Thinking about booking supercar thrill day experience

chochybear

New Member
Messages
15
I bought a thrill ride in a Mclaren 12c MP4. for 120.00 pounds with one of the many companies there are selling this supercar thrill day experience.

When you arrive they ask you to pay 25 pounds more for insurance or you will have to pay for any damage to their car.

I arrived on time and was told only one driver was available. I had to wait one hour past my time slot as everyone else waiting went for their drive before me and by now another 10 people had arrived for their drive. No one checked in what order people were going for their drive. If I had not approached the driver in the car I would have been there for another hour.

Their rules are if you are late you loose your drive and your money.

When I got in the car I went to check my mirrors, my instructor said "they are not for you to use, they are for me to use", so they are positioned for the instructor in the passenger seat. He said "the car cost 350,000 pounds and he worked for Mclaren", so knows how to drive. He then told me to pull out at the same time as their mini bus was overtaking. Luckily I saw the mini bus.

When I got to the end of the pick up area I was driving at 20mph I touched the brakes a little and the brakes slammed on for no reason. I thought it was very strange that the brakes were really sensitive. I found out after that the instructor was braking with his dual controls.

They do not tell you their cars have dual controls.

I booked the Mclaren and paid extra because I wanted to feel the power of the Mclaren.

What a waste of money as the instructor does not allow you to drive over 50mph or 4500 rpm and made me drive the whole way round in sixth gear. All the instructor kept saying was "change up a gear" even going round a tight bend with the steering wheel upside down at 25 mph he said "change up" until I was in sixth gear. Then at 30mph in sixth gear he said "floor it".

I only found out about the dual controls when I was on the wide straight bit of the course and he said start to brake now, the end of the straight was so far away I could not see it yet. I just covered my brakes and did not apply brakes. All of a sudden the bonnet went down as the he braked hard.

I booked this day as a supercar thrill experience day and read that I would get 4 exhilarating driving laps in a Mclaren.

My friend who I booked this day with came away thinking Mclarens are slower than his diesel Jaguar, as his Jag felt faster on the way home.

I wish someone had posted about their supercar experience and saved me wasting my time and money.
 

Phil the Brit

Member
Messages
1,499
I bought a thrill ride in a Mclaren 12c MP4. for 120.00 pounds with one of the many companies there are selling this supercar thrill day experience.

When you arrive they ask you to pay 25 pounds more for insurance or you will have to pay for any damage to their car.

I arrived on time and was told only one driver was available. I had to wait one hour past my time slot as everyone else waiting went for their drive before me and by now another 10 people had arrived for their drive. No one checked in what order people were going for their drive. If I had not approached the driver in the car I would have been there for another hour.

Their rules are if you are late you loose your drive and your money.

When I got in the car I went to check my mirrors, my instructor said "they are not for you to use, they are for me to use", so they are positioned for the instructor in the passenger seat. He said "the car cost 350,000 pounds and he worked for Mclaren", so knows how to drive. He then told me to pull out at the same time as their mini bus was overtaking. Luckily I saw the mini bus.

When I got to the end of the pick up area I was driving at 20mph I touched the brakes a little and the brakes slammed on for no reason. I thought it was very strange that the brakes were really sensitive. I found out after that the instructor was braking with his dual controls.

They do not tell you their cars have dual controls.

I booked the Mclaren and paid extra because I wanted to feel the power of the Mclaren.

What a waste of money as the instructor does not allow you to drive over 50mph or 4500 rpm and made me drive the whole way round in sixth gear. All the instructor kept saying was "change up a gear" even going round a tight bend with the steering wheel upside down at 25 mph he said "change up" until I was in sixth gear. Then at 30mph in sixth gear he said "floor it".

I only found out about the dual controls when I was on the wide straight bit of the course and he said start to brake now, the end of the straight was so far away I could not see it yet. I just covered my brakes and did not apply brakes. All of a sudden the bonnet went down as the he braked hard.

I booked this day as a supercar thrill experience day and read that I would get 4 exhilarating driving laps in a Mclaren.

My friend who I booked this day with came away thinking Mclarens are slower than his diesel Jaguar, as his Jag felt faster on the way home.

I wish someone had posted about their supercar experience and saved me wasting my time and money.

Please name and shame
 

jluis

Member
Messages
1,703
Sorry but this might be a case of you get what you pay for.
These events are usually way pricier than that.

