Ferrari driving experience days?
 

The fam and i have been considering a Ferrari(or similar) driving day for my dad.

The idea is for myself and my dad to do a joint day/half day and stay a night with my mum and other half in a nice hotel close-by.

Has anyone done an experience and thought it was worth the money? I see a few of these things are really only half an hour of Ferrari driving, which i think sounds a bit short?

I've booked one of these for my boy as a pressie. But most of the time is on a road safety drive and the "Ferrari" bit is really a sweetener to get younger drivers on the course. So check out the details first as your dad may not want to be told how bad his driving is!! dl

lend him your Scooby for a day instead. He'll enjoy it a lot more..

sounds like a nice plan for the day:)

i looked into these days a while back and they're so hit and miss. at brands hatch one mate did a driving day there and had a real blast, then his brother did it and found it very restrictive and didn't enjoy it.
it's damn dear, especially for 2, but the Palmersport day is a guaranteed blinding day. you're pushed to drive the cars hard all day long:D
but then i did a lorry experience for my dad for his 70th at Manby Motorplex and it was superb, very personal touch and excellent value for money. they do loads of stuff there aswell, nothing exotic but a great set up:)

how about a Prodrive day? my mate did that this year and thought it was brilliant, not heard anyone have a bad word to say about it.

I've done one of these and the experience is a good one but it is a rather expensive option compared to the prodrive days or rally days you can buy...

If you're really into Ferrari's then it will be worth it - otherwise IMHO there's better options for you out there :D

I got one for my dad for his 60th, he couldnt be arsed doing it so told me to do it before it ran out, then came with me !

It was Ferrari vs Porsche one, few laps in each, was ok, got the general idea but you arent allowed to change gear, third in the Ferrari and fourth on the Porsche, I did change a few times and got told off :D the old boy co-piloting in the Porsche remarked on my ability to carry speed (I think his bottle was going), I think that was down to the confidence inspired by the 911 Turbo's electronics, the Ferrari was ok but a bit like a slightly upmarket Fiat Coupe, no way 100 plus grands worth, not devastatingly quick, 911 Turbo is muppet proof and I would say much more of a useful road device if a little inert.

It was worth a go once, it makes you realise they are just cars and that a nicely sorted 150 bhp road car can be as much pleasure as you will ever need.

Did one earlier this year with my son at Donington in a 360 manual, ours was only 3 hot laps. As you can see from the picture it gets very busy, by the time you have queued to check in, paid for your insurance excess waiver, and then queued again for your laps you’re looking at the best part of 3 hours. The time spent in the car is only about 6 minutes, It’s very expensive for what you get.

Was it worth it……………….hell yeah :D

http://55five.smugmug.com/photos/296290538_cF9Ee-L.jpg

make sure you read the small print,

I booked one thinking is was in a 360/355 and a bloody 20 year old 328 was there, aparently it said the model may change but I thought it would change between the 355 and the 360,

funny thing was that I had a sti5 in the car park that would of beaten the old ferrari :D

A Focus ST will smoke one of those old woofers !

Many thanks guys....the more help the better with this one. :) The closest track to us is Knockhill and with the weather being is unpredictable as most of other other halfs, it's worth travelling a bit further. :D

Nice one fella, thanks. Just going to browse those the now. :cool:


It's been difficult to make sure he'd be up for something like this, as it is expensive for what it is and he's never really had sports as such, up untill 3-4 months ago when he got a VX220 Turbo and now a WRX-S. It's nice to see a 60+ year old getting into something he can enjoy....something which he's never done before. He's only ever worked and if he can share it with someone, i know he'll do it.

I reckon he's got the hots for a 430, but i haven't yet seen somewhere that has that as an available car.

I did a single race car seater experience with the ex about 6 months ago, we really enjoyed it, plus we got to race a mini cooper S round the track too. On the same day there were people driving Ferraris and they were going a hell of alot slower than we was, for that reason Im glad I wasnt in the Ferrari. I presume its more to do with the fact they cant take the Ferrari over x amount of Revs as Ive heard that before.

