- 539
- p360eter1
Wrote this to post on another forum, but thought I might as well stick it up here as well, seeing as we like cars and all! 
Just back from the supercar experience day I mentioned in the weekend thread.
I did one of these things in a Ferrari 360 5 years ago, and although I enjoyed it at the time I always regretted not being confident enough to push the car a bit quicker and felt the day was a bit underwhelming with an awful lot of waiting about in the rain. I've also heard a lot of people on here and other forums talking about their mixed experiences with a lot of reports of being rev limited and not being able to really enjoy the car. Going into today I had low expectations of the event and this isn't the sort of thing Id have ever considered buying for myself, but as it was received as a 21st birthday present I was keen to try and enjoy it.
We arrived 20 minutes before the recommended arrival time of 12 noon which gave me a bit of time to stand at the side of the track watching what was going on. First impressions were something along the line of Wow, that looks so slow! Nutts Corner is really a kart track, probably half a mile long and it looked far too tight and twisty to really allow for much speed in supercars. The ones I saw seemed to be really crawling down the straights as well.
Then into the briefing and the usual spiel of listen to your instructor, brake at the boards, how to go around a corner and whatever you do listen to the instructor. I presumed that meant Id be told to change up gears at 3500 rpm, but at least I was expecting that, and I realise that safety is the most important thing and there were many people there with very little experience or driving quickly on track (including myself!).
Then onto the car selection. There was two Gallardo Roadsters, two GTRs, an R8, a DB9, a V8 Vantage and a stunning looking matt black 458. Most of the other people seemed to only get to drive one or two cars whereas Id been booked in for four, so it was more a case of which not to choose. Wed been warned in the briefing that the queue for the 458 was at least an hour and a half, and although not raining it was quite chilly and windy outside so with regret I decided to give that one a miss.
Id wanted to drive the Gallardo at the end because its the most supercar-like and I wanted to end on a high, but the queue happened to be short when I arrived so I just went for it first. I got in and chatted to the instructor, he seemed friendly and relaxed and asked me if Id done anything like this before. I told him about my drive in the 360 and for the rest of the drive we just talked about general things, where I live, what I drive etc. which was quite nice. Driving off I felt comfortable and after the first chicane put the pedal to the floor in 2nd to show my intentions. The car was in semi-auto mode so it changed gear itself although I could override it with the pedals, I didnt bother most of the time though because it was changing up at around 6000 rpm which I thought would be more than hed want me to in manual mode. Going down the back straight at full throttle through 2nd and into 3rd felt really good and I was expecting him to tell me to slow it down, but with no such warning I kept pushing it on but still braking in good time and keeping it nice and controlled through the corners. Despite my earlier concerns about the short track, on the back straight I got up to around 70-80mph, not too bad for a kart track! I really enjoyed driving the Gallardo but the 3 laps were over quickly and at the end of the drive I thought it was bound to be downhill for here.
When I got back to the waiting area there was no one in the queue for the Astons, so I took the next one of those which came along which happened to be the DB9. First impressions were nice clock, the leather seats are nice too. This particular instructor was obsessed by steering technique. He recommended I keep both hands stuck on the wheel at the quarter to three position as this would give better feedback. It did feel smooth but meant it was tricky to get enough lock on in the tighter turns and was contrary to the other instructors advice. He did give me some good advice about racing lines though, which corners to steer into late and so on. Unfortunately he also insisted that I only change gears when he said which meant going through hairpins in 3rd and changing up at 3000rpm, surely defeating the point of that V12.
