24hrs with an R8 Spyder...
Discussion
Like many PH'ers I've always wanted to be behind the wheel of a supercar ever since I was little...My car history has been a mix of admittedly somewhat girlyish convertibles to luxobarges...However I am very much an advocate of roof down whenever possible, it just seems to intensify the driving experience for me, especially when you're amid an incredible driving moment on the perfect road (As has been the case in the past few Alpine tours I've done), it just adds an extra dimension to give you the ultimate driving nirvana.
And although I'm not far from taking delivery of (In my view) the ultimate extreme open top hoonigan machine I've got to the stage where I wanted to sample a few supercars also...Ownership would be lovely but I'm an average bloke and dont have the necessary spare funds to plough into something from the core protagonists of all things supercar. So I had a brainwave, why not plump for a supercar club? Minimal outlay, maximum effect! No depreciation to worry about, no maintenace costs, no insurance woes, no concerns about where to keep it safe! Just turn up an enjoy! Same principle as the tours I go on, ideal!!
After watching the market for the past 12-18 months and pondering over which club to plump for, I finally made the call and signed up to P1 International, they're not far from my work, have a lovely fleet & it just seemed amazingly affordable considering the selection on offer...So I jumped in!
A week later I went out in their lovely White Audi R8 Spyder for 5hrs with their trainer to make sure I drove/handled/treated the car respectfully & that my roadcraft knowledge was up to par!
Then 1 week later...Thursday 17th, it began! I arrived to this lovely sight that day!
That's a sight to make most men wibble! So after we went through the formalities of the handover of the car where to make sure any little nicks and what not are noted on the car before setting off, I handed my Z4's keys over! I then had this view all to myself!
Now thankfully I was already familiar with the car! On my training day, after spending hours driving around & getting used to the paddle shift gearbox and the quirks of driving with this (against the manuals I've only ever been used to) took time on my first ride out, but coming back to the car again meant that previous session of gaining experience & familiarity was ideal in aiding me in driving the car for later on in the evening.
My destination, Putney in London. We were to be filming the car for a video we were making, and the R8 was the star of the film! Now I picked up the car just before 3ish, school kicking out time! And I was rumbling my way through from P1's base in Epsom up to Putney via the R8's frankly wonderful Sat Nav, it dawned me I was driving a supercar! The rumble of the V8 when passing crowds, the school kids walking past with massive grins and thumbs up! So this is what supercar ownership is like! It was surreal, flattering really! But thats the effect that these cars just have, so as many supercar driving individuals had done in my youth, I revved the R8 and gave them something to remember as had been done for me many years before! This was gonna be the start of a fun day!
Now the R8 is sometimes branded a bit sensible, & I can see why...It doesn't shout with the same flamboyance as a Ferrari or Lamborghini, it's actually quite understated aside from that amazing shape and the DRL's blazing, you would never assume it is what it is. Hell it's quiet on idle, but with just a swift bootful the character of the car changes as you rev all the way upto 8000rpm you realise this is a proper supercar, it's civilised, nimble, responsive and EASY (so ridiculously easy!) to drive in town that it becomes forgivable to forget that when you get a clear bit of road and let rip, IT IS a supercar & it's ridiculously quick in exploiting gaps and making progress through town.
So as I arrived in Putney and left it parked on the road, stood a distance away, the looks of passers by, the school children, young, old, male, female, everyone would look. Genuinely fascinating seeing the attention, the comments and the looks that it would attract & it then dawned on me I wouldn't mind one as a daily, but as the clock struck 6, we departed for the start of the evening filming, and thats when the real fun was had
The R8 parked up in Putney with our camera van, where the crew were sitting through the night as they filmed!
For the next 7hrs I was driving the car through the evening, from Putney through to Canary Wharf & back a number of times following our camera car filming it all. We made our way through the streets of Chelsea, up to the usual background of Sloane St, through to Picadilly along the Embankment down towards the City, London naturally proves to be the perfect backdrop for a car like this...But so was the reaction of people.
