Don't mind me, just passing the time...
Discussion
No real point to this thread other than to vent some excitement at my plans for tomorrow. Up early for a trip down to Leicestershire where I will be taking part in my debut track experience day at the wheel of a TVR Tuscan. While she doesn't read these pages, I owe Miss Robsco a massive thank you for booking such a fabulous day for my 21st. The GTV is going to feel so sluggish and dim witted on the way home, of that much I'm sure! 
To all those who've been in a similar situation of counting down the seconds, I'm sure you'll be able to relate to the adrenalin coursing through the veins already, and its still over 12 hours away yet! Similar stories and experiences welcome. Hope everyone's well.
To all those who've been in a similar situation of counting down the seconds, I'm sure you'll be able to relate to the adrenalin coursing through the veins already, and its still over 12 hours away yet! Similar stories and experiences welcome. Hope everyone's well.
Donnington is it?
Hopefully the track won't be as wet as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1uGwwnsr4
Hopefully the track won't be as wet as this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1uGwwnsr4
robsco said:
Hi James, its at Prestwold Hall... Never been before so I've no idea what its like.
Done a fair bit of work at Prestwold before, not there tomorrow mind. Watch out for turn two, especially if it's your first track experience. It's a very late turn in and it catches alot of people out. ETA: If you're demo lap instructor is doing their job right, you'll see this anyway
HTH
Tom
TAHodgson said:
Done a fair bit of work at Prestwold before, not there tomorrow mind. Watch out for turn two, especially if it's your first track experience. It's a very late turn in and it catches alot of people out.
ETA: If you're demo lap instructor is doing their job right, you'll see this anyway
HTH
Tom
Thanks for the heads up Tom. What's it like as a circuit, enjoyable?ETA: If you're demo lap instructor is doing their job right, you'll see this anyway
HTH
Tom
We have great SWMBOs!
My missus organised a ride in a Tuscan round Hertfordshire with someone she new at work for my 21st.
I was excited enough about being a passenger. Then he pulled over and said "your turn".
One of the best days of my life, cruising round my home village in my dream car. The sound, oh the sound.
Have a great day Robsco, relish it, take it all in. Lucky git!
My missus organised a ride in a Tuscan round Hertfordshire with someone she new at work for my 21st.
I was excited enough about being a passenger. Then he pulled over and said "your turn".
One of the best days of my life, cruising round my home village in my dream car. The sound, oh the sound.
Have a great day Robsco, relish it, take it all in. Lucky git!
Nice one, I did Prestwold in 2009 driving a DB9 and an F430. I did sense a bit of a difference in instructor - I was lucky enough that both of mine were good chaps, one just wanted me to hammer it all the way round (DB9) and the other showed me some cornering skills (seeing as it was the first time I'd ever driven in anger). It's a decent track to cut your teeth on though, turn 2 is a good test of seeing how much speed you can carry through a corner, and turn 3 affirms that if you keep your foot in it. The camera car is at turn 5 (just before the chicane) so make sure you get your dab of oppo on 
Let us know if they still have the story of the F355 binning it for the day insurance sell you won't need it with the instructor in the car but for £9 (at least when I went) it's worth taking. Again, from memory, hot laps in other cars are £25-40. I was incredibly tempted by a hot lap in an AMV8 for £25 but the queue convinced me otherwise.
Have fun though I'll be waiting for the report
Let us know if they still have the story of the F355 binning it for the day insurance sell
you won't need it with the instructor in the car but for £9 (at least when I went) it's worth taking. Again, from memory, hot laps in other cars are £25-40. I was incredibly tempted by a hot lap in an AMV8 for £25 but the queue convinced me otherwise.Have fun though
I'll be waiting for the report Prestwold is a fairly basic circuit, as said before turn two is the one to watch, and around the pit lane (turn five) there is a speed limit attached, purely for noise reasons, the signs say 40, but most of the cars will get on ok at around 60 'round there (which most of the instructors know) You'll probably be looking at about 110mph on the straight if you go reasonably well. As a demo instructor there myself, it really is worth listening to the guy driving your demonstration car otherwise you'll be lost when you get out there which you don't want, 'cause you only get a limited number of laps and you want to get the most out of the car i'm sure.
Oh, and don't forget to let us know how you get on!
Oh, and don't forget to let us know how you get on!
Evening all.
Thanks for the comments last night, got to sleep early but woke up a couple of times in excitement. Anyway, got there this morning to be greeted not by a Tuscan, but by a Griffith 500... No problem, says I, potentially I could get even more enjoyment out of a Griff on the basis that I've been looking to sell the GTV at some point in the near future for a Chimaera.
I asked about where the Tuscan was, to which I received the response "Kippered. We have a Chimaera too. Its kippered. And we have a T350, which is also kippered. This is the only one of the four left that's still working. Anyway, why did you want to drive a Trevor? They're shoddy." I laughed this off, until the instructor got the final chuckle when the big Griff refused to start. The needles on the dials flickered, indicating a flat battery, so another guy hooked up a booster pack and she warbled into life. Its a proper noise that comes out of those exhaust pipes. Deeply aggressive, bassy and so visceral. Sit in the driver's seat and it shakes the entire cockpit.
The interior was beautiful in its simplicity, but build quality was iffy to say the least. Fair enough, the cars get abused but some of the fit and finish was laughable. Endearingly so, but probably horrifying to some. There's also a slightly odd pedal position in that the throttle pedal is seemingly miles away from the other two, and tricky to get used to.