Into the GTR next, expecting more of the same. Getting into the driving seat there was a smell of brakes, perhaps a sign that the previous occupant had been allowed to actually drive the thing. I was also surprised by how small (or at least not huge) the car felt from the inside. Before setting off the instructor, in his thick Glaswegian accent, was going through the usual rhetoric of do what I say, accelerate progressively and youre here to experience the car, not try to be Jenson Button. So I took it nice and slowly though the first chicane but on the straight put my foot down in 2nd to test the water. I didnt get the telling off I expected, but instead received a thump in the back as the GTRs fabled acceleration was experienced first hand. Wow, thats FAST! was all I could mutter by the end of the straight. I kept hustling the car round the tight turns like a kart, my reservations about its size disappearing as fast as the car its self. The acceleration was so addictive I couldn't be bothered with progressive application of the throttle, instead flooring it at the apex which lead to the car wanting to slide, but being prevented to by the traction control. I did this once going through the turn beside the waiting area and it must have been visible from outside based on my parents reaction when I emerged from the vehicle. The instructor said something about not accelerating until we were in a straight line making it much smoother, yeah, but its fun though was my unspoken reply. Apart from this though, he was really encouraging me to push on, I was changing up at around 7000 rpm and late hard braking was encouraged. Fantastic experience, and my highlight of the day.
My final car was the R8. This instructor was a bit more cautions and liked me to break early and smoothly and really didn't like me trying to accelerate through the corners. It was still an enjoyable drive, but the semi-auto box was a bit strange, Id brake for the 90 degree right corner and it would go down a gear, then Id put my foot down when we were straightened up and it would kick down another, not something Id have chosen to do if I were changing myself.
Before leaving I got to enjoy a couple of laps in the passenger seat of a very sideways Caterham race car which was great fun and well suited to that particular track. But my highlight of the day was driving the GTR for sure, its not a car Id have particularly lusted after previously and would probably have taken a 911 or something over it, but its so bloody fast! As I remarked in the car, the Lambo actually felt slow by comparison. In hindsight I wasnt even disappointed to miss out on driving the 458. Although it looked amazing, and is probably my favorite supercar, I think on this sort of day your impression of the car is influenced as much by the instructor as by the car itself, and I didnt see anyone driving the Ferrari quickly all day nor did I hear its V8 scream. I guess the thought of 560bhp in a rear wheel drive car makes for a very careful instructor.
So over all it was a great day. Im not sure how much my parents paid, but they got it through Groupon with quite a good discount so everyone was happy!
Just back from the supercar experience day I mentioned in the weekend thread.
I did one of these things in a Ferrari 360 5 years ago, and although I enjoyed it at the time I always regretted not being confident enough to push the car a bit quicker and felt the day was a bit underwhelming with an awful lot of waiting about in the rain. I've also heard a lot of people on here and other forums talking about their mixed experiences with a lot of reports of being rev limited and not being able to really enjoy the car. Going into today I had low expectations of the event and this isn't the sort of thing Id have ever considered buying for myself, but as it was received as a 21st birthday present I was keen to try and enjoy it.
We arrived 20 minutes before the recommended arrival time of 12 noon which gave me a bit of time to stand at the side of the track watching what was going on. First impressions were something along the line of Wow, that looks so slow! Nutts Corner is really a kart track, probably half a mile long and it looked far too tight and twisty to really allow for much speed in supercars. The ones I saw seemed to be really crawling down the straights as well.
Then into the briefing and the usual spiel of listen to your instructor, brake at the boards, how to go around a corner and whatever you do listen to the instructor. I presumed that meant Id be told to change up gears at 3500 rpm, but at least I was expecting that, and I realise that safety is the most important thing and there were many people there with very little experience or driving quickly on track (including myself!).
Then onto the car selection. There was two Gallardo Roadsters, two GTRs, an R8, a DB9, a V8 Vantage and a stunning looking matt black 458. Most of the other people seemed to only get to drive one or two cars whereas Id been booked in for four, so it was more a case of which not to choose. Wed been warned in the briefing that the queue for the 458 was at least an hour and a half, and although not raining it was quite chilly and windy outside so with regret I decided to give that one a miss.
