WTH? seriously man, i’d love to be your wife!!
As Gangrel has covered your initial question already, i can give you some additional advise on how to prepare for the mother of all tracks
Gangrel is right, the only nearly accurate version of the real thing on Xbox is the Forza 5 version, even if its missing some of the really nasty bumps of the real track. However, be careful when using this method to prepare for the real thing, especially if that’s the only ‘tool’ you use. Its a great way to learn the general layout of the track, and the experience gained in game will be sufficient to not get lost if you just plan to ‘cruise’ around a bit. However, if you (or your wife) intend to conquer this monster in a quicker way, then this would just be the beginning.
A few years ago i also prepared myself for my first ride on the nordschleife by doing countless laps on all the iterations of the track in several race games on console and PC. At the end I thought i was ready for it, but boy…i was wrong!! These tracks where not laser scanned and while looking ‘realistic’ in game, i quickly realized that the real thing is still completely different and my self-confidence vanished to a point where i was driving around that thing like a grandma because i couldn’t trust my virtual track know-how anymore. Guess its even worse than just going on the track without any preparation at all.
So, is this part of a “buyers experience package” offered by BMW (which means you could possibly race it while its closed for public use → lots of free tarmac in front of you) or are you going to drive it during the tourist-drive-hours (-> lots of idiots around you). If you just do a tourist drive and not going too fast then using a game to prepare should be enough for that.
For a more serious approach to tackle the green hell (and it fully deserves this name), i would suggest the following:
The whole nordschleife is divided into 30 sectors, some contain just one corner, some are a sequence of corners. Its important to learn all the names of the sectors, like “Tiergarten”, “Hatzenbach”, “Flugplatz”,“hohe Acht”, etc (all German names, might be a bit difficult to pronounce). This tremendously helps to remember the sequence of the turns as there are 72 of them (official count) and seeing them as sectors makes it much easier to memorize all the turns.
Next would be to watch a bunch of onboard videos from professional drivers and ring-coaches that have “live-commentary” on youtube. They usually refer to the sectors when giving tips, that’s why memorizing the names is so crucial. By watching these videos you can gain some important and valuable advise from people who know every inch of the track.
To step it up even further you could get lessons from nordschleife-instructors, some use their own car, some would even drive your car while your wife is sitting in the co-drivers seat, a great way to obtain valuable information on how the baby performs on this track, especially if its a new car. After a few laps the seats will be swapped and you can experience the hell on your own, while still getting advice from the instructor. Its something i would recommend to everyone who wants to tackle it quicker than 50 mph while still driving as safe as possible.
If your nordschleife ride is not part of a special package you will have to take it during the idiot-hours (late afternoon) when its opened to the public. Be wary, there are lots of wanna-be-Schumachers on the track…i had quite a few scary moments there, so always be aware whats happening around you and don’t expect skillful driving from the others on track, most don’t have these skills.