Going To Germany!!

[Chabs]

autobahn.. its fun :D

[alexw]

I don't think you're even going to be able to buy a car in Germany. There are a TON of regulations for purchasing vehicles there, TUV inspections, Licensing, Drivers License... etc.

It's not worth it. You can drive a rental as long as your licensed in the states, with a valid passport for I believe 60-90 days.

You need to google the nurburgring and check out the sites that tell you all about renting a car for the ring. Most of the "rent-a-racecar" style companies just take regular cars, gut them, put roll cages and raceing seats in them. You can typically rent them per lap, half a day, or full day. I have no experience with this other than knowing they exist, and seeing them on the track (I always used my own car).

Oh, and search. Lots of folks have done this before (both the nurburgring and the trip). This topic seems to come up once every few months.

*advice from someone who lived in germany for 3 1/2 years, left last month*

[DanMan68]

Sounds like a good program. If you really want to learn German well, don't hang out with Americans/people on your program. If you just want to hang out, have fun, and learn a bit, don't worry about it. You won't learn a whole lot in three months anyway.

How old are you? The racecar rental places (prepared streetcars) like rsr-nurburg, rent-racecar.de, and others all require you to be 25. It sucks. They also cost 500euro or so for a half day, on top of the 23 euro/lap ticket cost. It's bloody pricey. BTW: Renting a racecar there still doesn't absolve you from the liability aspect. Only the cost to your car up to a certain cap is covered.

I will be 21 by the time I go so it looks like renting is out of the question :(

Guess it wont be happening then.

[Bimmerman325i]

I will be 21 by the time I go so it looks like renting is out of the question :(

Guess it wont be happening then.

You can still rent cars, just not the racecars. I'd go to the ring anyway, but see if you can hitch a ride with someone instead.

I rented a car to do a roadtrip while I was there, at 21 I could rent a Z4 3.0si coupe, Jag, etc. Plenty fun vehicles for decent prices....think I spent $500 on a weekly rental for an Audi A4 1.8T quattro. Pricey, ya, but totally worth it.

Spend the money you intended for the ring on karting. I guarantee there are plenty of kart tracks around you.

[DanMan68]

You can still rent cars, just not the racecars. I'd go to the ring anyway, but see if you can hitch a ride with someone instead.

I rented a car to do a roadtrip while I was there, at 21 I could rent a Z4 3.0si coupe, Jag, etc. Plenty fun vehicles for decent prices....think I spent $500 on a weekly rental for an Audi A4 1.8T quattro. Pricey, ya, but totally worth it.

Spend the money you intended for the ring on karting. I guarantee there are plenty of kart tracks around you.

Right, but I cant take them to the 'ring lol. Like you say, I will just have to find some one I can ride with.

[Bimmerman325i]

Right, but I cant take them to the 'ring lol. Like you say, I will just have to find some one I can ride with.

True, but you can go road tripping. The alps are astonishing, with some pretty good roads.

[DanMan68]

True, but you can go road tripping. The alps are astonishing, with some pretty good roads.

Oh yes, very true. And I intend to fully take advantage of the good public transport system as well.

[madformx5]

I don't know the laws about taking a rental car out of Germany but you could go drive the highway in Romania that the guys on Top Gear said was the best road in the world. It's called the Transfăgărăşan. Don't even ask me how to pronounce it. You can probably look the clip up on Top Gear's website or Youtube and there is a page on Wikipedia about it. Even the pictures of the road are astonishing. If I were anywhere in Europe I would make a beeline to that road.

[Sailor37]

Sign up early for a BMW Ring Taxi ride with Sabine Schmitz!!! That would be the first thing on my list...

[DanMan68]

Who is the guy with the white e30 and green M-pars that lives in germany and goes to the 'ring all the time?

[SkiFree]

Where in the alps are you looking to visit? As has been mentioned by Bimmerman325i the alps are astonishing. I spent a year in northern italy (interned at Pininfarina) and got to spend a lot of time enjoying the mountains.

My favorite area was Mt.Blanc/Chamonix.