Ferrari Experience
- Thread starter Tom|Nbk
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Soldato
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- 6 Nov 2002
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- London UK
How about a curve ball suggestion, for the same money you spend on a Supercar experience (few laps over a couple of hours) you could do a weeks worth of bike DAS course. I was in a similar situation several years back, week off work and wanted to play with something fast, opted for the bike course as it was more time spent with the vehicle.
End result going the bike route was playing with new toys for the whole week (riding not just talking about it or being driven around), the 125cc bikes were crud and off putting, but once on the 500cc it was huge smiles a plenty and lots of fast riding.
Liked it so much so I've been riding ever since.
End result going the bike route was playing with new toys for the whole week (riding not just talking about it or being driven around), the 125cc bikes were crud and off putting, but once on the 500cc it was huge smiles a plenty and lots of fast riding.
Liked it so much so I've been riding ever since.
I got my dad a Lamborghini Murcielago experience gift pack, I think it was from buyagift.com was £299 anyway. We arrived late due to getting lost our booking time was 10.00 we arrived at 2pmSo the Murcielago had gone, they let him into a Gallardo egear instead so wasn’t too bad, basically he had a training course then 5 laps in a Subaru Impreza STI, the he got let into the Gallardo to do 5 laps there wasn’t any dual controls or the like, it lasted around 3/4hrs and was a very good day out and well worth the money
Where was this mate?, i think my sisters boyfriend went there and drove a Lambo (not sure which one). He said it was good but from the videos my sister took he didnt look to be going very fast.
I done a Porsche one at Croft last year and it wasnt dual controlled. Brilliant fun.
I did the R8 one at the end of April with everyman racing at Prestwold Hall in Leicestershire.
Very good instructor who let me give it the beans and was just telling me the correct lines and braking points. No dual controls.
Course was ok, little chicane area near the pits for some good photo's
Very good instructor who let me give it the beans and was just telling me the correct lines and braking points. No dual controls.
Course was ok, little chicane area near the pits for some good photo's
I think that was me - April last year.
The instructor was an arse cavity.
I could have driven round quicker on a moped.
Most of these events are pretty poor value in real terms as you get about 10-15 minutes at most in the car you paid to drive. I can understand that value is a personal thing and we all have a different view of it, but I would not do one of these "Red Letter" style events myself unless is was a present of course. In the main it comes down to the instructor more than anything. Some want to spend the entire time telling you how great they are, some want to 'manage' you tightly and the best ones simply let you get on with it and put you at ease, allowing you to enjoy your brief time behind the wheel.
I took my Caterham to a track day and the instructor there also did 'track day experiences'.
He said that there were people who listened and didn't go above 4k rpm on the familiarisation laps and drove with their head not their ego.
Then there were the people who just wanted to cane the nuts of the cars. They ended up a lot slower and were held in check by the instructors with rev limits and tened to get fewer laps as well.
He said that there were people who listened and didn't go above 4k rpm on the familiarisation laps and drove with their head not their ego.
Then there were the people who just wanted to cane the nuts of the cars. They ended up a lot slower and were held in check by the instructors with rev limits and tened to get fewer laps as well.
Going by Silverstone's requirements 'Height Requirements: 5ft 2ins - 6ft 4ins' http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/de_ferrari_exp.html
Others may vary though.
Soldato
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Mine said max was 6'6.
So i took off my shoes, off my socks, flattened down my hair, and decided that ... yep ... i was definitely 6'5.
No questions asked when I was there
There's always an idiot with a flag who starts flailing about when I make my dad spin though
It was OK, I did the TVR one. There are not dual controls but they do grab the wheel partly to help you with the lines.. They also police you and make you brake very early etc etc. Tbh I had much more fun doing a track day in my own car. I got some tuition in one session for that and the quality of instruction was much better. The whole day was much better value and more rewarding tbh.
I did my Gallardo one from driverdreamdays. About £110 reduced for driven round in scooby for a few laps to familiarize yourself, then onto the lambo.
Got taken to the Murcialago instead and got to rag it around bruntingthorpe which is a proper circuit not some bit of tarmac with cones. On the final part on the last lap we ignored the chicane and went out to the edge of the track. Last thing I saw from the speedo was 150+ as I switched into 6th gear and floored it again
Amazing, but was busy as it was the last one of the year in November. Instructor only had to use the engine cutout once when I purposfully tried to get the back end out a little
Got taken to the Murcialago instead and got to rag it around bruntingthorpe which is a proper circuit not some bit of tarmac with cones. On the final part on the last lap we ignored the chicane and went out to the edge of the track. Last thing I saw from the speedo was 150+ as I switched into 6th gear and floored it again
Amazing, but was busy as it was the last one of the year in November. Instructor only had to use the engine cutout once when I purposfully tried to get the back end out a little
thought it might have been you, but couldnt remember
at least im not going mad. Everybody on here seems to rate them, appears you just got an idiot
Associate
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- 18 Oct 2002
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I did a Ferrari 360 one at Rockingham a few weeks back, my girlfriend got me it for Xmas.
