Lotus Driver Training
Discussion
Yep I did it. Was £400 at the time so a whole hill of money but was a great day. I had instruction by Al McQueen and Dave Minter was also instructing. They set the car up so no one knows it better. We did slalom, braking, heel and toe and turning cicle. Then hot laps and instructor demos....
Also consider car limits with Andy Walsh - tons in the archives. Use your own car and a fraction of the price.
Also consider car limits with Andy Walsh - tons in the archives. Use your own car and a fraction of the price.
I did it as well (my insurance company insisted on it!)
Covered the same as lawrence5, but had Martin Donnely as an instructor (ex Lotus Formula 1 driver, and a thoroughly decent chap.
Haven't done a walshy day (yet), but would definitely recomment the Lotus day. You use their cars and are encouraged to rag them!
I think I also paid £400, but you have to join club lotus (for £30) in order to get a 10% (£45) discount.
Covered the same as lawrence5, but had Martin Donnely as an instructor (ex Lotus Formula 1 driver, and a thoroughly decent chap.
Haven't done a walshy day (yet), but would definitely recomment the Lotus day. You use their cars and are encouraged to rag them!
I think I also paid £400, but you have to join club lotus (for £30) in order to get a 10% (£45) discount.
Group - Was fairly small number 4 I think..... plenty of time in the seat though.
In some ways it is better in your own cars as most elises are different. I was driving an S1 at the time and drove s2 111s's and a std S2. Handling on my s1 was nothing like it - but in a way it helps as you get used to feeling the car rather than predicting behavior. Wet turning circle is the best. Lift off oversteer =:-0
In some ways it is better in your own cars as most elises are different. I was driving an S1 at the time and drove s2 111s's and a std S2. Handling on my s1 was nothing like it - but in a way it helps as you get used to feeling the car rather than predicting behavior. Wet turning circle is the best. Lift off oversteer =:-0
Wee Loon said:
How is Hethel for run off areas ?. If you get it wrong, can it end in disaster or is there plenty of scope for errors ?
Not great and loads of threat from wildlife - when I worked at Hethel most development cars had taken out some wildlife..... rats weasels rabbits hares and a close one on a deer !
You won't get it "that" wrong it's not that sort of day. Pace is all dictated and managed and instructor beside you. I spun a couple of times on the wet circle - was interesting...
I did the Lotus Driver training back in Sept 2004 - price wise, as people have said, is not good value for money, however you get to thrash their cars, chat to the guys responsible for the development of the Elise, great bacon butties to start with and superb buffet lunch!
I managed to have an 'off' during the circuit session in the afternoon - didn't hit anything except a large traffic cone which got wrapped around the front wheel
The 1st Lotus days get the biggest
from most owners on here and SELOC so I maybe try out both and then make your mind up 
I managed to have an 'off' during the circuit session in the afternoon - didn't hit anything except a large traffic cone which got wrapped around the front wheel
The 1st Lotus days get the biggest
from most owners on here and SELOC so I maybe try out both and then make your mind up 8 months ago when I got the Elise I started with the Lotus driver training, then did a bunch of stuff with Andrew Walsh at North Weald (proper instruction and LoT activity days) plus 10 track days with lots of instruction.
On reflection the £170 4:1 Andy Walsh day is the BEST value followed by the £20 activity days. The Lotus training is good but hugely overpriced. Dont worry about hurting your own car on a Walsh day *** YOU REALLY CANT *** apart from a bit of tyre and brake wear, but nowhere near the £230 price difference !
EDIT to say that I'm still kicking myself for shelling out £430 for the Lotus thing plus £50 for B&B etc. FFS why didn't I listen to the advice at the time which was "Go with Walshy" ...
>> Edited by hbaumhardt on Monday 13th March 18:31
On reflection the £170 4:1 Andy Walsh day is the BEST value followed by the £20 activity days. The Lotus training is good but hugely overpriced. Dont worry about hurting your own car on a Walsh day *** YOU REALLY CANT *** apart from a bit of tyre and brake wear, but nowhere near the £230 price difference !
EDIT to say that I'm still kicking myself for shelling out £430 for the Lotus thing plus £50 for B&B etc. FFS why didn't I listen to the advice at the time which was "Go with Walshy" ...
>> Edited by hbaumhardt on Monday 13th March 18:31
Cut and pasted from SELOC:
Plans Driver Training review from the eyes of a novice driver
Having just past that magic 1k mileage and got a first service out of the way, it was time to get to learn about my car.
