Driving experience gift advice
Discussion
Hi All,
For a friends 30th we're looking to buy him a driving experience day.
Essentially I'm looking for advice on where to go and what vehicle to choose. I've been fortunate to attend a few but never actually paid for them, I've found that once I'm in the car driving at some silly speed around the track I completely forgot what car I was in. So far I like the idea of a single seater but we're looking for the best bang per buck so to speak.
Any advice?
For a friends 30th we're looking to buy him a driving experience day.
Essentially I'm looking for advice on where to go and what vehicle to choose. I've been fortunate to attend a few but never actually paid for them, I've found that once I'm in the car driving at some silly speed around the track I completely forgot what car I was in. So far I like the idea of a single seater but we're looking for the best bang per buck so to speak.
Any advice?
Agreed that Palmers is the ultimate but at best part of a grand for the day it's expensive, even if possibly still good value!
Single seaters can be done at Brands and Oulton (other places as well I'm sure) but your budget really determins how much wheel time he will get - how much were you thinking of spending?
Steve H
Single seaters can be done at Brands and Oulton (other places as well I'm sure) but your budget really determins how much wheel time he will get - how much were you thinking of spending?
Steve H
Hi Nick,
Take a look at www.TrackFocused.co.uk
Drop me a line and let me know some more info, and I'll put a package together for you that suits.
Sean
Take a look at www.TrackFocused.co.uk
Drop me a line and let me know some more info, and I'll put a package together for you that suits.
Sean
https://www.silverstonerally.co.uk/index.php/home....
Loose gravel stage, 140bhp RWD Mk2 Escorts with the crappest possible tyres on the rear. An entire day of abject hooliganism; handbrake turns, powerslides, scandanavian flicks, and not an rpm limit in sight.
I have no connection with the above, other than it being the most fun motorsport day I've had. And I've done lots.
Loose gravel stage, 140bhp RWD Mk2 Escorts with the crappest possible tyres on the rear. An entire day of abject hooliganism; handbrake turns, powerslides, scandanavian flicks, and not an rpm limit in sight.
I have no connection with the above, other than it being the most fun motorsport day I've had. And I've done lots.
PalmerSport now do half day events as well, check our their website www.palmersport.com
You can also do their PorscheMaster and M3Master events at Bedford Autodrome.
You can also do their PorscheMaster and M3Master events at Bedford Autodrome.
speedtwelve said:
https://www.silverstonerally.co.uk/index.php/home....
Loose gravel stage, 140bhp RWD Mk2 Escorts with the crappest possible tyres on the rear. An entire day of abject hooliganism; handbrake turns, powerslides, scandanavian flicks, and not an rpm limit in sight.
I have no connection with the above, other than it being the most fun motorsport day I've had. And I've done lots.
hi mate, which package did you do, the clubmans full day? i've been looking into doign something a bit different to a trackday for my birthday, originally wanted to do single seaters but the time in the car always looked a bit rubbish for the money, this looks really good - do you get to tackle a proper course and do a few runs at the end, and is the day split between a lot of people?Loose gravel stage, 140bhp RWD Mk2 Escorts with the crappest possible tyres on the rear. An entire day of abject hooliganism; handbrake turns, powerslides, scandanavian flicks, and not an rpm limit in sight.
I have no connection with the above, other than it being the most fun motorsport day I've had. And I've done lots.
cheers
I did a Ferrari 355 Plus day at Thruxton lately. Huge disappointment. Driving around a circuit in 5th/6th gear letting the torque pull me around in a Cayman/355 was one of the dullest things i have ever done in a car. Although it didnt help that the 355 was a LHD shed that had been to the moon & back.
Only decent part of the day was the single seater ... & that was limited to 4k rpm
could have more fun hooning around Windsor Park at 1am.
Thank god Tesco Clubcard tokens paid for it & not me.
Send him to the 'ring & hire something for the day. Far far better than anything you will get over here tbh.
Only decent part of the day was the single seater ... & that was limited to 4k rpm
could have more fun hooning around Windsor Park at 1am.Thank god Tesco Clubcard tokens paid for it & not me.
