Hello evo friends from Los Angeles!

I am traveling to Germany in April to visit some family and am planning a day trip to drive the nurburgring. I am a track junky here in CA with a lightly modded self tuned evo 9 MR.

I have been checking the websites for information and rentals and was wondering if the Evo community has any tips, offers, or ring junkies that could help me enjoy a day at the track there.

I do speak (poorly read & write) german, since I lived in Giesen as a boy for a few years.

Thanks for any tips!


Grusse von Los Angeles!
Ich komme nach besuch zu deutchland fur eine familien reise und werde einen tag denn Ring fahren. In Californian bin ich ein hobby renn fahrer mit mein Evo 9 MR.

Ich wundere ob es Evo freunde in deutschland gibt die information von autos mieten oder clubs haben das ich denn besten plan fur ein oder zwei tagen zuzammenstellen konnte.

Ich kann viel besser deutch sprechen als wie schreiben. hahaha

Vielen Dank

Michael

 

If I'm still around, I'd be more than willing to take you around the Ring. It's only half an hour away from my house and I try to go at least one a week. My Evo has been down most of the winter but should be back together well before April.

 

April you say?
I will take a trip down to the Nurburging for Easter with my evo 8, so if Easter is when you are going to be there
I will alos recommend that you get a few laps as a passanger before you try the Nordschleife on your own :P

 

Unfortunately April is one of the worst months to go to the Ring. Especially if its near Easter. Usually people make their inaugural runs on that weekend. But the in an effort to make some money the Ring is officially open for the year so it may not be that bad.

For rentals I suggest http://www.rent4ring.de/ . I personally rented from them and had an awesome experience. Price was good and if you sweet talk them they may help you with a few instruction laps. Believe it or not I turned a faster lap in one of their Swifts than I did in my Evo.

 

I will be there one of the days between April 20 to 25th. I haven't made the final plan yet exactly. I have been told to take the Ring Taxi, and many folks have recommended the rent4ring site.

I would definitely prefer a few passenger warm laps to get a feel for the whole thing and traffic. I have been told its not anything like the organized track days we do here in CA.

EVILution,
That would be awesome and I would of course cover costs. If certain days work better than others let me know and I can adjust my schedule while I am making the final plans for our germany portion of our trip.

Ramatzio,
Easter is the 24th, so its possible it could work then too. Its just depending on the day I pick. So also let me know if your preference.

If I could work that out with either of you, schedule, ride along, etc that would be a very cool EVOcommunity kind of thing and greatly appreciated. Going with guys that do that somewhat regularly in a car that I am very familiar with (balance/feel) on track will give me the best education/experience.

 

http://jalopnik.com/#!5763127/drivin...the-real-thing

 

Any day works for me. And don't worry about cost, my card has something like 50 laps left on it.

I lived in both NorCal and SoCal for a while and frequented many of the tracks there, especially Willow Springs. To be honest, the Ring is nothing like it. You don't have to wait to be waived by, the only real passing rule is to do so safely on the left, and other than that, you're on your own.

You won't even remember your first few laps as a driver. Matter of fact, you won't even start to remember the course until your 50th lap or so (give or take 15 laps). However, with the new price increase, I don't expect many people to frequent the Ring as often.....which is good for me, but bad for business

See you in April!!

 

OK Sounds good. I am Xbox practicing already for whatever its worth.

I will PM you guys so we can exchange contact info.

Thanks

 

April 22nd is when all the German evo guys are heading there... I will be there too.

 

Forza 3 is good for getting the turns down, but the best rendition of the Ring I've seen is easily GT5. Has the elevation changes almost to the T.

 

April 22nd is Karfreitag or our good friday. It's a german holiday and everyone will be at the ring.

 

Just wanted to wrap up this thread in case anyone reads it looking for information going to the Ring. Here is what I learned.

The Ring is absolutely hand down the most insane, challenging, satisfying, scary, and rewarding driving you will ever do. Period. Ever. its definitely best to do more than one day if you are coming from the US, or somewhere far away. The best way to do it is to do a track day, like I did.

http://www.destination-nurburgring.com/book-now

There are not many track days at the ring, and mostly 'tourist drive days', but everything and their mother will be on track. The track days will make it a true lapping event, with just other track serious and aware drivers.

You can rent a car from many places, but I used Rent4Ring, and all the guys were great. The car was well setup and balanced with new rubber. Its expensive even in the cheapest car, but its a rented race car, so if you really think about it, its decent value.

http://www.rent4ring.de/

I stayed at the Lindner, which is the premier hotel, with a premium price tag. It was super shiek with all kinds of race cars in the lounge etc. Very cool if you can afford it, but its pricey. There are lots of other options, but I can't help there, because I did the Lindner.

Finally, it could likely be about people. I met a bunch of Norwegian guys here, and they made my trip for me. Fellow EvoM'er Remi came out with his evo and friends, and I had co drivers that new the track very well with over 200 laps in the pocket. All great guys, and so cool to hang out with people from another country that share the same passion for driving.

EvoM rules, the Ring rules, and I guess regular guys from Norway rule too.

Epic. If you are track guy, put the Ring on your bucket list!

M

 

Nice review!


One thing to add is that you don't have to wait around for a track day to enjoy the Ring. The Tourist sessions are just as epic, at a fraction of the cost...Take advantage while you still can!