My wife bought me a Nurburgring rental - help!
Discussion
Dale Lomas said:
Worry not, I'll chuck you a lap of coaching on top. Any of the Gran Turismo games will illustrate lefts from rights, but it's not totally necessary. Voucher is redeemable any time, but book in advance so as not to be disappointed!
Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
Made me laugh more than it should have! Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
Not much to add to the above other than you will have an absolutely great time, the guys at R4R are great and the swifts are the perfect car for enjoying the track safely.
Make sure you take time to enjoy the day and as others have said, there are additional insurance coverages you can buy to give you some more peace of mind. That said, the standard R4R insurance coverage already gives you quite a high level of cover compared to what you would have driving your own UK car round.
Lots of YT videos of the circuit that can help wi the learning as well - including some good ones by Dale above!
Most of all enjoy it mate! Hoping to get back there in August myself!
Make sure you take time to enjoy the day and as others have said, there are additional insurance coverages you can buy to give you some more peace of mind. That said, the standard R4R insurance coverage already gives you quite a high level of cover compared to what you would have driving your own UK car round.
Lots of YT videos of the circuit that can help wi the learning as well - including some good ones by Dale above!
Most of all enjoy it mate! Hoping to get back there in August myself!
Dale Lomas said:
Worry not, I'll chuck you a lap of coaching on top. Any of the Gran Turismo games will illustrate lefts from rights, but it's not totally necessary. Voucher is redeemable any time, but book in advance so as not to be disappointed!
Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
Looking at the track days there's one on my birthday in August - I assume that price is extra on top of the rental? Or is the start time (16:00) after the track day event has finished? Either way I've popped an enquiry in.Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
Edited by LincolnLovin on Wednesday 22 June 11:54
LincolnLovin said:
How should I prepare? I can watch videos etc but are any sims (Xbox?) + wheel and pedals any good?
A mate took his Impreza some years ago and spent a lot of time watching of an in car video someone in the Impreza owners club had made in order to learn the track.It obviously worked well as he went off in the same place the as the guy who made the video
(no damage)LincolnLovin said:
I’ve just bought a steering wheel etc so I can try and “learn” the route. I have no desire to chase times, not crack and not die is the main objective here.
This is probably the best option if you've never been.I first started learning the Nordschleife on GT4 when it came out back on PS2, which was useful for learning which way the circuit went, then followed up by refining this with further laps on Assetto Corsa, and particularly iRacing helped learn where the bumps etc. were.
On my first visit I also rented a Swift Sport from R4R (2017 so a 1.6 N/A Swift), with the amount of grip and braking power the car had it was so easy, took the first lap steady to make note of any differences between real life/the games, then the remaining 3 laps going flat out!
Hope you enjoy OP, it's an absolute blast
My wife bought me some instructor led laps in a BMW 3 series all tricked up. I stuggled a little with going straight into a LHD car when I had driven over there in my RHD, and the euro 8k excess also made me go pretty carefully. Max out the extra excesses, it will make for a better experience.
Luckily my campervan is a manual left hand drive so that isn't a major issue (and it will be my main vehicle in August).
As luck would have it assetto corsa competizione has just gone on sale for the xbox, my steering wheel & pedals (thrustmaster tx leather edition) and stand have arrived as well so will get cracking on the practice tonight.
As luck would have it assetto corsa competizione has just gone on sale for the xbox, my steering wheel & pedals (thrustmaster tx leather edition) and stand have arrived as well so will get cracking on the practice tonight.
Dale Lomas said:
Worry not, I'll chuck you a lap of coaching on top. Any of the Gran Turismo games will illustrate lefts from rights, but it's not totally necessary. Voucher is redeemable any time, but book in advance so as not to be disappointed!
Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
Top man Dale!Dale
(Rent4Ring)
((DMSB Nat. instructor, FIA Int C, VLN class champ, n24 class winner, once got wordle in two attempts)
wong said:
She's a keeper.
Also this.OP – please keep us updated with how you get on, I've never been to the 'ring and would love to hear about your experience.
I would change the setting to novice or whatever so that you stop crashing. At this stage you want to use it to learn the lefts and rights and just keep going!
I found the latter part of the track (after the Karussel) is harder to learn because there are lots of corners that are easily confused and you're already 8-10 minutes into learning the lap each time you get there.
