Back from a quick fire Nurburgring Nordschleife trip

[Despicable]

For those interested in road trip reports!

 

A last minute decision was made to go with a mate to the Nurburgring. The last time I went there was with my Uni friends about 13 years ago, some whom are on here actually still I believe.

The plan was to take my Porsche Cayman S, which I bought fairly recently (see my build thread for more info) as a weekend car.

I knew it would not be quite as comfortable as my F11 for the journey there but would hopefully make up for it when we arrived and I got to explore its potential on track. My friend took his breathed upon BMW 140i.

 

I had a few days off and my mate keeps his own work schedule, so tickets were booked and off we went! No real build up, all very spontaneous.  This time round, it was all about the experience, not to go crazy on track but to treat it like a fast A road and keeping that mentality stopped me getting too drawn in and taking the time to enjoy the 'Green Hell' properly.

 

Prior to leaving, the car has been running brilliantly but I spent the remaining days making sure that anything tired or likely to need replacing was done ahead of time. Fuel was at its highest as well, the percet time to travel 1000+ miles.

 

Late morning travel from Folkestone to Calais via the Eurotunnel meant no queues thankfully. The rails along the sides are surprisingly narrow, I imagine it would be a little uncomfortable for Supercars or cars with a wide track.

 

 

 

Infact we anticipated a 6+ hour journey on the French/Belgian/German leg but infact it took around 5 hours with a break or two along the way which was a nice surprise and meant we got there with enough time to have a look around. No rain which was nice too, T shirt weather if you'd believe it. Paying for a piss at service stations is a bit irksome but the food in the truck stops is way better than in the UK.

 

 

Track time during the week is evenings only for Tourist driving with the days reserved for Manufacturer's whom I imagine are paying through the nose for the privilege. This suited us perfectly as even in these small windows you can get plenty of laps in, more than I would want to put the car through anyway.

 

So we explored during the day, took some pretty pictures, went on the electric Go Karts at RingWerk (cheap and really good fun) - there is much more to do there than when I went back in 2009 that's for sure.

Germany is still a little behind on the Covid relaxations, the museum was still shut and its masks everywhere. The museum being closed was a shame as apparently its fantastic.

 

Likewise pretty much every shop in the race complex... all closed.

 

 

Tough choice here. Impressed with the huge brakes on this Tesla Model 3.

 

 

Evening came and it was perfect conditions- warm, dry and good visibility. Last time I came here it was mental, so many cars on track. The first evening I saw two other cars on my laps- it was like I had the track to myself. Having forgotten to play any Forza before I came here, this helped as I had totally forgotten the layout and meant cruising some corners where they're blind without prior knowledge of what's around the corner or over the rise.

 

 

 

Taking a break and watching others drive by Brunnchen corner was nice, a good spot to view if not driving.

 

 

Obviously a refuel was a requirement. 98 octane fuel *was* slightly cheaper but not by any considerable margin than in the UK.

 

 

Then into Adenau for dinner. This is one of the larger towns in the area and pretty much it is still a ghost town at night. You can still eat in the evenings but don't expect restaurants or bars (or shops for that matter) to stay open anywhere remotely close to the UK counterparts.

 

 

The hotel we were staying at was 2.5 miles from the track, very quaint- albeit it a little tucked away down a very rough and windy road- much to my pals frustration when he left a day later than me and got nigh on snowed in by a freak overnight snowtorm!

 

 

 

The hotel backed onto a field with Alpacas...

 

 

 

The next day passed like the last, filling the time during the day with mini excursions and finding that my palette is maybe not totally aligned with Germans. I found the food to be mega salty.

 

I also took the opportunity to have all four tyres replaced by a local outfit, they came in at about 600 euros fitted for Federal 19's in 275 and 235 respectively which is WAY cheaper than the same tyres in the UK. They even cleaned the inner and outer rims, got rid of any glue residue and put the correct 987 pressures in- not had that before in my local place, absolutely brilliant service.

 

 

In the evening, prior to Tourist Drive beginning we met some really nice people and chatted a bit before heading out on to the North loop. It's a nice time to let the initial rush die down, kill 10 mins whilst most drivers head out onto track. A good time to check over the car, tyre pressures, etc.

 

Another great drive, albeit it in the rain towards the end. It went from being a quiet drive to noone else besides me, my friend and some die hards. Knocking the pace off meant we used up the rest of our laps and didn't have any issues, besides the rear kicking out predictably when pushed slightly. traction control was the only issue when pushing on, it interfered at inopertune moments and had to be turned off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final day, no more track drives. I loaded my bag back up, having not used any tools (despite packing a small suitcase full of them) and left for the UK. Leaving my mate there in his 140i due to him having work commitments, and evenutally getting snowed in.

 

Even driving away from Germany there was a fair bit of snow showing itself.

 

 

 

Besides a quick stop at a Hypermarche in Calais, the end was nigh. Free of any real drama which was nice.

 

 

Not much of a write up I'm afraid, but for those interested in going to the Ring- do it. Don't be put off by horror stories surrounding damage to your car/armco/insurance risk etc or you'll never do it.

You do have to accept that there is a degree of risk, but if you drive within your ability and treat it not as a race track, but instead as a fast road where you'd do plenty of mirror checks and consider other road users as well as your own approach speed to corners, then you'll be fine.

 

Thanks, D.

[Windymiller]

Great write up. I’ve only been once before in 2006 in a mistibushi FTO GPX (2.0 V6 MIVEC 200bhp) that I had then. I loved it and have always intended to return. 
 

seems like you had perfect track conditions including minimal other cars out on it - dream scenario 😃👍🏻

[Eddie1996]

Nice account. Reminds me of the trip reports on PattayaAddicts - same but different. You're right, go do it. I once drove out there in the Elise I had at the time, hooked up with two guys from London, one in a 911 the other in a Boxter - great times and first experience of a Porsche from passenger seat. On that day the track was closed for several hours, the rumour being several motorbikes had crashed with fatalities. I also remember the Boxter suddenly released all its coolant in the car park immediately after a lap. We went somewhere and got it topped up and it was fine thereafter. Maybe he needed to have kept the engine running in the car park to keep the cooling system working.