rental 116i at the Ring

[Kurt]

hi all

been tootling around in a Europcar 116 for the past month (they claim not to have any of the bigger motor ones :( so took it over to the Nürburgring last weekend.
Fun little car, underpowered to be sure, and on wintertires, but flung it around the Nordschleife and Grand Prix track 24 times. Had some good dices with another Ringer in a 116, and had to work a bit to stay with a Ford Galaxy Tdi, admittedly being driven like a farking NUT by a local biker...

some pix here:

NS9 Easter 2005

cheers
Kurt

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/who/details.php?u=167

[ckolsen]

Wow, I was hoping to be able to rent a 1 over there.

24 laps, didn't you ruin the tires and brakes? Chris
'95 325i

[Ed]

Matt a bit of trouble though. Just can't kill those winter reifen! Mine are still virginal on the 540i after the weekend! No chunking and minimal wear.

[Kurt]

25 laps in a light, low powered car is nothing. Did 101 laps over 2 weekend trips with a friend in a Opel Speedster, now THOSE were shagged tires and brakes!!
Sometimes hard to get the rental you wish for, so if no 116, take a Smart Roadster, Mini, then Golf/A3, or more $$ SLK, 350Z, crossfire. But for your first trip (or my 9th :) doesn't matter if it has low power, its all fun!
cheers
Kurt

[Kurt]

but I like how he proclaimed his pirellis to be no better than my winters ;))

after a few laps on Saturday I could break off chunks with my fingernail.

Kurt

[ckolsen]

Do you mean full 13 mile laps, or the Grand Prix track?

So you recommend Europcar for getting Ring-mobiles?Chris
'95 325i

[Ed]

a modern sanitised F1 track with the more traditional version! Out on the GP track the runoff room is unreal, the track billiard table smooth and grippy. Back onto the Nordschleife at T13 and one must concentrate again....

[Kurt]

With the 116, both. Total GP+NS = 25km each. First time that I know of that the GP track was linked to the NS for public days.
Last year with the speedster was NS only, so about 21km per lap. The beter you know the track, the less brakes you'll use, but more tires.

IMO it doesn't really matter which rental agency you use - I live over on the eastern side of germany, and usually rent from Europcar or Avis, but German rental agencies in general have an attitude "you vill take vat ve gif you!". Europcar and Avis seem to advetise the "fun" rentals on their website, just don't be surprised when you arrive and they tell you "sorry, no Z4, but we have a diesel Opel Astra!". Just be persistant.

Kurt

[tiiguy]

Perfect timing! I'm doing the Ring school in August with BMWCCA and could use your recommendations for which BMW to rent for the Ring. For a first timer with US track experience, would you recommend the 116, a 3, or something else, assuming the rental company cooperates with my request. I'm not crazy about using anything other than a BMW for this school.

Thanks for your time.

Ken Scherfee
Sacramento, CA
'87 M6
'91 M5
'01 Z3 3.0 Coupe
'01 M Coupe
'02 325 xiT

[Kurt]

This 1er is the first BMW I've ever driven, but had rides in some slightly ;) faster ones: ring taxi M5, M3CSL, track prepped 318i.

You'll have plenty of fun in either a 1er or 3er, maybe go with the 1er simply because you won't have the chance to drive one in the states for while?? The first few trips are all about trying to get a feel for the course, so straight line speed is largely irrelevant. You'll still have to at least touch the brakes for just about every curve the Viper or GT3 guys do, and even with 115hp the 1er goes fast enough to kill you - I averaged 160kph for 3 hours straight Wednesday night driving back from a business trip.

Great stable of bimmers there!!

Have fun
Kurt

[tiiguy]

Great ideas, Kurt. I'm now on the hunt to rent either a 116 or 130i from a rental company in either Mainz or near Frankfurt R/M Flughagen, in August. Might you have any suggestions for a good rental company with a big selection of BMW's in either city?

I appreciate your time. Und, rufen sie bitte mal an, wenn sie in Kalifornia kommen zum Urlaub, Geschaeft, oder einfach Freude am Fahren (I think that was a BMW marketing line a few years ago).

Ken
Sacramento, CA

[Kurt]

I know the rental parking deck at Frankfurt FH is stacked with Porsches, BMWs, etc, sorry no idea about Mainz.
A US friend over on business managed to score an Alfa GT coupe last week, from Koblenz I think. Not a race car by any means but a wacky change from anything you can get in the US.

It is a bit of a chore, but just check out all the websites (avis.de, sixt.de, europcar.de etc), and if you're REALLY lucky you could catch someone on the phone who is interested in helping you get a fun car. I've managed to find just 2 such people in the last 3 years...

When you get more comfortable with the Ring, rent an Opel Speedster.

There's an autohaus not far from the Ring that rents one for 200€ per weekend, 300km included, 0.20€ per km after. That comes to 20€ per lap for the first 10 (300km - the 100km round trip from the dealer), then just 4€ per after that. Basically nothing, when you consider GT3 guys have to set aside 20€ per lap just for tires.

you probably found these, but some good Ring stuff:

http://maddock.uzipp.com/ns/vids/
(lap in the Speedster, "Ring Of Fire" vid are mine)

http://www.jwhubbers.nl/ring/ringbunny/guests.php
(Speedster Strikes back)

and the granddaddy of them all:

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/


You should buy one of these and have it sent back (even with the sh!t exchange rate)

mobile.de

thanks for the offer, will have to check out the Monterey Historics again someday! And who knows, the ring is only 700kms from me, maybe I'll blast over in August.

http://julesperry.com/ring-2005-jp.htm

cheers
Kurt

[Ed_Healey]

the doors down. They are pretty cool.