Best Track Day

[glennjamin]

Looking for a good track day with usual high performance cars Ferrari Aston Porsche etc etc would prefer something close to south west. Which ones can someone recommend and what was the day like ?

Edited by glennjamin on Sunday 18th June 14:16

Edited by glennjamin on Sunday 18th June 14:23

[E-bmw]

It sounds like you are looking for a track experience, not a track day.

A track day is where you take your own car on a racetrack.

[glennjamin]

Yes sorry senior moment !!!!. Track experience was what I'm looking for. Any advice greatly appreciated 👍

[Ash_]

The one to one experience at Thruxton is very good, I did it years ago in an Exige, no rev limits, good instruction and for the second lot of 7 laps the instructor just told me to go for it.

I think they do it in Cayman's now. Far better value in my opinion than the usual 3 lap supercar experiences.

[timbo999]

Ash_ said:

The one to one experience at Thruxton is very good, I did it years ago in an Exige, no rev limits, good instruction and for the second lot of 7 laps the instructor just told me to go for it.

I think they do it in Cayman's now. Far better value in my opinion than the usual 3 lap supercar experiences.

1-1s in Cayman, Alpine A110, Jag F-type, Lotus Emira, Renault Megane Trophy or Ford Focus ST. As Ash says easily the best value, you get two sessions of 5 or 6 laps (car dependant!) each.

[Fonzey]

Big budget, but if you want the 'best', then it has to be a Palmer Sport day.

[honda_exige]

Fonzey said:

Big budget, but if you want the 'best', then it has to be a Palmer Sport day.

Absolutely, one of the few places that really let you push.

If not keen on that then I'd recommend the Porsche Experience centre at Silverstone.

I've done lots of proper trackdays Spa, Ring etc and I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a thrashing the instructors let you give the Porsche's there. The two tracks they use are pretty good and the instructor let me go round with DSC/TC fully off so nice bits of oversteer etc.

[Cambs_Stuart]

I'd steer clear of the supercar experience days, where you get a few closely monitored laps and a lot of waiting around. Personally, one of the best experience days I've been on was a rally day. Lots of time in the seat, instructors very happy to share how to handbrake turn and drift, and lot of encouragement to go faster.

[Fonzey]

honda_exige said:

Absolutely, one of the few places that really let you push.

If not keen on that then I'd recommend the Porsche Experience centre at Silverstone.

I've done lots of proper trackdays Spa, Ring etc and I was pleasantly surprised at how much of a thrashing the instructors let you give the Porsche's there. The two tracks they use are pretty good and the instructor let me go round with DSC/TC fully off so nice bits of oversteer etc.

Agreed. Got to do the Porsche thing when I ordered my Taycan and it was fantastic. Cold Winters day (even had a bit of snow) and the instructor was fab, asked what I wanted from the day - he sounded relieved when I didn't just want to try launch control over and over again like most clients apparently do and we just spent the time alternating between the road course and the kick plate (I want one!).

Been very lucky and just done my second of two Palmer days in a little over a month. Got an appeal to lodge with the FIA about my F3000 lap and apparent track limit infringements but other than that they are simply incredible. Instructors clearly have some competition between themselves too to get "their" driver round the quickest, they pull all sorts of stunts to find you clear bits of track, squeeze in extra laps and push the cars to the point of screaming.

Really improved myself, more than probably a dozen "normal" trackdays in my own car where you very slowly creep up to your limits. Instructors have you smashing down the limit doors before the outlap is even done! It's also very humbling for that reason, and makes you realise just how much you leave on the table when driving your own car.

[glennjamin]

Porsche experience sounds like a goodlan what was the format of the day ? Which cars do you drive and how long do you get in each car ?

[Fonzey]

glennjamin said:

Porsche experience sounds like a goodlan what was the format of the day ? Which cars do you drive and how long do you get in each car ?

I'm not sure exactly how it works when booking it yourself, I've only ever done it as a freebie when buying from Porsche.

The day for me was in the same car/spec that I had on order, and could pick either an afternoon or a morning.

I did the afternoon so started off with a posh lunch, then a briefing, then got two quite long sessions (want to say 90mins?) in the car with an instructor and could go anywhere whenever you wanted to try all the facilities. It's not a racetrack as such, but it has:

- A road course, thin/narrow and windy course to replicate an average B road. Good for just hammering laps in.
- A Water ramp thing to demonstrate traction control and stuff like that
- A roundabout for drifting around (loved it, but made me sick)
- A kickplate, best thing ever- you drive along at 25mph or so and when your rear wheels get to a certain point in the road, a hydraulic ram launches your back end either left or right (at random) and you either go spinning through a sprinkler area of wet tarmac, or catch and hold a slide. Lots of fun
- A "drag" strip for testing launch control etc.

[LuluKart]

Which cars did you enjoy the most at the Palmer Sport event? Would like to get a special gift, but the full day might be out of reach. Alternatively, what has been the best driving experience/gift you have ever received? Thank you!

[Ian-27xza]

You could try the Performance Track experience at Goodwood

20 laps of Goodwood will make for a memorable experience!

https://www.goodwood.com/experiences/driving/perfo...

[timbo999]

Ian-27xza said:

You could try the Performance Track experience at Goodwood

20 laps of Goodwood will make for a memorable experience!

https://www.goodwood.com/experiences/driving/perfo...

Good call, they've just got the new model M2 as well...