Keevil? Anyone been, and whats it like?
Discussion
Was thinking about going to this next weekend, but then again there is a Silverstone day, but its an extra £150.
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/keevil.htm
As its a big airfield i assumed it woudl be a good place to start to learn the cars limits, woudl i be right or woudl Silverstone GP be the best bet?
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/keevil.htm
As its a big airfield i assumed it woudl be a good place to start to learn the cars limits, woudl i be right or woudl Silverstone GP be the best bet?
Not done Keevil, but have done a couple of airfield days.
Good to learn the car, but featureless, often bleak with crap facilities, very abrasive concrete surfaces. And I found that the standard of driving can been awful on occasion. Plus there's always a £350 shed being thrashed by a bunch of students - great fun until it expires when in front of you and dumps fluids everywhere... Basically I've never gone back to one and probably never will.
Cheap for a reason. You pays your money and takes your choice.
Good to learn the car, but featureless, often bleak with crap facilities, very abrasive concrete surfaces. And I found that the standard of driving can been awful on occasion. Plus there's always a £350 shed being thrashed by a bunch of students - great fun until it expires when in front of you and dumps fluids everywhere... Basically I've never gone back to one and probably never will.
Cheap for a reason. You pays your money and takes your choice.
I'm in a good position to give you a definitive view, in that I've driven Keevil with Motorsport Events many many times, I've also passengered there in a GT3 (black car with ceramics that subsequently sold at Tom Hartley as the owner upgraded to a GT2..!)and I've actually driven your car (not on track but at the dealer you bought it from....!).
In my view Keevil would be a perfect place to start - yes the surface is abrasive but in a car like your GT3 which is fairly new to you I would tend to be doing a few laps at a time in short stints and building up gradually during the day once you have learnt the track and you are getting a feel for the car. It can be hard on tyres, I was there a couple of weeks ago to finish off the four AO48s on my Exige but I was working them exceptionally hard at the end of the day.
If you go for the afternoon or start later on in the morning the other cars have usually done a good job of sweeping the track so you avoid gravel rash. There is a really good mix of corners, chicanes and fast straights, massive run off area and you are unlikely to end up damaging your car if you get it wrong.
I've NEVER seen any bad driving at Keevil, and only one or two times at another of their venues - Abingdon. By bad driving I only mean not being aware of faster drivers coming up behind and therefore the car in question creating a mobile chicane. I think this happens more at Abingdon as it is shorter and tighter. Motorsport Events run a tight ship and if anyone looks to be causing serious inconvenience for the rest of the drivers they usually get a good talking to or probably even sent home..!
In summary, go for it...! It's a good value for money day and I did plenty of airfields with M.E. before going somewhere like Castle Combe which is less forgiving if you have an error of judgement. The people who attend are mostly a friendly like minded bunch of petrol heads who want to have a good day but want their cars intact at the end of it.
Your car is lovely by the way. I drove it back to back with a Turbo at HC in order to get a feel for what I want. I purchased a previous 911 from them, and you definitely made the right choice! The Exige hadn't sold at that point, and I really want a white one with ceramics if I go for a 997(I'm looking at 996s at the moment also) but I was sorely tempted.
Cheers,
240
In my view Keevil would be a perfect place to start - yes the surface is abrasive but in a car like your GT3 which is fairly new to you I would tend to be doing a few laps at a time in short stints and building up gradually during the day once you have learnt the track and you are getting a feel for the car. It can be hard on tyres, I was there a couple of weeks ago to finish off the four AO48s on my Exige but I was working them exceptionally hard at the end of the day.
If you go for the afternoon or start later on in the morning the other cars have usually done a good job of sweeping the track so you avoid gravel rash. There is a really good mix of corners, chicanes and fast straights, massive run off area and you are unlikely to end up damaging your car if you get it wrong.
I've NEVER seen any bad driving at Keevil, and only one or two times at another of their venues - Abingdon. By bad driving I only mean not being aware of faster drivers coming up behind and therefore the car in question creating a mobile chicane. I think this happens more at Abingdon as it is shorter and tighter. Motorsport Events run a tight ship and if anyone looks to be causing serious inconvenience for the rest of the drivers they usually get a good talking to or probably even sent home..!
In summary, go for it...! It's a good value for money day and I did plenty of airfields with M.E. before going somewhere like Castle Combe which is less forgiving if you have an error of judgement. The people who attend are mostly a friendly like minded bunch of petrol heads who want to have a good day but want their cars intact at the end of it.