Despite this, they should have been honest with you and laid the rules beforehand
 

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
21,071
I have heard of being limited on these type of days before but not this bad, as above name & shame so others know which ones to avoid.
 

chochybear

New Member
Messages
15
Name and shame gets a delete post on most forums
Not all supercar companies are this bad.
I asked for a refund a week ago and have got nowhere
 

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
21,071
As long as your views are a honest opinion / representation of the service received post that name and shame will normally be allowed to stand. Post that are just slagging off or derogatory do get removed.

Well that's how it seems to me but the mods might be along later to disagree
 

BennyD

Sea Urchin Pate
Messages
15,008
Personally, I've not got a problem with name and shame if the facts are faithfully represented as it might save someone else on here getting screwed the same way. However, Matt is the final arbiter.
 

alfatwo

Member
Messages
5,517
I had a real problem with "buyagift.com" for mis selling me a Ferrari Experience at Silverstone that didn't exist..

It's going through the small claims court at the mo.. Don't ever use that company guys, they're just effin skankers!

Dave
 

casadalloro

New Member
Messages
465
Push start in maranello completely different... I had a guy called Alberto in a california last year... Did 1/2 hr drive.... Anywhere safe to do so he said ..push, push..... Overtake..... Safe also.... Saw a straight bit and began to overtake, he just said NO... iN.... 2 junctions... Well impressed.....would go back and do 458 speciale for 1 hr
 

maverick

Member
Messages
1,982
I just did one of these in an f430 and lambo gallardo, yes they do rein you in a little, get you braking way too early and the mirror thing is very unnerving. However, the track is very busy and I suppose there all different types of driving ability so they have to be over cautious. One thing I did learn is I so want a ferrari f430; stunning to drive, so easy and the lambo felt like a tractor. I would never buy one now which is a shame as one of my all time dream cars was a murcielago .
 

chochybear

New Member
Messages
15
Thanks for the warning, sounds like a terrible experience

I booked with trackdays.co.uk and my experience was at Dunsfold Park.
As far as I know it does not matter who you book with, if you choose to have your experience day at Dunsfold they are all run by the same company at Dunsfold.
So unless you want a terrible wasted day do not go to Dunsfold.
I did ask for a response from trackdays and they told me it is nothing to do with them, even though they were happy to take my money.
 

Steve GS

Member
Messages
1,526
I had a trak day booked through Virgin a nice little trak in Oxford not far from Bicester village was a very good experience they had lots of cars for me to choose two from I chose an f430 and AM Vantage. I chose the Aston as it was always a car I loved to admire. I'm just glad I drove that before the Ferrari Otherwise I would have been disappointed. The only rules they gave me if I spin it Thats my day over.
 

Bilko

Junior Member
Messages
71
Everyman car day experience at Elvington nr York.reviewed by my wife, overall 6 out of 10 admin wise.
AudiR8 poor explanation re controls etc average 'thrill'....Ariel Atom passenger...mental ! Haven't enjoyed myself so much with my clothes on many a year !
 

Wattie

Member
Messages
8,640
Everyman car day experience at Elvington nr York.reviewed by my wife, overall 6 out of 10 admin wise.
AudiR8 poor explanation re controls etc average 'thrill'....Ariel Atom passenger...mental ! Haven't enjoyed myself so much with my clothes on many a year !
Yup, the Atom will do that to you!
Cheers Wattie
 

Contigo

Sponsor
Messages
18,376
If you want a track experience book a VXR track day at £35 a pop. It's an hour on track at Thruxton and is he best value trackday you will ever do. You can drive them as fast as you will ever be able to and enjoy every minute of it. These supercar effort's are simply an experience so people can say they have driven a Ferrari or Lambo and you don't even get to 4/10th's of it's ability.
 

Yorkshire-Trident

Junior Member
Messages
74
I've been to Everyman @ Prestwold near Loughborough a few times and can only recommend the place. They tend to start easy on you, but as they get more confident in your ability they push a bit more. They rate you out of 40 each time, so when I got to my 4th car of the day, (after getting 35/36's) the instructor just turned to me and said "lets see what you can really do". I was hammering it down the straights, but they don't let you get anywhere near the redlines admittedly.
They do last minute special offers on certain cars, so its £50 instead of £100 - worth checking out!
 

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,370
I did the Prodrive track and think that was Everyman and it was loads of fun..... Drove a Gallardo Spyder, Ferrari 430 and Mclaren 12C Spyder...... Had a bit of waiting around but the instructors never held you back when on track...Mclaren was in a different league to the other two.