Having looked at the forums and read haydj’s review I decided to go with a Plans driver training session.
Following the snow on Saturday night/Sunday morning I woke up this morning to a dry, sunny and cold morning.
I met up with Graham at their place about 8.15 and following coffee and a quick tour of the workshop, we discussed the outcomes I was looking for from this session.
“What cars have you driven in the past?” I was asked. Ermm….. Honda Estate, Mazda 5 seven seater, Chrysler Voyager. Not a promising start.
We spent quite a lot of time discussing weight distribution and its effects. At the time I was keen to learn and understand but even keener to get out into the car, however it has given me a lot to think about and I now have a much greater understanding of what happened during my session and more importantly a mental note pad of the car dynamics.
We got onto the track about 8:50am and Graham took my car for a couple of shakedown laps to see if it had any significant under or over steer characteristics. I was pleased to hear that everything was just fine. This was a real eye opener for me as I had never been a passenger in an Elise and also had never been round a track with someone driving (if only at 65%) at speed.
Now it was my turn. Being a Top Gear viewer it is quite an evocative moment sitting on the same start time as “them on telly” (yes I know I am sad). I did about 5/6 laps, being coached throughout, before we went onto the main runway to see how the car reacted to moving on and off the throttle, and how to brake hard and change direction.
We spent quite a bit of time weaving up and down the runway before be went to the end to do some power understeer and (traction control off) power oversteer. I was officially allowed to be a hooligan! Great fun.
Then back for a number of extra laps of the track before we finished. This was circa 10.20 and it was time for McClaren to shakedown a new SLR.
The Elise is my first performance car and this was the first time that I had actually “driven” it. Most excellent!
Outcome achieved – to gain confidence in the car, me as a driver and prepare for me for my first track day at Hullavington this Friday. Also it will make be a safer driver as I now know what is happening to the car.
I would like to thank Graham for his patience and skill to help me find the limit.
Conclusion: Intensive 90 mins or so on track, that really prepares you. Couple of track days and then I will be back for more and start to work on getting my driving style smoother.
Value for money: Worth every penny. Quality not quantity
see http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.ph
Plans Driver Training review from the eyes of a novice driver
Having just past that magic 1k mileage and got a first service out of the way, it was time to get to learn about my car.
Having looked at the forums and read haydj’s review I decided to go with a Plans driver training session.
Following the snow on Saturday night/Sunday morning I woke up this morning to a dry, sunny and cold morning.
I met up with Graham at their place about 8.15 and following coffee and a quick tour of the workshop, we discussed the outcomes I was looking for from this session.
“What cars have you driven in the past?” I was asked. Ermm….. Honda Estate, Mazda 5 seven seater, Chrysler Voyager. Not a promising start.
We spent quite a lot of time discussing weight distribution and its effects. At the time I was keen to learn and understand but even keener to get out into the car, however it has given me a lot to think about and I now have a much greater understanding of what happened during my session and more importantly a mental note pad of the car dynamics.
We got onto the track about 8:50am and Graham took my car for a couple of shakedown laps to see if it had any significant under or over steer characteristics. I was pleased to hear that everything was just fine. This was a real eye opener for me as I had never been a passenger in an Elise and also had never been round a track with someone driving (if only at 65%) at speed.
Now it was my turn. Being a Top Gear viewer it is quite an evocative moment sitting on the same start time as “them on telly” (yes I know I am sad). I did about 5/6 laps, being coached throughout, before we went onto the main runway to see how the car reacted to moving on and off the throttle, and how to brake hard and change direction.
We spent quite a bit of time weaving up and down the runway before be went to the end to do some power understeer and (traction control off) power oversteer. I was officially allowed to be a hooligan! Great fun.
Then back for a number of extra laps of the track before we finished. This was circa 10.20 and it was time for McClaren to shakedown a new SLR.
The Elise is my first performance car and this was the first time that I had actually “driven” it. Most excellent!
Outcome achieved – to gain confidence in the car, me as a driver and prepare for me for my first track day at Hullavington this Friday. Also it will make be a safer driver as I now know what is happening to the car.
I would like to thank Graham for his patience and skill to help me find the limit.
Conclusion: Intensive 90 mins or so on track, that really prepares you. Couple of track days and then I will be back for more and start to work on getting my driving style smoother.
Value for money: Worth every penny. Quality not quantity
see http://forums.seloc.org/viewthread.ph
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