Driver's Dream Day's - Any good?
Discussion
Hi I am looking to book a driving exerience day for my partner and was wondering if any body could give me any feedback on Drivers Dream Days?
Are they value for money? and how much time do you get to spend driving the the cars?
Also someone has recommended Everyman to me- has anybody been on one of these days?
Thanks
Are they value for money? and how much time do you get to spend driving the the cars?
Also someone has recommended Everyman to me- has anybody been on one of these days?
Thanks
Bought a Drivers dream day for my father and he thoroughly enjoyed it !! At Bruntingthorpe you basically get three laps in each car, an out lap, fast lap, coming in lap. (although i'm sure he was short changed in one of the cars!!)
Think he did a Porsche 911, Ferrari 360, Lotus Elise, Subaru, Karting, and something else. (theres an off road section that you get taken on for free in a 4 by 4 which is worth doing)
Theres a bit of waiting around between drives but not too much, as you're in a particular group of people you end up chatting with them about your experiences so the waiting isn't so bad.
As I said my dad had a great day (even though it was on/off rain) and so did everybody else he talked to.
Think he did a Porsche 911, Ferrari 360, Lotus Elise, Subaru, Karting, and something else. (theres an off road section that you get taken on for free in a 4 by 4 which is worth doing)
Theres a bit of waiting around between drives but not too much, as you're in a particular group of people you end up chatting with them about your experiences so the waiting isn't so bad.
As I said my dad had a great day (even though it was on/off rain) and so did everybody else he talked to.
I treated my boyfriend to a dream days track day driving an Aston Martin DB9 it was a fantastic few hours it was worth the money but i had a couple of grumbles when you get there they con you into an extra £20 for the insurance excess waver so watch that and we went to the track at long marston in stratford upon avon lovely place to visit but the track there is really poor the surface is uneven exremely bumpy and the track is breaking up so they advice to keep back from the car infront cos of flying stones but he thoroughly enjoyed it and i got a high speed lap in a scooby driven by an ex rally driver that was pretty hair raising.
Having tried both I would definitely recommend Everyman over Dream Days. Everyman is far friendlier and less 'conveyor belt' like than Dream Days...I couldn't believe how long you have to queue with them (at Bruntingthorpe anyhow) only to have to queue all over again as they try and squeeze the extra for insurance out of you!
I definately would not recomend Drivers Dream Days to anybody!!
What a complete bunch of robbing, scumbag, brummy b***ards!
Me and my partner went on one of their days a few months ago, never again!!
First of all they are really rude and order you about like slaves... What the hell happened to politeness to the paying customer!
And secondly, the ginger tw*t who runs the show, well, he wants his head kicking in.
As far as the cars go its fine, although you only actually get 2 laps, and half of that the instructor is shouting at you to slow down below 4000 revs.
As far as i am concerned a complete and utter waste of time and MONEY!
What a complete bunch of robbing, scumbag, brummy b***ards!
Me and my partner went on one of their days a few months ago, never again!!
First of all they are really rude and order you about like slaves... What the hell happened to politeness to the paying customer!
And secondly, the ginger tw*t who runs the show, well, he wants his head kicking in.
As far as the cars go its fine, although you only actually get 2 laps, and half of that the instructor is shouting at you to slow down below 4000 revs.
As far as i am concerned a complete and utter waste of time and MONEY!
i think it depends on the location, the date, the organisers and the car.
i did the ultimate supercar experience at bruntingthorpe last saturday. it was great fun but there is a lot of waiting around (you are given a time to wait at each station at. some of them are on time (so no wait) while others were 30 minutes behind but they wont tell you how long you are likely to wait at each station.
equally the variation in the instructors was quite great too. they said at the beginning of the day that all of the instructors had had some race experience, but it was obvious that some really cared a lot more than others. the bloke who took me around in the elise was just amazing, he really put effort into teaching you rather than just nannying you around (but then he did say i gave him the best drive of the afternoon
. while others do just keep you in check by keeping the revs below about 4k and pushing the steering wheel too.
overall i would say that it was a great experience and i was very glad i did it, but i wouldnt do it again.
oh, and also consider that it can be very difficult to get through to them on the phone to book your event and once you have booked it you absolutely categorically cannot change it.
i did the ultimate supercar experience at bruntingthorpe last saturday. it was great fun but there is a lot of waiting around (you are given a time to wait at each station at. some of them are on time (so no wait) while others were 30 minutes behind but they wont tell you how long you are likely to wait at each station.
equally the variation in the instructors was quite great too. they said at the beginning of the day that all of the instructors had had some race experience, but it was obvious that some really cared a lot more than others. the bloke who took me around in the elise was just amazing, he really put effort into teaching you rather than just nannying you around (but then he did say i gave him the best drive of the afternoon
. while others do just keep you in check by keeping the revs below about 4k and pushing the steering wheel too.overall i would say that it was a great experience and i was very glad i did it, but i wouldnt do it again.
oh, and also consider that it can be very difficult to get through to them on the phone to book your event and once you have booked it you absolutely categorically cannot change it.