Your car is lovely by the way. I drove it back to back with a Turbo at HC in order to get a feel for what I want. I purchased a previous 911 from them, and you definitely made the right choice! The Exige hadn't sold at that point, and I really want a white one with ceramics if I go for a 997(I'm looking at 996s at the moment also) but I was sorely tempted.
Cheers,
240
tomvcarter said:
Was thinking about going to this next weekend, but then again there is a Silverstone day, but its an extra £150.
http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/keevil.htm
As its a big airfield i assumed it woudl be a good place to start to learn the cars limits, woudl i be right or woudl Silverstone GP be the best bet?
Are you going then? http://www.trackdays.co.uk/tracks/keevil.htm
As its a big airfield i assumed it woudl be a good place to start to learn the cars limits, woudl i be right or woudl Silverstone GP be the best bet?
Yes - I am, but almost certainly not with my Westfield. My son is going with his Z4M Coupé and I have booked it for my Z3. I hadn't intended to use that car for trackdays when I bought it, it's really a two seat soft top for holidays and weekends. The Westfield isn't a really practical car for actually going places IMHO (although many do). Besides, it will be dark by the end and I would have a two and a half hour trailer run up the motorway - I don't fancy that with weekend drivers thick on the ground. Which car will you take if you choose Keevil? There's usually a very wide cross section of vehicles from beat-up Pug 206s, through Se7ens and Elises, to Ferraris and Porsches whenever I go to Abingdon, so whatever you pick from your fleet will be fine.
240Cup said:
I'm in a good position to give you a definitive view, in that I've driven Keevil with Motorsport Events many many times, I've also passengered there in a GT3 (black car with ceramics that subsequently sold at Tom Hartley as the owner upgraded to a GT2..!)and I've actually driven your car (not on track but at the dealer you bought it from....!).
In my view Keevil would be a perfect place to start - yes the surface is abrasive but in a car like your GT3 which is fairly new to you I would tend to be doing a few laps at a time in short stints and building up gradually during the day once you have learnt the track and you are getting a feel for the car. It can be hard on tyres, I was there a couple of weeks ago to finish off the four AO48s on my Exige but I was working them exceptionally hard at the end of the day.
If you go for the afternoon or start later on in the morning the other cars have usually done a good job of sweeping the track so you avoid gravel rash. There is a really good mix of corners, chicanes and fast straights, massive run off area and you are unlikely to end up damaging your car if you get it wrong.
I've NEVER seen any bad driving at Keevil, and only one or two times at another of their venues - Abingdon. By bad driving I only mean not being aware of faster drivers coming up behind and therefore the car in question creating a mobile chicane. I think this happens more at Abingdon as it is shorter and tighter. Motorsport Events run a tight ship and if anyone looks to be causing serious inconvenience for the rest of the drivers they usually get a good talking to or probably even sent home..!
In summary, go for it...! It's a good value for money day and I did plenty of airfields with M.E. before going somewhere like Castle Combe which is less forgiving if you have an error of judgement. The people who attend are mostly a friendly like minded bunch of petrol heads who want to have a good day but want their cars intact at the end of it.
Your car is lovely by the way. I drove it back to back with a Turbo at HC in order to get a feel for what I want. I purchased a previous 911 from them, and you definitely made the right choice! The Exige hadn't sold at that point, and I really want a white one with ceramics if I go for a 997(I'm looking at 996s at the moment also) but I was sorely tempted.
Cheers,
240
Ah nice!In my view Keevil would be a perfect place to start - yes the surface is abrasive but in a car like your GT3 which is fairly new to you I would tend to be doing a few laps at a time in short stints and building up gradually during the day once you have learnt the track and you are getting a feel for the car. It can be hard on tyres, I was there a couple of weeks ago to finish off the four AO48s on my Exige but I was working them exceptionally hard at the end of the day.
If you go for the afternoon or start later on in the morning the other cars have usually done a good job of sweeping the track so you avoid gravel rash. There is a really good mix of corners, chicanes and fast straights, massive run off area and you are unlikely to end up damaging your car if you get it wrong.
I've NEVER seen any bad driving at Keevil, and only one or two times at another of their venues - Abingdon. By bad driving I only mean not being aware of faster drivers coming up behind and therefore the car in question creating a mobile chicane. I think this happens more at Abingdon as it is shorter and tighter. Motorsport Events run a tight ship and if anyone looks to be causing serious inconvenience for the rest of the drivers they usually get a good talking to or probably even sent home..!
