Pav Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Last weekend was one to remember, I met up with my best mate James who lives in London and we plus a few others trekked up to a track called Prestwold hall in Leicester where we had booked our cars!First up I drove the Lamborghini LP-560. The first supercar I have ever driven. It was very very quick as you'd expect! My instructor (who was a little bossy at first) let me take it up to the redline in 4th on the straight which was a pretty awesome feeling. It screamed like the older gallardo but sounded a little more aggressive. When letting off and cruising it felt as quiet and sedate as an 09 golf, a very wierd feeling! Nothing like our starlets thats for sure.I didnt drive it too well in all honesty and it was a little stressful trying to learn both a completely new track and car with the instructor commanding you left right and centre, but I started to get the hang of it on the last lap.Good job I had booked the LP-640 too then! This is (or was) my all time favorite car. A different instructor took me out in this one who was a little more patient. He let me kane the car from the pit from 1st to 5th on the straight. ohh my god!! it was ferociously quick! The gearchanges on the sequential box where quite aggressive, delaying a bit before bolting you back in you seat as the clutch engaged, it was pretty distracting if Im honest! The noise it made was like the devil screaming, damn it sounded beautiful especially on the downchanges where it automatically blipped the throttle to allow a smoother transition into lower gears. Definately a vision and experience I will not forget. Nearly 170mph was had on the straight on one occasion.Looking focused Looking like a shmuck afterwards! Things were going so well from there I thought f*ck it lets see what else they have to drive here. After some thought and a tough decision between the Porsche GT3RS and the Ferrari F430 I choose the latter, the itallian stallion! lolThis car shocked me. It was by far the best car to drive out of the lot. It was a manual firstly which involved me a lot and felt a lot more familiar (as the glanz is manual, duh!). My instructor for this one was a legend. He let me rag the bollocks off the car which the other two didnt to the same level. I wasnt as restricted in the gears as the others (they dont like you going into lower gears i.e 2nd and 3rd). I had really got a feel for the track by this point. This car was so well balanced even with the traction control set to race mode. An absolute joy to drive with the clutch much easier to manage than my organic in the starlet and the gated shifter felt solid and positive. The engine screamed like a banshee, definately on a par with the 640 in terms of sound. Its steering was more precise and you could predict what the back end was doing nicely. What a car! My respect for ferrari is sealed now.James and I also drove the Audi R8. We were both impressed by the car but the instructor was an old guy, some 94 f1 driver. He seemed to have lost his marbles somewhere along the way, telling each of us completely different ways of driving round the track. James got pretty annoyed with him as he grabbed the wheel and shouted "the cone the cone" indicating to head towards the cone. I appreciated the track instructions and that there was a certain way to drive the track as fast as possible but we would both have enjoyed this one much more if the instructor had let off a little and let us do our own thing. He also had an obsession for 6th gear which pretty much destroyed the powerband of the R8s V8 engine at 40-50 mph so pulling out of corners was dissapointing. If only he could have been like the Ferrari instructor, Ah well!Lecture! My other mates Dubois and Theo both drove the Nissan Gtr and described it as "sick" "boom" and "f*ck fast" so Im pretty certain they were impressed. I think Theo will have one pretty soon to add to his collection lol.Lastly we got a ride in the Radical. Powered by a suzuki hayabusa engine if im not mistaken and driving by a Radical test driver, this one was fast, really fast. The force of acceleration wasnt as apparent due to the lack of torque but it still went round the track much faster than any of the other cars. The cornering speeds where ludicrous!When the day was over we all went back to London and got tipsy in Leicester Square. Happy days. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Galliano Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Lucky lucky lucky... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Curtis Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 that looks like a absolutly wicked day, i am jelous lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Russleh Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 that would be simply amazing. well without the old guy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SR17 Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 God i would love to rag the rag the nuts of them cars. Your a lucky boy mate !The only thing which puts me off doing things like that are the instructors, I know they have to keep the cars safe and in working order for as long as possible, but seems a shame to have soo much power and in some cases "the R8" drive it not no where near its potential. Some very nice pics though and im soo jelous you got to drive my fav supercar, the LP-640, looked like an awesome day ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
5T4R7ET N/A Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Nice write up and pics!How much did it set you back to do this? I wudnt mind doing that at a track Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pav Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 God i would love to rag the rag the nuts of them cars. Your a lucky boy mate !The only thing which puts me off doing things like that are the instructors, I know they have to keep the cars safe and in working order for as long as possible, but seems a shame to have soo much power and in some cases "the R8" drive it not no where near its potential. Some very nice pics though and im soo jelous you got to drive my fav supercar, the LP-640, looked like an awesome day ! I totally feel your concern for that, I had it too before the day. It seems its pretty much down to luck. My recommendation, if you find an instructor that lets you really test the cars, stick with them. Problem is if you're only doing one car, its a bit of a lottery who goes out with you. For reference the guy who was a legend was called Toby and was quite a big guy. He was really good to talk to in general and worked with me to improve my driving pace and technique for the track.Nice write up and pics!How much did it set you back to do this? I wudnt mind doing that at a track Cheers man, I thought it would be a another good reference for these kind of days as GV1.3 on tgtt put one up a while ago which I found a good read. A day like this can set you back anything between £100 and £1000 depending on how many laps/cars you drive.For myself, it probably ended somewhere around the £4-500 mark. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Faisal_Sol Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Very nice write up Pav, looked like an awesome day out!That LP-640 looks gorgeous. Did you get any vids? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sparky Posted July 2, 2009 Share Posted July 2, 2009 Awsome!!!Looked a wicked day I went with my mate on one of these days but he only drove an Evo8 and 106 rallye on the skid pan!!Some top machinery caned there mate love them all suprised you didnt try the GTR though she how it compared to the real supercars Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pav Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 Very nice write up Pav, looked like an awesome day out!That LP-640 looks gorgeous. Did you get any vids?Cheers dude, it certainly was, the 640 had such a nice interior, so did all of them to be honest! Unfortunately no vids, my mate was operating the camera and he forgot to get any footage, would love to hear that lambo screaming down the straight again. From inside it was like ohh my god im gonna spunk! Awsome!!!Looked a wicked day I went with my mate on one of these days but he only drove an Evo8 and 106 rallye on the skid pan!!Some top machinery caned there mate love them all suprised you didnt try the GTR though she how it compared to the real supercars Hell yeah bro, I would have tried the Gtr but it had to go away for refueling at the time and the ferrari was just sitting there saying "drive me, drive me! Please, you know you want to". I was like ok. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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