April 2014. Nurburgring

[cully]

ive got an itch that could be scratched between 19th-27th april ????
easter monday is the 21st april

[jammapic]

Will be busy then, but all adds to the fun...

[Alan_M]

Easter holidays Touristfarting = CARNAGE!

[Poodle]

Yeah, don't want to do easter hols if at all possible, so 19th-27th suits me. Could do the first week of April too i guess, but it's more likely to be crap weather.

[Jimmyboycheck]

Ideally i would like to go between the 1st and the 17th as i have my dog to consider and between these dates i can get him looked after

[Fooby]

I can do any dates in april really, just need to know ASAP so i can book the time off.

I think we should try and nail a date this week, since if we dont this could end up dragging on.

[Poodle]

Likewise, i'll give people until friday to respond and then see where we are. Cully and Jimmy, are you guys on whatsapp or something similar we could use?

[cully]

whatswhat?

[cully]

ive just installed it on my phone now what?

[Poodle]

Now everybody send you tons of shite.

I've started a group, need numbers so I can add people.

[cully]

I'm a little more flexible on my dates now
So who is 99% committed?

[cully]

What about week beginning 7th April
That's one week before easter?

[cully]

I'm not understanding the ring opening times
Is it only open from 5-7.30pm?

[jammapic]

I am 99% committed... Love a bit of ring.

[Jimmyboycheck]

What about week beginning 7th April
That's one week before easter?

Sounds good to me

[Poodle]

99% committed here.

Ring opening times are evening only most days it seems, probably because there's big companies paying for it during the day. That's half the reason we didn't want to plan anything before the dates wen up - be fairly crap if we planned a 3-day visit, only to get there and find the ring isn't open any of those days lol.

Easter holidays run 5th-21st effectively.

[cully]

imgoing to be honest now
i was thinking this trip was going to be 2-4 nights
drive to the ring and surounding areas

but t hear it may be 10 nights and a tour into italy
thats a bit much for me to budget, for me and the wife to get 5 days off together is a struggle

i may have to cull my enthusiasum and withdraw myinterest


i am still interested in a trip to the Ring though not the extended tour of europe

[Poodle]

No, this trip is about the nurburgring and nothing more. What a couple of us are doing in our own time is exactly that - what a couple of us are doing in our own time. The time at the nurburgring will be three nights and there'll be about a days travel either side, the trip won't be more than 5 days altogether.

[cully]

ok someone needs to make an itinery of types without dates if there not set
cause im confused as feck then

[Poodle]

Now i'm confused, say whut?

[cully]

day1 travel to...
day2 travelto ring
day 3 ring
day 4 ring
day 5 travel to
day 6 travel home

im guessing then if we want to we can go exploring on own or together then back to camp at night

[Poodle]

Tbf i think you've pretty much written it there lol. We decided earlier that we won't convoy in a huge group, people can organise themselves into groups depending on what they want to do - for instance i know some people want to do a 36 hour day to get the long-haul done, whereas i'm too old for those kind of shenanigans and would want to split the trip over two days. Also, there's a few people doing other things, so won't necessarily be traveling in the same direction at the same time.

[Jonny81191]

I think what needs to happen here is for there to be only 2 things set in concrete.

1. The dates at the ring.
2. The campsite.

The rest will be up to individuals/small groups of people to decide between themselves.

[Niall]

Once dates at the ring are confirmed, ill be able to say if i am coming or not. That is of course assuming that my car works lol

[Poodle]

Right, important info so far:

The date and venue of the three nights to be spent at the ring are the only bits being officially organised and set in stone, everything else is up to individuals.

Camping: (£10pppn) £50
Ferry tickets: £100
Fuel: £180 diesel, £300 petrol (Assuming ~1,500 miles @ average 50derv/30perv mpg; (miles/mpg)*6.13=£XXX)
Laps: 4 laps for £85
Food and drink: £20pp/day = £120
Travel insurance: £20
Random spending: £100

Total cost shouldn't be much more than £700 each if sharing, or £1000 for one person in a car.

Costing based on current exchange rate and official listed prices, dover-dunkirke.

Required kit for likely routes:
Passport (make sure it's valid in plenty of time)
E111 health card (also must be valid)
Drivers licence, including paper counterpart (see above, obviously lol)
Hi-vis jacket
Warning triangle
Headlight beam converters
GB sticker
First aid kit
NF-approved breathalyser

Please bear in mind that Germany also requires a minimum tread depth of 3mm, nearly double the UK minimum. Snoopers aka radar detectors are banned across Europe, as are a surprising number of modifications; i'd recommend you don't do anything that attracts police attention, just in case they decide to look a bit closer at your car.

For those who would rather have recovery, there is ADAC cover. It will cover you anywhere in Europe, including the UK, for 70 something euros a year. You get the AA if you call them in the UK as they subcontract. When I went out in my 405 the AA wanted the same money for a week as ADAC wanted for an annual membership. They are the only recovery company that will recover your car from the ring, otherwise it's ££££. They have a good reputation for repatriating even low value cars. It covers you as driver or passenger in any vehicle. However, recovery will most likely cost considerably more if/when the time comes, and there is still no guarantee they will recover a 15yo £500 car from what is effectively a race track.

Date grouping options for time at the 'ring:

18th-21st April (Easter weekend... :S)
1st-4th May
28th-30th May

Everything else is Sundays and evenings only, so that's pretty much all we've got if we want to do more than one day there.

[Jonny81191]

I've just updated the first post with a poll. Please only vote if you're GOING

[cully]

Snoopers aka radar detectors are banned across Europe, as are a surprising number of modifications; i'd recommend you don't do anything that attracts police attention, just in case they decide to look a bit closer at your car.

ok ?? Loud exhust??

is this going to be a no -no?

so would it be better taking the estate

[Jonny81191]

Nah, it's fine if you're sensible about noise pollution. Tom went everywhere on the limiter and was fine

[Poodle]

I'm sure it'll be fine, just meant it's probably not too clever to drive like a tool everywhere lol.

[cully]

hypethetical! is that looking right ?

30th apr weds day 1 travel to...ferry camp somewhere
1st may thurs day 2 travel to ring camp @ring
2nd may fri day 3 ring camp @ring
3rd may sat day 4 ring camp @ring
4th may sun day 5 travel towards ferry camp somewhere
5th may mon day 6 travel home