First, for the beginners: The Nürburgring Nordschleife (Nordschleife translates to 'North Loop' - there are a few other sections of the track, one used for Grand Prix (F1) races, etc. The Nordschleife is the section I'm talking about here) is a 14 mile long race track. It's open for ANYONE to drive during certain hours on certain days (the hours vary). These open times are called Turistenfahrten (tourist driving). You have to come in after every lap and run your ticket through a turnstyle before going back out on the track. Therefore, if you time your laps, you time "bridge to bridge" (starting as you cross under an overpass just after the beginning of the track, stopping when you pass under another overpass just before the end of the track). The cost is 19 Euro ($26) for a single lap, but you can also buy laps in quantities of 4, 8, 15, 25, and unlimited/season pass.

In August of 2005, I was on a business trip in Copenhagen, Denmark. I checked the Nurburgring Turistenfahrten (public open times) and discovered it was going to be open on a Sunday in which I had nothing better to do. I had one of the worst colds of my life, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to drive the legendary Nordschleife . I flew to Germany, rented a car, and drove three laps…. after which my body told me it couldn't handle another single corner. Little known fact: You can't get cold medicine over the counter in many European countries.

That two day trip cost me in the neighborhood of $600. It was on my "things to do before I die" list, so it was worth every cent. Of course, as I was flying out of Germany back to Denmark, I realized it was on my "things to do again before I die" list.

I began to tell my buddy in NYC about my trip. He mentioned that he got a killer deal on a flight so he and two of his friends were going. I asked, "how killer?" "$99 each way, Newark to Cologne." Once I lifted my jaw off the floor, I asked him to send me the link. $267 round trip including all taxes. DONE. I sent the link to a friend of mine, who also booked immediately. Since I live on the west coast, I was able to use frequent flyer miles to get to Newark. Google for 'United Chase 25,000 bonus miles' and you'll find a promo link that gives you enough miles for a free round trip domestic ticket when you sign up for the credit card.

I, for the second time, began to reference Ben Lovejoy's Nurburgring web site (www.nurburgring.org.uk) and found a place to stay: The Sliders Guest House is a Bed and Breakfast owned by an English couple that caters to people visiting the 'ring. $270 per person for 7 nights in Europe comes to less than $40 per night.

The rental car is the most expensive part of the trip. I decided to rent a regular 3er from the same company from which I rented previously. It came to about $80/day including insurance (a 1-series without navigation or insurance would run you about $50/day).

Is driving a rental car on the ring legal? Yes. Is it allowed by the rental car company? No. Having done only 3 laps on my last trip, I had no problems.

I flew from California into Newark on a red-eye and spent the day in Manhattan (12 hour layover). We then got on the 7 1/2 hour flight to Cologne. Upon arrival, they didn't have any BMW 3-series cars available - I got stuck with an A6 Avant 2.7T Diesel Automatic. What a big beast. Easter weekend was coming up, so they were sold out of everything else. I shared this car with the friend of mine, while the other 3 guys got an A3 1.9 Diesel 6 speed (105hp, slooowww).

We drove to Amsterdam (~3hrs away) and spent 2 nights there. That didn't suck. For some reason, I was always hungry there...

We then drove back to Germany and to the Slider's Guest House. Let me tell you, staying here was the second best part of the trip (driving the track being the first). The couple that owns it ride motorcycles, and an editor/writer for Performance Bike magazine (based in the UK) was also staying there - he brought the 04 Japanese 600cc bikes with him in a truck that he was there testing on the 'ring for an upcoming article (for motorcycle heads, he liked the CBR the best). Everyone staying there does go out to dinner and share ring stories each night. The atmosphere and stories told are absolutely incredible (example: he couldn't finish a canonball run through Europe because the Austrians had set up several road blocks after he had run from the cops several times..).

The ring was open from 5:45 to 7:30PM the night that we arrived, so we drove up there (15mi away) and did a few laps each.

The next morning (Friday), it was open from 8:00AM-7:30PM (it was actually open 8-7:30 for fri/sat/sun/mon - it's rarely open all day for 4 days in a row). This was Easter weekend so there was a TON of people there. The track didn't end up opening up until fog had lifted around 10AM. Even though there was no fog at the entrance, there's something like 1500ft of elevation changes on this track.

We did a few laps each remaining day there (sat,sun,mon, & tues evening). I think I did a total of 13 laps. My buddy that I shared the car with did the same. Let me tell ya, the brakes on that A6 were NOT doing well by the end. Squealing, chattering, lots of pad deposits on the rotors, etc. The car had 3500 miles on it when we turned it in, so it had spent over 10% of its life on the track .


In hindsight, I wish I had rented a 'ring racer'... it's expensive ($400 for 1/2 day!), but they've got full coilover suspensions and cages and would be MUCH more fun. See info here: http://www.rent-racecar.de/gb/


Gas is roughly twice the cost of it here in California. We put ~$110 worth of Diesel in the A6 *every other day* we were there.

There were more 997 GT3s there than regular 997 911s. There were two 997 GT3 RSs.

There were more M3 CSLs than regular M3s as well.

On Tuesday night, we saw a camouflaged car running laps. After the ring closed at 7:30, he took off out of there... didn't want us to get any more pics. People on another forum say this is the new Jag CX-F or something.







Here's a pic that someone else got of me in the Audi:



Some more randomness:



View from the 'ring carpark on Friday foggy morning:








I actually have us on video PASSING this Maranello on the Karoussell part of the 'ring..





Castle in Cochem, Germany:





That's all for now.

The trip did not suck.