6th Gear Experience - which cars would you pick?

[Legend83]

My wife and friends clubbed together to buy me the double supercar thrill experience with 6th Gear for my 30th. The cars available to drive on this lise are:

- Porche 997 Turbo
- Audi R8
- Ariel Atom
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage
- Lamborghini Gallardo
- Ferrari 360

Which two would you pick to thrash round the track? Finding picking two is proving tricky! Atom would be most fun, Gallardo would just be awesome, 360 to say I have driven a Ferrari, Aston as I was thrown a James Bond themed surpise party....

[Mr Roper]

Atom
Gallardo.

[youngsyr]

Ariel is an absolute must (check this is driving, rather than being a passenger - I've seen some events where you can drive everything but the Atom).

Out of the others, I'd probably go for the F360.

[McSam]

Where are you going? Because when I did mine at Kenilworth, the 360 was a Challenge Stradale and was excellent. I drove that, an LP640, and the Atom.

Whatever you do, drive the Atom. Drive it twice, if you can even after opening up a Lamborghini V12, that thing rearranged my head so much it's unbelievable, I got out and went straight to the office to buy more laps in it. Amazing thing. 6th Gear's one is a 300 too!

Perhaps I would go for V8 Vantage and Atom in your case, a nice mix between a relatively relaxed but wonderfully shouty cruiser, and a frenetic little rocketship. You can ask to make sure you drive them in that order, would be a big error to drive the Atom first.


PS. I've done lots of things like this, and driven at Palmersport for the last two years, and those laps in the Atom 300 five years ago still stand out as the only time a car has genuinely shocked me. Do not miss it!

Edited by McSam on Monday 3rd June 10:38

[Chicane-UK]

Having been to 6th Gear Experiences several times now and driven most of those cars, I have to mirror the sentiments about the Atom - it's almost a life changing experience, and I guarantee you will not walk away from it disappointed.

Last time I went I had a few laps in the R8 (which I'd driven before, and which I really enjoy) and then went out in the Atom (first time) - it absolutely knocked my socks off. So fast. The instructor kept pushing me to go quicker too. It was very rewarding - great fun.

[Twincam16]

I'd always go for the cars you're least likely to get the opportunity to drive again or own yourself.

So - the Atom is a must. They don't make enough of them for them to depreciate and become commonplace in the classifieds, so it's unlikely that one day they'll be in contention with Caterhams and MX5s.

Of the others? Either the 360 or the Gallardo. The Porsche and Audi are common enough to be encountered later in life, either as a second-hand punt or something owned by a friend, but Ferraris and Lamborghinis will always be a bit more exotic and high-maintenance.

As for the Aston, that falls between two stools. On one hand, it's as desirable as the Ferrari. On the other, it could be seen as a short-wheelbase XK8. Mechanically, it's just not as 'special' as the Italian cars.

[0836whimper]

- Porche 997 Turbo (not visceral enough, once the thrust novelty wears off)
- Audi R8 (it's an Audi...)
- Ariel Atom (yes, yes, yes !)
- Aston Martin V8 Vantage (not exciting enough, nor has a thrust novelty)
- Lamborghini Gallardo (exciting and fast)
- Ferrari 360 (it's a ferrari, has to be considered)

I'd go Atom and Gallardo personally

[Flying machine]

Mr Roper said:

Atom
Gallardo.

I did this and it was amazing! Best 2 IMO

[NadiR]

Another vote for the Atom and Gallardo.

[youngsyr]

For those voting Gallardo - have you driven one and the F360?

I have and the F360 was the better drive/experience by quite some margin.

[McSam]

youngsyr said:

For those voting Gallardo - have you driven one and the F360?

I have and the F360 was the better drive/experience by quite some margin.

Damn good car, the 360, it felt like a big Exige with a huge amount of power, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Gallardo makes a fantastic noise and is perhaps a bigger "event" - if a manual one versus an F1-boxed 360 - but it does tend to understeer and isn't as good to take by the scruff. Depends what you're looking for, really.

