Nurburgring Tourist Rides ??

[bagekko]

Probably going to Germany in mid-July, plans to visit the Nurburgring, always wanted to go for a ride in the M5 Ring Taxi.

But now I am likely to rent a track car to drive on the track. The day I am looking at is the normal tourist ride day, has anyone every been on the track during Touristenfahrten? How crazy is it to drive on the track with all the wackos that might show up driving who knows what?

Was hoping to go for the M5 Taxi ride then rent a track car, but unlikely to do in that order.

Options I am looking at then are;

Ring Taxi - 911 track car for a few laps then M5 taxi ride. They dont have BMW rentals, so why not 911 LOL
Apex - M2 track car for a few laps and then McLaren taxi ride.

My last thought though is if I drive the track in whatever, is it even going to still be worth it to take the taxi ride after?

[dtla1]

The Taxi ride with a Pro driver that is way more familiar with the circuit than you are will definitely be worth it in my opinion.

Personally I would either do the McLaren with Apex, or even their M3 if you want to have a couple more people enjoy the ride (you can still call dibs on the front seat).

[beattiecj]

I'm going to Nürburgring over the 4th of July week, renting the M2, gt86 and doing the m3 taxi from Apex. From talking to them they were very friendly, responsive. They recommended taking a slower car out first then the M2, both come with an instructor for the first lap which I think is nice.

Also there is a Guy named Misha from Apex that does a lot of cool Nürburgring themed video/blogs that are worth watching all on YouTube.

Keep us posted on what you go with, definitely curious to hear what others have done.

[bagekko]

Have fun and take good care of the M2 as I am renting it from Apex the following weekend.

Originally Posted by beattiecj

I'm going to Nürburgring over the 4th of July week, renting the M2, gt86 and doing the m3 taxi from Apex. From talking to them they were very friendly, responsive. They recommended taking a slower car out first then the M2, both come with an instructor for the first lap which I think is nice.

Also there is a Guy named Misha from Apex that does a lot of cool Nürburgring themed video/blogs that are worth watching all on YouTube.

Keep us posted on what you go with, definitely curious to hear what others have done.

[JimVonBaden]

Originally Posted by beattiecj

I'm going to Nürburgring over the 4th of July week, renting the M2, gt86 and doing the m3 taxi from Apex. From talking to them they were very friendly, responsive. They recommended taking a slower car out first then the M2, both come with an instructor for the first lap which I think is nice.

Also there is a Guy named Misha from Apex that does a lot of cool Nürburgring themed video/blogs that are worth watching all on YouTube.

Keep us posted on what you go with, definitely curious to hear what others have done.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Wallerus

[Boost3d_1M]

I did the Ring Taxi , I had booked a ride in the Porsche Gt2 but because of some rainfall, i had to settle for the Turbo S ( First world problems hey ) , cost was 250Euro

My friends shared the experience in a F80 M3 , cost was 200 Euro and they divided the cost by the three occupants.

I wish i had driven around the track myself, but I have to admit, that I really struggled driving our rental Golf which was both Left Hand Drive and Manual. No issue with driving stick, but in sunny South Africa, we drive on the right hand side of the road so it was quite an adjustment for me which i failed miserably at....

On a sidenote, I did get to meet Magnus Walker outside the track, and he posed with us for a selfie!

[desertman123]

Load up your favorite racing game and get some laps in to get to know the track!

[Gray_Panther]

I am going near end of august and renting an E46 330ci, if you guys can post up some of your experiences or maybe we can talk on the phone via number swaps in pm's I would greatly appreciate it.
It will be my first time there and I have been watching some youtube vids on getting to nordschleife and how to buy tickets and line up and etc.

[amg6975]

It's not as bad as you might think. Just keep to the right if there are cars behind you, they'll get around you without issue as long as you stay out of the way and stay predictable.

My wife and I did a lap in a 218 cabrio rental that was one of the slowest cars I've ever driven and it was a blast. Terrifying, but a blast.

[beattiecj]

Originally Posted by bagekko

Have fun and take good care of the M2 as I am renting it from Apex the following weekend.

[QUOTE=bagekko;24950913]

Slow to update last Saturday and Sunday I drove the ring, that place is unreal and lives up to the hype and danger.

I did 6 laps in total
2 in a VW Polo first laps as I wanted to get a better understanding of the track.
4 in a Porsche 718 GTS Cayman - loved this car, it's fast handles extremely well stock and just a comfortable car. First time driving a Porsche I get it, also almost lost it at 130mph haha 😱.

Highly highly recommend an instructor, I went with Misha from Apex, he was amazing pushed me and was able to get the most out of my laps. Imagine a rally co-driver telling all. Very cool dude and is working to do VLN and N24 next year.

Sadly the day I arrived someone crashed the M2, though it may be fixed now and the gt86 had a sensor failure resolved a little later.

Also the Apex m3 taxi lap was a blast, I think we did 270kmh ~170mph at one point. In retrospect once was enough and would have rather spent the money on additional laps, but my wife wanted to go and then bailed last minute haha. Also consider the m3, Porsche gts3 Mclaren or Mercedes AMG, depending on how many people you are taking. There is a small building at the track entrance with all the ring taxis very easy to make a reservation. Plus the devils diner there has good pancakes.

The track itself is fast, unforgiving being able to turn fast lap after lap takes skill and ultra human levels of driver skill, stamina and concentration.

In summary very cool place to go, there isn't much else to do other than drive, the Nürburgring museum, literally see every cool car known to man and watch cars go by at various parts of the track. Also stayed at the Apex hotel, good location, nice and walkable-to a few restaurants and track entrance.

Would I go again absolutely, envious of those that live close and have the opportunity to go multiple times a year. Glad to see a few 1 series getting some ring work done also.

[$iriu$black]

[QUOTE=beattiecj;24992873]

Originally Posted by bagekko

Slow to update last Saturday and Sunday I drove the ring, that place is unreal and lives up to the hype and danger.

I did 6 laps in total
2 in a VW Polo first laps as I wanted to get a better understanding of the track.
4 in a Porsche 718 GTS Cayman - loved this car, it's fast handles extremely well stock and just a comfortable car. First time driving a Porsche I get it, also almost lost it at 130mph haha 😱.

Highly highly recommend an instructor, I went with Misha from Apex, he was amazing pushed me and was able to get the most out of my laps. Imagine a rally co-driver telling all. Very cool dude and is working to do VLN and N24 next year.

Sadly the day I arrived someone crashed the M2, though it may be fixed now and the gt86 had a sensor failure resolved a little later.

Also the Apex m3 taxi lap was a blast, I think we did 270kmh ~170mph at one point. In retrospect once was enough and would have rather spent the money on additional laps, but my wife wanted to go and then bailed last minute haha. Also consider the m3, Porsche gts3 Mclaren or Mercedes AMG, depending on how many people you are taking. There is a small building at the track entrance with all the ring taxis very easy to make a reservation. Plus the devils diner there has good pancakes.

The track itself is fast, unforgiving being able to turn fast lap after lap takes skill and ultra human levels of driver skill, stamina and concentration.

In summary very cool place to go, there isn't much else to do other than drive, the Nürburgring museum, literally see every cool car known to man and watch cars go by at various parts of the track. Also stayed at the Apex hotel, good location, nice and walkable-to a few restaurants and track entrance.

Would I go again absolutely, envious of those that live close and have the opportunity to go multiple times a year. Glad to see a few 1 series getting some ring work done also.

Sounds like you had a blast! Would you mind telling (or PMing) how much you spent on doing the rentals and all that out the door?

Watched the Everyday Driver feature film titled “Pilgrimage “ and this was exactly what they did... a man can only dream I guess.

[beattiecj]

[QUOTE=$iriu$black;24995414]

Originally Posted by beattiecj

Sounds like you had a blast! Would you mind telling (or PMing) how much you spent on doing the rentals and all that out the door?

Watched the Everyday Driver feature film titled “Pilgrimage “ and this was exactly what they did... a man can only dream I guess.

Pmed, best advice is to look for Nürburgring car rentals like Apex, rent4ring and a few others.

[bagekko]

Just got back from Germany yesterday. Had an awesome trip.

I knew there would be a slight issue with my reservation to drive the M2 with Apex for 4 laps on the ring as a guy on another board was supposed to drive the M2 two weekends ago and it was hit by someone else on the track the day he was supposed to drive.

The M2 was not fixed in time for me and the M3 was also out of commission. They offered the Cayman GTS at a later time slot, but I really wanted to get off early. What we worked out was 2 laps in the Cayman at 8am and 2 laps with the Seat Leon Super Cupra at 9am. They were concerned if I could do the 4 laps in the Cayman from 8am-9am in time for the next reservation so thats why we split it between the 2 cars and times. In hind sight I definitely could of made it, we left Apex at 8:04 and after 2 Cayman laps was back at 8:33 lol, with back and forth time etc my laps were about 10 mins each.

A Porsche 911 may be about a perfect car for the ring in an expert's hands, I found the Cayman GTS to be perhaps perfect for my skill. The car is so well balanced between power and handling, its RWD, but is so much more planted than probably the M2 or M3. I caught and passed many cars on the track, I was so fast in the Cayman that never did anyone catch and pass me.

The Nordschleife is an amazing track so much fun to drive, dangerous definitely, but with an instructor I never felt out of place. Definitely recommend getting an instructor for all laps especially instead of insurance. Wife asked me how fast I went, told her its more about lap time than top speed, probably hit 240kph in the Cayman, thing is the track is constantly demanding there is no time to look at spedo, or even notice spectators around the track. I supposed if you were not flat out like me the whole lap you could notice these things.

The Super Cupra was FWD which was an experience, haven't had a FWD car in decades. Its quick and handles well for a hot hatch, but miles away from the confidence I had in the Porsche. Told the wife the Super Cupra was more thrilling than the Porsche but definitely cant lap the track as fast. Funny thing is I caught and passed the guy who had the Cayman after I warmed it up for him. Got passed a few times in the Cupra, some by people much faster, other times just to maximize my experiece, passed quite a few people in it though. Hardly ever squealed the tires in the Porsche but definitely burned a lot more rubber on the Cupra, it didnt brake as well or handle as tight and too much power out of the corner without the same grip.

Thankful so much for getting out early as there was an accident about 1030 and the track was closed at least 90 mins as we left the area about noon.

Highly recommend the experience, instructor on board definitely the way to go, and you should match the car you drive to your skill. The Cayman was perfect for me, as I could get it close to its max potential everywhere. Obviously the guy driving the Cayman when I blew past him in the Cupra kinda wasted his money on just being able to say he drove a Porsche on the ring.

Definitely will do again some day, maybe more laps, maybe can get some friends to join. Though not until after I drive Spa on the next trip.

Also went to BMW Welt and the Porsche museum which were great, and maxed the 540 wagon rental at 250kph on the Autobahn.