For a list of things you can do at the Nürburgring with RSR, please visit the below page of our website.

What can I do at the Nürburgring with RSR?

The Nürburgring is a racetrack in Germany, comprised of two separate sections, that are occasionally joined for special events. It is located in the Eifel Mountain region, and surrounds a few towns and villages, most namely the town of Nürburg, and the town of Adenau.

The circuit is comprised of the famous Nordschleife (also known as the ‘Green hell’ or the “Grüne Hölle”), which is 21km long, and is infamous amongst many motor racing groups, Playstation and Xbox Gamers, as well as fans of Top Gear. The other part of the circuit is the known as the GP Track, which is used for the Formula 1, and is the modernised part of the circuit. The two tracks are able to be joined together, and are done so for special events, and the ‘VLN’ series of races.

When most people think of the Nürburgring, they think of the longer Nordschleife (21km / 13mile) circuit.

The season is generally from the start of March until the end of November, but this can change depending on weather at the time. The track is still open outside of these months, but opening times can be unpredictable. The track will even open on Christmas day for the locals to drive if the weather is permitting!
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The other thing to consider is: as the weather gets warmer, more people visit the ring. It gets very, very busy during the season, and it’s not unusual to have a line of traffic on the ring itself!

The Eifel region is green for a reason – it rains a lot. The track does not close for rain, so Touristenfahrten sessions and our car rentals happen as usual. The track only closes for snow, fog or to investigate an accident. At the very start and end of the season the weather is more likely to be worse, (rain and snow, fog), but it is much quieter on the ring – it really is a factor to consider.

If it rains, there is generally less traffic on the ring, and next to no motorcycles, which is a very big plus! So don’t discout rainy weather too quickly, there is many advantages to it, and until you’ve done a few hundred laps, it won’t make any real difference to your driving experience – in fact, it will help you learn the track quicker!

You can drive the track in one of two ways: On a Touristenfahrten (Public Driving) session, or on a trackday. See the info below for what the difference is. Most people drive the track on a Touristenfahrten session, but trackdays have some very clear advantages.

A normal schedule for the Nordschleife is: Monday to Friday the track is closed for private industry testing, trackdays, or races. In the afternoon (Around 5pm to 7pm) it opens to the public for Touristenfahrten.

Weekends are also normally open from 8am – 7pm for Touristenfahrten driving, occasionally being closed for races or other special events.

The exact opening times change as the season progresses, and start and finish earlier depending on how early nightfall is. The sessions are also sometimes cancelled at short notice due to other events on the Nordschleife, and can also close early if there is an accident or crash on track.

Trackdays normally run from 9am in the morning until 4pm in the afternoon, depending on the organiser.

Weekends are generally very busy. The Sunday in particular can be really crowded. On a typical busy Touristenfahrten Sunday (or any full-day bank holiday opening) you can count on a queue like that to form by 11am at the latest. On the busiest days the queue to enter the car park will extend over a km in each direction, with a 45-minute wait to enter the circuit.

A typical Sunday Nordschleife Touristenfahrten session runs like this:

• 8am: Track opens. Sometimes it can open late, normally due to fog near Pflanzgarten.
• 9am to 11am: Track closes for first major accident or multiple small accidents.
• 12pm to 3pm: Go for lunch! The track is really crowded, with between 200 and 400 cars, bikes and even busses on circuit at once and probably another closure.
• 4pm to 7pm: Getting quieter all the time as day trippers leave for home
• 7.15pm: Gate closes, you need to go through the gate before 7.15 to get that ‘last lap’

With all of that in mind, we ask morning renters to get here early and be on track before 9am. Afternoon renters shouldn’t try too hard to put all their laps in early, the last hour is great!
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Evening sessions are also a regular feature of the Nordschleife. You’ll see a lot of ‘locals’ out on these sessions. Things to remember about the 2-hour openings:

• They can be cancelled at short notice. Sometimes an earlier event runs late. Some times a manufacturer or magazine will pay money to take the session for a test or lap time.
• One big crash will close the session. If there are 100 cars waiting to go out on track, it only needs one of them to crash seriously and the circuit will be shut. There’s often not enough time left to re-open the circuit after the clean-up.