Us as PH'ers assume that with supercars the impact tends to be always negative, but it was only ever positive with the R8. Tourists would stop and stare, there was no consistency with who would remark on the car or react in an obvious manner to it, it seemed to be universal which was staggering for me as someone driving it, but it's ultimately reassuring as a driver that some supercars can still be void of stigma somewhat!
But the thing that was particularly fascinating about this all was the fact that you're almost leading a double life (In effect I was as we were filming after all!)...But these cars give an aura, people approach in a manner that they would NEVER normally do, people smile, people wink, people even cheer you on in traffic and compliment the car! To the extent where 2 eastern european tourists ran down the street following me to a red light I just stopped at. One then started posing while the other started snapping pictures of him with the car as the back drop. Surreal. & at that same light earlier in the evening, 2 japanese tourists, an elderly couple, stopped and the wife simply said "Look, what a nice car!!" then waited for me to set off. Just bizarre! So much for being anonymous, you become a focal point at traffic lights as we found! & an odd sight for those visiting a certain McDonalds in Wandsworth where it was parked up
But going back to the car, in a word, fantastic! The steerings lovely and agile! The ride, superb considering London's street's littered with the drainage covers and potholes, it would behave impeccably and meant that as a daily supercar you can pootle around in, I cant imagine what could beat it! & obviously you cant really push the car in London, but thanks to my sighting session in it, when you get it up to speed it really is brilliant and just so planted thanks to the Quattro setup, essentially making it so lightweight & just "chuckable" and fun.
Thankfully our route through the capital included many tunnels which as any educated PHer will know means a bit of fun can be had, and the R8 is IDEAL for this as you downshift to 2nd when you reach the Hyde Park underpass & just feed the throttle through and the chorus of V8 noise just builds and builds all the way up to 8000rpm! It's very very addictive, and with the roof down, unbelievable fun and most importantly loud!
After all our filming, we finished up at 4am. The R8 gave the film crew a bit of a photo opportunity so people could have their photos taken in it and we found due to the freezing temperatures that night it had an alternate use, I bring you the £80,000 hand warmer!
So it's just gone 4am...Time to go home for everyone. But...I'm not going home, I have keys to an R8 and I'm not due to give it back until 10am...Hmmm! Time to head to Canary Wharf! One of my favourite places to visit & what better time than at silly o clock when no-one's around, the roads are just yours, so are the tunnels.
& this drive is where I truly had my moment with the car because having it sitting there underneath the lights of the Wharf's building, gleaming, rumbling away, I GOT IT. I got the bug! I didnt want to give it back! Having the spent the afternoon, evening, the whole night with it and having my eyes opened to what supercar ownership was like, I didnt want to give it back! Admittedly, I felt quite attached to it as I had literally been driving it the past 12hrs straight! I mean...Why would you give it back, look at it
Smitten? Yes. The odd thing is I never even liked the R8 much prior to this, but it's very charming/flattering in the way it drives and the way it looks, especially in the colour combo I drove. You can't help get a little giddy over it after the period of time we spent together, everyone that came within a metre of it certainly did.
So after treating myself to a McDonalds breakfast by C.Wharf (The ultimate in luxury at 6am), I then started making my way back after what was an INCREDIBLE night with a wonderful car. & it was only when I got back to P1 @ 8am the next morning that I started to feel guilty,the kind of guilt that you feel as though you've cheated on your partner (Not that I ever have! But Im sure it feels like this!)
My beloved Z4 Tucked up with the fleets 458 for the night....It's that feeling where you've had an incredible night with a gorgeous woman, then go back the next morning to your loving partner who's been expecting you!!
We parked the R8 up just as the first few snowflakes hit Epsom on Friday morning...Then did the handover paperwork back at P1, and after a strong coffee I jumped back into the Z4, apologised for leaving it & willed it to get me home in the some what dodgy conditions on my 50 mile drive home in rush hour, in the snow
What a night & what a car...An eye opening experience to the sheer fun that can be had with these cars & a nice way to break me in. But for now, I just have to not so easy decision on what to take out next for a dinner in 2 weeks time, SLS? LP560? F430? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Either way, more posts on supercar club membership to come! Stay tuned!
