Tech

This race track in Germany is one of the most important places in the world for car lovers

Aaron Brown

2016-03-16T18:57:00Z

Car museums are cool, but there's nothing really like going to where all the history actually went down. The Nürburgring in Northwestern Germany is a place that allows you to do just that.

The Nürburgring has been around since 1927.

nurburgring classic — Shown: Italian race car driver Guiseppe Farina crossing the finish line in his Ferrari at the Nürburgring in 1953 at the end of the Grand Prix of Germany. AP Images

Though it has seen several major renovations and track changes since.

If the name doesn't ring a bell, you might recognize the track from games like "Forza Motorsport" or "Gran Turismo".

It's that really long and twisty track.

Yup, that one.

Or maybe from the movie "Rush", which showcases one of the most important crashes ever to have taken place in the history of racing and possibly the most import crash ever at the Nürburgring.

There are actually two complete race tracks at the Nürburgring.

The famous 12.9 mile Nordschliefe circuit and the 3.2 mile Grand Prix circuit which Formula 1 and World Endurance Championship cars race on.

The Nürburgring is located in a small German town in the Eifel mountain area.

It's just under a two hour drive from Frankfurt and just over an hour drive from Cologne.

That is, if you're not speeding the whole way there on the German autobahn.

The town of Nürburg, which the track surrounds, is pretty much like most other small German towns.

Quiet, quaint, and beautiful.

Well, it's quiet until all the race cars start rolling through.

In the middle of the town there's a castle that was built in the year 1166.

Several major races are held at the Nürburgring each year.

One of the biggest events is the Nurburgring 24. It's a 24 hour endurance race which features drivers and teams of varying skill levels.

These races attract tons of spectators from all around the world.

Another major use of the Nürburgring is the testing of pre-production prototype cars by various auto manufacturers.

Engineers love the track because of how hard they're able to push their cars.

Elevation changes, hard corners, high-speed sections of the track. These are things that make the Nürburgring a great testing ground for new cars.

Many companies even have full engineering facilities right at the track.

The prototype cars will often wear camo so that journalists and car enthusiasts can't recognize the car that's being tested. This helps auto manufacturers keep new cars secret until their official unveil.

When there aren't major events and when engineers aren't using the track for testing, the general public is often allowed to drive around the Nordschliefe during organized "touristenfahrten" sessions.

During an open touristenfahrten session, anyone with almost any kind of car can pay about $30/lap and is allowed to drive around the Nürburgring.

No instructor necessary. No skills or high-performance driving instruction needed. No helmet required.

It's fun, but it's also pretty scary.

Not everyone on track during touristenfarhten sessions knows what they're doing.

Car enthusiasts come from all over the world to take a stab at driving the Nordschliefe.

If you're not comfortable driving your own car or a normal rental car, there are multiple companies in the town of Nürburg that would be happy to rent you a car for the track.

Companies like RSR Nürburg and Rent4Ring have fleets of track-ready rental cars to choose from.

Many car enthusiasts will also venture to the Nürburgring to improve their driving skills in an organized high performance driving class.

Cars Transportation Germany