They’re often the quietest sessions on the Nordschleife. For all those reasons above, the track can often be deserted. If you’re planning on driving a weekday night, try and be here for a couple of days.

For serious driving and driving full day, you are better off with an exclusive track day. Track days are a more controlled and safer way to drive the Nurburgring with about a third to a half of the traffic (or less) during a public ‘touristenfahrten’ session.

So if you can plan at least 6 months (since track days are selling out quickly), and have the budget it takes (entry fees to trackdays start from around 800€ up to 1400€ per day), then a track day is the better choice.

Please keep in mind there are only about 30 track days a year at the Nurburgring. This means there are only about 3000 to 5000 people a year who can drive the Nordschleife on a track day. Therefore most people experience the Nordschleife during the touristenfahrten sessions – and there’s nothing wrong with that!

Let’s first start by telling you that there is not a wrong choice selecting a car. Yes a Porsche GT3 might be overkill and you won’t use the full potential of the car. However, if that is your dream and you have experience with this type of car, then again, there’s nothing wrong with that. Also, you can still use the power of the car on the more visible sectors on the track.

More often than not, it is better to do more laps in lower-spec cars during your first visit since you for sure will learn more. This due to the lower speed / more time to absorb sections and simply by more seat time and there’s no substitute for this. The middle ground is to select one of our many midrange cars like a BMW M240, M2 or one of the many Porsche Caymans.

RSR also specialises in hot hatches with both more choice and more cars than anyone else at the ring. A Renault Megane Sport and Honda Civic Type R is the way to go in this segment.

We recommend to only book a manual car for the track if you drive a manual car daily. If you haven’t driven a manual car for a while or are feeling a little unsure, we recommend you book an automatic car. This allows you to fully focus on the task of driving on the circuit, and removes the risk of mis-shifting and damaging a clutch, gearbox, or in the worst case, an engine.

Although changing gears for yourself can bring a sense of satisfaction that no automatic can truly match. Changing gears manually also includes a certain risk in case of operation error (in particular mis-shifting into the wrong gear).

In a paddle shift / automatic car there isn’t the same danger of changing into the wrong gear. The computer controls which gears are possible, and when you want the car to go in a lower gear, the computers first calculate if the revs do not exceed the redline. In the case it would exceed the redline, it simply does not allow the selection of the lower gear.

In a manual car there is no such protection. For example: if you are in 3rd gear at the rev limiter and want to change up to 4th gear but instead hit 2nd gear, the car will be damaged due to human error. This not only affects the engine, but also the gearbox, clutch, drive-line, drive shafts and more! In the case of an mis-shift leading to an over-rev you will need to pay for the damages.

When is it NOT advisable for you to drive a manual / stickshift car?

• When you don’t drive a manual car on a daily basis on the road.
• When you normally drive a Right Hand Drive car (and the car you want to hire is a Left Hand Drive Manual).
• When you normally drive a Left Hand Drive car (and the car you want to hire is a Right Hand Drive Manual).
• When you have NEVER driven a stick shift car on a race track before.
• When you have had problems before with clutches, gearbox and drivelines on cars .

When one or more of the above is true, then we strongly advise you to switch to a paddle shift car. You can always contact us for advice beforehand. Automatic cars allow you to get down to the business of concentrating on driving on track, not on the task of changing gears in a potentially stressful situation.

If you’re in any way unsure or nervous, then the best thing you can do is pick an automatic car. This way, you can get on with the job of driving and handling traffic, without needing to concentrate on the (sometimes stressful) task of changing gear.

RSR Edition cars are our more track-focused car options which could also be eligible for real racing. There are bucket seats, harnesses (4 or 6 point belts) and a rollover cage on the inside. They include KW Clubsport suspension and Michelin Semi-Slick tires on the outside to name the most important ‘performance-related’ modifications. RSR builds an increasing number of these RSR Edition cars, which isn’t a ‘best-kept secret’ anymore. There are a few options in each segment entry-level, midrange and high end. In total, we have about 20 RSR Edition cars available between RSRSpa and RSRNurburg.

