Nurburgring 2008

spoons · 14th December 2007, 22:55

Copied from another forum....

OK, this may be of interest for anyone who wants to take a modified car on the 'ring in 2008.......

There's a lengthy thread currently on the Ringers forum http://forum.ringersforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=40190 , detailing that from 2008, Nürburgring GmbH will be requring TÜV approval for all cars going out on track, during the public Touristenfahrten sessions (and no doubt, the private track days too).

From what I've read they're getting a bit concerned over the standard of some cars going out on track and are trying to sort it out. I suppose it does make sense, but it could be a right PITA for a lot of people!

Any unmodified, factory-standard cars, German-registered or not are automatically considered as TÜV-compliant, so they will be fine but you will encounter problems if you have any mods done.

Each and every modification carried out on a German-registered car has to be TÜV'd (in effect, an MOT every time you modify something) and evidence of the current TÜV is displayed on the number plates, but for foreign-registered cars, they have no idea whether any modifications are compliant, so by all accounts, unless you can prove the modification is TÜV compliant, they won't be letting you go out.

Now this does kind of fly in the face of the 'public road' designation that the 'ring enjoys, as you don't have such issues driving on normal German roads, but it seems they're making a special 'house rule'!

This is going to have massive implications for the hundreds of Brits who go to the 'ring in their modded cars. If the marshalls pull you over, you will need to have all your paperwork for ANY modification and prove to them it's TÜV-compliant, or else you won't be allowed out.

I am quite sure they will be sticking to this rigidly, especially with Brits.............

**AJA** · 14th December 2007, 23:03

That does sound like a complete pain in the rear doesn't it!

So how are brits supposed to prove that their mods are compliant then? A current MOT certificate should prove you're legal, but what if your car's under three years old? Surely they have a plan to check the brits cars.

spoons · 14th December 2007, 23:13

This post adds a 'hands on' experience....

Hi all, I have german tags on my car which is modified. Recently, they pulled me out to go thru all the modifications and check the paperwork.

My guess is that this is what they have in mind from 2008 on. From what I could tell, they are mainly looking at cars that are clearly track prepared or cars that are full street but in a poor state of affairs. The focus is to make sure the track prepped cars are properly done and the cars in poor condition are pulled off the track. When I talked with the marshalls that was the message I received, he just said "have a look around the car park and you will see why we are concerned".

Mainly they looked at the following types of things:
1) windows (e.g. if you have lexan, you need an ECE marking)
2) cage approved by tuev
3) impact protection on cage bars
4) proper seat mounts! (for race seats)
5) harnesses mounted to accepted motorsport practice!
6) brakes approved by tuev (AP, brembo, etc not a problem to get approved)
7) suspension approved by tuev

tires do not rub anywhere and have minimum tread (this is a problem for R-tires, because normally you dont throw an r-tire away until it is slick)
9) exhaust system not loose

I have a fully welded in cage that picks up all the suspension points, struts, differential, etc. You are not limited to a bolt in cage, but if its custom, then you have to do a special inspection thru tuev. This makes sense because not everybody welds to a high degree of precision. There are some very unsafe cage installations out there!

One thing I did not like, is that they were carrying out improper sound tests. The tester is supposed to be held 50 cm from exhaust, 1 m height, and 1 m offset (45 degree angle). Then 2/3 of max rpm is measured. So if you car revs 7000 rpm, then they should measure at 5000 rpm. Fortunately they measure at 1/2 rpm, e.g. 3500 rpm. However, he has the tester only 10 cm from the exhaust. I watched him doing that to several people, and I told him he was measuring incorrectly but he didnt want to hear it.

Sound pressure levels are proportional to the inverse square of the distance to the exhaust tip. So there is a big difference in the measurement when held at 50 cm vs. 10 cm.

But they also have stationary test meters along the track, I dont know all of the locations, but I believe T13 and Schwedenkreuz are 2 of them. I think this is the harder test to comply with at WOT.

**In a states** · 14th December 2007, 23:58

There's also the limitation to petrol cars only. No derv, eco/bio fuels either.

**In a states** · 14th December 2007, 23:58

Think that's after April 1st though...;>

**nutron** · 15th December 2007, 10:26

?!? But almost all diesel in Germany is part bio diesel and saabs are designed to run on bio ethanol?

I'm hopping to make this trip, so I'll have to do some mod hiding...