Single seater race car is my recommendation. :thumb:

I found the Castle Combe day to be extremely enjoyable and I thought it was good value. You get 5 laps each in a Focus, a Scooby STI, an Elise, with an instructor and 6 laps in a Formula Ford.

The instructors are first class and push you to drive to your personal limit. They are all very friendly and pleasant and I am saving up to go again! I also really like Castle Combe as a track.

Les

That sounds a bit duff if thats the case, Dave. Where did you go, to do that experience?


I'll have a wee look at Castle Combe now, thanks Les.



Only one place does the F430 and it's at Thruxton....possibly the furthest away track from us. :rolleyes: He likes the R8 as well, but maybe not even as quick as the Ferrari. I'd thought of doing a Ferrari day, as it's possibly THE most well known supercar and for noise really, but if you can't get to drive it the way you want, then maybe it's not ideal. :(

Myself....i'd have chosen a Lambo, but it IS for faither. :D

I prefer driving the old 308s and 328's, much more fun at safer speeds imo.

If they told me i couldn't change gear and were all kid gloves i'd drive it into a wall though and sod the excess :D

We did that at 3 sisters race track. there was other tracks available too, castle donnington was one of them, we got it from buy a gift. So thats one place to avoid if it was me looking for a Ferrari day.

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As you can see everybody has a different experience.

No restrictions at Donington on my 360 drive, allowed to use as many revs as I wanted. They judge your capability and will allow you to get the best from your short drive safely. I was also allowed to overtake, the instructors use a system which allows this to be done as safely as possible.

The thing is that it's only 3 laps, you have to go out and nail it from the off, no point in coming back and saying I wish I had tried harder. In that time you have to learn the track, enjoy the car, stay on the Black stuff...........makes for a very exciting time.

I’ve done the open wheel cars at Brands (which are rev limited on experience) and found the 360 more of a rush.

Allan

I got my dad a drive in a v* aston for his 60th last year, which he enjoyed. Thought he;d prefer that to the Ferarri, and as it turned out, on the day you had the choice, but he went for the Aston.

It's not about the speed, it's the experience of driving something you can't afford. I drove a few things round croft, and lapped quicker in a Copper s than in the 328 (probably as I know how to drive FWD fast), but the Ferarri was more fun.
Until I drove the Ginetta...

Which Ginetta did you drive?

Many thanks guys, it's all helping. :)

Don't wanna be paying silly money for it not to be right.

It seems generally £300 for 1-2 hours of stuff and then jumps up to £700ish for a proper session which makes more sense if travelling a large distance and staying a night away from home, but then it all add's up to be v. costly.

Closest track to us is Knockhill, but their prices are on the high side compared to Thruxton for example.

I did the Ferrari experience at Thruxton about ten years ago, it was MGF's , Sports 2000 or Formula Fords then the Ferrari.
To be honest I enjoyed the Sports 2000 racer far more than the ferrari.
If I could've fitted in a Formula Ford properly i'd have loved that.
The Ferrari was a 355 and to be honest 3 laps around a fast wide circuit like Thruxton with a rev limiter and a nervous instructor is just so dull.

My brother paid me back a few years later with a full day at the Silverstone rally school tonking arond in Mk 2 escorts on a loose surface. It was 1/3 rd of the price and about 100 times better. More time in the car and some genuine fun.

I'd pay for your Dad to do a rally day, must be some schools up your neck of the woods.

Yes they're not exactly 'days' but very time limited experiences, in my experience complete tosh, all of em, except palmers motorsport sensation, at around 600/650 for the day (and you'll need to get 12 people together) it isnt cheap but its a *full* day thrashing the absolute nuts of everything (except maybe the FPA if your balls aint big enough)

Silverstone Ferrari is good fun, my instructor encouraged me to put my foot down!! you also get a hot lap in an elise with a pro driver, its then you realise that they were teaching you somewhat 'conservatively' !!

£700?! wow, didn't realise they could be bumped up to that much. as garyk says mate, that's putting you in Palmer sport territory.

whatever you end up doing it's going to cost a few quid, maybe bend the plastic a bit to get an unforgetable day?;):D