Palmer Sport Review
Discussion
I went recently. As everyone says it's very well run and a non- stop day. I'd say its good value for money.
Go if you want to have an experience and be pushed hard. Don't go if you want to learn how to drive nicely on a track. The sessions are 10-15 mins long so you have little time to learn the racing line or how the cars handle. They use 3 or 4 different tracks. There is no sighting lap or cool down, they just get you going flat out from the off. By the time you get used to the car you are out and onto the next one.
Because of how quick the sessions are the best way to get the most of the day is to just follow the instructions which are constantly shouted in your ear. It was wet and nearly everyone span 2 or 3 times each session, the cars (apart from the F3000) were on summer tyres with little or no traction control and the track gets very greasy. At no time do they tell you to slow down!
Some of the people who did the best had little or no track experience but were able to switch off and do exactly as they were told. A guy who had never been on a track before and never driven a performance car was the fastest out of 60+ people in the Clios which was incredible. He said it was like driving by numbers. He didn't really think about what he was doing but he had brilliant instructors. It also helps that they have a second brake so you could always rely on the instructor to save you (my friend revealed this trick to me!)
If you are like me need to build slowly and learn the basics of the car control and track layout before pushing on, then you might find the experience a little frustrating and random but most people will find it a great experience and want to return and I would go back again.
Go if you want to have an experience and be pushed hard. Don't go if you want to learn how to drive nicely on a track. The sessions are 10-15 mins long so you have little time to learn the racing line or how the cars handle. They use 3 or 4 different tracks. There is no sighting lap or cool down, they just get you going flat out from the off. By the time you get used to the car you are out and onto the next one.
Because of how quick the sessions are the best way to get the most of the day is to just follow the instructions which are constantly shouted in your ear. It was wet and nearly everyone span 2 or 3 times each session, the cars (apart from the F3000) were on summer tyres with little or no traction control and the track gets very greasy. At no time do they tell you to slow down!
Some of the people who did the best had little or no track experience but were able to switch off and do exactly as they were told. A guy who had never been on a track before and never driven a performance car was the fastest out of 60+ people in the Clios which was incredible. He said it was like driving by numbers. He didn't really think about what he was doing but he had brilliant instructors. It also helps that they have a second brake so you could always rely on the instructor to save you (my friend revealed this trick to me!)
If you are like me need to build slowly and learn the basics of the car control and track layout before pushing on, then you might find the experience a little frustrating and random but most people will find it a great experience and want to return and I would go back again.
chemistry said:
The only real downside I can see (apart from the cost, although at least once you have paid there are no additional extras to worry about) is that it has now completely ruined normal, on-road driving for me. It's like having to switch from crack back to shandy.
Yep, agreed. Track days have done that for me a long time ago. Road driving is a serious chore by contrast. Did a Palmer Sport day a couple of weeks back - line up was mostly the same since doing one about 5 years ago - the XKR's have been replaced by M2's and the Atom's replaced by Clio's.
Still an excellent day i find, yes its expensive, but the setup is brilliant, you stay in your group so you aren't sharing it with randoms and the individual tracks make for less waiting time.
For some reason i found the F3000's very skittish this time out - still enjoyable, but not as planted as i remember - either foggy memory or cr@p driving the most likely suspects!
Highlight was the Clio's - the last session of the day, the young instructor asked if i wanted a fast lap time or to race. Of course, Race was the answer, so paired up with another willing victim we had 8 laps of side by side swapping and racing, nose to tail - only the assistance of the 2 instructors where needed prevented any collisions, but the experience was amazing - just a little, tiny slice of how it must be racing these things for real in a group.
I even managed to pick up the Caterham Pursuit trophy with a 29.1 time, and we won the team award, so another PalmerSport cap!
One of our group had done quite a few track days and managed to post the 7th quickest time of the year in the F3000 which i thought was pretty impressive.
Still an excellent day i find, yes its expensive, but the setup is brilliant, you stay in your group so you aren't sharing it with randoms and the individual tracks make for less waiting time.
For some reason i found the F3000's very skittish this time out - still enjoyable, but not as planted as i remember - either foggy memory or cr@p driving the most likely suspects!
Highlight was the Clio's - the last session of the day, the young instructor asked if i wanted a fast lap time or to race. Of course, Race was the answer, so paired up with another willing victim we had 8 laps of side by side swapping and racing, nose to tail - only the assistance of the 2 instructors where needed prevented any collisions, but the experience was amazing - just a little, tiny slice of how it must be racing these things for real in a group.
I even managed to pick up the Caterham Pursuit trophy with a 29.1 time, and we won the team award, so another PalmerSport cap!
One of our group had done quite a few track days and managed to post the 7th quickest time of the year in the F3000 which i thought was pretty impressive.
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