And although I'm not far from taking delivery of (In my view) the ultimate extreme open top hoonigan machine I've got to the stage where I wanted to sample a few supercars also...Ownership would be lovely but I'm an average bloke and dont have the necessary spare funds to plough into something from the core protagonists of all things supercar. So I had a brainwave, why not plump for a supercar club? Minimal outlay, maximum effect! No depreciation to worry about, no maintenace costs, no insurance woes, no concerns about where to keep it safe! Just turn up an enjoy! Same principle as the tours I go on, ideal!!
After watching the market for the past 12-18 months and pondering over which club to plump for, I finally made the call and signed up to P1 International, they're not far from my work, have a lovely fleet & it just seemed amazingly affordable considering the selection on offer...So I jumped in!
A week later I went out in their lovely White Audi R8 Spyder for 5hrs with their trainer to make sure I drove/handled/treated the car respectfully & that my roadcraft knowledge was up to par!
Then 1 week later...Thursday 17th, it began! I arrived to this lovely sight that day!
That's a sight to make most men wibble! So after we went through the formalities of the handover of the car where to make sure any little nicks and what not are noted on the car before setting off, I handed my Z4's keys over! I then had this view all to myself!
Now thankfully I was already familiar with the car! On my training day, after spending hours driving around & getting used to the paddle shift gearbox and the quirks of driving with this (against the manuals I've only ever been used to) took time on my first ride out, but coming back to the car again meant that previous session of gaining experience & familiarity was ideal in aiding me in driving the car for later on in the evening.
My destination, Putney in London. We were to be filming the car for a video we were making, and the R8 was the star of the film! Now I picked up the car just before 3ish, school kicking out time! And I was rumbling my way through from P1's base in Epsom up to Putney via the R8's frankly wonderful Sat Nav, it dawned me I was driving a supercar! The rumble of the V8 when passing crowds, the school kids walking past with massive grins and thumbs up! So this is what supercar ownership is like! It was surreal, flattering really! But thats the effect that these cars just have, so as many supercar driving individuals had done in my youth, I revved the R8 and gave them something to remember as had been done for me many years before! This was gonna be the start of a fun day!
Now the R8 is sometimes branded a bit sensible, & I can see why...It doesn't shout with the same flamboyance as a Ferrari or Lamborghini, it's actually quite understated aside from that amazing shape and the DRL's blazing, you would never assume it is what it is. Hell it's quiet on idle, but with just a swift bootful the character of the car changes as you rev all the way upto 8000rpm you realise this is a proper supercar, it's civilised, nimble, responsive and EASY (so ridiculously easy!) to drive in town that it becomes forgivable to forget that when you get a clear bit of road and let rip, IT IS a supercar & it's ridiculously quick in exploiting gaps and making progress through town.
So as I arrived in Putney and left it parked on the road, stood a distance away, the looks of passers by, the school children, young, old, male, female, everyone would look. Genuinely fascinating seeing the attention, the comments and the looks that it would attract & it then dawned on me I wouldn't mind one as a daily, but as the clock struck 6, we departed for the start of the evening filming, and thats when the real fun was had
The R8 parked up in Putney with our camera van, where the crew were sitting through the night as they filmed!
For the next 7hrs I was driving the car through the evening, from Putney through to Canary Wharf & back a number of times following our camera car filming it all. We made our way through the streets of Chelsea, up to the usual background of Sloane St, through to Picadilly along the Embankment down towards the City, London naturally proves to be the perfect backdrop for a car like this...But so was the reaction of people.
Us as PH'ers assume that with supercars the impact tends to be always negative, but it was only ever positive with the R8. Tourists would stop and stare, there was no consistency with who would remark on the car or react in an obvious manner to it, it seemed to be universal which was staggering for me as someone driving it, but it's ultimately reassuring as a driver that some supercars can still be void of stigma somewhat!