Definitely Palmersport, get a few friends together for a shared day and you will have the best day you've ever spent in a car. No waiting around brilliant instructors, good range of proper cars. I have raced for 6 years and done trackdays etc, and Palmersport is much, much better value for time and money.
I did the Aston Martin and Ferrari experience at Elvington week before last with drivers dream days as a present. My thoughts as folows :
They did mention the £20 insurance - personally can't see why anyone would bother with it - I didn't and didn't feel concerned at anytime.
Facilities were basic and there was a lot of waiting around with no one quite sure when things were supposed to happen. Ok of the weather is good, which it was, not so good if not. Also I found that it was hard to relax while waiting around as other groups would then get into ques in front of you and you risk getting missed. Not the best organisationally.
Having said this, this was my first taste of driving on anything other than a road with an instructor and overall I enjoyed it. I went out with an older instructor in a Ferrari 355 and he was great - made me realised how little I know about real car control, so in that sense I viewed it as a taster that has now given me the bug to search out longer and less 'conveyor belt' like driving days / tuition.
I personally would research a few of the options before going to any particular one. Main questions to ask are how much actual track time, how many people there on the day, any extra costs, exactly which cars will you be driving and who are the instructors.
They did mention the £20 insurance - personally can't see why anyone would bother with it - I didn't and didn't feel concerned at anytime.
Facilities were basic and there was a lot of waiting around with no one quite sure when things were supposed to happen. Ok of the weather is good, which it was, not so good if not. Also I found that it was hard to relax while waiting around as other groups would then get into ques in front of you and you risk getting missed. Not the best organisationally.
Having said this, this was my first taste of driving on anything other than a road with an instructor and overall I enjoyed it. I went out with an older instructor in a Ferrari 355 and he was great - made me realised how little I know about real car control, so in that sense I viewed it as a taster that has now given me the bug to search out longer and less 'conveyor belt' like driving days / tuition.
I personally would research a few of the options before going to any particular one. Main questions to ask are how much actual track time, how many people there on the day, any extra costs, exactly which cars will you be driving and who are the instructors.
WindsorRob said:
I did the Aston Martin and Ferrari experience at Elvington week before last with drivers dream days as a present. My thoughts as folows :
They did mention the £20 insurance - personally can't see why anyone would bother with it - I didn't and didn't feel concerned at anytime.
Facilities were basic and there was a lot of waiting around with no one quite sure when things were supposed to happen. Ok of the weather is good, which it was, not so good if not. Also I found that it was hard to relax while waiting around as other groups would then get into ques in front of you and you risk getting missed. Not the best organisationally.
Having said this, this was my first taste of driving on anything other than a road with an instructor and overall I enjoyed it. I went out with an older instructor in a Ferrari 355 and he was great - made me realised how little I know about real car control, so in that sense I viewed it as a taster that has now given me the bug to search out longer and less 'conveyor belt' like driving days / tuition.
I personally would research a few of the options before going to any particular one. Main questions to ask are how much actual track time, how many people there on the day, any extra costs, exactly which cars will you be driving and who are the instructors.
The instructor you were with was Ian Ashley, ex F1, ex Formula 5000, ex touring car, ex Lotus Elise, ex F1 side car driver ..... google his name, you'll be fascinated!!They did mention the £20 insurance - personally can't see why anyone would bother with it - I didn't and didn't feel concerned at anytime.
Facilities were basic and there was a lot of waiting around with no one quite sure when things were supposed to happen. Ok of the weather is good, which it was, not so good if not. Also I found that it was hard to relax while waiting around as other groups would then get into ques in front of you and you risk getting missed. Not the best organisationally.
Having said this, this was my first taste of driving on anything other than a road with an instructor and overall I enjoyed it. I went out with an older instructor in a Ferrari 355 and he was great - made me realised how little I know about real car control, so in that sense I viewed it as a taster that has now given me the bug to search out longer and less 'conveyor belt' like driving days / tuition.
I personally would research a few of the options before going to any particular one. Main questions to ask are how much actual track time, how many people there on the day, any extra costs, exactly which cars will you be driving and who are the instructors.
I was instructing in a 360 Ferrari, paddle change!
I work at most of the circuits up and down the country, if you need any info, just send me a PM, and I'll endeavour to answer your questions. I'm away until Wednesday evening.
I went there today, and it was a good day, not much waiting around for me, but sensed some definate attitude from staff! I arrived at my post at dead on 10am, and the thick blonde girl says she had been calling my name for half an hour, so i delighted in telling her i had been there for half an hour and popped to the loo for 5 mins, so no idea what her half an hour is!!!
Also, they seemed to be very pushy about the collision damage waiver. Now I am in insurance an I am quite sure that the Insurer only gets £10 for every £20 policy, but hey, they are in it for a profit at the end of the day, and I did take it out anyway! I just noticed some others getting a hard time for saying no!
Very finally, I could not get in touch with the firm at all. I had to resort to trading standards to get a response and then spoke to a someone with bags of attitude on the phone. In my panic to book (as I didnt want to risk not getting through again) I double booked with another event! Then when i tried to callback it took me ages, and then they wouldnt let me change it!!
Overall summary, track day was good, cars were good, instructers good, but other companies will excel in customer service I am sure!!
Also, they seemed to be very pushy about the collision damage waiver. Now I am in insurance an I am quite sure that the Insurer only gets £10 for every £20 policy, but hey, they are in it for a profit at the end of the day, and I did take it out anyway! I just noticed some others getting a hard time for saying no!
Very finally, I could not get in touch with the firm at all. I had to resort to trading standards to get a response and then spoke to a someone with bags of attitude on the phone. In my panic to book (as I didnt want to risk not getting through again) I double booked with another event! Then when i tried to callback it took me ages, and then they wouldnt let me change it!!
Overall summary, track day was good, cars were good, instructers good, but other companies will excel in customer service I am sure!!
been on a few over the years and if the person going wants a real driving experience and not just a 'sit in a fast supercar' experience do the Palmersport day or maybe one of their newer specific car days like the Porsche or Jaguar drive.
the cars are not as 'super' but you will get to drive them properly with someone next to you who is trying to get you to get the best out of the day and if you are up for it to push the cars to the limits whereas most of the other days the instructor is more of a security guard looking after the motor.
the cars are not as 'super' but you will get to drive them properly with someone next to you who is trying to get you to get the best out of the day and if you are up for it to push the cars to the limits whereas most of the other days the instructor is more of a security guard looking after the motor.
tomhodgson77 said:
For companies on the same scale as ours (with as many cars running as us) it is true
TomIn your post you said "they are all the same to every driving experience company" which is most definitely not true as I said. Your above statement is also untrue, i've worked for most of the experience companies, inc DDD and those on a similar and larger scale and most do not limit revs. I'm not saying any company is better or worse than another, there are lots of other things to take into account when looking at this type of activity.
Maxx
tomhodgson77 said:
... All circuits except big ones like silverstone, brands etc have noise regulations we are just keeping the councils happy.
Tom,This is also untrue, "big ones like silverstone, brands etc." DO also have noise restrictions, if you don't know the facts then it's not helpful to post here.
Maxx
I do not see the point of driving something like a Ferrari and not being able to rev it. There's no power below 4k! My wife bought me a Ferrari drive at Goodwood a few years ago. It was in a classic 308, and the instructor would not let me rev it above 4k. Pointless. I'd arrived in my Griff 500, and without the revs, the 308 felt uetterly gutless; I might as well have been driving a Mondeo.
I cannot recommend a TopCats day enough. Proper racing cars, proper circuits, proper racing driver instructors and none of this rev limit nonsense. And their Tuscan/Sagaris will reel in a 911 GT3 like it's on a leash...
http://www.topcatsracing.com/drive_our_race_cars.h...
I promise you your cheeks will hurt from grinning and your neck will hurt from the 'g' forces, but you'll have had an experience you won't forget in a hurry.
(I have no connection with TopCats, other than having done one of their days a few years ago.)
http://www.topcatsracing.com/drive_our_race_cars.h...
I promise you your cheeks will hurt from grinning and your neck will hurt from the 'g' forces, but you'll have had an experience you won't forget in a hurry.
(I have no connection with TopCats, other than having done one of their days a few years ago.)
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