Driving Experiences? Which one? Done and review & pics

[Rusty]

Well for my 21st i was given a ferrari experience, so will be booking that soon, but at work i won a £149 red letter day experience.

now i'm stuck on what to book,
i'm tempted by the lambo day £110: http://www.redletterdays.co.uk/Experience/Ref/XEUPB and i'd have some voucher left over to try and use.

i'd be tempted to use the rest for an elise day £85: http://www.redletterdays.co.uk/Experience/Ref/XLOTS but then i'd be needing to chuck in cash for something i can hopefully get to do at TT2010

On the other hand i'm tempted to do a single seater day £175: http://www.redletterdays.co.uk/Experience/Ref/XMRIN
this one you get demo laps in a mazda, then get to drive a cayman before getting let loose in the single seater

so i can either really get lambo and lotus, have to chuck in £46 and get two experiences, yet may be very similar to the ferrari day i'll already be booking or do i go for the single seater where i only need to pay an extra £26 plus croft is closer than anywhere else so i will save in petrol.

The only time i've driven on track was in the laguna during my photoshoot with the Chevron at KH (so i wasn't really playing) so what does everyone think is the best idea? So far i'm thinking the single seater.

[mwmackenzie]

I'd be doing lambo and lotus to really get a feel for how good the lotus really handles for the money and a good warm up for TT2010. Also cos I just would love a go in a lambo! Is the lambo restricted?

Mark

[tut]

Somebody posted that they had done the Lambo day, and that it was restricted, and I think that the Instructor was pretty protective as well.

tut

[Rusty]

Yeah i have heard that most of them don't fully rev and that the instructor is friendly but tells you to hold back. when in a single seater i'll be on my own, so no one telling me off for enjoying myself.

[Fluoxetine]

Hmmm - Most of the 'supercar' driving experiences operate privately owned vehicles (a la Simon George from Evo), who use these days to cover some of the running costs of the car...(Sometimes it's a group of people that own the car, in the same way some people with PPL's share a Cessna etc).

You'll probably have a protective owner sat next to you (don't blame them, TBH!), who'll encourage you to short-shift / not abuse their car in general...Not much chance of really finding out "how good the lotus really handles for the money", as you won't be anywhere near its limits whilst driving it...

They also seem to take place at the likes of Bedford / Bruntingthorpe...Which are wide expanses of airfield = No real sensation of speed...

I've done two 'Driving Experience' days - A corporate freebie at KH years ago (Where I was told off for driving too fast / using too many revs / thumping the kerbs, despite driving very reasonably...The cars were leased, and KH had to pay to make them right, before they were returned... )

The other was in NZ in 2008, where I got to drive a real, unrestricted Kent FF1600 on ACB10's round Ruapuna...Amazing experience - Set up very 'safe' (i.e. leaning towards understeer city), but still very challenging to drive quickly...

Single seaters all the way!

(Unless you can stretch to a Palmersport day... )

[tut]

However the single seaters at KH are pretty restricted as anybody can drive them, and an experienced Elise/Exige driver with a top of the range car would not get a lot from it.

However for yourself with almost no track experience it would be a different matter, and as you say, you would be on your own.

tut

ps must ask Ian if I can have a bash in one to see what it feels like.

[Rusty]

Single seater is at Croft, so its a real track compared to quite a few that are, as you said airfields.

think i'm swaying towards single seater!

[PhilA]

i did a ferrari experience.
the guy held the steering wheel at times, was "go slow go slow, slower!!" etc.

But then he told me "imagine that ur mother in law's head is under the accelerator and squeeze every last bit out of her"...
.... so i did!! out of a corner... 2nd, 3rd, 4th gears... almost to the limiter... braking hard for the chicane... lol...
.... i got really told off and it was then my last lap... but i got the experience i wanted... wont forget the feelings and the sound of that engine!

[Lazydonkey]

Somebody posted that they had done the Lambo day, and that it was restricted, and I think that the Instructor was pretty protective as well.

tut

Twas me. i did it at the Prodrive track and wasn't allowed to rev it very high at all. Was expecting the day to be full of enthusiasts but I found most of the people there had zero performance driving experience and as such the instructors had everything buttoned down pretty tight. I still enjoyed it (it was a lambo after all) but not as much as i expected to.

Thing is I think being in SE spoils you for things like that (albeit not lambos every day) so i'd say go for a single seater.

[tut]

Dicked a Murcielago x 2 anyway on track, so long live the Elise.

tut

[Rusty]

Cheers Donkey, Yeah a friend said "do the lambo day, when are you ever going to even get to sit in one" and i sort of just laughed, I agree with Donkey, Se spoils people!

[Fluoxetine]

Single seater is at Croft, so its a real track compared to quite a few that are, as you said airfields.

think i'm swaying towards single seater!

Croft's a great circuit - Taking the Jim Clark Esses flat for the first time is quite a buzz...As is carrying lots of speed through Sunny In / Sunny Out...

Definitely a good option!

[robin]

They all sound like a waste of a day ... sell the ticket and use the cash to get an elise of your own on a track somewhere For 150 you'll book a whole day at Oulton Park, Cadwell, etc., though of course you'll need to pay for everything else too - but even so ...

Cheers,
Robin

[tut]

Adam, have a drive in N3 on track for free, no restrictions and probably quicker than any of the ones that you are contemplating.

tut

[point n squirt]

Done quite a few of these days - everything from legends to F1, so last year I drove a Lambo and it was super! Not the hardest car to drive surprisingly and almost as big a buzz as F1. Drove a Fezza and a GT3 on the same day they did'nt come close. Book the Lambo, you know you want to.