Have just remembered, one tip I once read which I found really useful is that LOTS of the corners seem to have a late apex, so if you turn in too early you will feel like you're constantly running out of road on the exit.
I found the latter part of the track (after the Karussel) is harder to learn because there are lots of corners that are easily confused and you're already 8-10 minutes into learning the lap each time you get there.
Have just remembered, one tip I once read which I found really useful is that LOTS of the corners seem to have a late apex, so if you turn in too early you will feel like you're constantly running out of road on the exit.
Try and split it up into chunks that you can recognise. For example, you could combine the first bit (let's say bridge to the end of the Hatzenbach section). Pick a landmark (the bridge) and that will trigger your memory as to what the next sequence of corners looks like.
Once you've 'remembered' (not learned, that's different) that section then link up the next bit, say Flugplatz to Adenau Forst. Your landmark could be the double right hander coming out of Flugplatz onto the fast bit. Then learn to remember that sequence up and over Schwedenkreuz, down through Aremberg and the Foxhole and back up to Adenau Forst (remembering to slow down for the left right sequence!
Do that and split the entire lap up into 6-8 corner chunks and once you remember the chunks, and what order they come in, you can start to link them up.
Your key at this stage is learning the sequence of the corners, and perhaps the ideal line to take so that you're not massively out of position. Don't be frightened by it, it's just a static piece of tarmac. How scary it is depends on how you approach it and what speeds you choose to do. As Martin Brundle would say 'the throttle works both ways' and there's absolutely no shame in being slow on your first visit. Everyone had a first visit.
There will be fast cars buzzing you, but I actually don't mind that at all, the REALLY quick folks tend to have good track manners, know the place very well and pass very quickly and safely. If in doubt, stick your right indicator on and just stay out of the way until you feel comfortable re-engaging with the track.
Enjoy it! It's a place like no other.
Once you've 'remembered' (not learned, that's different) that section then link up the next bit, say Flugplatz to Adenau Forst. Your landmark could be the double right hander coming out of Flugplatz onto the fast bit. Then learn to remember that sequence up and over Schwedenkreuz, down through Aremberg and the Foxhole and back up to Adenau Forst (remembering to slow down for the left right sequence!
Do that and split the entire lap up into 6-8 corner chunks and once you remember the chunks, and what order they come in, you can start to link them up.
Your key at this stage is learning the sequence of the corners, and perhaps the ideal line to take so that you're not massively out of position. Don't be frightened by it, it's just a static piece of tarmac. How scary it is depends on how you approach it and what speeds you choose to do. As Martin Brundle would say 'the throttle works both ways' and there's absolutely no shame in being slow on your first visit. Everyone had a first visit.
There will be fast cars buzzing you, but I actually don't mind that at all, the REALLY quick folks tend to have good track manners, know the place very well and pass very quickly and safely. If in doubt, stick your right indicator on and just stay out of the way until you feel comfortable re-engaging with the track.
Enjoy it! It's a place like no other.
It's definitely an intimidating place on the first visit so much to take in and the really fast cars will appear from nowhere, watching mirrors is v important but not as important as watching what's ahead! My first time in 2014 I hired a R26 Megane RHD manual...not the smartest move as I found the manual shift a distraction when I was trying to learn the flow of the track...still had a blast but went with an automatic on subsequent visits before I started taking my own car (which have all been autos too).
RSbandit said:
It's definitely an intimidating place on the first visit so much to take in and the really fast cars will appear from nowhere, watching mirrors is v important but not as important as watching what's ahead! My first time in 2014 I hired a R26 Megane RHD manual...not the smartest move as I found the manual shift a distraction when I was trying to learn the flow of the track...still had a blast but went with an automatic on subsequent visits before I started taking my own car (which have all been autos too).
The one before the ones that launched themselves off at Metzgesfeld.... 
Mac. said:
Enjoy it! It's a place like no other.
^Mostly, this. We’re here for a good time, not a long time.Respect other vehicles, faster or slower. Accept you will definitely be overtaken and also prepare for having to overtake very slow stuff (with care) too.
Respect the track, it can bite, so drive always in your limits. Bear in mind the surface is nowhere near as grippy as other race tracks, or even modern roads.
Drive it a bit like a B-road blast without fear of speeding fines and points.
Good luck. Report back.
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff