Driving the Nurburgring?

sobe_death wrote: Just made our reservations for this Friday afternoon for a Stage 2+ Suzuki Swift I will update with pictures and impressions

Oh HELL YES. Please update.

Ok, I'm still alive! Sorry for the delay, but we're having insane festival week here in Kiel and I've been a bit, um, "occupied" since we got back on Sunday

I would whole-heartedly recommend that any of you take the chance and spend the money to do this if you never have. I doubt it really matters what kind of car you have, but we had an INSANE time hustling that little Swift around the ring. The whole slow-car-fast thing is really put into perspective when you're still chasing down bikes, Miatas, and Bimmers around the Nordschleife.

Dale from, rent4ring, was extremely professional and helpful with our questions and advice on how things work there. They are also the only company at the Nurburgring that puts race-compound brake pads on their rentals anymore, and they keep their cars in VERY nice working order. Ours had R888's on it! They have all-inclusive packages which include your lap tickets and first tank of fuel (we used 1/4 tank for 6 laps) and it works out really well as they just charge you for any extra laps you impulsively took when you return the car.

The Nordschleife... she is a different kind of beast. I'm having trouble laying out the words to describe it. Terrifying, exciting, challenging, amazing, dreamlike... If you're a Gran Turismo or Forza junkie, you probably have a head start on the layout, but it still doesn't even prepare you for the elevation changes and G-forces you feel out there. Foot to the floor in 6th gear headed down a steep hill into a sharp rise, no-lift left sweeper with FIA curbing on both sides as the front splitter screams "thank you sir, may I have another?!". Top of 5th jump downhill into hard braking immediately followed by a sharp right hand uphill into the sunset. That moment when you realize that your face is sore because you chased an R33 Skyline around the entire Nordschleife with only 1/4 the power and he never lost you. Leading a group through the turns is terrifying, while giving chase was the most exciting thing I've done in a car. Getting a Swift airborne coming out of the Karussel and taking the next curve sideways. It. Was. Great.

I'm just glad I live 5 hours away, because I'd be a very (money) poor chap indeed

sobe_death wrote: The Nordschleife... she is a different kind of beast. I'm having trouble laying out the words to describe it. Terrifying, exciting, challenging, amazing, dreamlike... If you're a Gran Turismo or Forza junkie, you probably have a head start on the layout, but it still doesn't even prepare you for the elevation changes and G-forces you feel out there. Foot to the floor in 6th gear headed down a steep hill into a sharp rise, no-lift left sweeper with FIA curbing on both sides as the front splitter screams "thank you sir, may I have another?!". Top of 5th jump downhill into hard braking immediately followed by a sharp right hand uphill into the sunset. That moment when you realize that your face is sore because you chased an R33 Skyline around the entire Nordschleife with only 1/4 the power and he never lost you. Leading a group through the turns is terrifying, while giving chase was the most exciting thing I've done in a car. Getting a Swift airborne coming out of the Karussel and taking the next curve sideways. It. Was. Great.

I got a boner reading that.

It's several shades of awesome. I will race there before I die (maybe moments before, who knows). The dip right before the uphill, over-the-crest braking area leading into Adenaur Forst may be my favorite few hundred yards of any racetrack anywhere.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: It's several shades of awesome. I will race there before I die (maybe moments before, who knows). The dip right before the uphill, over-the-crest braking area leading into Adenaur Forst may be my favorite few hundred yards of any racetrack anywhere. jg

So THAT's Adenauer Forst. I was wondering what that was officially called. We were concentrating so hard that we didn't remember where it was and were calling it "nut crunch" when my friend wasn't quite "situated" right in his seat

How much extra time would I need to be able to do this if traveling to Cologne on business in august?

Holy crap its only 1 hr away... if I get sent on this business trip I so have to go

In reply to sobe_death:

Badass! Yes they are very professional. He talked me out of the Caterham, and I'll be doing the Suzuki Swift Stage 2. Mine is reserved for Friday, July 13. I'm looking forward to this.

A couple of pictures from our trip. I'm the one throwing horns out the passenger side haha.

In reply to sobe_death:

Nice write up. I'm sure it is something you'll always remember.

Looking forward the hearing Salinas' story too, not to mention JG's writeup in the mag.

For me, it's just GT5 ring driving for the time being.

JG Pasterjak wrote: It's several shades of awesome. I will race there before I die (maybe moments before, who knows).

LOL

It has taken me years to learn the nuances of places like Summit Point, Mid-Ohio, The Glen, NJMP, etc... and we are talking less than 20 turns. I feel like if I had to race the ring - I'd be seriously sweating the fact that I could never get enough looks to really know it. The only thing worse than wrecking is being so slow you can't do a crash properly.