oliver2002

Note that by taking a normal rental car onto the racetrack you are violating the terms of your rental agreement. Considering how crowded the track gets that can get pretty expensive for you.

A better bet is to rent a real car on the track itself and get a proper instruction. An example is here: http://www.nuerburgring.de/en/drives...r-rentals.html

LondonElite

Please tell me that you have some experience driving under those conditions and according to German driving norms. Otherwise you are a hazard to yourself and, more importantly, to others.

WorldLux

Clearly he hasn't. Otherwise he would know that the stretch of Autobahn from Frankfurt to Munich via Stuttgart is always relatively busy.

I'm pretty sure that most rental agencies don't allow you to drive on the Nordschleife. If you want to drive a rental on the track, you'll need to rent one at the track.

And just for the sake of illustration (No passenger or bystander was seriously injured):

offerendum

More models from BMW, Audi and Mercedes go to 250 than not

offerendum

Respect, I never know in advance how fast I will drive.
Also it's with sll rental-cars from the big companies forbidden to go to the Nürburgring.

Perhaps its the best you come to Germany and have a look. After it you can decide by yourself

Flying Lawyer

Probably we should ask our US friends to get a German driving license. This is something we had to do v/v when registering a car in California. No insurance w/o local license. And at the end it was a good albeit not easy exercise.

LondonElite

Good point. That whole stretch has huge sections limited to 120. There are also millions of construction sites. The A3 from Frankfurt via Würzbug is probably worse.

GUWonder

While my ordinary US state driving license would transfer to a German driving license, I was under the impression that such transfer required being a German resident. Mistaken understanding?

Surely, German car companies with a European delivery program aimed at US residents want this business too, so why would Germany want to undermine such business?

American drivers in Europe are probably a more extreme hazard in more urban areas and on local roads than on European highways of sorts. How so? By not paying attention to pedestrian crosswalks, not knowing speed limits in areas with no clearly posted speed limits nearby, the trouble with driving manual transmission cars, and/or not being so good in the roundabouts -- more of an issue on relatively more urban roads in Europe than elsewhere in Europe.

oliver2002

I had a few near death experiences with US colleagues when they thought the 'right turn on red' applied universally in Germany as well.

The US Army has good manual for military stationed in Germany here: http://www.eur.army.mil/rmv/Documents_PDF/aep190-34.pdf

LondonElite

No this is correct. You must be a resident.

I think it was meant tongue-in-cheek.

offerendum

Quite dangeroud and potentially expensive.

MSPeconomist

I once asked a European colleague about this--I'm not sure whether it was Germany--and got a shocked response that of course you cannot turn right on a red light.

TheBOSman

My usual approach now, if I'm not sure of the rules for short turn on red (having driven in three different countries where driving is on the left, I think more in terms of short and long turns now), is to sit and wait. If I don't get honked at, I stay. If I get honked at, I go.

WorldLux

Someone on TV once described it as "the only American contribution to western civilization". That said, most major intersections have bypasses for right-turns where you only have a yield sign. Roundabouts help resolving the problem too.

LondonElite

Except where it is permitted of course (at an increasing number of traffic lights).

One of my economics professors once described this as being one of the few real-world examples of something that is Pareto near-optimal.