Driving experiences

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Today I embark on one of these. I will report back but first...

Full racing* gear needs to be worn:

Calculator watch 

Appropriate cufflinks 

May or may not need driving gloves? Will try to capture as much of this experience* as possible and share my findings.

 

 

 

 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Transportation

[tooSavvy]

Had me going....

Expecting a Sinclair C5

 

...... Bon Chance

 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

Wow. Would do again. 11/10. Getting pissed now, full report tomorrow!

[brownnova]

I did an off road driving experience yesterday… was good fun. First time I’ve ever done one. 

[eifion]

13 minutes ago, brownnova said:

I did an off road driving experience yesterday… was good fun. First time I’ve ever done one. 

Yeah, I saw the pictures in the local paper.

 

[brownnova]

1 hour ago, eifion said:

Yeah, I saw the pictures in the local paper.

 

That was literally less than two minutes from my house! Bloke did a runner… 

[Noel Tidybeard]

6 minutes ago, brownnova said:

That was literally less than two minutes from my house! I did a runner… 

FIFY

[anonymous user]

I have some vouchers for stuff like this at the moment, (Virgin Experience Days) I was given them for my birthday last December but due to Covid and apathy haven't done anything with them. Plus I can't see anything reasonably local that I fancy. I really am a miserable git. "Drive a Ferrari" I already have, they are very nice but not me. "Racetrack" Yes I used to do that not for me now. "Off road days" I did that every day for a while just to get to and from my house in a selection of suitable* off road vehicles.

All the stuff that involves sitting on my arse eating and drinking is miles away. 

[sutty2006]

I had a tank driving experience for my 30th a few years ago and spent the day driving SPGs and troop carriers. No tanks. Was still a great day though, cold, but great. 

[MiniMort]

I did one of these last year at Bicester. Drove a Lotus Cortina and a first gen Escort RS1600. Absolutely fell in love with the Cortina until I saw the price tag. 

[HMC]

When I bought a new Land Rover many moons ago I got a Land Rover driving experience ticket but never did go.

Ive often wondered about super car ones but I’m a bit meh about those. Inverted snobbery probably on my part.

I sort of had a driving experience session when I test drove a civic type r on a public road again a long time ago from a Honda dealer. I succeeded in scaring all involved, myself included. That’s the nearest I’ve come to a driving “experience” in a third party’s vehicle.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

What's really needed is a DriveShite Experience, run under the AS banner 

[sutty2006]

2 minutes ago, Tadhg Tiogar said:

What's really needed is a DriveShite Experience, run under the AS banner 

FoD isn’t it? 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

1 minute ago, sutty2006 said:

FoD isn’t it? 

Exactly. 

[EML]

I had an 911 turbo driving experience for my 40th at Elvington.

Biggest money making racket i have ever witnessed,

Even Mr Fiddler of carry on camping fame would have been proud

It was extra money for the huge excess waiver.

Extra money for in car filming, then photo's 

More money to have a few laps as a passenger in a car before you get chance to drive 

From sitting in the porsche to getting back in my car was 15 MINS......

It wasnt as if the circuit was good, a runway with 1000's of cones.

Becoming cone blind was manditory

2/10

[cobblers]

I got a free "track day experience" when I bought my Abarth 595.

It turned out to be half a dozen laps of a soaking wet, incredibly crowded donington park in a brand new zero mile Abarth 595 that I wasn't allowed to put in sport mode. At any one point on the track I was either overtaking minibuses and terrified people in single seaters, or being overtaken by professionals in supercars.

It was absolutely fucking shite and a had more fun driving to and from the track than I had while driving around it.

Sounds as though your day was a lot better than mine!

[HMC]

Shitefest 14 was particularly well suited to this. Sufficiently remote to not be conspicuous. Thanks are again due to all parties who kindly allowed me at the helm-

Rover SD1 ( @skizzer) / lancia beta coupe ( @breadvan72) / triumph Acclaim cd ( @trigger) cavalier mk3 cd ( @RobT) 

[sierraman]

I’d heard that these experience days you have to pay some massive damage waiver. The wife once bought me an experience day in an old sixties Mustang, reading through it you had to pay £xxx amount in case it blew up. I mean the chances of a 50 year old car packing up whilst being driven round a track is pretty high to be fair so I passed on that. 

[HMC]

I was going to take my ex wife’s parents car for a lap of the ring when I was visiting in the mid 2000’s insurance matters put me off. It was a b5 passat so perhaps more likely to have an off due to drifting off at the wheel, but still.

[HMC]

16 minutes ago, sierraman said:

I’d heard that these experience days you have to pay some massive damage waiver. The wife once bought me an experience day in an old sixties Mustang, reading through it you had to pay £xxx amount in case it blew up. I mean the chances of a 50 year old car packing up whilst being driven round a track is pretty high to be fair so I passed on that. 

