Mach V Dan at Nürburgring
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Former Vendor
Joined: Feb 2007
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From: Sterling, VA
Mach V Dan at Nürburgring
Forgive me, because I wasn't actually driving my Mini during this experience. But I SAW Minis on the track, and I was driving a BMW, so it's all in the family, right?
Two weeks ago I went to Germany with my father. We spent a few days in Cologne, which is conveniently just a couple of hours from the Nürburgring, perhaps the most famous road course in the world. It's 13 miles long, with 75+ turns and lots of elevation changes. There's a village and a castle inside the course!
Thanks to some online friends, I knew it was possible to rent a car to drive specifically for the track. Theo Kleen runs Rent-Racecar, which is located minutes from the track. He has several cars available, including a 300+hp E36 M3, which I had reserved, and a brand-new Renault Megane Trophy. You can rent for a half day or a full day; I opted for half. It was around 300 Euros for the rental, which seemed amazingly reasonable to me. Insurance is included.
Those are three of the five cars available at the time. I rented the white one.
We arrived at the track to find the weather pretty wet. Clouds would blow in, it would rain for ten minutes or so, and then it would clear up, and then rain again. Theo suggested I drive the lower-powered and traction-controlled E92 (2007 model year) 325i coupe. I accepted; I didn't want to ball up his car any more than he wanted me to...
While our host Theo prepared the car, we got some lunch in a local town. I noticed a blue Mitsubishi Evo 9 (FQ-340 model) in the parking lot, and introduced myself. The owner was a Brit who'd driven it over to drive the 'Ring. It was his fifth or sixth time doing the trip. He was a little worried about his R-compound rubber not being very rain-worthy.
We returned to Rent-Racecar and checked out the E92. The car was stripped of its interior, with fixed race seats, six-point harnesses, a full cage, and a fire extinguisher. The suspension was Bilstein coil-overs, set pretty low. Stock tires were ditched in favor of Falken RT-615 stickies. The brakes were stock, but with aftermarket pads. The engine was stock, although a fancy Stack gauge setup with alarms kept tabs on the engine. Theo: "If you exceed 7200 rpm, I will know!"
The rain had stopped and the track was mostly dry by the time we arrived. Theo drove me around the 'Ring for a lap so I could get a feel for things. Mostly I just clenched my sphincters and laughed. Theo drives semi-professionally, and has driven thousands of laps on this course, so he knows every corner. He flew over rises, drove flat-out around blind corners. He had the car very sideways several times. We passed lots of cars, although we didn't quite catch a very fast Mini Cooper (R53) that was from a local Mini club. (There were a whole bunch of Minis there that day -- I'm sorry I didn't get pictures. They always seemed to be driving when I was in the parking lot, and vice versa.)
Then it was my turn. We bought tickets at the ticket booth, strapped in, poked the ticket in the little gate, and I was on the track.
Let me just pause here to describe how weird this all feels. First off, the parking lot is not really a pit area; it looks more like the parking lot at, say, your local IHOP. People are doing some pit stuff, like changing a tire here and there, or checking fluids, but mostly not. There's a lot of chatting, latte sipping, and people/car watching. There must be a pit area somewhere, but I didn't see it. But that parking lot is where you stage to drive on the track.
A couple of parking lot shots...
Second, the access to the track is completely open. It's basically a public toll road. You don't need to sign any kind of liability waiver. You don't need a tech inspection. As long as you've bought a ticket, you're in. In fact, you don't need to even see a human being to get the ticket. There's a machine that'll take your cash. (Four laps will cost you 64 Euros, or around $87 at today's exchange rate.) So there's all sorts of crazy stuff on this track. I passed a Mercedes sedan full of a family of five, motorcycles with full touring gear on, some very slow little microcars, and a real taxi cab. There's also a full-sized tour bus that goes around every once in a while, although I never was on the track with it.
So, overall, this isn't your average day at the road race track. It's more like run-what-you-brung on a twisty country road. Oh, and did I mention people seem to die there pretty frequently? One person told me 200 per year, but most of what I read says around a dozen deaths each year. And everyone says most of the fatalities are bikers. But in any case, it's dangerous.
Anyway, I drove out onto the course. I've now done many laps of the 'Ring on the Playstation, in an attempt to at least get a little familiar with the layout. Plus I've had the passenger lap, although I think I was too scared to retain much of that. But I had a very hard time figuring out what was coming next. My brain was occupied with lots of things, like figuring out the dynamics of an unfamiliar car, making sure I didn't get collected by faster traffic, and driving around slower traffic. The ten-odd actual minutes felt like they went by in two minutes. Every time I exited onto the final straight, I was amazed I was there so quickly.
The Playstation practice helped a little, maybe, as I sort of knew what was coming up. But the video game doesn't give much sense of the drastic elevation changes on the course. And overall I think most of the cars I've driven in Gran Turismo reach higher speeds than my rented Bimmer did. To add to my slowness, I was very, very conscious of the mess I'd be in if I crashed. First, you are responsible for any damage you do to the track. I'm told that repairs to the Armco can cost thousands of dollars. Second, I didn't want to hurt my rented car. Finally, there is almost NO runoff on this track. There are a couple of corners with grass or gravel, but for the most part, there's guardrails and trees. If you crash, it's going to be bad, and it might be very painful. I drove as conservatively as I could manage.
As I did more laps I got more confident in the BMW. I was able to lean on the front tires more -- I expected it to wash out under hard cornering, but the sticky rubber and the big camber in the front gave it excellent front grip. On the other hand, the thing had a very twitchy rear end. Any attempt at trail-braking (continuing to use the brakes while beginning corner turn-in), and any mid-corner throttle lift, made the back of the car start to slide around. I focused on getting my braking done separately from my turning, and not lifting off the throttle if I got spooked.
Traffic on the course was constant, although it wasn't as busy as I'd feared. Most slower cars kept politely in the right side. Most used their turn signals to indicate they were staying to the right for my benefit. I did the same for other cars. At one point I chased down a yellow 911 of some kind. (I assume he was out more for the sightseeing than to really drive. Either that or his Porsche was broken...) Another time I was pedal-to-the-metal and the blue FQ-340 shot past me. I later spoke to the driver, who said he'd done that lap in 8:22.
The highlight of my lapping was seeing a two-car caravan consisting of an Audi R8 and a Porsche Carrera GT. I was going about 60 mph at that point. They blasted past me at maybe 120 mph or more. My BMW shook with their air wake. Awesome!
I really enjoyed the Karussell (carousel), which is a banked tight corner with flat concrete sections. The BMW really hunkered down if I kept the throttle planted, and I got terrific exit speed. That was the only corner I felt I was really driving as hard as I could. The fact that the entry speed is only about 30 mph helped that...
Although the weather was threatening the whole time, I managed to complete four laps in the dry. I had just poked my little lap ticket in the machine for one more when big rain drops started splattering the windshield. Hmm. I didn't know the protocol about backing out of a lap. Plus, I thought maybe I could still have a good time. I pressed on, in Traction Control We Trust.
I got up some speed on the first straight and tromped on the brakes. The car seemed to stop pretty well, considering the wet pavement. So far, so good.
The first really tight corner is at the point where the course diverts from the Grand Prix circuit. It's a hard right-hander that's flat, so you have to slow down quite a bit. As I got on the gas to accelerate away, the rear wheels of the 325i completely lost grip, and the car oversteered as the traction control light blinked on. Whoa! That wasn't what I expected.
I wasn't the only one having traction trouble. No sooner had I straighted out the car than I saw a safety worker, holding his hands out, palms down, making that universal "slow down" sign you see all the time in the rally videos. A biker was picking up his crashed motorcycle. Two more corners, and there were more people on the side of the road. A couple more bikes had stopped to help another wrecked biker. This guy was literally brushing clods off grass and dirt from his riding suit as I drove slowly past. Brightly colored plastic was littered all over the track. The bike was a bent-up mess.
For the rest of my lap, the traction control was my best friend. At almost every corner exit, no matter how gingerly I squeezed the throttle, the rear tires lost grip. A couple times I was probably 30 degrees angled from my desired direction of travel. I'm convinced if I had been driving my original M3 ride with NO traction control, I would have spun the car, even knowing it was slick out. I was sweaty and my hands were sore from gripping the wheel too tightly by the time the lap was over.
But I survived, and so did the car! Part of me wanted to wait for the track to dry and drive some more, but it was getting later in the day, I was tired, and I figured I was pushing my luck if it rained any more while I was driving. So I called it a day. We topped up the gas tank and returned the car to Mr. Kleen. We asked for a suggestion for dinner. Not only did Theo call to see if the restaurant was open, he led us there in his car so we didn't get lost. That was typical of the level of service he provided. Thumbs up!
Overall, I was very happy to have done it. The price wasn't too bad compared to the price of renting a race car for a track day in the U.S. And I got to drive the most storied track of them all. I can't think of a better tale to tell when I'm next hoisting a beer with my car buddies. On the other hand, after finally driving around the Nürburging, there was a little feeling of, "This is it?" I mean, even though it's famous, it's still just another road course, albeit a very long one. Practice enough on it, and you'll be able to get your speed up, just like anywhere. Honestly, I get just as much of a thrill driving at Summit Point or VIR (my closest tracks) as I did on the 'Ring. I think the hype and reputation may be feeding itself to some extent.
Still, this was definitely on my list of "Things to do in life." There's no more legendary place to drive, and it's amazing to me that the public can still drive there. I kept thinking that this level of trust in people was unique to Germany. Or at least it would never fly in the U.S.
One other thing I enjoyed about visiting the the 'Ring was the camaraderie. All the people I met there were equally passionate about cars, driving, and being at the Nürburgring. Rich or poor, they all had this little-kid kind of excitement about them. Everyone seemed eager to chat in the parking lot and at the little cafe there.
So in summary: Nürburgring -- great track, great people, and a true arrive-and-drive experience. What's not to like? But don't take my word for it. If you're anywhere near Nürburg, give Theo and Rent-Racecar a call, and see (and drive) for yourself.
--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net
Two weeks ago I went to Germany with my father. We spent a few days in Cologne, which is conveniently just a couple of hours from the Nürburgring, perhaps the most famous road course in the world. It's 13 miles long, with 75+ turns and lots of elevation changes. There's a village and a castle inside the course!
Thanks to some online friends, I knew it was possible to rent a car to drive specifically for the track. Theo Kleen runs Rent-Racecar, which is located minutes from the track. He has several cars available, including a 300+hp E36 M3, which I had reserved, and a brand-new Renault Megane Trophy. You can rent for a half day or a full day; I opted for half. It was around 300 Euros for the rental, which seemed amazingly reasonable to me. Insurance is included.
Those are three of the five cars available at the time. I rented the white one.
We arrived at the track to find the weather pretty wet. Clouds would blow in, it would rain for ten minutes or so, and then it would clear up, and then rain again. Theo suggested I drive the lower-powered and traction-controlled E92 (2007 model year) 325i coupe. I accepted; I didn't want to ball up his car any more than he wanted me to...
While our host Theo prepared the car, we got some lunch in a local town. I noticed a blue Mitsubishi Evo 9 (FQ-340 model) in the parking lot, and introduced myself. The owner was a Brit who'd driven it over to drive the 'Ring. It was his fifth or sixth time doing the trip. He was a little worried about his R-compound rubber not being very rain-worthy.
We returned to Rent-Racecar and checked out the E92. The car was stripped of its interior, with fixed race seats, six-point harnesses, a full cage, and a fire extinguisher. The suspension was Bilstein coil-overs, set pretty low. Stock tires were ditched in favor of Falken RT-615 stickies. The brakes were stock, but with aftermarket pads. The engine was stock, although a fancy Stack gauge setup with alarms kept tabs on the engine. Theo: "If you exceed 7200 rpm, I will know!"
The rain had stopped and the track was mostly dry by the time we arrived. Theo drove me around the 'Ring for a lap so I could get a feel for things. Mostly I just clenched my sphincters and laughed. Theo drives semi-professionally, and has driven thousands of laps on this course, so he knows every corner. He flew over rises, drove flat-out around blind corners. He had the car very sideways several times. We passed lots of cars, although we didn't quite catch a very fast Mini Cooper (R53) that was from a local Mini club. (There were a whole bunch of Minis there that day -- I'm sorry I didn't get pictures. They always seemed to be driving when I was in the parking lot, and vice versa.)
Then it was my turn. We bought tickets at the ticket booth, strapped in, poked the ticket in the little gate, and I was on the track.
Let me just pause here to describe how weird this all feels. First off, the parking lot is not really a pit area; it looks more like the parking lot at, say, your local IHOP. People are doing some pit stuff, like changing a tire here and there, or checking fluids, but mostly not. There's a lot of chatting, latte sipping, and people/car watching. There must be a pit area somewhere, but I didn't see it. But that parking lot is where you stage to drive on the track.
A couple of parking lot shots...
Second, the access to the track is completely open. It's basically a public toll road. You don't need to sign any kind of liability waiver. You don't need a tech inspection. As long as you've bought a ticket, you're in. In fact, you don't need to even see a human being to get the ticket. There's a machine that'll take your cash. (Four laps will cost you 64 Euros, or around $87 at today's exchange rate.) So there's all sorts of crazy stuff on this track. I passed a Mercedes sedan full of a family of five, motorcycles with full touring gear on, some very slow little microcars, and a real taxi cab. There's also a full-sized tour bus that goes around every once in a while, although I never was on the track with it.
So, overall, this isn't your average day at the road race track. It's more like run-what-you-brung on a twisty country road. Oh, and did I mention people seem to die there pretty frequently? One person told me 200 per year, but most of what I read says around a dozen deaths each year. And everyone says most of the fatalities are bikers. But in any case, it's dangerous.
Anyway, I drove out onto the course. I've now done many laps of the 'Ring on the Playstation, in an attempt to at least get a little familiar with the layout. Plus I've had the passenger lap, although I think I was too scared to retain much of that. But I had a very hard time figuring out what was coming next. My brain was occupied with lots of things, like figuring out the dynamics of an unfamiliar car, making sure I didn't get collected by faster traffic, and driving around slower traffic. The ten-odd actual minutes felt like they went by in two minutes. Every time I exited onto the final straight, I was amazed I was there so quickly.
The Playstation practice helped a little, maybe, as I sort of knew what was coming up. But the video game doesn't give much sense of the drastic elevation changes on the course. And overall I think most of the cars I've driven in Gran Turismo reach higher speeds than my rented Bimmer did. To add to my slowness, I was very, very conscious of the mess I'd be in if I crashed. First, you are responsible for any damage you do to the track. I'm told that repairs to the Armco can cost thousands of dollars. Second, I didn't want to hurt my rented car. Finally, there is almost NO runoff on this track. There are a couple of corners with grass or gravel, but for the most part, there's guardrails and trees. If you crash, it's going to be bad, and it might be very painful. I drove as conservatively as I could manage.
As I did more laps I got more confident in the BMW. I was able to lean on the front tires more -- I expected it to wash out under hard cornering, but the sticky rubber and the big camber in the front gave it excellent front grip. On the other hand, the thing had a very twitchy rear end. Any attempt at trail-braking (continuing to use the brakes while beginning corner turn-in), and any mid-corner throttle lift, made the back of the car start to slide around. I focused on getting my braking done separately from my turning, and not lifting off the throttle if I got spooked.
Traffic on the course was constant, although it wasn't as busy as I'd feared. Most slower cars kept politely in the right side. Most used their turn signals to indicate they were staying to the right for my benefit. I did the same for other cars. At one point I chased down a yellow 911 of some kind. (I assume he was out more for the sightseeing than to really drive. Either that or his Porsche was broken...) Another time I was pedal-to-the-metal and the blue FQ-340 shot past me. I later spoke to the driver, who said he'd done that lap in 8:22.
The highlight of my lapping was seeing a two-car caravan consisting of an Audi R8 and a Porsche Carrera GT. I was going about 60 mph at that point. They blasted past me at maybe 120 mph or more. My BMW shook with their air wake. Awesome!
I really enjoyed the Karussell (carousel), which is a banked tight corner with flat concrete sections. The BMW really hunkered down if I kept the throttle planted, and I got terrific exit speed. That was the only corner I felt I was really driving as hard as I could. The fact that the entry speed is only about 30 mph helped that...
Although the weather was threatening the whole time, I managed to complete four laps in the dry. I had just poked my little lap ticket in the machine for one more when big rain drops started splattering the windshield. Hmm. I didn't know the protocol about backing out of a lap. Plus, I thought maybe I could still have a good time. I pressed on, in Traction Control We Trust.
I got up some speed on the first straight and tromped on the brakes. The car seemed to stop pretty well, considering the wet pavement. So far, so good.
The first really tight corner is at the point where the course diverts from the Grand Prix circuit. It's a hard right-hander that's flat, so you have to slow down quite a bit. As I got on the gas to accelerate away, the rear wheels of the 325i completely lost grip, and the car oversteered as the traction control light blinked on. Whoa! That wasn't what I expected.
I wasn't the only one having traction trouble. No sooner had I straighted out the car than I saw a safety worker, holding his hands out, palms down, making that universal "slow down" sign you see all the time in the rally videos. A biker was picking up his crashed motorcycle. Two more corners, and there were more people on the side of the road. A couple more bikes had stopped to help another wrecked biker. This guy was literally brushing clods off grass and dirt from his riding suit as I drove slowly past. Brightly colored plastic was littered all over the track. The bike was a bent-up mess.
For the rest of my lap, the traction control was my best friend. At almost every corner exit, no matter how gingerly I squeezed the throttle, the rear tires lost grip. A couple times I was probably 30 degrees angled from my desired direction of travel. I'm convinced if I had been driving my original M3 ride with NO traction control, I would have spun the car, even knowing it was slick out. I was sweaty and my hands were sore from gripping the wheel too tightly by the time the lap was over.
But I survived, and so did the car! Part of me wanted to wait for the track to dry and drive some more, but it was getting later in the day, I was tired, and I figured I was pushing my luck if it rained any more while I was driving. So I called it a day. We topped up the gas tank and returned the car to Mr. Kleen. We asked for a suggestion for dinner. Not only did Theo call to see if the restaurant was open, he led us there in his car so we didn't get lost. That was typical of the level of service he provided. Thumbs up!
Overall, I was very happy to have done it. The price wasn't too bad compared to the price of renting a race car for a track day in the U.S. And I got to drive the most storied track of them all. I can't think of a better tale to tell when I'm next hoisting a beer with my car buddies. On the other hand, after finally driving around the Nürburging, there was a little feeling of, "This is it?" I mean, even though it's famous, it's still just another road course, albeit a very long one. Practice enough on it, and you'll be able to get your speed up, just like anywhere. Honestly, I get just as much of a thrill driving at Summit Point or VIR (my closest tracks) as I did on the 'Ring. I think the hype and reputation may be feeding itself to some extent.
Still, this was definitely on my list of "Things to do in life." There's no more legendary place to drive, and it's amazing to me that the public can still drive there. I kept thinking that this level of trust in people was unique to Germany. Or at least it would never fly in the U.S.
One other thing I enjoyed about visiting the the 'Ring was the camaraderie. All the people I met there were equally passionate about cars, driving, and being at the Nürburgring. Rich or poor, they all had this little-kid kind of excitement about them. Everyone seemed eager to chat in the parking lot and at the little cafe there.
So in summary: Nürburgring -- great track, great people, and a true arrive-and-drive experience. What's not to like? But don't take my word for it. If you're anywhere near Nürburg, give Theo and Rent-Racecar a call, and see (and drive) for yourself.
--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net
2nd Gear
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Ft Polk, LA
Man I miss that track
Sounds like another great day at the Ring 
My experiences were about the same, other than the fact I was in my MINI every time.
That carosel is one of my favorite corners, makes it more interesting when its wet and you get shot out a little early and go skipping accross the track
I did see that tour bus on there, and the driver is CRAZY!!
Glad to hear some one else got to experience Nurburg, next time though get a MINI
Smiley
My experiences were about the same, other than the fact I was in my MINI every time.
That carosel is one of my favorite corners, makes it more interesting when its wet and you get shot out a little early and go skipping accross the track
I did see that tour bus on there, and the driver is CRAZY!!
Glad to hear some one else got to experience Nurburg, next time though get a MINI
Smiley
3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 168
Likes: 0
From: Zionsville, IN
Awesome story! I got to see the track about 6 years ago. There was a motorcycle race happening so I couldn't take a drive though 
Next time I get back to Germany, this is near the top of my list of things to do. Hopefully I can get there sooner than later, but it seems like the Germans still believe in personal responsibility. There is no way, if that track was in the USA, that it would still be open for public lapping...
Next time I get back to Germany, this is near the top of my list of things to do. Hopefully I can get there sooner than later, but it seems like the Germans still believe in personal responsibility. There is no way, if that track was in the USA, that it would still be open for public lapping...
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 58
Likes: 0
From: Sunny Southern California
Dan,
It looks like I was at the 'Ring a couple of weeks after you were there and I had the pleasure of driving my personal car on the track. Luckily no rain the day I was out there!
Definitely a great and sometimes terrifying experience! More about my adventures at http://robert-apon.blogspot.com.
It looks like I was at the 'Ring a couple of weeks after you were there and I had the pleasure of driving my personal car on the track. Luckily no rain the day I was out there!
Definitely a great and sometimes terrifying experience
! More about my adventures at http://robert-apon.blogspot.com.
Last edited by 2BlueMCSMRdstr; Aug 5, 2007 at 03:38 PM.
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2008
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Be certain to pick up the Ring shaped bumper sticker at the little gift shop near the modern track, next building over from where you buy paper tickets. The sticker is clear in the middle, the shape of the ring's curves and says Nurburgring on it. A truly cool addition to any car that has "been there, done that."
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Be certain to pick up the Ring shaped bumper sticker at the little gift shop near the modern track, next building over from where you buy paper tickets. The sticker is clear in the middle, the shape of the ring's curves and says Nurburgring on it. A truly cool addition to any car that has "been there, done that."
Thread Starter
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Former Vendor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 1,472
Likes: 2
From: Sterling, VA
Wow, thanks.
Make it happen. 
--Dan
Mach V
Sounds like a blast, hopefully one day I'll be able to drive it myself.
--Dan
Mach V
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 129
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From: Curvy, Cali
It amazes me when I am talking with other car guys who own classic hot rods or corvettes from the 60's and wear my Nurbergring hat and ask them if they would ever want to drive their cars on the Ring and they say, "what's that, never heard of it" it amazes me how unique and special the Ring is and what history the place truly has, there is nothing else quite like it, maybe the, Isle of Man race which is not a track, yet used as one for that time of year, just another Bucket List item to add to the list of life's must do's and experience!!!
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