- 4,822
- Concord, CA
- kylehnat
Part of the fun in working for a global chemical company is that they have locations, well, globally. If you're a big, important, suit-wearing Vice President, you can justify charging your vacation to an expense account so long as you visit (or at least think about visiting) one of those sites. Or, if you're me, your boss tells you to go to your sister site in the Netherlands for a week (and don't even think about charging happy-hour to your card!). Fair enough. However, Delfzijl doesn't have the high-profile red-light districts or Dutch "coffee" shops like Amsterdam. So, I needed something else to make the trip worthwhile and memorable. Mission accomplished 
.
I don't think I really need to explain to anyone why I thought a 5-hour drive to the Nurburgring was a good idea ($9/gallon gas nothwithstanding). And, if I was going to drive the 'Ring, I did not want to do it in the Merlot-powered cheese croissant I got handed as a rental car:
So, a month or so ago, I got online and searched around, finally landing on Rent4Ring. I booked an evening package, and started counting the days.
Okay, so the business part of the trip was done Friday morning. To der Autobahn!
The unlimited sections of Autobahn are sweet, but people drive anywhere between 100 and 250 km/h, so you have to keep your eyes way ahead and way behind, lest you end up as roadkill. I managed to get that Renault Scenic up to 177, but she would give no more. A cruising speed of 140 was just fine with me
As a couple of my Dutch colleagues pointed out, Germans like to leave work early on Friday, and thus, traffic through the cities was ugly. Still, some nice cars out and about:
Once through Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Bonn, back to some excellent Bahn-burning (as opposed, of course, to Bonn-burning):
Off the motorway, and onto some backroads...getting close!
"Welcome to Wally World! Sorry, folks...park's closed!"
lol j/k ntrly
Can I rent one of these?
With some time to kill before my date, I headed over to the village of Nurburg. The famous castle:
Random shots of town:
Enough foreplay, let's get on with it! I headed over to the shop in Nurburg and picked up my rented ride, a 2011 Opel Corsa Turbo (~190 hp), upgraded with tires, brakes, seats, and rollcage. A frisky little FWD, but a safe bet to not kill myself, which was the ultimate goal on this day:
Up front, normal Corsa:
In back, not so much:
My evening package only included 4 laps, but being late-afternoon, and having a 4-hour drive back to the Netherlands, there was a sliver-lining there. At any rate, my heart started racing, and my knuckles started sweating....
Swipe this card for a gay ol' time!
Sadly, no cameras allowed on the track. But, this was serious...no time for sightseeing anyway!
I headed out onto the track for the first time, and became star-struck as I headed up the hill toward the GP circuit. The low sun cast a soft light on this hallowed ground. For a second, I thought maybe I had been killed on the Autobahn, and had found this heaven.
Being my first time, I had been telling myself to take it easy on the first lap. I told myself: "THE TRACK IS NOT LIKE THE VIDEO GAME. It will bumpier, narrower...scarier." But the corners and hills came, just where I thought they would be. Before I even got to Bergwerk, I was giving it some stick. So much for taking it easy... Now mind you, I was spending much of my time looking in the mirrors, desperately trying to stay out of the way. The GT3's, M3's, and Lotii prowling the grounds...they were going fast--I was merely on the way to Grandma's house.
After that first lap, I pulled into the car park to settle down a bit
I couldn't help but think where I would go faster the second lap...and the third, and the fourth. And I did. With each lap, I pushed harder and harder, keeping my foot down more, and even taking some curbs. The Corsa was an awesome car. The turbo kicked in early, and with a satisfying WHOOSH from the exhaust at full throttle. The sticky tires and brakes erased a couple of "uh oh" moments where I went into a corner a bit too ambitiously (or so I thought). The gearbox was solid, and heel-toe was a piece of cake. All in all, it was a perfect beginner car. It couldn't get into too much trouble, but it still had the beans to go and turn like a champ.
Even though I was keeping one eye in the mirrors, this...thing...came from nowhere shortly after Pflanzgarten, and I nearly soiled myself. It was kinda fast:
I didn't really time the laps, but I finished all four laps (with 5-10 minutes in between) in about an hour, so I couldn't have done that badly. The top speed was of course on the main straight. I hit 200 km/h (125 mph) before slowing to pull into the car park. Otherwise, on my third lap, I made a good run through Flugplatz, kept it flat-out down the hill, and hit 180 km/h (112 mph) before slowing for Schwedenkreuz and Aremberg. Not GT5-esque numbers, but it's plenty fast.
Not surprisingly, it was over too quickly
. I had to return the car and start the long trek back for the night. At the shop, they told me to go sign the bonnet they have in the back. Naturally, I had to give GTP a shout
On the way out...
Many auto manufacturers have shops next door. Big shops. I wonder what they're doing over there.
You all know this Audi sign at the exit of Galgenkopf:
Overall impressions: The Nurburgring is 🤬 awesome.
More specific overall impressions: I went to the Ring expecting to be in awe. I was. I went to the Ring expecting to be scared. I wasn't. The GT5 representation is spot-on. In fact, the elevation changes in the game seem more extreme than in reality. The runs through Tiergarten and Fuchsrohre didn't seem nearly as steep to me in real-life as they do in the games. The track is also smoother and wider than I though it would be. But everything else--the corners, the scenery, the trackside signage--is a faithful reproduction. It is a track where your lap time is only limited by your courage. There are many blind apexes and exits...you just have to have faith that they're in the same spot as they were the last lap. Still, there are dark tire tracks going straight off the road in several places...places where talent ran out before bravery. It's not called Green Hell for nothing.
