Heading to the 'Ring
Discussion
Hey guys,
Myself and a small group of mates are heading down to the nurburgring for 2 nights, staying at the hotel at the track. Aside from actually going on track (which is planned) is there anything else to do nearby that people can recommend? Pubs, restaurants and the like!
Also, we'd like to take in the Eifel mountains, but are there any local roads around that you guys love? Or indeed any roads that encompass travelling down to the ring?
I'll post up a thread when we get back of course, but any advice is welcomed!
Cheers,
Steve
Myself and a small group of mates are heading down to the nurburgring for 2 nights, staying at the hotel at the track. Aside from actually going on track (which is planned) is there anything else to do nearby that people can recommend? Pubs, restaurants and the like!
Also, we'd like to take in the Eifel mountains, but are there any local roads around that you guys love? Or indeed any roads that encompass travelling down to the ring?
I'll post up a thread when we get back of course, but any advice is welcomed!
Cheers,
Steve
cailean said:
I'm interested in hearing views too. Me and family heading to the Ring for the WEC in July and staying 4 nights so looking for things to do/places to go. At the moment we are booked at Cochem for the 4 nights but may move about more and stay somewhere else for 2 of the nights.
Can definitely agree with this! I got back at 1am this morning, and 2 nights was not enough! I've already emailed my boss about having a week off to go again next year!Got a couple of laps in, and it's certainly an experience!
I'll do a full write up when I've had a few more hours sleep :P
Alright, I said I'd get round to doing a write up of the trip, and now I've finally found time to sit with a beer to write it!
First, The cars!
First up is a 2013 Focus ST, with Mountune MP275
Then we have my taxi for the weekend, an almost immaculate 2002 Golf GTi 1.8t. We're not certain on its power, but its definitely not running standard power!
Followed by a MK3 Fiesta ST MP215
And then we have 2 MK2 Focus RS'. The white one has the Mountune MR375 pack, plus all sorts, including Alcon brakes, and the blue RS is running REVO stage 4, which is a nudge over 400bhp.
Lastly its another fiesta ST, again with the MP215 pack, looking glorious in Molten Orange!
We met at Mcdonalds in Colchester at 2am which, terrifyingly, is too early for a breakfast meal! We then made the easy trip down to Dover, and once getting through some surprisingly light security, made it onto the ferry! All of the cars made in on, despie some concerns over splitters!
Although we were able to communicate via radios that every car had, we got separated as soon as we made it into france, with the White Focus and Blue Fez heading in the wrong direction. Unable to raise them, we ventured into Belgium.
We heard stories of how bad Belgian traffic could be, but nothing prepared me for what was in store, as we came across behavior that wasnt terribly British! Cutting lanes, not indicating, and just general poor driving meant that our group ended up separated again, with our Golf and the Blue RS missing a turn off for a fuel stop, which ended up fairly bad as the RS was predictably in need of fuel. We eventually stopped at a Texaco where we accidentally met up with the other guys in the White RS and Blue St, and soon the others joined us and we were reunited as a group once more.
We made slow progress, thanks to Brussels traffic, but eventually stopped in a small town called Eupen, where we filled up at a Shell garage and had some food and drink as well as a rest.
A few hours later we made it to the Nurburgring, and once we checked into the hotel we could start to relax and plan ahead. On the topic of the hotel, it is probably the nicest hotel I've ever visited, and the balcony views really were stunning!
We soon got hungry, and being the fat one, I suggested finding somewhere to eat, and we soon came across a restaurant in the next village with a seemingly random dude proclaiming that they do 'the best burgers in Europe.' How could we turn that down!
The burgers did indeed turn out to be the best I've certainly ever had, as was the apfelstrudel, and the beers....... so many beers.
After our food and drink, we hit the hay and called it a night.
Part 2 will come in the morning.....
First, The cars!
First up is a 2013 Focus ST, with Mountune MP275
Then we have my taxi for the weekend, an almost immaculate 2002 Golf GTi 1.8t. We're not certain on its power, but its definitely not running standard power!
