Driving experience experienced Pic Heavy pg 2

[Redzedfour]

For christmas my GF bought me a racecar driving experience at Croft.
It consists of 3 passenger laps in a Mazda 3 MPS,3 laps driven by me in a Cayman,5 laps driven by me in a Formula Forward 200 and a final hot lap in Caterham 7 driven by the instructor.
The whole thing lasts between 2-3 hrs,12 laps in total (8 driven by me ).

So was just wondering what peoples thoughts on these type of experiences are,especially the ones who have done something similar.

Really looking forward to doing this but the only downside is i'm putting the GF in charge of the camera so i'll probably get no descent pics to keep as a record of the day and to post up on here

 

[Adamski]

Usually the circuit will do photos. I got an in-car DVD when I did a Ferrari experience at Silverstone. I still drool when I hear the V8 growl

You'll have a hoot


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[Redzedfour]

Usually the circuit will do photos. I got an in-car DVD when I did a Ferrari experience at Silverstone. I still drool when I hear the V8 growl

You'll have a hoot


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So hopefully they will do the same at Croft,cheers Adamski

 

[tomscott]

They are really good fun! Done a couple of them but I did mine at Oulten park. But I most recently did the M3 Racing day, which consisted of 3 laps in auto with the driving instructor getting you used to the track and the car, then 8 laps in full control, then the driver would take you out for a hot lap, then 2 laps in an f1 style single seater racing car (thats how the website describes the car)

They are great fun and really teach you how to control the car, how and when to brake, judging distances etc. The only problem is when you get bakc in your car you drive like a nutter :evil:

I fancy doing a Porsche ultimate driving day next.

Really good fun in my opinion! And yes there is usually the option of in car footage and a photographer.

 

[Taz]

i did a drifting day, want to do it again

 

[Bing]

I did something similar at Rockingham a couple of years back - 30 mins round a track in a 500bhp+ race-prepped Holden something-or-other from a discontinued rich Arab racing league (scary fast but aurally and physically soooo exciting) ; 30 mins in a 911 Turbo (all electronics on, left me feeling dirty and disappointed) ; 30 mins in a Ferrari 360 (fell in love... ) ; 30 mins in a Mini Cooper S (superb fun) ; 4 laps of the oval in a single seater Formula Ford ; high speed passenger ride with a nuts Aussie ex NASCAR race driver (150 mph with the wing mirror literally 3 inches from the track wall) ; hoon around a gravel track in a ford focus rally car ; finally a shot on a skid pan round corners, through water, and over a 'kick-plate' that randomly swipes the back wheels as you enter a wet, carbon-tiled skid pan.

Totally awesome day, highly recommend doing anything like this. Just be careful when you leave, because the local police know when track days are on and do tend to keep an eye for enthusiastic driving in the vicinity :wink:

 

[Redzedfour]

I did something similar at Rockingham a couple of years back - 30 mins round a track in a 500bhp+ race-prepped Holden something-or-other from a discontinued rich Arab racing league (scary fast but aurally and physically soooo exciting) ; 30 mins in a 911 Turbo (all electronics on, left me feeling dirty and disappointed) ; 30 mins in a Ferrari 360 (fell in love... ) ; 30 mins in a Mini Cooper S (superb fun) ; 4 laps of the oval in a single seater Formula Ford ; high speed passenger ride with a nuts Aussie ex NASCAR race driver (150 mph with the wing mirror literally 3 inches from the track wall) ; hoon around a gravel track in a ford focus rally car ; finally a shot on a skid pan round corners, through water, and over a 'kick-plate' that randomly swipes the back wheels as you enter a wet, carbon-tiled skid pan.

Totally awesome day, highly recommend doing anything like this. Just be careful when you leave, because the local police know when track days are on and do tend to keep an eye for enthusiastic driving in the vicinity :wink:

Sounds like a cracking day out Bing makes mine sound a bit tame by comparison

 

[Adamski]

i did a drifting day, want to do it again

What cars do they use? Is it normal cars on skid pan, or Japanese turbo machines on a track?


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[Taz]

it was a 1 series bmw, had very thin tyres to help it drift, still good fun though

 

[Adamski]

That sounds better, never really liked big Jap turbo cars...


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[Bing]

I did something similar at Rockingham a couple of years back - 30 mins round a track in a 500bhp+ race-prepped Holden something-or-other from a discontinued rich Arab racing league (scary fast but aurally and physically soooo exciting) ; 30 mins in a 911 Turbo (all electronics on, left me feeling dirty and disappointed) ; 30 mins in a Ferrari 360 (fell in love... ) ; 30 mins in a Mini Cooper S (superb fun) ; 4 laps of the oval in a single seater Formula Ford ; high speed passenger ride with a nuts Aussie ex NASCAR race driver (150 mph with the wing mirror literally 3 inches from the track wall) ; hoon around a gravel track in a ford focus rally car ; finally a shot on a skid pan round corners, through water, and over a 'kick-plate' that randomly swipes the back wheels as you enter a wet, carbon-tiled skid pan.