Our car rentals start from 18 years of age and over. Generally, the renters age is not key but a drivers license and the right attitude is! It also depends on the sort of day (weather, traffic levels, trackday, road tour or touristenfahrten) and experience. What we need to be assured of first however is that you are up to the job. We can do this by organising some private instruction or by starting you off driving in the lower powered cars first.

For Touristenfahrten sessions, passengers need to be a minimum of 16 years of age. Younger passengers will not be allowed to ride along in the cars. Trackday minimum ages can vary, and each will need to be checked with the organiser, but generally it is also a minimum age of 16.

Taxi Laps have a minimum age of 18 years old.

For Road Tours there is no minimum age, but those small enough to require car booster seats will need to use them. RSR does not have any child or booster seats available, so you will need to bring your own. Keep in mind that not all cars are compatible with these systems. Please ask!

RSR requires a full drivers licence from your country of nationality. If your licence isn’t in English or German, or a Euro licence, then please provide an international drivers licence translation.

Keeping in mind that this is the most difficult track in the world, and insurers are very wise to what the Nürburgring is – essentially, if you cause damage to the car, you pay to repair that damage. Most of our cars do not require a deposit up front. For a full run down of the processes and steps you can take if you want to reduce the risk, please read the following document:

• What happens in an Accident PDF overview

We strongly recommend organising third party track insurance when you rent one of our cars. Motorsport is dangerous by nature and high-end sports cars carry a significant value for which you are responsible.

Third party insurance has to be organised by you, as it requires information that only you can provide. Some of our recommendations are below, as many of our customers have used their services and they are familiar with the needs for hiring a car with us. For more information and a quote, please contact the respective company directly.

Keep in mind that the below companies are only recommendations, and there is no connection or liability between the listed insurers and RSR. You are free to choose other companies. Before hiring insurance, do a thorough analysis and be aware of all terms of the contract, in particular the excess (franchise) conditions and exclusions on the final value to be paid to you.

In the unlikely case of an accident, you still have to pay RSR directly for the damages to the car, even if you are insured by another company – but then there is the possibility to claim some of your money back from the company you were insured with afterwards!

Preferred RSR insurance providers

• Race Inc Trackday Insurance: www.raceinc.de
• OpenTrack On-Demand Track Day Insurance: opentrack.com (US residents only)

Other insurance providers

• Ryan Motorsport Insurance: www.ryanmi.com
• Grid Cover Motorsport Insurance: www.gcover.eu
• MORIS.co.uk Track Day Insurance: https://trackday.moris.co.uk

Please note: Additional insurance is best done ahead of time as it may not be possible to organise on the day of rental.

• A great and sensible attitude!
• Your valid drivers licence from your home country
• In the case where the licence is not in English or German, then an international Drivers permit Translation
• Your passport and ID
• Credit card / cash for extras
• Sensible driving shoes
• Comfortable clothing
• We provide helmets
• Race suits are unnecessary

The best way to get to the Nürburgring is to fly into either Frankfurt Airport, or Cologne/Bonn airport, hire a rental car and drive across. It takes between 2 and 3 hours to drive, depending on conditions. Alternatively you can hire a taxi. Public transport is very difficult to use to get to the Nürburgring, and is not recommended, as then you’ll have an even more difficult time getting around once here! Do not mix up the Nürburgring with Nuremberg – they are about 5 hours drive apart! Best is to use our street address (and check the post code!):

RSRNurburg
Antoniusweg 1a
53520 Nürburg (Also can be written as Nuerburg)
GERMANY

Link to RSRNurburg on Google Maps

To be sure you stay in Germany will be as comfortable as can be, we put together a list of recommended restaurants and Hotels. We know from our own experience what the best place are to eat or sleep. If you still need advice, don’t hesitate to give us a ring.

In the local area the reality is there isn’t much more available for families to do aside from drive the track. There are shopping options available in Koblenz (45min) or Cologne (1hour 30min) and Adenau (15min). There are also few activities within a reasonable drive, see in the list below.