Nurburgring Nordschliefe Virgin's, advice needed.
Discussion
Some questions about 'The Ring', you may be able to help me with. But first some background info.
Me and a mate are going for a boys weekend to The Ring. Taking The Eurotunnel on the 30th September at about 8am, then drive to the sacred tarmac. Drive it on the Sunday. Then returning on the Monday about 2pm. We've also found suitable local accomodation to the circuit.
I have driven on the continent many times in France and Spain, but this will be the first time driving in Germany. I've also done a few track days in the UK at various circuits, Goodwood, Castle Combe, Brands and Cadwell park.
My mate has a Mk4 Golf GTI 1.8T and I have an S2 Elise 111S. So the Autobahn will be wasted on me with a 132mpph top speed! And the Golf's about the same I think. Though i understand there's not that much that's unrestricted these days?
When we're on the track, we'll passenger ride in each others cars to gain more experience of the circuit (and to avoid competitive driving between us).
I'm going to try and get a suitable sat nav off a mate of mine (mine only has the UK maps and the European one's are very expensive for it. So i'll borrow a mate's gadget that has them).
But failing that,
1. What's the quickest route down to the special "toll Road"?
2. How many miles is it to get there roughly?
3. I understand there are diffent tickets you can get for the track that allow you a specific number of laps. I suspect we'll get the 12 lap ticket, will 12 laps completely kill me, my tires / brakes and my concentration? (I suppose this depends on how hard i'm trying)
4. Can you do back to back laps or do you do one and come in again?
5. Finally, how many hours do you think I need to put in on PGR3 on my xbox360 to better learn the circuit?
Any help at all would be very much appreciated.
Regards
D4V KC
I've posted this in "events and travel", but given the T-Shirt post at the top of this section, I think this may be the target audience!?
Me and a mate are going for a boys weekend to The Ring. Taking The Eurotunnel on the 30th September at about 8am, then drive to the sacred tarmac. Drive it on the Sunday. Then returning on the Monday about 2pm. We've also found suitable local accomodation to the circuit.
I have driven on the continent many times in France and Spain, but this will be the first time driving in Germany. I've also done a few track days in the UK at various circuits, Goodwood, Castle Combe, Brands and Cadwell park.
My mate has a Mk4 Golf GTI 1.8T and I have an S2 Elise 111S. So the Autobahn will be wasted on me with a 132mpph top speed! And the Golf's about the same I think. Though i understand there's not that much that's unrestricted these days?
When we're on the track, we'll passenger ride in each others cars to gain more experience of the circuit (and to avoid competitive driving between us).
I'm going to try and get a suitable sat nav off a mate of mine (mine only has the UK maps and the European one's are very expensive for it. So i'll borrow a mate's gadget that has them).
But failing that,
1. What's the quickest route down to the special "toll Road"?
2. How many miles is it to get there roughly?
3. I understand there are diffent tickets you can get for the track that allow you a specific number of laps. I suspect we'll get the 12 lap ticket, will 12 laps completely kill me, my tires / brakes and my concentration? (I suppose this depends on how hard i'm trying)
4. Can you do back to back laps or do you do one and come in again?
5. Finally, how many hours do you think I need to put in on PGR3 on my xbox360 to better learn the circuit?
Any help at all would be very much appreciated.
Regards
D4V KC
I've posted this in "events and travel", but given the T-Shirt post at the top of this section, I think this may be the target audience!?
D4V KC said:
1. What's the quickest route down to the special "toll Road"?
As per Ben's site. Normally take the E42 down to either Eupen or turn off via spa, much of a muchness really. D4V KC said:
2. How many miles is it to get there roughly?
Approx 300 (from Calais)
D4V KC said:
3. I understand there are diffent tickets you can get for the track that allow you a specific number of laps. I suspect we'll get the 12 lap ticket, will 12 laps completely kill me, my tires / brakes and my concentration? (I suppose this depends on how hard i'm trying)
Shouldn't be that hard on the car. The circuit is not a heavy braking circuit, with the exception of the run down to Breidshied (aka 'the bridge at Adenau'). As far as concentration goes, it's important that some of your attention is devoted to checking your mirrors for other drivers/riders and not solely focussed on the road ahead. D4V KC said:
4. Can you do back to back laps or do you do one and come in again?
You can effectively do back to back laps, although unless you do an RMA day (i.e. non public) you must pull back into the pits and queue for a short while (perhaps 5 cars) to get back on to the circuit again. The queue should disappear as fast as people are able to slot their passes/transponders onto the barrier. Initially you may want to do back to back laps, as it allows you to build on what you've just done. Everyone has different opinions on the best thing to do for your first few laps though. Getting some passenger laps (as many as poss) before you even do your first lap is a good idea as it gives you an idea of what may lay ahead, and takes the element of surprise away - OK, there may still be an element of surprise for you, but at least you're not having to control the car at the same time! D4V KC said:
5. Finally, how many hours do you think I need to put in on PGR3 on my xbox360 to better learn the circuit?
Another moot point. You can get to know which way the circuits corners go, but you will not know the surface grip, minute camber changes, etc from purely playing the game. At least you may be able to pick a sensible line. PS there's no point on playing being the fastest car on the E42 game any more, the belgian feds take a dim view of >100mph. Cruise at 95 and you'll be OK. Watch out for the drivers randomly changing lanes, even if you appear to be going a lot faster. This problem tends to disappear in Germany.
PPS Remember that you can go back another time, so treat your 1st trip (& the next 100) as a learning experience! Everyone has had a nervous few first laps, then built up from there.
PPPS Look out for bikes, which often take a different line from the cars, and some can get VERY close when turning in, often with massive speed differentials.
Enjoy the trip.
Edited by fergus on Monday 3rd July 15:10
You should get there in planty of time to get an hours driving on Saturday evening.
I'd book a late crossing home to enjoy Monday afternoon too.
Nordschleife forum here:
http://s8.invisionfree.com/Northloop/
I'd book a late crossing home to enjoy Monday afternoon too.
Nordschleife forum here:
http://s8.invisionfree.com/Northloop/
Edited by davyboy on Monday 3rd July 15:14
With regard to laps, I usually buy the 5 or 6 lap ticket (not sure it's available now though). I tend to run the car once every hour or so with 45 minutes break to let things cool down, but then my car does run very hot.
Bear in mind that there will inevitably be closures throughout the day for breakdowns and/or crashes. It's a real bummer when you leave the car to cool down then just as you are ready, they close it for an hour!
Start with a smaller lap ticket and see how you go, or get the 12 and share it between you. Last thing you want is to be running out of time and squeezing a couple of laps in when you are tired - that's when things go wrong. You can always buy single lap tickets.
Bear in mind that there will inevitably be closures throughout the day for breakdowns and/or crashes. It's a real bummer when you leave the car to cool down then just as you are ready, they close it for an hour!
Start with a smaller lap ticket and see how you go, or get the 12 and share it between you. Last thing you want is to be running out of time and squeezing a couple of laps in when you are tired - that's when things go wrong. You can always buy single lap tickets.
hammerwerfer said:
viper_larry said:
I tend to run the car once every hour or so with 45 minutes break to let things cool down, but then my car does run very hot.
Damn! I'd think that with a car like that the run to the petrol station every few laps would be enough to cool it down!
Actually, it's not too bad. OK, on track it does burn a bit, but on the run over there, we get around 23mpg!
As another Ring Virgin until last weekend, I think I can answer some of your questions 
We followed Ben Lovejoys directions to the Ring, spot on and as mentioned before its around 300 miles from Calais. We went on Friday and the journey was fine apart from some heavy traffic in Belgium. We took the journey at a steady cruise sticking to the speed limit and it was fine.
We spent all day saturday at the Ring, there are various options for tickets - 1,4,8 laps etc - the ticket machines only take cash so have some euros handy (though I think you can pay by card in the little booth).
The car parks were rammed but there werent any queues for the barriers so we could go straight out. We were leaving about 45 mins between laps because we were sharing helmets and to give the cars a chance to cool down (it was very hot). They were letting people straight back on after they came off.
I had played the Ring on GT4 quite a bit, and it really doesnt do the place justice. What it was good for was having some idea of where the corners went but stuff like cambers and gradients were so different (the Karussell looks sooo steep in real life).
I'd also echo what was said about checking your mirrors, some people come up very fast
Have fun and enjoy it. I'm definatly going back!
James
We followed Ben Lovejoys directions to the Ring, spot on and as mentioned before its around 300 miles from Calais. We went on Friday and the journey was fine apart from some heavy traffic in Belgium. We took the journey at a steady cruise sticking to the speed limit and it was fine.
We spent all day saturday at the Ring, there are various options for tickets - 1,4,8 laps etc - the ticket machines only take cash so have some euros handy (though I think you can pay by card in the little booth).
The car parks were rammed but there werent any queues for the barriers so we could go straight out. We were leaving about 45 mins between laps because we were sharing helmets and to give the cars a chance to cool down (it was very hot). They were letting people straight back on after they came off.
I had played the Ring on GT4 quite a bit, and it really doesnt do the place justice. What it was good for was having some idea of where the corners went but stuff like cambers and gradients were so different (the Karussell looks sooo steep in real life).
I'd also echo what was said about checking your mirrors, some people come up very fast
Have fun and enjoy it. I'm definatly going back!
James
All good advice on here.
As for how many laps, it depends a lot on the conditions. If its wet you'll probably be inclinded to do less, and regardless of weather there can sometimes be lengthy closures to clear accidents. If the conditions are good you can easily get through 12 laps, my busiest days have been 25+ laps. I wouldn't reccomend trying to do so many on a first visit though - there is so much more to experience spreading your time around the carpark and spectator points.
Strongly reccomend you start with some passenger laps to get a feel for the place and learn just how different it is to the games & vids. Those tools have their uses and can certainly help you avoid beginner classics such as "Failure to turn left at Adenau Forst" but everyone always comments how much more extreme things like the gradients are in real life. At speed the bumps & surface changes are significant, particularly in the wet where differences in grip and the outright slipperyness of some sections is startling.
This is NOT like a short circuit in any way and needs to be treated very differently.
Ideally track down a regular ringer who can also point out the spots that eat unwary drivers. Go say hello on the ringers list (link on Ben Lovejoy's site) and see if you can line up some rides, or at least learn who to look out for so you can ask on the day.
The cars will be fine. Make sure you have plenty of life left in the consumables (brake pads etc). Since you're going all that way it might be a good idea to get a check over done.
Good chance I'll be there, if you see me say hi. Black S1 elise 111S on Dutch plates.
Dave
As for how many laps, it depends a lot on the conditions. If its wet you'll probably be inclinded to do less, and regardless of weather there can sometimes be lengthy closures to clear accidents. If the conditions are good you can easily get through 12 laps, my busiest days have been 25+ laps. I wouldn't reccomend trying to do so many on a first visit though - there is so much more to experience spreading your time around the carpark and spectator points.
Strongly reccomend you start with some passenger laps to get a feel for the place and learn just how different it is to the games & vids. Those tools have their uses and can certainly help you avoid beginner classics such as "Failure to turn left at Adenau Forst" but everyone always comments how much more extreme things like the gradients are in real life. At speed the bumps & surface changes are significant, particularly in the wet where differences in grip and the outright slipperyness of some sections is startling.
This is NOT like a short circuit in any way and needs to be treated very differently.
Ideally track down a regular ringer who can also point out the spots that eat unwary drivers. Go say hello on the ringers list (link on Ben Lovejoy's site) and see if you can line up some rides, or at least learn who to look out for so you can ask on the day.
The cars will be fine. Make sure you have plenty of life left in the consumables (brake pads etc). Since you're going all that way it might be a good idea to get a check over done.
Good chance I'll be there, if you see me say hi. Black S1 elise 111S on Dutch plates.
Dave
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff