any accidents on the track can further impact your ability to drive on the track. 3) What does it cost? 1 lap €21 4 laps €70 8 laps €135 (etc) I used about $20/lap in gas (yeah, bring a full tank, it goes fast!) and several thousand miles worth of tire and brake wear (for starters). 4) Ben Lovejoy's page This page is one of the best pages in English to get most of the information you will need for your visit: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/ 5) Track Rules: Track rules are minimal, but important: Stay in control of your car, pull over to the right to let faster cars pass (and only pass on the left), no filming of your drive allowed, you get to pay the track for any damage you cause (i.e. buying new guardrails). Those are the highlights. Take a look at this page for more info: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/ringrules.html 6) Hotels Check out this thread bimmerfest post: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...ighlight=hotel 7) Photographs. Many people here want pictures of there car on the track. The best thing you can do is to tell a photographer you want pictures of your car. You probably have best chance of getting your car photographed on busy day, like a weekend with good weather. Of course, if you go to the track on a quieter day during the week, you'll have a better experience on the track, but probably no professional photo. You can try this site to see if anyone took your picture, but unless there were a lot of photogs out on your day you won't find anything: http://www.nurburgringphotos.com/ Here is a photographer who is often at the ring: http://images.mw-sportfoto.de/galerie/index.php?cat=3 8) RSR Racing: If you would like to rent a car, and or take class instruction on how to drive this track, check out these guys. Very Bimmerfest friendly! http://rsrnurburg.com/index.php?opti...id=7&Itemid=30 9) Ring Taxi. If you want to let someone else drive, you could always book a (an expensive) ride in the ring taxi. From their web site: A ride in the BMW Ring-Taxi costs 185.00 € for up to three persons. Unfortunately, tickets for single seats are not available. http://bmw-motorsport.com/ms/ringtaxi.html 10) Do it yourself preparation and training (Simulations, video, reading). With 172 turns and 1000 feet of elevation change, there is a lot to learn to become familiar with the Ring. Videos, Playstation, and the like can help a lot to increase your familiarity with the track (and hopefully minimize surprises). Naturally, the adrenaline, sensory input, and intensity of the real thing is far beyond a video game. Also, video & games do not give you an appreciation of the altitude and contour of the track which makes a big difference. However, the actual simulation and car dynamics are realistically done. If you don't have Playstation, head down to Dave & Buster's (or a similar video arcade) and spend a couple hours (or more) learning the track. If that doesn't work, you can go to the BMW web site and download their Ring simulation: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicle...e/content.html Some interesting videos: You tube has some fast lap videos that can help you find the correct line If you look for the BMW335 video of the ring you can see a lap done by one of our Bimmerfest people on an ED. Here is a pdf file from Bimmerfiles (although this type of thing may be more useful after you have visited the ring at least once: http://www.bimmerfile.com/2008/05/01...e-to-the-ring/ 11) ED & Export plates There was some confusion with ED plates at the ring long ago, but it was cleared up and hasn't been an issue in the last years. Just to be safe, some people pull up to the gate when the attendants are distracted, others will scoot up close to the car in front of them so the plates are not obvious. Basically, driving the Ring with ED export plates is not an issue. 12) things to do in the area Mosel and Rhine valleys (lots of scenic driving, wine, boat trips, & castles) are right there and nice to visit if you have the time (the two rivers meet in Koblenz ). My favorite castle in the area (on the Mosel) is Burg Eltz: http://www.burg-eltz.de/e_index.html There is also Köln and its famous church, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, etc…............... There are many possible detours and distractions on your drive from Munich to the Ring. Some of the more interesting places: Heidelberg (somewhat overrated) Rothenburg ob der Tauber (and other spots on the Romantic road), the Schwartzwald Strasse (north and south part of the Black forest), Stuttgart (Porsche & Mercedes museums), and France (Strasbourg and Colmar). 13) The Risks One of the biggest questions is on Insurance. I don't think anyone on bimmerfest has tested the insurance coverage at the Ring, so its rather an unknown (knock on wood). Keep in mind that you are potentially uninsured. It is crazy fast – being surprised by a blind turn as speeds WELL over 100mph would not be a pleasant feeling. Hitting an apex at top speed, but apexing too early is a good way to go off the track. Do a search on youtube for Nürburgring crash videos – it is sobering if nothing else. When I was there, an RS4 and a motorcycle had an "incident" that I am sure ruined the day for both of them (the track was closed for ~25 minutes and the police were called out because of this). Good luck and try to keep the adrenalin under control when behind the wheel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7TzC...layer_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAxmO...layer_embedded Some more sobering thoughts, here is a compilation of Ring crash videos. Something to think about when attacking that curve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Uhl...layer_embedded excellent link to this already excellent guide: http://www.heiser.net/documents/nurburgring/ I found some additional websites for ring photos: http://www.8200rpm.com/webcam/ This keeps a log of all the Ring webcam pics http://www.nordschleifenbilder.de/go/index.php?cat... Random pics of tourists http://www.vazily.be/Touristenfahrten.htm Random pics of tourists http://www.e40racer.be/category/nurburgring/ http://www.nurburgring-photos.com/index.htm http://circuit.nhlrebel.com/fotoalbums/Nordschleife/ http://www.hardysnetz.de/webpics/ http://www.ringfotograf.de/ http://www.ringbilder.de/touristenfahrten.html