Totally awesome day, highly recommend doing anything like this. Just be careful when you leave, because the local police know when track days are on and do tend to keep an eye for enthusiastic driving in the vicinity :wink:

Sounds like a cracking day out Bing makes mine sound a bit tame by comparison

You'll love it Redzedfour - I was there for a whole day and it was a corporate jolly sponsored by RIM, so I didn't have to pay. Under my own steam I'd do exactly the kind of thing you're doing, and I am very jealous

Of course we could turn the zedfest parade lap at Silverstone in the summer into a race :evil:

 

[Bing]

Worth saying that you learn a huge amount of simple but very effective high speed driving techniques at these sort of days, irrespective of how long you're there. I was constantly amazed at how fast you can travel round a 90 degree bend if you set up the car for the corner correctly - most evident in the Cooper S to be honest because it was a real everyday car. Things like getting braking & changing gear done whilst travelling in a straight line, holding the throttle level until well into the corner, and smooth control inputs - all perfectly logical, and not rocket-science, but stuff I never really thought hard about before doing a track day. I do find myself paying a lot more attention to what I am doing with my car and how I am doing it. If that makes sense at all :?

I'd love to do some driver training on a track in my Z but I'm scared I will hurt it... Brands Hatch is just up the road though... And if I ever got an M it'd be pretty much the first thing I did.

 

[Redzedfour]

I did something similar at Rockingham a couple of years back - 30 mins round a track in a 500bhp+ race-prepped Holden something-or-other from a discontinued rich Arab racing league (scary fast but aurally and physically soooo exciting) ; 30 mins in a 911 Turbo (all electronics on, left me feeling dirty and disappointed) ; 30 mins in a Ferrari 360 (fell in love... ) ; 30 mins in a Mini Cooper S (superb fun) ; 4 laps of the oval in a single seater Formula Ford ; high speed passenger ride with a nuts Aussie ex NASCAR race driver (150 mph with the wing mirror literally 3 inches from the track wall) ; hoon around a gravel track in a ford focus rally car ; finally a shot on a skid pan round corners, through water, and over a 'kick-plate' that randomly swipes the back wheels as you enter a wet, carbon-tiled skid pan.

Totally awesome day, highly recommend doing anything like this. Just be careful when you leave, because the local police know when track days are on and do tend to keep an eye for enthusiastic driving in the vicinity :wink:

Sounds like a cracking day out Bing makes mine sound a bit tame by comparison

You'll love it Redzedfour - I was there for a whole day and it was a corporate jolly sponsored by RIM, so I didn't have to pay. Under my own steam I'd do exactly the kind of thing you're doing, and I am very jealous

Of course we could turn the zedfest parade lap at Silverstone in the summer into a race :evil:

Well i'm looking to do the track experience in June so just in time to hone my driving skills and put them to the test at Silverstone..i wish

 

[TINO]

still shaking from mine told me off for going over 50 leaveing pits(did notknow just going for it) love to do a least once a week so much fun and no cops.

 

[gannet]

great fun as long as you don't hit anything - kinda takes the fun out of it :?

sure you'll be fine though

 

[Redzedfour]

So today was the that i had my Driving Experience that was kindly given to me for christmas by the GF,and may i say what a day it was i throughly enjoyed it and will definately do another.
The only downside was the good old british weather it was chucking it down while i was waiting to go out but stopped just before i went on track.
Really liked the feel of the Cayman, it had similar power to the zed but the instructor did say that the Cayman was a better handling car as i've never driven the zed on a track i'll take his word for it.
The pics below are what the GF took

These pics were taken by the on track snapper.

Really like this pic just before my overtaking manouvre but to be fair he did wave me past

The woman in the pic is a work colleague of the GF and she let me have 3 hot laps in the Caterham instead of the 1 so big thankyou to her

 

[Bing]

Your Gf is a great photographer, looks like a fun and slidy day

Did you have a smurf driving you round in the Caterham though ? :lol:

 

[Stuart Truman]

Judging by the pics, it looks like a great day out!

 

[TAZ 1990]

Pleased you had a great day. Only trouble is now if you are like me once you have done it you start planning the next one :evil: Great photos

 

[Redzedfour]

Your Gf is a great photographer, looks like a fun and slidy day

Did you have a smurf driving you round in the Caterham though ? :lol:

The majority of the pics were taken by the onsite photographer,the ones Karen took show sky,tarmac and a fleating glimpse of me :lol:

Wee Jim a bloody good driver he really put the Caterham through it's paces

Pleased you had a great day. Only trouble is now if you are like me once you have done it you start planning the next one :evil: Great photos

Already in the planning stage they do a supercar one with a Lamborghini Aventador down at Elvington which is supposed to be pretty good