Super car Driving Experiences

Business Man

Business Man

Business Man

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Has anyone done one of these before and would you recommend it ?

I'm turning 30 in December and I thought this would be a good present, I know i'll never own one of these cars unless i won the lottery so it would be something to remember and good experience i would hope.

I'm edging towards an Atom and an R8, good choice ?

I'm currently living near Manchester at the moment, are there any tracks near to it that you would recommend that would allow me to get the best speed out of these cars ? :D

Thanks
 
Did one, but it wasn't a "super car" (Maserati and DB9), but they're a complete waste of money and very underwhelming imo. I did 3 laps in each which is quite normal so I assume that's what you'll do, and it's over before you even get used to the clutch really. Plus no real chance to go much faster than your day-to-day car because the tracks tend to be coned with few straights and you're normally sat in with the owner. Wouldn't bother tbh.
 
I did a Ferrari one a few years ago and agree with the above. Underwhelming.

You get to drive it. Just like you would your own car on the way to the shops. You most certainly don't get to razz about it in. They limit revs, you're not allowed to accelerate vigorously etc.

Good article in Autocar a couple of weeks back on the same subject. The guy recommended gokarting instead. Cheaper and more fun.
 
Business Man said:
Has anyone done one of these before and would you recommend it ?

I'm turning 30 in December and I thought this would be a good present, I know i'll never own one of these cars unless i won the lottery so it would be something to remember and good experience i would hope.

I'm edging towards an Atom and an R8, good choice ?

I'm currently living near Manchester at the moment, are there any tracks near to it that you would recommend that would allow me to get the best speed out of these cars ? :D

Thanks
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Id change the r8 for something more exotic, frankly, its a boring ride.

The atom is terrifying :) Take a spare change of underwear.
 
The only "cheap" one that was at all fun for me was the AMG experience at Mercedes Benz World at Brooklands as they encourage you to rag the cars and you can learn a little drifting. Problem is they're not really super cars. The others have been underwhelming as described by many above.
 
AMG experience at MB World is fantastic, not exactly super cars but they're not exactly slow and you are encouraged to actually rag the bejesus out of the things, along with taking them on skid pans etc. for a play.

I've done a day at Thruxton which was fairly good but I only did the Caymans and Single Seaters, none of the supercars so i've no idea how much they nanny you in those.
 
These events are all about selling pictures of you sat in a Ferrari to brag to your mates not properly experiencing a supercar. Waste of money.
 
I have to say that my experience was nowhere near as negative as the above. I drove a Gallardo and a F430, and had an epic time. Admittedly, 2 laps each car was about as satisfying as a strip club, but I was allowed to go as fast as I could. They make you brake really early, and tell you to shift early (I pretended not to hear until I was where I wanted to be, which only takes a second in those cars). I really want to get one on a proper track and have more time, but for under £100 that isn't going to happen, so given the choice of not doing anything, or having 4 laps in cars I could never drive any other way, I say take the 4 laps!

In short: for what it was, it was fantastic, but if I had more money it would have been worth spending it to get more time on a better track.

The Gallardo was the most fun on the straights (lots and lots and lots of power, nice fast shifts), and the Ferrari was the most intuitive to drive in the corners. I recommend them both.
 
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Ive done several and I loved them all, but would only recommend one. Single seater racing experiences. Nothing like feeling a tiny bit like ur in an F1 car
 
I had one a few years ago and had 4 car (4 lap) experience and then a passenger lap in an atom as a gift. I was worried (mainly due to the above feedback which is common) but I enjoyed it a lot. There is a ton of upsell as commented but as long as you ignore that and are prepared to wait around quite a bit (it takes half a day for 4 cars :( ) it's a good laugh. The cars varied in terms of niceness though - the atom was extremely new (although he drove the wheels off it) but the 911t had a dead spoiler (rest was in good standing though) and the ferraris clutch was absolutely shagged. On the other side I was at bruntingthorpe which has a very long straight after a moderate speed corner allowing you to hit some quite high speeds and the atom lap was ballistic - the driver was absolutely crazy and that lap was the thing I remember most about the day.
 
I did one back in June and had a good time. I did 8 laps in 2 cars, an F430 and Gallardo and although I didn't really enjoy the F430 cause I'm a short arse and couldn't see comfortably over the dash which made me fell uneasy, the Lambo I just loved.

The track wasn't really a track, it was an airfield with cones marking out a pseudo track with a few kinks and the straights weren't really long enough but the instructor never once asked me to back off, in fact he was encouraging me to floor it earlier. The instructor I had was some young kid who races in the Touring Car races.
 
I did one at thruxton and it really was worth the time/money

5th gear in a 997 turbo, pinning it at 130 and being comprehensively stuffed into the seat was a right giggle
 
Seems to be dependant upon the location. If it's not a real "track" like Brands, Thruxton or similar, ignore it.

I attended one a few years ago. Drove a (slightly ill) 911, Gallardo, DB9 and 360. Track was an old airfield with some cones, i.e. crap. To finish it off, it was badly setup (braking "cones" were in the wrong place on one corner) and the organisers were really p1ssy. Just RUBBISH.

If you want fun on track, get yourself into an outdoor pro-kart. 65mph with some genuine racing, miles more fun.
 
i did an Audi TT day years ago. they didnt want you to rev over 4k or exceed 90mph.

that was at Brands and a total waste of time.
 
I really enjoyed mine.

I think I enjoyed mine more, as it was a car I really aspire to own, but know I never will (Nissan GTR). So having 4 laps was enough to give me a huge buzz.

My instructor was really good, let me floor it, and encouraged me to progress quickly.
 
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