I got a chance to spend a weekend at the Nurburgring a couple of weeks ago, and I did 7-8 laps in a RenaultSport Clio Cup (keeping it in the Nissan family). The track was awesome, and the car was fine for a small FWD hatch (not what I am used to, but it had Brembo brakes and Recaro seats--there are couple shots of it in the video). The video was all captured and edited with my iPhone, so it is not great; I did it in about 30 minutes on my flight home. Unfortunately, I was not able to record any of my laps because it is not allowed (and probably a good thing). Anyway, enjoy. If anyone is ever close in Europe, I would HIGHLY recommend checking it out. You can easily rent cars to take out on the track like I did. It is not cheap, but a once in a lifetime opportunity (I promise).

The first few minutes are pics of cars that were there, then some video I got of other cars on the track, and the last few seconds are some cars in the garage at my hotel.

YouTube - The Nurburgring April 2011

 

Cool video... I hear they don't believe in helmets at the ring... my buddy took a BMW driving course there a year or so ago and when he went to put on his helmet (brought his own) the Germans looked at him like he was crazy!! LOL!!

 

I did not personally wear one, and out of the 200+ cars I saw, there were probably 10 people with helmets (bikes have to wear full protective gear). The place I rented the car from offered one, but I did not feel the need (most of their cars had roll cages, but mine did not--I think it is a requirement if the car has a cage). I did read last week when I was looking at info on the Ring that up to half the deaths there could be prevented if everyone wore a helmet.

I saw three wrecks when I was there. One bike wiped out (not sure what happened to the driver, but it was nasty), I had a car spin-out right in front of me but he missed any major damage, and a car crashed a few 100 yards ahead of me and took out a barrier and another car (no one appeared to be hurt). It is dangerous and you have to be aware and careful at all times. Period. There are cars and drivers of every possible skill level out there on "tourist" days. You may be passing a tour bus one minute, and then have 2 Porsche GT2's and a GT-R on your a$$ two seconds later....

 

Here's what happens when you drive a caged car with no helmet (this was a low speed hit)

 

Ouch, exactly. That is why street cars should not have full cages. I know people think they are cool, but they do way more harm than good on anything but a track (unless you want to ride around with a helmet all the time). I hope that wasn't you because that hurts to look at.

 

It was me and it was on a track simply running a car around for one diagnostic lap in the early spring (private closed track) checking for brake judder at maybe 3/10ths, car broke traction in a very strange way, light contact in the front (glancing blow sliding sideways), no seat belt or helmet on (very dumb in hindsight).
Crawled out of the car and didn't know where I was, I bet if you asked me my name at that moment I couldn't tell ya.

 

the 'Ring sounds pretty wild man. Looks like a ton of fun!

 

Nice. I'd love to drive on Nordschleife one day. How much did it cost to rent a track ready car? No insurance I'm guessing?

 

Awesome.
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A half day rental for the Clio was 349 Euro (for 6 laps worth of mileage--additional mileage is a little extra). Each lap is around $24 Euro. I did an inclusive package, and it ended up being about $80-90 per lap (this included the car, lap tickets, gas, and insurance). The insurance is an access coverage. Basically, I was responsible for the first 8000 Euro of damage. They offer additional insurance to take that down to around 5000 Euros for around 140 Euros. Right now 1 Euro=1.4 USD.

On the Saturday that I went, the track was only open from 1-7. Each lap took about 10 minutes, but honestly after 3 back-to-back laps, I was pretty beat. I did three 2-3 lap sessions, and took a break in between. It really is a demanding track even at the 8/10 I was driving. It is almost 14 miles long, with so many turns, elevation, and tarmac changes. A lot of people think you can get a feel for it on Gran Turismo, and although you can get a feel for the layout, the bumps, dips, tarmac, and elevation changes are impossible to reproduce in a game.

If anyone is interested, this is the company I rented my car from. They were great to deal with, and really want you to have a good time. There are 2-3 other company's that also rent cars, but I thought these guys were great.

Rent Racecar 4 Nurburgring Northloop Green Hell, Ringtaxi and Ring rentals, Rent cars 4 Ring trackdays and tourist driving, Porsche RSR, Nurburg, Ringtool, Nurburgring rentals, self driving

I went with the Clio because they recommended the Clio, Golf, or Scirocco for a newb like me. The 2 VW's both had the DSG transmission. It is a really good auto transmission and I had driven one a couple weeks before in a rental VW CC, but I am so used to a manual, I just felt more comfortable with it. They recommend the lower powered FWD cars for people without a lot of experience on the Ring. I had been on the Ring once before in a rental car in the early 2000's for a couple of laps, and it definitely was not up to the task, so renting something specifically for the track was the best option in my eyes (also rental car companies have really cracked down on this, and I had another week and 1000 miles to drive in my rental).

 

holy ****! are you alright man?! looks like it's gonna leave quite the mark

 

It healed up pretty good....

 

nice vid

 

Ouch, insurance is steep. Does the insurance also cover damage to the track such as the rail? I mean, I don't intend to crash or drive like an idiot but I still would like my a$$ covered if something goes horribly wrong. $5000 EURO is still $7000 USD, I can't remember how much they charge per meter / foot for the guard rail but I heard that it doesn't take much to rack up a huge bill...Thanks for the info.

 

Great post and fun video. Thanks for sharing. I'll make it to the Ring someday.

Definitely won't be driving in a caged car without a helmet! Glad you survived!