Send him to the 'ring & hire something for the day. Far far better than anything you will get over here tbh.
Edited by Sir_Dave on Thursday 27th August 16:07
That's pretty weak Dave, sorry to hear that you had a bad one there. I can assure you that they not all are the same though, I just spent the weekend instructing in a Lambo at Bruntingthorpe and the only time I was getting people into 5th was when it needed it because we were doing over 130 
Steve H
Steve H
Skinny
Actually I entered their 'Rallyquest', but the programme is supposed to be similar to the Clubman's day. There were a couple of cars and instructors, with around 5 punters allocated to each. Each session in the morning is perhaps 5 mins in the car, but with a specific training goal each time. You'll have individual sessions concentrating on powersliding, then handbrake turns, trail braking into corners and then Scandanavian flicks through a left-right-left gravel chicane.
The afternoon is out onto their full gravel stage, where the corners and grip are very varied, putting all of the above into practice. For the Rallyquest we then had a classroom lecture on pace notes, and a final assessed session on the stage with the instructor 'navigating', and the student having to respond to the co-driver's patter whilst 'making progress' round the stage.
The approach is very practical, and the complete opposite to the usual over-cautious rev-limiter/kill-switch corporate driving day thing. TBH you are restricted to 1st and 2nd gear on the gravel stage, but it is very tight in places, and even when exiting onto the short straights I found myself only just ready to change-up to 3rd before the next corner arrived anyway, so I didn't find it restrictive at all. On one downhill section I arrived at the braking point for a 90 degree right-hander at a speed which, if I'd got it wrong, would have resulted in a short flight followed by a pleasant off-road excursion into some woods, yet there was no 'reigning-in' from the instructor's seat. The Mk2 Escorts are battered but fun; I clipped a tyre wall with the rear of the car at one point, and the instructor wasn't concerned about the bodywork at all. They've been thumped lots of times.
If you want to spend a day driving like a loon whilst being trusted and treated like an adult, then go. AFAIK front & four wheel drive cars are available, but you'd be nuts to pass up the chance to hoon about in the Mk2 Escort.
Actually I entered their 'Rallyquest', but the programme is supposed to be similar to the Clubman's day. There were a couple of cars and instructors, with around 5 punters allocated to each. Each session in the morning is perhaps 5 mins in the car, but with a specific training goal each time. You'll have individual sessions concentrating on powersliding, then handbrake turns, trail braking into corners and then Scandanavian flicks through a left-right-left gravel chicane.
The afternoon is out onto their full gravel stage, where the corners and grip are very varied, putting all of the above into practice. For the Rallyquest we then had a classroom lecture on pace notes, and a final assessed session on the stage with the instructor 'navigating', and the student having to respond to the co-driver's patter whilst 'making progress' round the stage.
The approach is very practical, and the complete opposite to the usual over-cautious rev-limiter/kill-switch corporate driving day thing. TBH you are restricted to 1st and 2nd gear on the gravel stage, but it is very tight in places, and even when exiting onto the short straights I found myself only just ready to change-up to 3rd before the next corner arrived anyway, so I didn't find it restrictive at all. On one downhill section I arrived at the braking point for a 90 degree right-hander at a speed which, if I'd got it wrong, would have resulted in a short flight followed by a pleasant off-road excursion into some woods, yet there was no 'reigning-in' from the instructor's seat. The Mk2 Escorts are battered but fun; I clipped a tyre wall with the rear of the car at one point, and the instructor wasn't concerned about the bodywork at all. They've been thumped lots of times.
If you want to spend a day driving like a loon whilst being trusted and treated like an adult, then go. AFAIK front & four wheel drive cars are available, but you'd be nuts to pass up the chance to hoon about in the Mk2 Escort.
Try the Topcats experience day. No rev limits there;
http://www.topcatsracing.com/drive_our_race_cars.h...
http://www.topcatsracing.com/drive_our_race_cars.h...
I'm always weary about these experience days but two I can recommend are the AMG experience:
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedking...
which is v.cheap for the 1 hour session. I was never told to 'take it easy' or similar, although the handling course is quite tight so you'll only get up to 100ish mph.