But the thing that was particularly fascinating about this all was the fact that you're almost leading a double life (In effect I was as we were filming after all!)...But these cars give an aura, people approach in a manner that they would NEVER normally do, people smile, people wink, people even cheer you on in traffic and compliment the car! To the extent where 2 eastern european tourists ran down the street following me to a red light I just stopped at. One then started posing while the other started snapping pictures of him with the car as the back drop. Surreal. & at that same light earlier in the evening, 2 japanese tourists, an elderly couple, stopped and the wife simply said "Look, what a nice car!!" then waited for me to set off. Just bizarre! So much for being anonymous, you become a focal point at traffic lights as we found! & an odd sight for those visiting a certain McDonalds in Wandsworth where it was parked up
But going back to the car, in a word, fantastic! The steerings lovely and agile! The ride, superb considering London's street's littered with the drainage covers and potholes, it would behave impeccably and meant that as a daily supercar you can pootle around in, I cant imagine what could beat it! & obviously you cant really push the car in London, but thanks to my sighting session in it, when you get it up to speed it really is brilliant and just so planted thanks to the Quattro setup, essentially making it so lightweight & just "chuckable" and fun.
Thankfully our route through the capital included many tunnels which as any educated PHer will know means a bit of fun can be had, and the R8 is IDEAL for this as you downshift to 2nd when you reach the Hyde Park underpass & just feed the throttle through and the chorus of V8 noise just builds and builds all the way up to 8000rpm! It's very very addictive, and with the roof down, unbelievable fun and most importantly loud!
After all our filming, we finished up at 4am. The R8 gave the film crew a bit of a photo opportunity so people could have their photos taken in it and we found due to the freezing temperatures that night it had an alternate use, I bring you the £80,000 hand warmer!
So it's just gone 4am...Time to go home for everyone. But...I'm not going home, I have keys to an R8 and I'm not due to give it back until 10am...Hmmm! Time to head to Canary Wharf! One of my favourite places to visit & what better time than at silly o clock when no-one's around, the roads are just yours, so are the tunnels.
& this drive is where I truly had my moment with the car because having it sitting there underneath the lights of the Wharf's building, gleaming, rumbling away, I GOT IT. I got the bug! I didnt want to give it back! Having the spent the afternoon, evening, the whole night with it and having my eyes opened to what supercar ownership was like, I didnt want to give it back!
Admittedly, I felt quite attached to it as I had literally been driving it the past 12hrs straight! I mean...Why would you give it back, look at it Smitten? Yes. The odd thing is I never even liked the R8 much prior to this, but it's very charming/flattering in the way it drives and the way it looks, especially in the colour combo I drove. You can't help get a little giddy over it after the period of time we spent together, everyone that came within a metre of it certainly did.
So after treating myself to a McDonalds breakfast by C.Wharf (The ultimate in luxury at 6am), I then started making my way back after what was an INCREDIBLE night with a wonderful car. & it was only when I got back to P1 @ 8am the next morning that I started to feel guilty,the kind of guilt that you feel as though you've cheated on your partner (Not that I ever have! But Im sure it feels like this!)
My beloved Z4 Tucked up with the fleets 458 for the night....It's that feeling where you've had an incredible night with a gorgeous woman, then go back the next morning to your loving partner who's been expecting you!!
We parked the R8 up just as the first few snowflakes hit Epsom on Friday morning...Then did the handover paperwork back at P1, and after a strong coffee I jumped back into the Z4, apologised for leaving it & willed it to get me home in the some what dodgy conditions on my 50 mile drive home in rush hour, in the snow
What a night & what a car...An eye opening experience to the sheer fun that can be had with these cars & a nice way to break me in. But for now, I just have to not so easy decision on what to take out next for a dinner in 2 weeks time, SLS? LP560? F430? Hmmmmmmmmmm. Either way, more posts on supercar club membership to come!
Stay tuned!Edited by ironictwist on Monday 21st January 04:07
Camaro said:
Guess they got you by the nads now, the addiction is there, plus the question of what to take out next.