Reminds me of journo mark hales who got into a dispute with the owner of a Porsche 917 (David piper) after the engine was poorly after a track test

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2013/B1.html

[sierraman]

Therefore a hamfisted fool like me needs to be kept well away from such expensive machinery! 🤣

[Bren]

20 minutes ago, HMC said:

Reminds me of journo mark hales who got into a dispute with the owner of a Porsche 917 (David piper) after the engine was poorly after a track test

https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2013/B1.html

£37k engine repair? I'd have filled it with amtech and k seal.

For my 30th I had a rally experience at Oulton Park - driving an escort cosworth. I had Terry Pankhurst as my instructor - I enjoyed it but I have too much mechanical sympathy to thrash somebody else's car.

For my 40th I had the use of a Jensen Interceptor for a weekend - yes there is a huge excess that goes on a credit card.

The car was immense - oddly I slent more time looking at the temp gauge than the fuel as it ran very hot ( it was mid July).

I saw one for a classic mustang but I never bothered as I should be spending money on my SD1 rather than cars I will never hope to own.

[Stanky]

I did a rally driving experience in a ford puma years ago, it was really good fun actually.

More importantly, they went through the damage waiver spiel at the start and I chose not to pay thre extra tenner or whatever it was. Several laps into my second session the car went weird and the instructor asked me to pull off to the side. The car had done one handbrake turn too many with me at the helm and torn the rear drivers side wheel, hub, suspension clean off. PHARRRKS though I.

it was totalled, and got dragged away by a telehandler, with a quivvering voice I fessed up that I hadn't paid the waiver and what was the damage likely to cost. The instructor laughed and told me not to worry - while I was at the helm when it fell apart, I had been following his explicit instructions the entire time. Therefore there was nothing to pay. He was really cool about it, and said that the damage waiver is actually incredibly hard to enforce and really would only be really contensted if the driver had deliberately and willfully ignored instructions and done some really stupid like deliberately driving into a tree, or crashing headlong into another car, and even then it would probably have to go to court for the damages to be enforceable.

Essentially, no matter what they say, their insurance will state (except with single seaters) that the instructor is the responsible adult and would have to prove that they gave clear instructions and took action to avoid damage to the car e.g. pulled the handbrake, grabbed the wheel, screamed like a girl - whatever.

Anyway, based on a sample size on 1, the damage waiver is a total con and they actually don't mind if you cause serious damage to the cars.

[beko1987]

My mum got me a drifting skidpan track day when I passed my test many tears ago, was up at knockhill. 

Was good fun. A rover 25 and some BMW compact. (fwd & frw) Drove round the course in the dry really fast, then they flooded the track with water and silicone shit and round we went again a few times, then they pulled the abs fuses from each car and round we went again! It was really good tbh, there was a challenge at the end to drift round alot and not kiss the walls and I did quite well iirc! 

One of the guys there was driving this little rover around like a ballerina, was great to watch! 

I'd like to think I've learnt something but after that day I've never got into a situation where I've needed it! I drove to said track day in the puma, so this would have been after I slid my 206 around a dieselly roundabout and dragged the front end down a crash barrier so it makes sense they booked it for after then 🤔

Well, I say I've not needed the skills since that is a lie, we got the astravan sideways at very low speeds in the fod once, then carried on doing that to it for 50 miles between us

[eddyramrod]

I've done a few of these experience days, MrsR sometimes buys me a Virgin voucher.  Let's see if I can remember them in the right order...

Formula Ford at Seven Sisters in Wigan

Rally driving (Escort mk2) at Elvington

Supercars (Ferrari and Aston Martin) at Elvington

Batmobile replica at Seven Sisters

and most recently, a week before @brownnova did his with the same firm: off-road in a VW Amarok at Duncombe Park, N. Yorks. 

We treat the whole thing as a day out, which can mean an early kickoff, but that's ok.  Duncombe Park was over three hours each way.  We take picnic food and generally relax.  We've done the odd afternoon tea too this way.

I want to try a tank or a Stalwart yet...

[sierraman]

A rally car breaking is an occupational hazard surely, some of them don’t go a day without shitting the diff. 

[eddyramrod]

When I did my rally day, the "other" Escort broke on its way back to the startline; stub axle IIRC.  Wasn't me guv, honest!

[Pieman]

A friend bought me a choice of experience days from Buyagift last Christmas.  I haven't even opened it because, thinking about it, I don't really enjoy doing anything in life any more.  Plus I won't do driving days because I get too frightened of damaging someone else's car.

[brownnova]

I enjoyed my off road experience but I was mildly disappointed I didn’t get to drive the Land Rover Defender rather than the automatic  Merc. But I must have enjoyed it  as the hour flew by!