Also the Porsche one:
http://www.porsche.com/silverstone/
again, no limits unless you are a complete numpty.
I have been promised that the M3 experience at brands lets you drive the cars as hard as you like but I have not been on it (yet).
I have heard from people I trust that the palmer day is the best.
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/content/unitedking...
which is v.cheap for the 1 hour session. I was never told to 'take it easy' or similar, although the handling course is quite tight so you'll only get up to 100ish mph.
Also the Porsche one:
http://www.porsche.com/silverstone/
again, no limits unless you are a complete numpty.
I have been promised that the M3 experience at brands lets you drive the cars as hard as you like but I have not been on it (yet).
I have heard from people I trust that the palmer day is the best.
Edited by varsas on Friday 28th August 13:40
Sir_Dave said:
I did a Ferrari 355 Plus day at Thruxton lately. Huge disappointment. Driving around a circuit in 5th/6th gear letting the torque pull me around in a Cayman/355 was one of the dullest things i have ever done in a car. Although it didnt help that the 355 was a LHD shed that had been to the moon & back.
Only decent part of the day was the single seater ... & that was limited to 4k rpm could have more fun hooning around Windsor Park at 1am.
I drove my own car (Corvette) at Thruxton and it was obvious that the people on the Experiences were being told to take it easy, although I was allowed to drive as hard as I wanted to. Only decent part of the day was the single seater ... & that was limited to 4k rpm
could have more fun hooning around Windsor Park at 1am.I recently did one of the Everyman ones at Mallory - they get resold through all sorts of places, my gf had got it on a 2 for 1 (and reduced at that, via lastminute.com) so she came along too.
It comprised:
- a briefing.
- lots of waiting around as 20 people are ferried around the track in an Impreza to be "familiarised", 3 at a time.
- lots of waiting around for a space in a Focus.
- 4 laps in a Focus ST under instruction.
- another briefing.
- 4 laps in a Formula Ford.
What I thought was rather cheeky was that the 4 laps in each case included the out/in laps. So only two proper laps, and your final one is cut almost in half anyway because of the Mallory pitlane arrangement.
Fun while it lasted, and thankfully no silly revlimits (unlike one I did at Brands a long time ago), and the instructor in the Focus was OK. Getting only a few minutes of time on track was a bit of joke though, especially after trekking 2 hours up the M1 to get there. Felt like it was more for people who've never driven anything remotely fast or on track to brag about "driving a racing car" to their mates in the pub.
Nothing I've done has come close to Palmersport - for lesser ones, the rally ones I've done have usually been far more fun, and as they're normally cheaper for the organisers than using a circuit, you get far more time in the car.
It comprised:
- a briefing.
- lots of waiting around as 20 people are ferried around the track in an Impreza to be "familiarised", 3 at a time.
- lots of waiting around for a space in a Focus.
- 4 laps in a Focus ST under instruction.
- another briefing.
- 4 laps in a Formula Ford.
What I thought was rather cheeky was that the 4 laps in each case included the out/in laps. So only two proper laps, and your final one is cut almost in half anyway because of the Mallory pitlane arrangement.
Fun while it lasted, and thankfully no silly revlimits (unlike one I did at Brands a long time ago), and the instructor in the Focus was OK. Getting only a few minutes of time on track was a bit of joke though, especially after trekking 2 hours up the M1 to get there. Felt like it was more for people who've never driven anything remotely fast or on track to brag about "driving a racing car" to their mates in the pub.
Nothing I've done has come close to Palmersport - for lesser ones, the rally ones I've done have usually been far more fun, and as they're normally cheaper for the organisers than using a circuit, you get far more time in the car.
Marc W said:
I think it depends on the instructor at Thruxton. I've done two there and I wasn't held back on either occasion. It was the One-One course rather than one of the experiences though so maybe that was why.
I went on a Cayman experience today at Thruxton, and after reading this thread, was ready to be disappointed. Well, I wasn't! My instructor was fantastic, and I was 'encouraged' to push it. 
Perhaps it was my "I am the Stig" t-Shirt that helped!!Tiff was there putting everyone to shame in an M3 - what a nice guy.
Finished off with Karting - what a great day!
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