Road Trip To The Nurburgring Nordschleife

[flango]

Another vote for the V8 hotel, awesome

 

[Growy16]

Contrary to earlier advice, you will need the breathalyser in France. The Lindner Motorsport Hotel is on circuit at Nurburgring and superb. I was on the ring three weeks ago, you will need to purchase a Ring Token for different numbers of laps, I paid €109 for 4 laps. It is a very fast track and the Ring Taxis will scare the **** out of you as they pass particularly the GT3. Don't waste your money on insurance but take a passenger, alter your nearside mirror and tell them not to take their eyes off it! Things come up really, really fast on you!! I have great GoPro footage of an R8 appearing like a missile in my mirror...!! If you have anything decent you should ramp up on the finishing straight, I hit 150 with a passenger and a boot full of luggage in my mapped 63. As for the autobahns, that may be a disappointment. You can't always get the room and there are long stretches of dual lane only which ain't conducive to a long and happy life at very high speed. You will find plenty of room on the French motorways I pulled over 160, just be mindful of Police... Enjoy your trip.

 

[st13phil]

Contrary to earlier advice, you will need the breathalyser in France.

It's a legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in France, but the sanction for not doing so is... Nothing. Most people therefore conclude that it's not necessary.

You will find plenty of room on the French motorways I pulled over 160, just be mindful of Police...

Get caught in France at that speed and your car will be siezed and almost certainly not returned, plus you will gain first-hand experience of a French jail. Not recommended.

 

[AphroD]

New Mercedes owner (2001 SLK 320) and my first post, hopefully some of it may still be valid as my two laps around the Nordschleife was in 2006.

I looked at the website the OP posted and I couldn't remember ever seeing marshals or flags, so they've obviously tightened up on safety.

I was driving the track in my Jaguar 4.2 Aristocat with my g/f beside me and the most dangerous part of the experience was not the faster more experienced drivers passing you, but the bikers who just flew by. On some of the stages I was doing about 100 mph but the bikes were just flashing by me and I found myself spending 50% of the time looking forwards and the other 50% through the tiny rear view mirror plus the small mirror on each front wing.

Perhaps nowadays the bikers go on there separately, but if not, be especially careful, the Nordschleife isn't a particularly smooth track with the odd curve which makes seeing them even more difficult. In my old Jag, the dips were quite vicious, even with modern suspension setups, an inexperienced driver could get caught out. Watch out for the Carousels too, they're fun but for me it felt that the tarmac had been just thrown on it and they'd forgotten to flatten it.

A good website to look at is: Nurburgring Nordschleife website

I think it was on that website that I read about a supercar coming off the track and bending several lengths of Armco and the insurance costs ran into six figures. A sobering thought, yet I didn't get specialist insurance when I went around it.

My g/f was looking a bit green after one lap so we decided to leave the track but as a driver, I loved every moment of it. I'm very envious of the OP.


If you've never driven in France, the things to watch out for are roundabouts. I love the French, but they have absolutely no idea how to use them. If there's a dual carriageway and they want to turn left off a roundabout, they'll still approach it in the right hand lane and go all around the outside until they get to their turnoff.

On autoroutes, once you've overtaken, immediately get into the middle lane or the inside lane, if you don't, you'll find some maniac right up your butt....

Careful also once you've parked up somewhere and got out of the car. It's very easy on quiet roads to end up once you get back in the car to drive onto the wrong side of the road. Busier roads are not so bad because you can see where everyone else is driving.

On the whole I enjoy driving on the Continent more than here, the roads are better looked after and driving skills (bar roundabouts) are better.

Hope some of the above helps your experience.

 

[Growy16]

It's a legal requirement to carry a breathalyser in France, but the sanction for not doing so is... Nothing. Most people therefore conclude that it's not necessary. Get caught in France at that speed and your car will be siezed and almost certainly not returned, plus you will gain first-hand experience of a French jail. Not recommended.

You obviously don't drive fast over here then?! My point is that there is more room on the French motorways than there is on many autobahns. Just like there is on the M69 when I fancy a blast. And I reckon you are mixing France up with Switzerland where I do not speed at all, nor make any extraneous noise in their tunnels.

 

[st13phil]

You obviously don't drive fast over here then?!

Nope. Not any more.

Been driving in France virtually every year for the last 25 years. In the 1990's you could get away with some real "low flying" on the AutoRoute and unless you were driving like a complete d!ck you didn't get stopped. South of Lyon on the AutoRoute du Soleil one year on the way back from the Bol D'Or endurance race I drove for a good hour and a half without dropping below 120mph, which was great.

However, since the Sarkozy era, there is only very small leeway on speeding in France (depending upon the mode of detection, as low as 3%) and the penalties are draconian. If you want to drive at more than 50kph above the posted limit that's fine, but don't think you'll get just a stiff talking to and a fine of a few quid if you're caught. France is obviously more like Switzerland than you think.

 

[Growy16]

Fair do's. Had a good week in Europe recently on the Alpine passes, France, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and a tear up on the Ring, though my tear up and their's still left me last...! I wasn't advocating speeding just pointing out that the reality of the autobahns doesn't always match the expectation. Speed, ultimately, is the responsibility of the individual, along with the consequences. We are on the same page, but I still exhibit a certain level of irresponsibility which is at odds with my professional persona.....

 

[st13phil]

Agree about the Autobahns. You have to pick the right section of the right road at the right time of day to enjoy true derestricted driving.

The trouble with the French AutoRoutes is that they are relatively lightly trafficked and you can easily be sucked in to enjoying the drive a little too much. The Gendarmes are absolute masters of concealment so the chances of spotting them are slim.

 

[flango]

I drive the autobahns regular as currently spending a lot of time in Germany. In the day depending on region they are very congested and the average outer lane speed is around 150kph with bursts above when it is clear. Night time running is totally different with some parts resembling the nurburgring speeds are that high

Whatever you do stay safe out there

 

[s70rmp]

My AA (Gold) membership includes Euro breakdown so thats covered!

We have AA Gold but I think it only covers 3 or 4 days, be worth checking

Unless you've had the car serviced with MB and they will cover you

 

[toffee-pie]

Evening Karl

You don't need a breathalyser for starters
You will need headlamp deflectors (unless yours can be set)

Which towns / country's are you planing to stop for the night in as that will help make hotel recs relevent

Even if you don't max it on the ring, you have to wind it up on the (derestricted) bits of the autobahn. (at least once.....)

if you have projector HIDs then i dont think you need deflectors, at least that was the case with my Lexus when I was in France.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Made it, and survived a lap of the 'Ring.


Pictures in the next few days :bannana:

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Photos can be found in this thread:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/213909-n%FCrburgring-nordschleife-lap-photos.html

 

[Das Khan]

Wow looks great.