I'm talking Red Letter Days type events Are they worth it? I would say not as i think you get about 5 minutes of actual driving. You pay £200 or whatever, and its basically a dressed up 5 minute drive. Has anyone had any experience of these things? Ive recently found out some companys have no age restrictions, so i could effectively have 5 minutes of glory at 17 So im interested in it for obvious reasons but is it stupid from a 'financial'/value-for-money type view? Thoughts? Regards, Jack
I got one from my GF for xmas. 6-8 laps of Rockingham in a 360 depending on the configuration. It will be my first time in a moving ferrari and i also happen to be behind the wheel so i am looking forward to it Im not going until feb but will report back after if you still want to know.
yeah, would be great. Im just hesitant at the feeling of being ripped off as it will cost us more per mile than actual owners
Well it didnt cost me anything The 6-8 laps equates to about 6 miles i think and i hopefully i will be happy with that for a first go. I think some of them do have minimum age BTW and others just specify how long you need to have held a license for (like Rockingham). I have looked into hiring one for the road before but as i am not yet 30 they didnt seem to want to touch me, even if i have my own insurance.
I'd have a look at www.6thgearexperience.com. The guys behind that used to post of FChat way back when and they have a good set up at Elvington and other venues, not to mention a bit more in-car time than some other operations. I would personally recommend something like Book-a-Track Batcats (www.batcats.co.uk) instead of a Ferrari experience though. You do pay a little more (£300-400), but you get a Caterham for an entire trackday so as much as 7 hours in the car should you so desire. You also get some professional tuition and of course the mechanics are on hand to sort any issues throughout the day. I 'd say the feeling of speed and playing at being a racing driver is greater in the little Caterhams too! No affiliation to either company by the way, just my 2p worth on the thrill rides market.
Just a note on minimum age limits too. I don't know of any company which would let a 17 year old out in a Ferrari for all the money in his/her bank account for obvious reasons of a lack of experience! Many hire companies stipulate that the driver needs to be 25 at a minimum to hire a Ferrari. In terms of non-Fcars, some places hire prestige and sports cars like Range Rovers, Mercs et al to those over 21, but Ferraris are more difficult to get into! I've only ever been in one once and it was a hire car. We were on a private circuit though rather than the public road!
In terms of outlay for the reward then they are a safe way to get to drive a Ferrari, and some are better than others in terms of what they let you do and how many laps you get. But to get the whole experience it doesn't come close. To know you have a Ferrari sitting in your garage waiting for you to use it as you see fit, is a completely different feeling from waiting by the side of a track waiting to use someone elses Ferrari but limited to 4,000 rpm. It's a bit like comparing having a great girlfriend with going out on a paid date with a looker, with her father in attendance.
Yep did the 360 Experience at Silverstone back in september. Had it as a gift, great experience doing 140 down hangar straight but over far too quickly. By the time you've relaxed and realise your driving a 360 round a track its time to come in......