[hornetrider]

No LP in the list?

When I did a 6th Gear I drove the Atom, the LP and a 360 - but the 360 had the F1 gearbox and was very disappointing. Handling was superb, mind.

When we were there the R8 sounded great but relatively speaking it's not that quick.

Of your list I'd go Atom & Gallardo.

[Legend83]

hornetrider said:

No LP in the list?

No, I think you can only get the LP, DBS etc on the Best of the Best package.

I got this one:

http://www.6thgearexperience.com/Supercar-Double-T...

Ok, definitely the Atom then.

Then it comes down to Gallardo v 360....

[Flying machine]

hornetrider said:

No LP in the list?

When I did a 6th Gear I drove the Atom, the LP and a 360 - but the 360 had the F1 gearbox and was very disappointing. Handling was superb, mind.

When we were there the R8 sounded great but relatively speaking it's not that quick.

Of your list I'd go Atom & Gallardo.

I think it was the LP I drove - possibly the 640? It was white with 'viper' stripes and a yellow interior, amazing machine. The supercharged atom was just something else though - proper laugh out loud silly and unbelievably quick!

[McSam]

Flying machine said:

I think it was the LP I drove - possibly the 640? It was white with 'viper' stripes and a yellow interior, amazing machine.

Yes, that's their Murcielago LP640. Manual one? I really loved that thing

OP - now you're this close perhaps you should resort to YouTube and see which onboard videos rouse your inner ten-year-old the most?

[Legend83]

McSam said:

es, that's their Murcielago LP640. Manual one? I really loved that thing

OP - now you're this close perhaps you should resort to YouTube and see which onboard videos rouse your inner ten-year-old the most?

That's a good idea!

I can't bloody wait - I did ok for my 30th! This plus a flying lesson with my BIL has ticked the high-octane box.

[hornetrider]

Legend83 said:

No, I think you can only get the LP, DBS etc on the Best of the Best package.

I got this one:

http://www.6thgearexperience.com/Supercar-Double-T...

Ok, definitely the Atom then.

Then it comes down to Gallardo v 360....

I *think* they had a pair of 360s when I was there and I ended up in the droptop one which had the paddles. I found the response time to shifts really slow which ultimately made it an unsatisfying drive, however the car felt really up on its toes.

The LP was more of a brute, nose heavy and a bit understeery - but by god the V12 is awesome. Such an event! I would say the G is probably 'LP-lite' so I'd be tempted to go for that.

[Twincam16]

Legend83 said:

No, I think you can only get the LP, DBS etc on the Best of the Best package.

I got this one:

http://www.6thgearexperience.com/Supercar-Double-T...

Ok, definitely the Atom then.

Then it comes down to Gallardo v 360....

Any word on the gearboxes? Maybe it's down to personal preference, but I'd rather drive a three-pedal manual Ferrari or Lamborghini. Maybe that'll be the deciding factor?

[youngsyr]

hornetrider said:

I *think* they had a pair of 360s when I was there and I ended up in the droptop one which had the paddles. I found the response time to shifts really slow which ultimately made it an unsatisfying drive, however the car felt really up on its toes.

The LP was more of a brute, nose heavy and a bit understeery - but by god the V12 is awesome. Such an event! I would say the G is probably 'LP-lite' so I'd be tempted to go for that.

I found the same in the DB9 I drove, but the F360 F1 was fine - the change is a bit "agricultural" because of the type of gearbox, but there was no delay. I suspect the responsiveness of the gear change can be altered and it had been turned down on your one?

Has anyone driven a manual on one of these days? I've been on several and the only manual I drove was a track prepped Exige. Everything mainstream was a semi-auto - presumably to protect the clutch from inexperienced drivers.

[SturdyHSV]

I'd say Gallardo over the 360 personally, but either or.

Gearbox is worth considering, depending on what you've done before, it might be nice to have paddles so as not to have to worry about waggling that stick around and clutch / heel and toe etc., more time to focus on where to go and how fast...

Gallardo is good fun, very much point and go, and sounds great.