I can see it being as bad as my addiction to European touring! The nice thing is it's a very sizeable fleet, so the only danger is not spoiling it by jumping into something like a 458/MP4 12C when you still have cars like the GTR, Bentley GTC, Murcielago, Gallardo Spyder, V8V Roadster, Rapide, California, SLS, F430 & a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting! But that's the beauty of this, choice! ironictwist said:
I can see it being as bad as my addiction to European touring! The nice thing is it's a very sizeable fleet, so the only danger is not spoiling it by jumping into something like a 458/MP4 12C when you still have cars like the GTR, Bentley GTC, Murcielago, Gallardo Spyder, V8V Roadster, Rapide, California, SLS, F430 & a few others that I'm sure I'm forgetting! But that's the beauty of this, choice! Great photos and a good write up.
The thing that always gets me about these supercar clubs, though, is the idea that you could buy a cheap weekend car and book a few track days for the same as an annual subscription - some of which you'll hopefully get back when you come to sell it. I know it's different strokes and all that, but I just can't get wrap my head around that side of it.
The thing that always gets me about these supercar clubs, though, is the idea that you could buy a cheap weekend car and book a few track days for the same as an annual subscription - some of which you'll hopefully get back when you come to sell it. I know it's different strokes and all that, but I just can't get wrap my head around that side of it.
Good man, a nice read and some cracking photos I'm glad to hear that membership to these clubs can be exactly what it's cracked up to be!
Also interested to hear of the cost. My motoring funds will be drained by racing rather than this sort of stuff for the next few years, but still interested to see how it stacks up.
I'm glad to hear that membership to these clubs can be exactly what it's cracked up to be!Also interested to hear of the cost. My motoring funds will be drained by racing rather than this sort of stuff for the next few years, but still interested to see how it stacks up.
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
GSP said:
Good report.
I note you say you were driving around for hours... what the mileage limit for these clubs.
I thought you were limited to 100 miles per day hire type thing?
The mileage allowance is dependant on the package you go for...I'm starting out on the bottom of the range, 1000 miles...Planning to upgrade to the more chunkier packages in 6 months time. I note you say you were driving around for hours... what the mileage limit for these clubs.
I thought you were limited to 100 miles per day hire type thing?
However I did 140 miles that night...Now you could EASILY do that on a trip from Sussex to Birmingham! But why would you take a car like that on a motorway slog?
I used it around town and because it's London, technically you're not actually driving that far at all then, and at the time of day I had it, the roads were just mine I can't wait for the summer when I can drive it down to the coast roof down!
It's a hell of a lot of money, but if you can afford it... why not!
I'm very, very jealous looks like you had a great time.
Personally I wouldn't think of an R8 as a proper supercar, but then, I've not driven one. I have driven a Gallardo and I must admit I didn't like it much and it wasn't that much quicker than the Impreza I used to own! But as you said, it's not all about that, it's about the posing sometimes eh
I'm very, very jealous
looks like you had a great time. Personally I wouldn't think of an R8 as a proper supercar, but then, I've not driven one. I have driven a Gallardo and I must admit I didn't like it much and it wasn't that much quicker than the Impreza I used to own! But as you said, it's not all about that, it's about the posing sometimes eh
kayzee said:
It's a hell of a lot of money, but if you can afford it... why not!
I'm very, very jealous looks like you had a great time.
Personally I wouldn't think of an R8 as a proper supercar, but then, I've not driven one. I have driven a Gallardo and I must admit I didn't like it much and it wasn't that much quicker than the Impreza I used to own! But as you said, it's not all about that, it's about the posing sometimes eh
I know what you mean...But I try and put it into perspective, and the way I do it is remind myself I've spent nigh on £12k in fuel, in 20 months due to the mileage I've done in my Z4 *makes me cringe every time I remember haha* - So this seems good value in comparison I'm very, very jealous
looks like you had a great time. Personally I wouldn't think of an R8 as a proper supercar, but then, I've not driven one. I have driven a Gallardo and I must admit I didn't like it much and it wasn't that much quicker than the Impreza I used to own! But as you said, it's not all about that, it's about the posing sometimes eh
Interesting what you say about your experience in the Gallardo. Cant wait to try the Gallardo Spyder that's sitting there however, with it's tango Orange paint! One of the one's I'm REALLY looking forward to.
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