[DarthRay]

Very cool. Thanks for compiling and placing all this information here, TIME.

[IbisTDI]

Some of those links are dead...

I checked most and couldn't find a picture of my car unfortunately, might have been the fact that it was pouring down rain when I was there.

A couple things that I will add. The only real rule you need to know, is that when driving on the track, if a faster car comes up behind you and you are going to let them pass, turn on your right turn signal, indicating you will stay to the side. I had a Golf ruin about half of my lap because they were driving like an idiot and wouldn't stay to the side...

Another thing, you will arrive to the Nurburgring F1 track (if you put Nurbrugring into your GPS), this isn't where you get on the track for Touristfarhen. To enter the track, you need to go here:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sour...04801&t=h&z=18

Hopefully that will save you some frustration, as we drove around for about 30 mins. trying to find it.

And lastly, have fun, you aren't going to set a lap record in your new car, so no reason to wreck your car in the process...

[TIME89]

Fixed.
I was thinking to send you PM and asking your permission to post photos from your ED report ( with Ring) here . Same for CrazyIvan - if you read this (and I know you will) - please post pics of your Q5 Nürburgring Ring.
Thanks, guys!

[CrazyIvan]

Originally Posted by TIME89

Fixed.
I was thinking to send you PM and asking your permission to post photos from your ED report ( with Ring) here . Same for CrazyIvan - if you read this (and I know you will) - please post pics of your Q5 Nürburgring Ring.
Thanks, guys!

Ring is a must!!! Just dont be the guy who wrecked his car around the blind corner

[CrazyIvan]

More pics from the Ring...

[Stuttgartrob]

If you need additional help with the Ring just message me I go there at least once a month from March to Nov.

[TIME89]

Original Post



An eight-car crash on the Nürburgring Nordschleife earlier today sent one driver to the hospital with serious injuries, claimed a rented Corvette Z06 and put one of the new BMW M3 "ring taxis" out of commission. It also caused more than $130,000 in property damage.
According to police, the accident occurred at around 2:00 pm local time on the circuit's tricky Bergwerk ("mine") section as three cars were slowing for a construction zone. A fourth driver, from the UK, stood on the brakes but couldn't prevent a collision with one of the vehicles ahead. He subsequently slid onto the grass and then back onto the track some fifty meters (164ft) ahead. It was there where he crashed into the other two vehicles.

Three other drivers saw the crash and slowed their cars. An eighth car, the ring taxi, crashed into one of the slowing cars, hit another car and came to a stop at the left of the track.

Police say the drivers were from several European countries. A sticker on the Corvette, apparently listing Swedish luxury rental agency Platinum Cars, suggests its rental status. The accident occurred near the site of Niki Lauda's fiery crash during the 1976 German Grand Prix.

One driver was taken to a hospital in Koblenz with serious injuries. Two other drivers were treated on the scene. All of the cars except one were substantially damaged and were not drivable. Police are still investigating, but cite "excessive speed" as the cause.

[Stuttgartrob]

Its not a forgiving track and its very common to have multiple crashes a day.

[videsi]

Hi all,
I'm picking up my A4 in Ingolstadt on Oct 19. The Nordschleife is open for touristfahrten all day on Oct 20. I'm really tempted to drive up there on my way to Cologne and Hamburg even if only for one lap. I am aware of ths risks and dangers, and not sure if Audi's complimentary insurance will cover damage in case something happens. I plan to basically just stick to the right lane at all times and not hinder anyone coming up from behind.

How has your experience been on the 'ring? Can it be experienced safely and slowly, or does that just add to the danger of being rear-ended by speed-mongers?