Followed by a MK3 Fiesta ST MP215
And then we have 2 MK2 Focus RS'. The white one has the Mountune MR375 pack, plus all sorts, including Alcon brakes, and the blue RS is running REVO stage 4, which is a nudge over 400bhp.
Lastly its another fiesta ST, again with the MP215 pack, looking glorious in Molten Orange!
We met at Mcdonalds in Colchester at 2am which, terrifyingly, is too early for a breakfast meal! We then made the easy trip down to Dover, and once getting through some surprisingly light security, made it onto the ferry! All of the cars made in on, despie some concerns over splitters!
Although we were able to communicate via radios that every car had, we got separated as soon as we made it into france, with the White Focus and Blue Fez heading in the wrong direction. Unable to raise them, we ventured into Belgium.
We heard stories of how bad Belgian traffic could be, but nothing prepared me for what was in store, as we came across behavior that wasnt terribly British! Cutting lanes, not indicating, and just general poor driving meant that our group ended up separated again, with our Golf and the Blue RS missing a turn off for a fuel stop, which ended up fairly bad as the RS was predictably in need of fuel. We eventually stopped at a Texaco where we accidentally met up with the other guys in the White RS and Blue St, and soon the others joined us and we were reunited as a group once more.
We made slow progress, thanks to Brussels traffic, but eventually stopped in a small town called Eupen, where we filled up at a Shell garage and had some food and drink as well as a rest.
A few hours later we made it to the Nurburgring, and once we checked into the hotel we could start to relax and plan ahead. On the topic of the hotel, it is probably the nicest hotel I've ever visited, and the balcony views really were stunning!
We soon got hungry, and being the fat one, I suggested finding somewhere to eat, and we soon came across a restaurant in the next village with a seemingly random dude proclaiming that they do 'the best burgers in Europe.' How could we turn that down!
The burgers did indeed turn out to be the best I've certainly ever had, as was the apfelstrudel, and the beers....... so many beers.
After our food and drink, we hit the hay and called it a night.
Part 2 will come in the morning.....
So day 2...
A few of us (myself included) decided to go to the Theme Park Phantasialand which was about an hour up the road, and we had a silly amount of fun. The entry fee was well priced at €45, and food and drink was cheap enough too. A far cry from the rip offs that we have here in the UK!
On the way back we hit the Autobahn, and despite being 4 up, the MK3 Focus St easily hit 140mph, and still had more to go, but alas, we hit traffic.
That evening we headed down to the track to do a lap. While the others were off buying their track tickets, I had a brief window to do a bit of car spotting, and it wasn't hard! When you hear that all sorts of cars take on the Ring, they're not wrong! We had a Galaxy TDi on track with us as well as a couple of Passats. At the other end of the spectrum, there was almost every supercar conceivable, from an owners club for the Honda NSX, to Ferrari 458s and even an M3 CSL, somewhat of a dream car for me.
When we finally got onto the track, I'll be honest and say that I wasn't especially comfortable with it! The Golf isn't a slow car, but the track was packed, and there were a lot of cars coming really rather very close to us! Nevertheless, we made it round, and its an experience I'll never forget.
After reconvening at the hotel, we walked back into town, and heading to the restaurant won by Sabine Schmitz's family and enjoyed lots of good food and drink! We heard it's one of those places that you had to go to when staying at the ring, and we weren't disappointing! Very picturesque, and very welcoming!
Day 3...
The next morning we were up early, and we were among the first on the track at 8am, and what a difference that made to the experience as a whole! There were cars about, but there was so much less pressure on everyone, and we all enjoyed it a lot more. I was in the Orange Fiesta ST and we had a great time, right up until the track got very wet! It's something you hear a lot of, the scale of the track means you get different weather in different sections, and it's completely true! We were behind a Corvette Stingray and as soon as it got wet it slammed on the anchors and we left it behind, the driver's reasons immediately demonstrated by a Vauxhall Monaro VXR8 almost spinning out in front of us! However, we all made it round, and after a morning going round the gift shops it was time to leave back for the UK.
