Anybody driven Nordscheife?
 

For an article I'm writing, I need to know, since I haven't driven the old north circuit of the Nurburgring in 10 years or so...can you still pay a per-lap toll at what I remember as a kind of tollbooth and go out and do your laps, or has all of that changed, been formalized, been eliminated, whatever?

Answers limited to those with first-hand experience, not a friend of a friend told me...

And if the system is still in place, what's the current per-lap rate?

Stephan

Not answering your question, but take a look at this swedish BBS:

http://rejsa.nu/forum/viewforum.php?f=15&sid=3a8a2d88201abdfd0f061e2786e f6a08

Go to the "section" threads and you can download a short movie for each part of the 'ring. For each section there's also a map. There is a counter running on the video so you can se where the driver is on the map. Very nice!

Even if you can't read swedish, there's a lot of pictures and links in the various threads.

This is a thread with "Important Links - Nurburgring":

http://rejsa.nu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1374&sid=2da4392094abdb4a4c202fa09 37d72cd

Thought it was worth mentioning, since you are writing an article you can probably find something useful here.
And I'm sure other Pelican members are interested as well :)

I think Tyson was there recently...maybe he'll chime in?

I dream of going to Germany, buy a 911 there, and drive it the way it was meant to be driven!

http://www.nuerburgring.de/

maybe this will help

Here you go: The 2004 prices

Ticket type Price in Euros Sterling equiv Sterling per lap
Single lap €14 £8.94 £8.94
5-lap one-day ticket* €56 £35.75 £7.15
6-lap ticket €76 £48.52 £8.09
12-lap ticket €143 £91.29 £7.61
60 laps Breakeven point for a car Jahreskarte
Jahreskarte: Aug-Dec €370 £236 Unlimited use
Jahreskarte: Full year €700 £446.88 Unlimited use


http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/prices.html

prices here
http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/prices.html

THese are interesting, the title "optional" had me going for a second.

Heres an interesting site http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/ringers-faq.html

was there last summer, 14 euro per lap is the current price....possibly the best info guy for you is Ben Lovejoy (not sure of his pelican username) and he does have a website for the ringers.

Yep, Ben Lovejoy is the site that is posted numerous times above, the nurburgring.org.uk site is his.

Yes, I drove it last summer, and there is still an ATM-style setup where you buy tickets that you then feed into the gate at the track entrance. There's also a human in a booth you can buy the tickets from.

Steve...

....of course you must mean "Nordschleife". Missed the "L".
Shame ..... :)


--Wil

I am at the Nurburgring right now with the BMW club driving school. I just did two laps in the rain -- that was an incredible expierience. More open laps tomorrow and then the graded lap (yikes). If you are a BMW club member you can do the school and spend three days at the track with excellent instruction. Robert Fassl (BMW factory test driver) is our group's instructor. You don't need to own a BMW to join the club and we were able to rent one. Other guys in the group rented 911s from AVIS but they are 200 Euros per day. Our BMW 3 series was only about 400 euros for the week.

I'll try to do a write up later. I'm at an Internet Cafe in Mayen about 23 kilometers from the circuit. I just couldn't go without checking into the Pelican Board to see what's happening.

Rich

You can also buy a year-long pass. You just insert the card into a slot, and the gate opens.

One thing that's recently changed, is that they no longer allow in-car cameras. I think it's partly due to safety concerns, potential lawsuits, and of course the fact that the track isn't getting a cut of the money people make from showing the in-car footage on various websites.

Oh, and they've apparently changed the name of the track since you were there Steve. They now spell Nordschleiffe with an "L". ;)

If it was me, I would try and hail A Taxi.

Tom

According to an ITU nurse at a local hospital, they get 2-3 ITU admissions a week from the Ring, about half of whom don't survive. That's more than one death a week.

sweeeet , got to get my ass to the ring when my car is ready for some mayhem !!

Stijn....me and some of the Brits are going to be there Sep 20-23 for some fun if you get the chance to make it.

that deadline is way to close for me


car ain't running yet
garage has been closed for 3 weekends, so haven't been able to work on the beasty besides, i don't wanna go on a big drive like that without a proper shakedown on my car first

thanks for the offer though , but there'll be another time

This is what I've heard as well. So many people get killed there, it's pretty insane. :cool:

I was there last month, and still have some laps left on my ticket. I'm going back in October. If I had to give one piece of advice about visiting The Ring, I'd say don't go at the weekend. It's packed with locals in lethal looking VW Golfs who know the track inside out - it's like a 120mph traffic jam......nice. Also watch out for the local taxi cab that takes you on a flying lap for the price of the ticket - M5 BMWs going sideways at top speed while packed with tourists are an intimidating sight. True death tolls are kept secret....many people campaign to have the circuit closed, but it's such a huge source of local income that the region couldn't do without it.