Onto the track, all the controls felt very weighty; this was the Griffith without power steering, which I found really nice. It felt undiluted, feelsome and positive. The gearbox was beautiful, very snickety and with a short throw, and the high transmission tunnel was great too as an armrest. The best bits of course were the engine and noise; the V8s are massively torquey, seeming happier to pull from lower down in the rev range than screaming at 6000rpm. It was all very effortless, frighteningly so.
The 4 laps don't seem to last too long unfortunately, and I'm almost a little regretful that I didn't push the car a little harder; I was so taken aback by the whole situation of finally being behind the wheel of a TVR that I almost forgot to drive it hard.
Its certainly convinced me that a TVR is next on the list for me though. The GTV just feels a little too mainstream, almost German in its build quality comparatively speaking, and a whole lot less special... I'm gonna be hunting a Chimaera down soon. In fact, I'll shut up now and go and have a look.
Thanks for the comments last night, got to sleep early but woke up a couple of times in excitement. Anyway, got there this morning to be greeted not by a Tuscan, but by a Griffith 500... No problem, says I, potentially I could get even more enjoyment out of a Griff on the basis that I've been looking to sell the GTV at some point in the near future for a Chimaera.
I asked about where the Tuscan was, to which I received the response "Kippered. We have a Chimaera too. Its kippered. And we have a T350, which is also kippered. This is the only one of the four left that's still working. Anyway, why did you want to drive a Trevor? They're shoddy." I laughed this off, until the instructor got the final chuckle when the big Griff refused to start. The needles on the dials flickered, indicating a flat battery, so another guy hooked up a booster pack and she warbled into life. Its a proper noise that comes out of those exhaust pipes. Deeply aggressive, bassy and so visceral. Sit in the driver's seat and it shakes the entire cockpit.
The interior was beautiful in its simplicity, but build quality was iffy to say the least. Fair enough, the cars get abused but some of the fit and finish was laughable. Endearingly so, but probably horrifying to some. There's also a slightly odd pedal position in that the throttle pedal is seemingly miles away from the other two, and tricky to get used to.
Onto the track, all the controls felt very weighty; this was the Griffith without power steering, which I found really nice. It felt undiluted, feelsome and positive. The gearbox was beautiful, very snickety and with a short throw, and the high transmission tunnel was great too as an armrest. The best bits of course were the engine and noise; the V8s are massively torquey, seeming happier to pull from lower down in the rev range than screaming at 6000rpm. It was all very effortless, frighteningly so.
The 4 laps don't seem to last too long unfortunately, and I'm almost a little regretful that I didn't push the car a little harder; I was so taken aback by the whole situation of finally being behind the wheel of a TVR that I almost forgot to drive it hard.
Its certainly convinced me that a TVR is next on the list for me though. The GTV just feels a little too mainstream, almost German in its build quality comparatively speaking, and a whole lot less special... I'm gonna be hunting a Chimaera down soon. In fact, I'll shut up now and go and have a look. A nice story. It's good to hear of somebody experiencing these cars for the first time. I'm fortunate to own a Griff 500 and I absolutely love it. Sure, the build quality of TVR's isn't the best on the road ( though I have to say mine seems to have been put together rather well ) but the power and noise more than make up for that.
You pays your money.. etc. and for the price you can still get one for, I reckon they're top value for money at the moment.
Definately, these are cars that should be driven before people slag them off. The pub line of 'they all break down' doesn't even get half the way through the first chapter of a very exciting book.
You either 'get' them or not. I do, and I'm a happier person for that.
I'm glad your experience was so exciting for you, as it should have been.
Love 'em.
) but the power and noise more than make up for that.You pays your money.. etc. and for the price you can still get one for, I reckon they're top value for money at the moment.
Definately, these are cars that should be driven before people slag them off. The pub line of 'they all break down' doesn't even get half the way through the first chapter of a very exciting book.
You either 'get' them or not. I do, and I'm a happier person for that.
I'm glad your experience was so exciting for you, as it should have been.
Love 'em.
I love TVR's, I have had two already at a very young age and loved every minute of it. I must admit I did experience the TVR break downs and non starts etc. The most notable was when I was driving through the centre of Reading in bumper to bumper traffic on a boiling hot day with steam coming out of the bonnet - This was about 5 miles down the road from the dealership & this was my first TVR
One thing I noticed from your post, basically you were bumped off and sold a product that you didnt ask for/expect, would this not entitle you to some compensation? If anything a few extra laps in the Griff? I wouldnt have been pleased setting my mind on driving a Tuscan and getting anything else other than a Tuscan.
One thing I noticed from your post, basically you were bumped off and sold a product that you didnt ask for/expect, would this not entitle you to some compensation? If anything a few extra laps in the Griff? I wouldnt have been pleased setting my mind on driving a Tuscan and getting anything else other than a Tuscan.
Tuvra, Miss Robsco said she was thinking of complaining. I said not to bother as I still had a really good time, which she said is not the point (which I suppose it isnt). The only thing that disappointed me is that the car was missing a foglight (and as you know, Griffs have fairly noticeable ones) which meant that I couldn't really buy a framed photograph of me in the car. The non-start issue was a little unprofessional too, considering they knew I was going...
robsco said:
Tuvra, Miss Robsco said she was thinking of complaining. I said not to bother as I still had a really good time, which she said is not the point (which I suppose it isnt). The only thing that disappointed me is that the car was missing a foglight (and as you know, Griffs have fairly noticeable ones) which meant that I couldn't really buy a framed photograph of me in the car. The non-start issue was a little unprofessional too, considering they knew I was going...
Tbh I'd complain, on the day I would have Alteast expected a few extra lapsGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff