Nurburgring Roadtrip Advice

Evening chaps. I'm planning to head to the 'Ring in April with some mates. It's a bucketlist type trip and I'll be taking my Evo X. The other cars in the convoy are a Impreza STi and a Lotus Elise SC. None of us have ever been before so it should be interesting!

The trip will be a mix of sightseeing and track action. So far the itinerary looks like this -

Monday - Leeds-Dunkirk (10AM) - Lille - Reims
Tuesday - Nurburgring - GP track is open so hopefully that and an evening Ring session
Wednesday - Sightseeing during the day- Nurburgring evening session
Thursday - More sightseeing in the day - Nurburgring evening session - Cologne
Friday - Cologne-Brussels
Saturday - Brussels-Bruges
Sunday - Bruges - Dunkirk (2PM) - Leeds

Any suggestions of things to add or amend to the list? Also open to any suggestions for must try driving roads along the way.

B258 to the Ring if possible - enjoyable drive...

What date are you going,,,?

Monday 17th April to Sunday 23rd April

Drive to Cochem on the Moselle and the town is nice place - food, drink and other stuff...

May advice if your going in April would be if its wet go and visit the Nurburgring museum as there are some great cars in there. If your also traveling in a convoy maybe worth investing in some cheap 2 way hand held radios. Oh yes and if your going on the ring id get some insurance as when we went there were a few spills on the track one guy rolled his honda crx over the barrier and it wasnt cheap with recovery and damage etc. Enjoy though its an fantastic part of Germany to go and the locals are great.

The insurance aspect of driving on the Ring is an interesting one for British drivers. Many UK policies now specifically exclude the Ring from the insurance. This is possibly thin ice for them, as it is a public toll road (when open), subject to German traffic law, so it is aruguable that they cannot pick specific roads to suit them. And although there have been no test cases yet (AFAIK), it is unlikely that they would be able to avoid third party liabilities. However, they would probably then claim it from you, for breaking the terms of your insurance policy. Expensive routes wherever it then went.

I have always driven there under the belief that I have sufficient cover for legal purposes only, and that I would probably be liable for any damage caused to my own vehicle, other cars and/or roadside/track furniture. I have investigated getting specific insurance for driving there before, but the cost was ridiculous, along with a similarly daft excess figure (something like £5k excess).

So you have to balance your options carefully.

I was talking to someone I met at the Old Skool Ford Drag Championship last year, who also has a Citroen AX (with a very exhaust).

He took this over to the ring, and did a lap, and was then banned because he was recorded at a VERY high decibel level! (He's been there previously, with other cars, so it wasn't his first time).

Anyway - the point is that, after his car was banned, he hired one of the Suzuki Swift's that they have available over there. This is specifically set up for the Ring - decent suspension, brakes, cage, seats, etc, and you can hire it either with basic insurance, or with "all-in" insurance. This covers absolutely everything, should you have an accident. Recovery costs, repairs, damage to other vehicles, the works. You basically walk away without paying any extra.


Yes - it's not taking your own car around, but the financial risk to yourself is greatly reduced - and he said he actually had more fun in the Suzuki than he did in any of his own cars - when you're in your own car you have a huge burden hanging over you - thinking that if anything should go wrong (either your own fault or not), you could end up destroying your car, not having adequate insurance cover to pay for it, plus the huge bill that could come from needing to repair the track, and the lost revenue whilst it's closed.

It did end up costing him more for hiring the Suzuki than it would have done driving his own car around, but he enjoyed the experience much more, knowing that there wasn't that financial risk hanging over his head.


Just offering it up as an alternative that you might not be aware of.

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Originally Posted by Confused

I was talking to someone I met at the Old Skool Ford Drag Championship last year, who also has a Citroen AX (with a very exhaust).

He took this over to the ring, and did a lap, and was then banned because he was recorded at a VERY high decibel level! (He's been there previously, with other cars, so it wasn't his first time).

Anyway - the point is that, after his car was banned, he hired one of the Suzuki Swift's that they have available over there. This is specifically set up for the Ring - decent suspension, brakes, cage, seats, etc, and you can hire it either with basic insurance, or with "all-in" insurance. This covers absolutely everything, should you have an accident. Recovery costs, repairs, damage to other vehicles, the works. You basically walk away without paying any extra.


Yes - it's not taking your own car around, but the financial risk to yourself is greatly reduced - and he said he actually had more fun in the Suzuki than he did in any of his own cars - when you're in your own car you have a huge burden hanging over you - thinking that if anything should go wrong (either your own fault or not), you could end up destroying your car, not having adequate insurance cover to pay for it, plus the huge bill that could come from needing to repair the track, and the lost revenue whilst it's closed.

It did end up costing him more for hiring the Suzuki than it would have done driving his own car around, but he enjoyed the experience much more, knowing that there wasn't that financial risk hanging over his head.


Just offering it up as an alternative that you might not be aware of.

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When I last looked, all of the Rent-4-Ring (or equivalent) rentals also had a massive excess (like €10k!) which you could reduce, but still in the 1000s! Still, I suppose at least you know what your ultimate limit is.

In summary at the Ring though, I would say, don't get the red mist, obey the rules and just have fun. /yes

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Originally Posted by elnevio

When I last looked, all of the Rent-4-Ring (or equivalent) rentals also had a massive excess (like €10k!) which you could reduce, but still in the 1000s! Still, I suppose at least you know what your ultimate limit is.

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Ah, that might have been the case - it was about 5 months ago that I had this conversation with him!

Drive on the wrong side of the road. Can't go wrong. Haha.

Seriously tho, take it easy and as fast as you think you are there are a lot faster people on that track, especialy the locals. I once got passed by a diesel vw caddy van mid corner. Not my proudest moment but the local boys and girls can get any machinery round there at insane speeds.

Oooh and mirrors mirrors mirrors. A large amount of incidents are caused by people not checking their mirrors enough and turning in infront of a faster car.

Definitely wise words there! :smart:

Mirrors, oh yes!! /yes

One other thing, have good recovery in place. ADAC is ideal, as it covers Europe, and the Ring is not excluded (in fact, I think they encourage it lol). I have an ADAC joint policy with covers everything - recovery, onward journey, home start, can be used in the UK like a normal UK recovery service, but it only cost about £100 for the year. For UK/European breakdown cover all year, for both of us. A veritable bargain! :deal2:

Cheers for the replies. Planning sort out insurance and ADAC before we go. Sorted out some walkie talkies last week so it's more Top Gear style! Not planning to set any lap records. I'll be staying within my limits!

I was told not to time anything. Just enjoy it, don't try to go balls out. Keep your eyes open is awesome advice too. Don't judge the speed of a car by its appearance!

Oh, someone once told me to watch lots of ring crash videos before the trip. It puts an extra layer of caution in you!

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Originally Posted by Nick Mann

Oh, someone once told me to watch lots of ring crash videos before the trip. It puts an extra layer of caution in you!

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Sorry! But that still 'rings' true!