From a driving standpoint, I don't know that there is a more evocative place on Earth. For me, this was one of those experiences that had no price. To drive on this Mecca of racetracks, through the same corners as the likes of Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark...it's just simply unreal. Now, as I once again sit 5000 miles away, I can't help but think...I know I can go faster next time.
.I don't think I really need to explain to anyone why I thought a 5-hour drive to the Nurburgring was a good idea ($9/gallon gas nothwithstanding). And, if I was going to drive the 'Ring, I did not want to do it in the Merlot-powered cheese croissant I got handed as a rental car:
So, a month or so ago, I got online and searched around, finally landing on Rent4Ring. I booked an evening package, and started counting the days
.Okay, so the business part of the trip was done Friday morning. To der Autobahn!
The unlimited sections of Autobahn are sweet, but people drive anywhere between 100 and 250 km/h, so you have to keep your eyes way ahead and way behind, lest you end up as roadkill. I managed to get that Renault Scenic up to 177, but she would give no more. A cruising speed of 140 was just fine with me
As a couple of my Dutch colleagues pointed out, Germans like to leave work early on Friday, and thus, traffic through the cities was ugly. Still, some nice cars out and about:
Once through Dusseldorf, Cologne, and Bonn, back to some excellent Bahn-burning (as opposed, of course, to Bonn-burning):
Off the motorway, and onto some backroads...getting close!
"Welcome to Wally World! Sorry, folks...park's closed!"
lol j/k ntrly
Can I rent one of these?
With some time to kill before my date, I headed over to the village of Nurburg. The famous castle:
Random shots of town:
Enough foreplay, let's get on with it! I headed over to the shop in Nurburg and picked up my rented ride, a 2011 Opel Corsa Turbo (~190 hp), upgraded with tires, brakes, seats, and rollcage. A frisky little FWD, but a safe bet to not kill myself, which was the ultimate goal on this day:
Up front, normal Corsa:
In back, not so much:
My evening package only included 4 laps, but being late-afternoon, and having a 4-hour drive back to the Netherlands, there was a sliver-lining there. At any rate, my heart started racing, and my knuckles started sweating....
Swipe this card for a gay ol' time!
Sadly, no cameras allowed on the track. But, this was serious...no time for sightseeing anyway!
I headed out onto the track for the first time, and became star-struck as I headed up the hill toward the GP circuit. The low sun cast a soft light on this hallowed ground. For a second, I thought maybe I had been killed on the Autobahn, and had found this heaven
.Being my first time, I had been telling myself to take it easy on the first lap. I told myself: "THE TRACK IS NOT LIKE THE VIDEO GAME. It will bumpier, narrower...scarier." But the corners and hills came, just where I thought they would be. Before I even got to Bergwerk, I was giving it some stick. So much for taking it easy... Now mind you, I was spending much of my time looking in the mirrors, desperately trying to stay out of the way. The GT3's, M3's, and Lotii prowling the grounds...they were going fast--I was merely on the way to Grandma's house.
After that first lap, I pulled into the car park to settle down a bit
I couldn't help but think where I would go faster the second lap...and the third, and the fourth. And I did. With each lap, I pushed harder and harder, keeping my foot down more, and even taking some curbs. The Corsa was an awesome car. The turbo kicked in early, and with a satisfying WHOOSH from the exhaust at full throttle. The sticky tires and brakes erased a couple of "uh oh" moments where I went into a corner a bit too ambitiously (or so I thought). The gearbox was solid, and heel-toe was a piece of cake. All in all, it was a perfect beginner car. It couldn't get into too much trouble, but it still had the beans to go and turn like a champ.
Even though I was keeping one eye in the mirrors, this...thing...came from nowhere shortly after Pflanzgarten, and I nearly soiled myself. It was kinda fast:
I didn't really time the laps, but I finished all four laps (with 5-10 minutes in between) in about an hour, so I couldn't have done that badly. The top speed was of course on the main straight. I hit 200 km/h (125 mph) before slowing to pull into the car park. Otherwise, on my third lap, I made a good run through Flugplatz, kept it flat-out down the hill, and hit 180 km/h (112 mph) before slowing for Schwedenkreuz and Aremberg. Not GT5-esque numbers, but it's plenty fast
.Not surprisingly, it was over too quickly
. I had to return the car and start the long trek back for the night. At the shop, they told me to go sign the bonnet they have in the back. Naturally, I had to give GTP a shout 
On the way out...
Many auto manufacturers have shops next door. Big shops. I wonder what they're doing over there
.You all know this Audi sign at the exit of Galgenkopf:
Overall impressions: The Nurburgring is 🤬 awesome.
More specific overall impressions: I went to the Ring expecting to be in awe. I was. I went to the Ring expecting to be scared. I wasn't. The GT5 representation is spot-on. In fact, the elevation changes in the game seem more extreme than in reality. The runs through Tiergarten and Fuchsrohre didn't seem nearly as steep to me in real-life as they do in the games. The track is also smoother and wider than I though it would be. But everything else--the corners, the scenery, the trackside signage--is a faithful reproduction. It is a track where your lap time is only limited by your courage. There are many blind apexes and exits...you just have to have faith that they're in the same spot as they were the last lap
. Still, there are dark tire tracks going straight off the road in several places...places where talent ran out before bravery. It's not called Green Hell for nothing.From a driving standpoint, I don't know that there is a more evocative place on Earth. For me, this was one of those experiences that had no price. To drive on this Mecca of racetracks, through the same corners as the likes of Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark...it's just simply unreal. Now, as I once again sit 5000 miles away, I can't help but think...I know I can go faster next time
.
Last edited:
👍 Randy
.
