VMax - PistonHeads was there

Ever wondered just how fast your car can go? So did we, so we went along to Bruntingthorpe to find out...

By Garlick / Friday, 19 March 2010 / Loading comments

There is often a lot of talk about how fast a car goes, usually when down the pub or getting a coffee at the office. You know how it is, you sit there nodding as some chap tells you that his Vectra 1.8 was showing 150 down the M3 as he came to work this morning, and the 911 behind just couldn't keep up. Banter is one thing, turing up at an event where the car park is filled with all sorts of supercars (old and new), and alongside the car park is a 2 mile straight with painfully accurate speed traps is another.

Welcome to VMax, a regular event hosted by PHer CraigW at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and quite possibly the best motoring event you've never heard of. VMax has been running for many years now and is the premier event for the countries finest supercars and sportscars, and the forum for the event is hosted right here on PistonHeads too. So why have you never heard of it? Well, quite rightly the event is closed to spectators as you don't need people wandering about when you pass by at 200mph, and while anyone can apply to attend you do need to be invited along by Craig once he has reviewed the applicants. To keep the event secure, the date and time is kept secret until the last minute and attendees are informed via e-mail as to when to arrive along with a rather extensive safety briefing.

Despite hosting the VMax forum, this was the very first time that I (and PistonHeads) had attended, and the same was true for Stuart who joined me on the day. Needless to say that we were both excited about what the day was to bring. Going back to the carpark I mentioned earlier, it is like a scene you have only dreamed about. Imagine seeing the latest Lamborghini Murcialago sitting alongside a 980bhp 911 cabriolet (yes, I did say 980bhp) which is lined up against an 860bhp RS4 Avant as a Lotus Carlton arrives to join the party. It really is an awesome sight (and sound) to behold.

The format is simple. Food is provided by the Brunters burger van and toilets are provided by nature, but everything else is meticulously planned to prepare you for taking your car to its real VMax. Obviously the safety briefing is detailed and extensive covering how to use the circuit to how to ensure your car is ready for the run. Safety teams are standing by and (most importantly) everyone who is there has a mutual understanding and respect for each other meaning no idiotic behavior and a unfaultering respect for organisers and safety crews alike.

So what happens on the run? Well, you line up ready to accelerate towards a long and sweeping right hander that leads you onto the famous straight. The starting team will allocate you a lane (right or left) and this is where you stay for the entire run until you pass the timing beams. Exit speed from the corner varies but we were seeing speeds of 60ish mph when we rode with competitors. And then you accelerate hard, timing each gearchange with military precision before passing the timing beams.

I bet you are reading this thinking 'that's easy' and it is, in principle. In reality you fluff a gearchange as you hang onto the revs for too long and hit the limiter, you worry about your exit speed from the corner and you brake too early on your first few runs meaning you slow before the timing gear. However after a few attempts you get it right and things start flowing. You realise the huge stopping power that is needed to haul you down from 160+ mph which helps you consider your cars ability on the road and track (despite you travelling at far smaller speeds in these instances). You know when to change gear, you note that a screaming start doesn't really help either, but most importantly you realise just how exhilerating it is to crack speeds you never thought possible. Cars on the day were passing 180, 190 and even 200mph.

180mph seem a lot to you? How about 207mph from a Ruf RT12. 202mph from an Audi S4 saloon, 222mph from the aforementioned 911 cabriolet, 188 mph from a BMW M6 or 192mph from a Nissan GT-R? You really do get a better understanding of just how quick a quick car is at an event like this.

It was a truly amazing spectacle, helped enormously by the great bunch of guys who attended and the hospitality and organisation of Craig himself. We'll let you enjoy some of the cars there in the picture gallery below and let you imagine the noise they make as they pass flat out. Long live VMax we say.

For VMax information (and all the results from the day) see the website here

(Thanks to Tim Dunlop for allowing us to use the pictures, top bloke!)