Anyone tried this? Looks like a good alternative to a track day and no need to worry about thrashing or crashing your own car!

Anyone else up for it? We could have a mini meet.

http://www.thruxtonracing.co.uk/experiences/octavia

That's not bad value (though shows how much of a bargain the VXR Track days are) and Thruxton is a good circuit to start on. Very fast but not too scary.

I've done a few of the VXR days, they were such good value for money.

I'm doing one tomorrow - fingers crossed - I'll let you know how I get on.

Look forward to hearing how you get on Les

Have fun!

Anyone tried this? Looks like a good alternative to a track day and no need to worry about thrashing or crashing your own car!

Anyone else up for it? We could have a mini meet.

http://www.thruxtonracing.co.uk/experiences/octavia

Looks to be a good day, any chance of a group discount if we get enough numbers?

Good idea. I've sent an email and if I don't hear anything I'll chase them up Monday

Looks like fun. Would definitively be interested in that

Well I can confirm that Thruxton is terrific fun...

On the plus side:

- the track is very fast - no actual straights but very long sweeping bends - my top speed with me driving was around 100mph with the instructors going much faster.

- great selection of cars to choose from including 4 VRSs on the day. Tiff Needall was doing crazy laps in an M4 (sponsored by Pirelli and I imagine keeping a factory in business), along with an array of Ferraris, an Aventador, an Aston, etc.

- although the track was busy the admin was fairly slick and the briefing very thorough. My whole experience from start to finish was about 3 hours but only about 30mins driving - the rest of the time being briefing and debrief, the instructor driving and waiting for the other driver to do his bits (instructors are shared).

- viewing areas available on both sides of the track and it was possible to book hot laps on the day which was the highlight for wife and kids - they actually overtook me!

- instructors I met were excellent - all ex-racers - quickly understood I knew the car and moved onto getting the best from the car. You receive a fairly detailed score sheet with pointers for improvement.

- great to be able to use full throttle and have periods which felt on the edge and the odd out of shape moments on the tighter bends - the stabilisation does work!

- overtaking higher spec cars and chasing Tiff is highly entertaining.

- the area in general is lovely - pretty villages, pubs, Marwell zoo etc.

Minor ish downsides:

- of the 4 VRSs, one was a diesel and it was the one I got, and it wasn't possible to change. That said, I was impressed by it - given that most of the track is in 3 to 5th gear, the engine was great and I was never left wanting for lots more power. I imagine to top speeds would have been higher and the car did feel heavy through the chicane. I did miss the sound of the engine and the hot lap my wife and kids did was epic in the petrol version apparently.

- the trackside facilities were quite limited and it was a case of the family bearing with it rather than loving it for a lot of the time even although the weather was good. The onsite restaurant is pricy and limited to baked pots and fast food. £1.50 for a can of Coke...

- the track was fairly busy and in 12 laps I think I only got two un-impeded runs at the chicane which I really wanted to master. Some of the super cars go surprisingly slowly with dads/instructors paranoid about crashing.

- if you are a free spirited type then the direction to use the turn in, apex and exit cones could feel a bit OTT. But not knowing the track, they made learning the lines very easy.

- being an ex-RAF airfield the track is flat meaning sometimes the lines aren't clear and there are few landmarks except the grandstands. No 'corkscrew' but perhaps I'm being a bit ambitious!

Overall I thought good value - a decent day out and learnt a bit about driving on the limit - although I don't feel in a mad rush to go back.

On reflection, I wish I'd asked more questions about the diesel versus petrol option - like has it been decided that the diesel does the driver experience drives, to reduce running costs and the likelihood of someone having an 'off' at 150mph?! Equally, are the petrols always nabbed for the ride cars because those drivers start earlier in the day and don't want to drive petrol?

 

I'd like the option to choose, basically.

I'd be pretty disappointed to have to use the diesel :-(

Sure its still good fun but the petrol must be better suited to the track?

This is the reply to an email I sent asking about which car would be used.....

 

We generally use the diesel Octavia for our one-to-one experiences, but if you make it known on arrival that you particularly want to drive the petrol version we will do our best to accommodate you for half of the laps in the petrol car.  We use the petrol car as our “hot lap” car on all of our operating days so it would depend on tyre wear etc as to whether we can get you into this car for one of your sessions – no guarantees I’m afraid.

 

 

 

At least you now know upfront.

Edited 21 July, 20169 yr by JD52