In summary, go for it...! It's a good value for money day and I did plenty of airfields with M.E. before going somewhere like Castle Combe which is less forgiving if you have an error of judgement. The people who attend are mostly a friendly like minded bunch of petrol heads who want to have a good day but want their cars intact at the end of it.
Your car is lovely by the way. I drove it back to back with a Turbo at HC in order to get a feel for what I want. I purchased a previous 911 from them, and you definitely made the right choice! The Exige hadn't sold at that point, and I really want a white one with ceramics if I go for a 997(I'm looking at 996s at the moment also) but I was sorely tempted.
Cheers,
240
Why did you not buy it!?
Looks like it's a Motorsport Events day.
They're pretty damned good at giving the idiots a warning and ultimately kicking them off the track.
Haven't done Keevil - used to do a lot at Colerne, also with MSE, cheap, fun, and you can drive right to the limits of your car without fear of hitting anything.
It's often worth booking a session with one of their instructors if you're new to track days or out in a new (to you) car.
They're pretty damned good at giving the idiots a warning and ultimately kicking them off the track.
Haven't done Keevil - used to do a lot at Colerne, also with MSE, cheap, fun, and you can drive right to the limits of your car without fear of hitting anything.
It's often worth booking a session with one of their instructors if you're new to track days or out in a new (to you) car.
Well that was a good day! Bloody cold but what do you expect in December! As usual the organisation was great and everyone behaved themselves. You stand more chance of coming to grief on the M4 getting there than on the airfield.
ETA: What was up with that Boxster; chucking out so much smoke?
ETA: What was up with that Boxster; chucking out so much smoke?
Edited by motco on Saturday 10th December 20:01
tomvcarter said:
Yes great day, and perfect place to test the cars limits!
Still a little shaky after spinning twice at 120mph in my last lap... Thank god it was not into a barrier at Silverstone!
Still a little shaky after spinning twice at 120mph in my last lap... Thank god it was not into a barrier at Silverstone!
I reckon that's about twice the speed of my fastest spin.
Worst is when you put it onto the grass, backwards, at any kind of speed. You just seem to go on forever.
My God which bit of Keevil did you spin at doing 120 mph - long right hander at the end of first straight? I think I would be doing 90/100 there in the Exige and it's one of those where the car always wants to get away from you if you go in too hot and are tempted to lift. If not there, where??!
Beware the 'one lap too many' syndrome (guilty here m'lud) which usually comes at the end of the day when the track has quietened down and you get tempted to push just a little bit more, for just one more lap etc etc...!
Glad you enjoyed the day and she's in one piece.
240
Beware the 'one lap too many' syndrome (guilty here m'lud) which usually comes at the end of the day when the track has quietened down and you get tempted to push just a little bit more, for just one more lap etc etc...!
Glad you enjoyed the day and she's in one piece.
240
240Cup said:
My God which bit of Keevil did you spin at doing 120 mph - long right hander at the end of first straight? I think I would be doing 90/100 there in the Exige and it's one of those where the car always wants to get away from you if you go in too hot and are tempted to lift. If not there, where??!
Beware the 'one lap too many' syndrome (guilty here m'lud) which usually comes at the end of the day when the track has quietened down and you get tempted to push just a little bit more, for just one more lap etc etc...!
Glad you enjoyed the day and she's in one piece.
240
there exactly, not sure what i did, but it was a long skinny smokey affair...Beware the 'one lap too many' syndrome (guilty here m'lud) which usually comes at the end of the day when the track has quietened down and you get tempted to push just a little bit more, for just one more lap etc etc...!
Glad you enjoyed the day and she's in one piece.
240
Tom it was a beautiful pirouette, nice of you to put on a bit of a show!
That's a fabulous car you have there, and good to see you enjoying it properly.
The smoking Boxster belongs a a friend of mine. I forget exactly what he though had happened, but essentially some oil ended up where it shouldn't have been and was being burned off. By the time he got it home it had stopped smoking and it seems to be fine. Fingers crossed.
Top day yesterday - I love the late season airfield days when there aren't too many cars.
Martin
That's a fabulous car you have there, and good to see you enjoying it properly.
The smoking Boxster belongs a a friend of mine. I forget exactly what he though had happened, but essentially some oil ended up where it shouldn't have been and was being burned off. By the time he got it home it had stopped smoking and it seems to be fine. Fingers crossed.
Top day yesterday - I love the late season airfield days when there aren't too many cars.
Martin
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