We immediately found some Autobahns and every car got up to speed. The Focus St hitting 150, as did the Orange Fiesta, us in the Golf nudged 145 (not bad for a 14 year old car!) and Phil in the Blue RS went off his speedo which ends at 175! We started another run a little later before hell broke loose with shouts 'slow down' coming over the radio, and it became apparent why. When Phil in the RS went on another high speed run, the front undertray snapped at the back and was being held on by only a couple of screws!
It was nursed to a truck stop where we could jack the car up and take it off, much to the interest and amusement of some Ukrainian truckers!
The only place for it!
After this we made good progress and aside from a short stop in Belgium for chocolate, soon made it to the ferry, and a few hours later, we were back home!
I definitely recommend anyone to go to the Ring, and I would 100% recommend going for much longer than the 2 nights we went for! It wasn't especially expensive to go when costs are split, and its an experience I know I'll never forget!
A few of us (myself included) decided to go to the Theme Park Phantasialand which was about an hour up the road, and we had a silly amount of fun. The entry fee was well priced at €45, and food and drink was cheap enough too. A far cry from the rip offs that we have here in the UK!
On the way back we hit the Autobahn, and despite being 4 up, the MK3 Focus St easily hit 140mph, and still had more to go, but alas, we hit traffic.
That evening we headed down to the track to do a lap. While the others were off buying their track tickets, I had a brief window to do a bit of car spotting, and it wasn't hard! When you hear that all sorts of cars take on the Ring, they're not wrong! We had a Galaxy TDi on track with us as well as a couple of Passats. At the other end of the spectrum, there was almost every supercar conceivable, from an owners club for the Honda NSX, to Ferrari 458s and even an M3 CSL, somewhat of a dream car for me.
When we finally got onto the track, I'll be honest and say that I wasn't especially comfortable with it! The Golf isn't a slow car, but the track was packed, and there were a lot of cars coming really rather very close to us! Nevertheless, we made it round, and its an experience I'll never forget.
After reconvening at the hotel, we walked back into town, and heading to the restaurant won by Sabine Schmitz's family and enjoyed lots of good food and drink! We heard it's one of those places that you had to go to when staying at the ring, and we weren't disappointing! Very picturesque, and very welcoming!
Day 3...
The next morning we were up early, and we were among the first on the track at 8am, and what a difference that made to the experience as a whole! There were cars about, but there was so much less pressure on everyone, and we all enjoyed it a lot more. I was in the Orange Fiesta ST and we had a great time, right up until the track got very wet! It's something you hear a lot of, the scale of the track means you get different weather in different sections, and it's completely true! We were behind a Corvette Stingray and as soon as it got wet it slammed on the anchors and we left it behind, the driver's reasons immediately demonstrated by a Vauxhall Monaro VXR8 almost spinning out in front of us! However, we all made it round, and after a morning going round the gift shops it was time to leave back for the UK.
We immediately found some Autobahns and every car got up to speed. The Focus St hitting 150, as did the Orange Fiesta, us in the Golf nudged 145 (not bad for a 14 year old car!) and Phil in the Blue RS went off his speedo which ends at 175! We started another run a little later before hell broke loose with shouts 'slow down' coming over the radio, and it became apparent why. When Phil in the RS went on another high speed run, the front undertray snapped at the back and was being held on by only a couple of screws!
It was nursed to a truck stop where we could jack the car up and take it off, much to the interest and amusement of some Ukrainian truckers!
The only place for it!
After this we made good progress and aside from a short stop in Belgium for chocolate, soon made it to the ferry, and a few hours later, we were back home!
I definitely recommend anyone to go to the Ring, and I would 100% recommend going for much longer than the 2 nights we went for! It wasn't especially expensive to go when costs are split, and its an experience I know I'll never forget!
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