Going to Nürburgring Nordschleife (HELP!)

Hey Guys,

So I recently found out that my dad might be going on a business trip to Cologne, Germany this summer....and knowing that is 2 hours away from Nürburgring, we thought we could make a trip out of it.

Anyways....couple of questions (hoping some of the European members can help me! cmdrfire--that's you, I know you have been there!)

1) I am 18...I have found a few places that will rent a car to an 18 year old, but the cars are mostly lower end, 1-1.7 Liter engines. The two nicest I have found are an A3 or a 1 series BMW....but they don't list which engine it is. The rest of the cars are 21 and over. Anyone know where to rent if you are 18? Any private companies?

2) Is 18 old enough to even drive on the ring?

3) If anyone has done the BMW M5 Taxi service...is it worth it?

Thanks for all the help in advance!

--GTI Trojan

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

maybe if you get a european company?? i think pretty much any american company wont rent you a car in europe if your 18, why doesnt your dad just rent under his name if he's going w/ you?

absoluteczech said:

maybe if you get a european company?? i think pretty much any american company wont rent you a car in europe if your 18, why doesnt your dad just rent under his name if he's going w/ you?

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Cause I want to drive lol. That is the plan, but the driving age on the car's is 18, not the renting age, my bad.

you may need to check international driving laws and you may need an international DL, germanys driving standards and laws are way more strict than americas

btw why is this in the classifieds? lol

absoluteczech said:

btw why is this in the classifieds? lol

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ooops....i messed up obviosuly lol....shoot...

MODS can you please move this topic?

A few things...

1. Check out this site first and foremost: http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/
2. DO read about all the safety guff on Ben Lovejoy's site. You WILL see an accident, or at least the aftermath of one, when you are there. Make sure it is not you.
3. Assuming you can get an international DL you should be fine to drive on the track.
4. Sometimes the booth where you buy your tickets for entry will not accept credit cards. Not sure why, but I bought tickets in the morning on my Visa card, but in the afternoon I had to pay cash. Anyway, if you run out of cash there is an ATM near the museum which is next to the Novotel complex at Nürburg. Also, in Adenau (near Ex Mühle corner) you should be able to find a cash machine.
5. When/if you get car to hire you will NOT have insurance on the Nordschleife. Don't even ask for it from the hire company, just drive accordingly. If you crash, you pay.
6. You won't need a powerful car to have fun. It is intimidating enough without worrying about controlling too much HP under your right foot.
7. The BMW Ring-Taxi is very hard to organise. They only run on Sundays, and even then only occasionally. I wasn't able to do it, but would pay pretty much anything to do so. You may be able to buy in on an existing booking IF there is a spare seat.
8. Stay for at least one full day to take in the atmosphere and surrounds. I recommend either Pension Diana or Haus Marvin in Döttingen a few miles out of Nürburg. They are great hosts and the prices are very cheap. They also speak pretty good English! There is also reasonable and cheap food at Sabine's pub in the village of Nürburg as well, they do good pizzas.
9. Have fun. Take millions of photos. Buy lots of stickers/souvenirs (there's a good range of both at the café inside near the track entrance and also at the fuel station on the main road which runs parallel to the main straight).
10. Stay safe!

:thumbsup:

Cheers Liam

Thank you so much dude!

i have rented multiple times here in germany.
i was 21 the first time i rented and i am pretty sure the guy at the "europcar" counter didnt care about my age... he did hesitate when letting me rent when he thought my license was expired as listed in red -- which turned out to mean i am allowed to drink (he had a good laugh)

i have heard multiple times that all you need is a valid US drivers license in order to drive in germany. if in germany longer than 6 mo. you will need a German license... i have been here 2 years and have used my US DL.

First car i rented was an opel astra 2.2 TDI which seemed to be a good car that i got up to 220 (going downhill as i recall*).

peugot 206 1.6 gasoline was quick in the city but topped out at 190.

lupo was alright in the city, but no autobahn aka freeway driving.

BMW 120d was a lot of fun, and got me to 240 following a new TT.

:: things to remember

dont let diesel fool you = it makes good power and good mileage i was getting an average of 6l/100k (which i think is about 40 mpg)

also all numbers quoted i.e. 240 = 240kmh approx. 150mph

rent from sixt or europcar

sorry this is long (havent posted for awhile and i leave on sunday back to the states) and i have nothing to offer on the nürburgring

just realized i am very off topic

sry

Oh, make sure you keep an eye on the opening times they can be prone to change so try and make sure you time your visit when the track is open. Dates should be confirmed around Feb-March.

For a bit of a laugh, let your mates know when you are in front of the webcam so they can get a few screen dumps of you while you're there.

:w00t:

Not at all....the renting info is very helpful.

don't think u'll make the m5 taxi. heard from my friend who went there a few months ago, that you need to book almost a yr ahead.

hakgwai said:

don't think u'll make the m5 taxi. heard from my friend who went there a few months ago, that you need to book almost a yr ahead.

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Yeah, when I looked into it it seemed almost impossible to organise it for a brief overseas trip. Seems more like something suitable to people more conveniently located than, say, outside of Europe for example.

As I said, if it is running on the day you're there hang around like a bad smell for a bit and see if you can sniff out any spare seats. :clap:

A buddy of mine was in Germany this past summer and he did a couple laps on the Ring.

He managed to find a low end BMW 5series, i think it was a 525i with a 6spd. You won't have any problems driving there with your license but you may have a problem renting a car, esp a BMW, since you're only 18. If you do manage I would take it easy around the Ring, if you're not careful it'll eat you. And not to mention your brakes will start to fade maybe shortly after a lap or less which may cause you not to be able to stop lol...

Also, I don't think they really care how old you are, I don't even think there is anyone that checks your license or anything. You basically go to a machine and buy a ticket for however many laps you want to do, kind of like how a parking meter works here - deposit money, print ticket. I think its like 16 euro for one lap.