Brilliant fun, maybe expensive and you only get about 4 laps but I had a smile on my face for days
Don't know if they had dual controls or not but if they did they didn't use them, he did occasionally slightly help with the wheel to get me on the correct line but nothing major.
To be honest it was my first track experience and he was trying to push me, I was worried that I would be held back but it was me that was holding the car back (remember that you are driving a very expensive car with questionable liability if you crash, plus if you do spin it you waste your time and others - so you are carefull).
And my car wasn't limited (certainly not rev limited) at I had it reving a lot higher than 3-4k (think it was about 7k) - I was limited to 3/4th gear but that was mainly due to the Rockingham track being small and tight (you race the national circuit not the oval banking).
I also got in a video car so have a DVD of the day - no i'm not going to post it because all i'll get it "God you look fat" "you drive like a granny"
If you have never done it then I would say go for it, brilliant fun and a day to remember.
Brilliant fun, maybe expensive and you only get about 4 laps but I had a smile on my face for days
Don't know if they had dual controls or not but if they did they didn't use them, he did occasionally slightly help with the wheel to get me on the correct line but nothing major.
To be honest it was my first track experience and he was trying to push me, I was worried that I would be held back but it was me that was holding the car back (remember that you are driving a very expensive car with questionable liability if you crash, plus if you do spin it you waste your time and others - so you are carefull).
And my car wasn't limited (certainly not rev limited) at I had it reving a lot higher than 3-4k (think it was about 7k) - I was limited to 3/4th gear but that was mainly due to the Rockingham track being small and tight (you race the national circuit not the oval banking).
I also got in a video car so have a DVD of the day - no i'm not going to post it because all i'll get it "God you look fat" "you drive like a granny"
If you have never done it then I would say go for it, brilliant fun and a day to remember.
No good for the OP due to location, but the best value "experience" I had was at Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge. £150 I think it was got you a full hour hooning around in 500bhp AMGs. Because the whole operation is bankrolled by MB and they contract in racing drivers to do the instructing, they don't really care about the cars all that much. There was a lot of smoke and burning rubber in my hour as we simulated trying to pull away through 90 degrees in the wet with full power!
Much like others have described, it is the instructors that make most experiences. On the AMG one, they focus more on how electric stability programmes have helped move things on and get you to do a lot with the driver aids on and off so you can learn to adapt the driving and see the help you are given by modern cars. The most fun of all I had was the slowest part of the course where you spend 10 minutes learning how to control the car in a constant drift around a circular skid pan. Oh and you get a cool DVD of the hour with three cameras focussed on your face, out the front window and what the speedo/rev counter and ESP were all doing as you drove.
I've been with my brother on a couple of supercar experiences and they were never really that much fun because as has been said, you are not encouraged to drive the cars hard or particularly fast.
Much like others have described, it is the instructors that make most experiences. On the AMG one, they focus more on how electric stability programmes have helped move things on and get you to do a lot with the driver aids on and off so you can learn to adapt the driving and see the help you are given by modern cars. The most fun of all I had was the slowest part of the course where you spend 10 minutes learning how to control the car in a constant drift around a circular skid pan. Oh and you get a cool DVD of the hour with three cameras focussed on your face, out the front window and what the speedo/rev counter and ESP were all doing as you drove.
I've been with my brother on a couple of supercar experiences and they were never really that much fun because as has been said, you are not encouraged to drive the cars hard or particularly fast.
i did a 1000hp challange near oxford on an old airfield, had a really good day.....drove a ferrari 360, porche 911, an impreza that had been fettled with, and a lotus elise, got about 5 laps in each of the cars on a fairly small coned circuit.
Had 4 different instructors, and as previously mentioned you can have a good one or a carp one, luck of the draw! Ferrari one was ok, let me boot it a fair bit, as did the Porsche one, the scoobie one was best, she was encouraging me to go as fast as possible, and gave me an extra lap because got stuck behind some pussy in the Ferrari! but the lotus one was a joke, stupid women!!
No duel controls, did have a cut-off button which didn't get used, in the ferrari and porsche wasn't aloud to boot it in 1st gear to save the gearbox, there was a camera man there but his pictures weren't any better then the ones my old man had took and he charged a small fortune for them!
Had 4 different instructors, and as previously mentioned you can have a good one or a carp one, luck of the draw! Ferrari one was ok, let me boot it a fair bit, as did the Porsche one, the scoobie one was best, she was encouraging me to go as fast as possible, and gave me an extra lap because got stuck behind some pussy in the Ferrari! but the lotus one was a joke, stupid women!!
No duel controls, did have a cut-off button which didn't get used, in the ferrari and porsche wasn't aloud to boot it in 1st gear to save the gearbox, there was a camera man there but his pictures weren't any better then the ones my old man had took and he charged a small fortune for them!