So I got the drive of my dreams on Friday (1/6/12). It was a Christmas present courtesy of the other half, and I had delayed booking until June for the hope of better weather.
I booked it local at Elvington outside York. We decided to make a little weekend break out of it too, and stayed just outside Leeds the night before.
My drive was booked for 10am, so we arrived at Elvington for just before 9am. I signed in at the tent and made my way to the queue for the demo lap. This was well organised and there were 3 cars taking the customers around the 1.5mile circuit. My time came up and I sat in the Subaru Imprezza and was shown the course by the instructor. Once this was over it was time to wait my turn in the GTR.
Finally my name got called, and I was about to embark upon something that has only happened while I have been asleep! I sat in the car and was cocooned in the leather and alcantara bucket seats. Everything was positioned perfectly and I felt at home already! I was given a brief introduction to the car, and the instructions on using the semi-automatic paddle shift gears. Once the chat was over it was onto the drive.
I exited the holding area on progressed towards to the track entering the coned "pit lane exit" area, the track was clear and it was time to get on my way. I gradually applied the power and was instantly guided by the instructor "more power, more power". This was a pleasant surprise already as I had heard about being held back from pushing too hard. After the second corner we had passed the Audi R8, and heading to the chicane and 90 degree right hander. The car was planted, and showed no dramas at all, I couldn't understand how this heavy, wide and powerful beast didn't lean nor did I hear a the tyres even shudder under hard cornering. Onto the long sweeping last corner of the lap and the awd system shows its presence. Despite my brain telling me I had just under 500 screaming horses going through the wheels and it couldn't be possible for the back end not to want to stick out. It just gripped and the corner was over in a flash! Then the back straight was upon us, and the taps were opened "more power" again from the instructor!! We passed the Aston Martin DB9 here. My confidence grew after each lap, and I just wanted to keep going. I had lost count of how many laps I had done, and we were catching up a Lamborghini Gallardo (in green), and on the final lap I had caught up and we were both on the back straight and the GTR was reeling it in!
Once the drive was over I entered back into the holding area and parked up to have a de-brief from the instructor. Then the realisation of what had just happened kicked in. I was "in the zone" to speak while on track and was focusing on my lines and not crashing the supercar which I had full control over, I didn't really take in what was actually happening. It was the greatest experience of my life, and I'm already thinking about getting out on the track again, and about the next time I will be able to drive a GTR!
The GTR is by far my favourite car, and probably always will be. It blows my mind that a 3.8 V6 can not only keep up with V8 and V10 cars, but also it doesn't look out of place at all. There was a plethora of high end super cars on display that day, but I couldn't keep my eyes of the GTR.
Anyway to sum up the day! The GTR surpassed my expectations, I thought the flappy paddle would annoy me, but it didn't, as on the track it works. Your already focusing so much on your braking and lines, and everything around you. Having the paddle shift just makes it easier, and the gear changes are extremely smooth. The car didn't push me back into my seat as much as I thought it would. The power was more progressive, and it just happened without and drama, I actually liked this. The handling was out of this world, the power seemed to travel straight from the engine onto the tarmac and you were off! There was no body roll at all. Interior was immaculate and I love how the centre console faces the driver. The seats felt as though they were tailor made for my frame, I certainly wasn't moving anywhere!
And for the lazy ones, here are a couple of pictures and a video of the day
.
(The video quality has degraded as I don't have any decent editing software yet)
Teasing!
I booked it local at Elvington outside York. We decided to make a little weekend break out of it too, and stayed just outside Leeds the night before.
My drive was booked for 10am, so we arrived at Elvington for just before 9am. I signed in at the tent and made my way to the queue for the demo lap. This was well organised and there were 3 cars taking the customers around the 1.5mile circuit. My time came up and I sat in the Subaru Imprezza and was shown the course by the instructor. Once this was over it was time to wait my turn in the GTR.
Finally my name got called, and I was about to embark upon something that has only happened while I have been asleep! I sat in the car and was cocooned in the leather and alcantara bucket seats. Everything was positioned perfectly and I felt at home already! I was given a brief introduction to the car, and the instructions on using the semi-automatic paddle shift gears. Once the chat was over it was onto the drive.
I exited the holding area on progressed towards to the track entering the coned "pit lane exit" area, the track was clear and it was time to get on my way. I gradually applied the power and was instantly guided by the instructor "more power, more power". This was a pleasant surprise already as I had heard about being held back from pushing too hard. After the second corner we had passed the Audi R8, and heading to the chicane and 90 degree right hander. The car was planted, and showed no dramas at all, I couldn't understand how this heavy, wide and powerful beast didn't lean nor did I hear a the tyres even shudder under hard cornering. Onto the long sweeping last corner of the lap and the awd system shows its presence. Despite my brain telling me I had just under 500 screaming horses going through the wheels and it couldn't be possible for the back end not to want to stick out. It just gripped and the corner was over in a flash! Then the back straight was upon us, and the taps were opened "more power" again from the instructor!! We passed the Aston Martin DB9 here. My confidence grew after each lap, and I just wanted to keep going. I had lost count of how many laps I had done, and we were catching up a Lamborghini Gallardo (in green), and on the final lap I had caught up and we were both on the back straight and the GTR was reeling it in!
Once the drive was over I entered back into the holding area and parked up to have a de-brief from the instructor. Then the realisation of what had just happened kicked in. I was "in the zone" to speak while on track and was focusing on my lines and not crashing the supercar which I had full control over, I didn't really take in what was actually happening. It was the greatest experience of my life, and I'm already thinking about getting out on the track again, and about the next time I will be able to drive a GTR!
The GTR is by far my favourite car, and probably always will be. It blows my mind that a 3.8 V6 can not only keep up with V8 and V10 cars, but also it doesn't look out of place at all. There was a plethora of high end super cars on display that day, but I couldn't keep my eyes of the GTR.
Anyway to sum up the day! The GTR surpassed my expectations, I thought the flappy paddle would annoy me, but it didn't, as on the track it works. Your already focusing so much on your braking and lines, and everything around you. Having the paddle shift just makes it easier, and the gear changes are extremely smooth. The car didn't push me back into my seat as much as I thought it would. The power was more progressive, and it just happened without and drama, I actually liked this. The handling was out of this world, the power seemed to travel straight from the engine onto the tarmac and you were off! There was no body roll at all. Interior was immaculate and I love how the centre console faces the driver. The seats felt as though they were tailor made for my frame, I certainly wasn't moving anywhere!
And for the lazy ones, here are a couple of pictures and a video of the day
.
Teasing!