Yes thats right, last 3or 4 years some people died during "toursit driving", but most or all of them were bikers. If you have an accident with your bike there its really dangerous, because you have 2 or 3 meters gras each side next to the track, some banking and then trees. And the track is really difficult to learn and dangerous. And when its wet, the problems get much bigger.
There were also 2 or 3 racedrivers (Car racing (Alfa, Porsche,) in the so called "Langstreckenpokal" and "24 hours") that died.
But before 2000 there were a lot of years when nobody died.
The biggest problem is on sunday (with good weather) when to much people are there (fast cars/ drivers, slow cars/ drivers, fast bikers, slow bikers and yes!!! busses!!). This is a mixture where you can smell the next accident.
And since 1999 the traffic and popularity has increased very much in tourist driving.
The best times in my opinion were before 1999. I have been there 10 times a year for driving but since then I only go to the Nordschleife 2 or 3 times a year. But never on sunday!!

Grüße

Thorsten

"Never on a Sunday" is a great catchphrase for the Nurburgring, nice one Thorsten. I contemplated taking my bike there, but have since changed my mind....http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...ool_shades.gif
BTW, I didn't use my 911 when I went, I think that would be suicide considering my lack of knowledge of the track. God bless the Lancia Integrale....

Eddie: The best way to learn there is with a car that is foregiving an not to fast. And with someone who knows the track very well next to you on the seat.
When you know the track exactly perhaps after 50 or 100 laps or more in the car you can try it with you bike.
But: Better not on sunday :-)

Grüße

Thorsten

I know it's only a simulation...but the Project Gotham II game on the XBOX has the ring on it, and it's pretty good for learning the basic layout and turns. When I went last summer it was a Sat and not too busy...but I did take it pretty easy for three laps and then turned it up a notch on the 4th lap! I can say I made MANY MISTAKES on that lap and was lucky to keep it on the pavement...even have video to remind me of them mistakes. Some of the mistakes was learning what turns you can maintain speed on and what turns require more braking and finess...hard to remember that's for sure! XBOX has helped and I do know the ring better now because of it and many hours watching Stippler doing laps.

Gran Prix legends also has it, and you can download it for the F12002/F1 challenge series (and mods) for the PC, but it is the old Grand Prix layout.

The free beta sim "Racer " has a more current version available for download (details here). You start on the front straight, and the timing is "Bridge to Gantry" Racer is not as polished as others, but it is fun.

Tom

These games are good for learning if the track goes left or right after the next hill, but you wont get a feeling of the speed and the forces and do not feel to sure when you drive in reality.
You can not learn to drive the Nürburgring perfectly on your personal computer!

Grüße

Thorsten

But virtual Armoco is much more forgiving. ;)

Quote:

You can not learn to drive the Nürburgring perfectly on your personal computer!

I wasn't suggesting that, and I don't believe k9handler was either. You can learn the track layout though, and (unfortunately) for most of us the only way we will get the chance to drive the Nordschleif is sitting at our computers.:(

Tom

Look at me in the famous "Karussel" corner of the Nürburgring Nordschleife in spring 2003 :)

Grüße

Thorstenhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1092237440.jpg

I think computer games are a great way of learning a track before a track day. Unfortunately, I hate computer games, so I like to download an mpeg of some in-car/on-bike footage of the next track I'm going to. Although I do think that nothing can prepare you for the Nurburgring, it has to be seen to be believed.

I was not saying that you could learn the complete aspect of the ring on a PC...but you can learn the layout. I take that, and video for a learning tool (during the winter) and then in the summer I can take the hour drive north and drive the real thing...and still make big mistakes! The Ring is not easy at all!

Yes, but the hospital admittees are mainly motorcycle riders riding above there head. There are a lot of blind turns there, and also "jumps" in the road around the turns (hard to steer when the front wheel(s) is/are off the ground or light). No passing on the right. The track open times are very limited. Be sure to check the website for times, as they vary from day to day. I found the longest available opentime is on Friday.