Buyagift Aston Driving Experience - Complete Crap!!!
Discussion
Jon999 said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qemU_bcw98
Maybe he was worried about stuff like the above!
Book a VXR Power Event next year if you can, fantastic hour on track.
Totally agree with this, best £35 quid I ever spent. Maybe he was worried about stuff like the above!
Book a VXR Power Event next year if you can, fantastic hour on track.
Edited by Jon999 on Wednesday 20th August 21:15
As above, most (but not all) instructors are happy to push you very hard so long as listen to thier instruction.
Unhappy I missed out this year.
boobles said:
I actually really enjoyed my Lambo experience at Silverstone through Virgin Experiences.
Sounds like the complete opposite to what you experienced. They were all enthusiastic & actually encouraging me to drive faster.... I really enjoyed the whole afternoon. Guess it depends who you book it with.
Me too Sounds like the complete opposite to what you experienced. They were all enthusiastic & actually encouraging me to drive faster.... I really enjoyed the whole afternoon. Guess it depends who you book it with.
Jon999 said:
I've done a few of these at various places and they are always a fun day out. I don't expect huge amounts of laps but the instructors have always been decent and you usually end up flying along at the end.
I usually end up paying to drive an additional car (or three), usually when an Atom is there :Hehe:
The thing with these days is your prior experience of fast/sporty cars, your experience of track driving (even things like karts etc), and your expectations, completely change the way you perceive the experience.
If you've only really driven average hatchbacks and family cars, and never driven anything "in anger" then just being in a supercar on a track where you can occasionally use full throttle is a huge buzz. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a regular trackday goer then clearly to get your "supercar on track" fix you're going to want to push the car MUCH harder.
Personally, I have done one of these type of days at Thruxton (when I didn't really have much track experience) and found it rather disappointing. Had about 4 laps in a 430, first 2 were spent with traction control in some kind of snow mode and it therefore refusing to even accelerate properly, after I pointed this out politely to the instructor they then put it in "normal" mode for the next 2, but it was very much a "don't push it at all" experience. Very dull to me. Then had 5 laps in some kind of single seater (seemed like a 25 year low powered formula ford, but i'm not sure), honestly this was actually quite good fun, as it was very unlike anything else I'd driven, and i didn't have an instructor next to me. That said, i did get several "SLOW DOWN" boards over the laps, so any more than the 5 laps would have been a total waste.
Personally I'd never do an "experience a supercar" type day again. On the flip side, i've done both Palmersport and a Caterham Drift day and they were both a HUGE amount of fun. I would recommend either wholeheartedly.
If you've only really driven average hatchbacks and family cars, and never driven anything "in anger" then just being in a supercar on a track where you can occasionally use full throttle is a huge buzz. At the other end of the spectrum, if you're a regular trackday goer then clearly to get your "supercar on track" fix you're going to want to push the car MUCH harder.
Personally, I have done one of these type of days at Thruxton (when I didn't really have much track experience) and found it rather disappointing. Had about 4 laps in a 430, first 2 were spent with traction control in some kind of snow mode and it therefore refusing to even accelerate properly, after I pointed this out politely to the instructor they then put it in "normal" mode for the next 2, but it was very much a "don't push it at all" experience. Very dull to me. Then had 5 laps in some kind of single seater (seemed like a 25 year low powered formula ford, but i'm not sure), honestly this was actually quite good fun, as it was very unlike anything else I'd driven, and i didn't have an instructor next to me. That said, i did get several "SLOW DOWN" boards over the laps, so any more than the 5 laps would have been a total waste.
Personally I'd never do an "experience a supercar" type day again. On the flip side, i've done both Palmersport and a Caterham Drift day and they were both a HUGE amount of fun. I would recommend either wholeheartedly.
Yep I think perception is the main issue with these days. I'm sure a lot of husbands/wives buy these as presents because their other halves are trackday regulars, and think it would be a great gift to do it in a supercar instead.
Realistically you'll likely be lapping your Lambo slower than your 182 at home, but for people who have never driven on track or have ever owned a "fast car" - I'm sure it's an epic day out.
My Missus bought be a rally day with Extreme Rally at Bradford, shortly after I bought my Impreza. I'd never done an experience day, but had read a tonne of threads similar to the OP here, so I was nervous and was expecting to lie about how much I enjoyed it.
As it happened, it was excellent. Sure I trundled the Group N Impreza round at a snails pace, but I was going sideways in deep/soft mud, steering with the throttle and doing things that I've never done in my road car before. It was superb, because it was totally new to me, and I felt a significant improvement after just 3 laps. I WILL be going back again for a full day, as I spoke to a pair of lads who were there doing a full day - and as they kept getting the same instructor, it helped them both learn through the day and gradually push the cars harder and harder.
Realistically you'll likely be lapping your Lambo slower than your 182 at home, but for people who have never driven on track or have ever owned a "fast car" - I'm sure it's an epic day out.
My Missus bought be a rally day with Extreme Rally at Bradford, shortly after I bought my Impreza. I'd never done an experience day, but had read a tonne of threads similar to the OP here, so I was nervous and was expecting to lie about how much I enjoyed it.
As it happened, it was excellent. Sure I trundled the Group N Impreza round at a snails pace, but I was going sideways in deep/soft mud, steering with the throttle and doing things that I've never done in my road car before. It was superb, because it was totally new to me, and I felt a significant improvement after just 3 laps. I WILL be going back again for a full day, as I spoke to a pair of lads who were there doing a full day - and as they kept getting the same instructor, it helped them both learn through the day and gradually push the cars harder and harder.
I've done 2 experience days and both were very different.
The first was a day at Silverstone in a 111R and the instructor was a complete and utter Nazi. Within moments of being in the car I was being 'barked' at to change up at 6k which in a 111R is absurd. Naturally I though f
k that and kept my foot in until 8k for every st meant our relationship was never going to end well....
The other day I did was in a normal S1 Elise at Thruxton and the instructor was awesome. I went hard from the start and the whole time received good feedback about where I could alter my lines and breaking points for more speed. Thoroughly great time.
Pot luck it seems, so I'll stick to regular track days I think. So unless my numbers come up doesn't look like I'll be driving anything exotic. The prospect of getting behind a wheel of something fruity but being told when to shift is ludicrous.
The first was a day at Silverstone in a 111R and the instructor was a complete and utter Nazi. Within moments of being in the car I was being 'barked' at to change up at 6k which in a 111R is absurd. Naturally I though f
k that and kept my foot in until 8k for every st meant our relationship was never going to end well....The other day I did was in a normal S1 Elise at Thruxton and the instructor was awesome. I went hard from the start and the whole time received good feedback about where I could alter my lines and breaking points for more speed. Thoroughly great time.
Pot luck it seems, so I'll stick to regular track days I think. So unless my numbers come up doesn't look like I'll be driving anything exotic. The prospect of getting behind a wheel of something fruity but being told when to shift is ludicrous.
TB Rich said:
Pot luck it seems, so I'll stick to regular track days I think. So unless my numbers come up doesn't look like I'll be driving anything exotic. The prospect of getting behind a wheel of something fruity but being told when to shift is ludicrous.
When you do have the dosh, hire a race car and a race instructor.
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