Id wanted to drive the Gallardo at the end because its the most supercar-like and I wanted to end on a high, but the queue happened to be short when I arrived so I just went for it first. I got in and chatted to the instructor, he seemed friendly and relaxed and asked me if Id done anything like this before. I told him about my drive in the 360 and for the rest of the drive we just talked about general things, where I live, what I drive etc. which was quite nice. Driving off I felt comfortable and after the first chicane put the pedal to the floor in 2nd to show my intentions. The car was in semi-auto mode so it changed gear itself although I could override it with the pedals, I didnt bother most of the time though because it was changing up at around 6000 rpm which I thought would be more than hed want me to in manual mode. Going down the back straight at full throttle through 2nd and into 3rd felt really good and I was expecting him to tell me to slow it down, but with no such warning I kept pushing it on but still braking in good time and keeping it nice and controlled through the corners. Despite my earlier concerns about the short track, on the back straight I got up to around 70-80mph, not too bad for a kart track! I really enjoyed driving the Gallardo but the 3 laps were over quickly and at the end of the drive I thought it was bound to be downhill for here.
When I got back to the waiting area there was no one in the queue for the Astons, so I took the next one of those which came along which happened to be the DB9. First impressions were nice clock, the leather seats are nice too. This particular instructor was obsessed by steering technique. He recommended I keep both hands stuck on the wheel at the quarter to three position as this would give better feedback. It did feel smooth but meant it was tricky to get enough lock on in the tighter turns and was contrary to the other instructors advice. He did give me some good advice about racing lines though, which corners to steer into late and so on. Unfortunately he also insisted that I only change gears when he said which meant going through hairpins in 3rd and changing up at 3000rpm, surely defeating the point of that V12.
Into the GTR next, expecting more of the same. Getting into the driving seat there was a smell of brakes, perhaps a sign that the previous occupant had been allowed to actually drive the thing. I was also surprised by how small (or at least not huge) the car felt from the inside. Before setting off the instructor, in his thick Glaswegian accent, was going through the usual rhetoric of do what I say, accelerate progressively and youre here to experience the car, not try to be Jenson Button. So I took it nice and slowly though the first chicane but on the straight put my foot down in 2nd to test the water. I didnt get the telling off I expected, but instead received a thump in the back as the GTRs fabled acceleration was experienced first hand. Wow, thats FAST! was all I could mutter by the end of the straight. I kept hustling the car round the tight turns like a kart, my reservations about its size disappearing as fast as the car its self. The acceleration was so addictive I couldn't be bothered with progressive application of the throttle, instead flooring it at the apex which lead to the car wanting to slide, but being prevented to by the traction control. I did this once going through the turn beside the waiting area and it must have been visible from outside based on my parents reaction when I emerged from the vehicle. The instructor said something about not accelerating until we were in a straight line making it much smoother, yeah, but its fun though was my unspoken reply. Apart from this though, he was really encouraging me to push on, I was changing up at around 7000 rpm and late hard braking was encouraged. Fantastic experience, and my highlight of the day.
My final car was the R8. This instructor was a bit more cautions and liked me to break early and smoothly and really didn't like me trying to accelerate through the corners. It was still an enjoyable drive, but the semi-auto box was a bit strange, Id brake for the 90 degree right corner and it would go down a gear, then Id put my foot down when we were straightened up and it would kick down another, not something Id have chosen to do if I were changing myself.
Before leaving I got to enjoy a couple of laps in the passenger seat of a very sideways Caterham race car which was great fun and well suited to that particular track. But my highlight of the day was driving the GTR for sure, its not a car Id have particularly lusted after previously and would probably have taken a 911 or something over it, but its so bloody fast! As I remarked in the car, the Lambo actually felt slow by comparison. In hindsight I wasnt even disappointed to miss out on driving the 458. Although it looked amazing, and is probably my favorite supercar, I think on this sort of day your impression of the car is influenced as much by the instructor as by the car itself, and I didnt see anyone driving the Ferrari quickly all day nor did I hear its V8 scream. I guess the thought of 560bhp in a rear wheel drive car makes for a very careful instructor.
So over all it was a great day. Im not sure how much my parents paid, but they got it through Groupon with quite a good discount so everyone was happy!
