24hrs with an R8 Spyder...
Discussion
ironictwist said:
Jimmy No Hands said:
Great write up. Dare I ask roughly what kind of money it costs to be a member? Had a quick look on the site but its a bit confusing. No doubt more than I can justify!
Well, you can be a member for just under £2k inc vat, but I paid a little extra to massively minimize the amount I'm subject to if I end up writing the car off, so the total sum I paid was just under £3k inc vat...I'll be claiming the VAT back personally. But regardless, they also then reduce the risk of writing the car off by performing the training day with new members so they can vet you for an extended period and in some cases they've refused membership, as after all, if someone prangs one of their vehicles it will only hike up their own insurance 
Then to not hamper cash flow, 10 monthly payments of £520 inc vat. So it's not bargain basement, but it wouldnt be with these types of cars anyway. The flipside is that if you look around the net at other firms where you can drive cars like this they normally require £3/4k up front as a deposit, then you have a significant daily charge for the rental of the car and I personally found that difficult to swallow if you're taking out a car a few times a year, each time you're then stumping up a significant sum deposit...The nice thing about this is, I'm paying a sizeable sum (Enough to buy a RX8 is how I view it!) then pay the monthly rate I would be paying on a Hire Purchase of a really nice car, except I get to drive about 10+ other cars. A bit of man maths may be, but it's the affordability factor that it did it for me...The last thing I wanted to do was giving away £4k as a security deposit, a further £4k on a collision damage waiver, then maybe a £700-1000 daily rate rental sum for an SLS/458/MP4, it's an awful lot of money then just for 1 day!
Edited by ironictwist on Monday 21st January 12:26
Highly recommended, a great bunch of real enthusiasts running it.
djon said:
Nice write up, sounds like you enjoyed it even more than in the first outing! It was a pleasure to spend the day sat next to you. Looking forward to reading the future reviews.
Back at you Jon...& I have to confess I really did, it just came into it's own when it hit the early hours, but the video you'll see at a later date will show that anyway gazchap said:
Hmm, I've got a spot of cash knocking around after selling my M5 and downsizing, this is very tempting.
Only thing is I'm not anywhere even close to London, I'm a good 150 miles away. I'll have to see if I can find out what they charge for delivery and collection.
They do have members that are quite a distance away so it definitely can't hurt to call them & ask Only thing is I'm not anywhere even close to London, I'm a good 150 miles away. I'll have to see if I can find out what they charge for delivery and collection.
brilliant article allround..the car is amazing and looks sensational in the photos. I am addicted to Convertibles, especially with big engines and rear wheel drive. Every drive is an occasion with the roof down. Some of my best days in life have been at the wheel of a topless car, winter or summer, day or night..
ironictwist said:
Garlick said:
Did you park it outside?
The SLS or the R8?Great write up OP. Looking forward to the next
StottyZr said:
What a thread...Comical read! Cheers for the tip.jon- said:
What happened to the video you were shooting with the car?
Still being edited chap...Then we shall release come launch time Beefmeister said:
Lovely writeup and I can't agree with you more about the virtues of Supercar Clubs. Can't agree with your choice of club, but each to their own..
Look forward to reading more reviews!
Thanks Mr.B! I have to confess that reading your posts from way back when you first started using the club was what got me thinking about the idea in the first place Look forward to reading more reviews!
Enjoyed your past exploits!Am I right in saying the Singapore membership option allows you to cover 1000miles total?
Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
StottyZr said:
Am I right in saying the Singapore membership option allows you to cover 1000miles total?
Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
You might want to look at ecurie25, they have a Wakefield clubhouse so you could drive there then pick the cars up. Plus the cars from e25 don't have a mileage limit as such, you get 50 miles per day free then the extra miles are charged depending on the level of car. All details are on the website but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and I'll let you know what I can...Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
Beefmeister said:
StottyZr said:
Am I right in saying the Singapore membership option allows you to cover 1000miles total?
Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
You might want to look at ecurie25, they have a Wakefield clubhouse so you could drive there then pick the cars up. Plus the cars from e25 don't have a mileage limit as such, you get 50 miles per day free then the extra miles are charged depending on the level of car. All details are on the website but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and I'll let you know what I can...Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
StottyZr said:
Beefmeister said:
StottyZr said:
Am I right in saying the Singapore membership option allows you to cover 1000miles total?
Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
You might want to look at ecurie25, they have a Wakefield clubhouse so you could drive there then pick the cars up. Plus the cars from e25 don't have a mileage limit as such, you get 50 miles per day free then the extra miles are charged depending on the level of car. All details are on the website but if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and I'll let you know what I can...Ideally for me I'd like to cover 150miles each time I rented a car (snakes pass round trip) which means I'd max out my miles after 6 cars and only amount to using 72 of the 300 allocated points with my car selection!
I ask as I'm quite interested in a club like this, your write up is quite thought provoking
My reason for membership was I wanted to utilise the cars as content for my company launching in a few weeks time, the cars seemed ideal in creating pre launch content! & as a result I wanted to spend the least amount possible & gain maximum impact from it! So originally I looked at ecurie but like yourself I didnt want to spend nigh on £13,000 while in the 1st year of the company...Despite the fact they have a fantastic range of cars!
So for me personally P1 made more financial sense so I could control my usage on a monthly basis & ultimately keep my costs down...Twinned with the fact they're VERY close to my unit, it seemed the logical choice.To date I have done:
24hrs in an R8
24hrs in an SLS
Weekend in an SLS (Needed for an event on a Friday)
24hrs in a 458
Now going back to points v miles. On initial sign up I was given 1000 miles & 300 points...Now the bulk of people would use the membership to take the car out on a weekend, thats where the demand is! So for those with the chunkier packages with hundreds and hundreds of points, sure! But in my case, taking the SLS for the weekend used up 90 points. But for the other 3 experiences have only cost me 8-10 points each.
Theoretically I can take out an SLS Monday PM, drop it back Friday AM & it would only cost me 40 points. You could commute in it for the week
But what Im saying is to get the best value out of the clubs, go down the weekday route. Now with regards to miles, its very easy to get carried away with this...A friend of mine lives down in Devon and because of my experience he's also recently signed up...Now mileage wise he can make it work to his advantage as he has a good friend with a trailer who's willing to pick the car up, trailer it down to Devon for next to nothing so his miles then start when the cars unloaded. I am shortly going to be doing the same as the primary promo material I wanted to use the cars for (with in London) is done for the moment...Essentially if you're going for the low end packages you just have to be organised & methodical in HOW you use those miles, & with that in mind you can have a silly amount of fun with little outlay...It's actually why I did 24hr stints in them, because come the early hours in London the roads are empty, you're not travelling that far at all distance wise & you're driving the car constantly & every time I've done this I've become smitten & very comfortable with the thing, whether it's been the R8, SLS or the 458.
Genuinely for the money I've spent to date it's paid for itself content wise but also the experiences it's given me (& most importantly for those who I've let sit in them, rev them, have pictures/videos taken in them)...Frankly, it's given me some memories I'll take to the grave
& I'm sure Beefmeister can attest to this also, it's the experience of these cars which is what these clubs are all about.Stay tuned for the SLS/458 write ups
- Still have the MP4 12C, California, F430, Murcielago, GTR, Gallardo Spyder, Bentley GTC's, Rapide, Caterham to try & of course they've got some newer stuff due in the coming months too Edited by ironictwist on Wednesday 20th February 03:02
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