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Driving experience day...
1
(33 posts, started )
Driving experience day...
I thought I'd post a hilariously depressing complaint letter a friend sent after attending a Ferrari, Porsche and Rally Car driving experience day. It cracks me up

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: COMPLAINT - REF: Ferrari Porsche and Rally full day
Date: Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:28:40 +0100

Hi,

I would like to make a complaint and feedback referring to my recent Ferrari vs Porsche vs Rally 'Experience' Day. This day was taken at seighford in staffordshire.

Please allow me to start by stating that I was deeply disappointed throughout the day, and as a big motoring enthusiast I am sickened how misled I and other customers were as to what kind of day will take place.

My day kicked off (like a carrier bag in a light breeze) with the '4x4 experience', whereby I crawled at a snail's pace (by the instructor's request) across something which was basically someone's overgrown alotment. The 'experience' lasted approximately 3 minutes (if that), 2 of which were spent with the instructor 'helping' me with the steering. As passengers were allowed with me for free, the parents sat in the back and were quickly equally underwhelmed with what just took place, and like me, hoped that things could only get better.

Leaving the 'off-road' area, I took the minibus back to the main facility for the Porsche 911 drive. I waited patiently for an hour awaiting my turn, however as time pressed on I noticed that there were 1 or 2 individuals there (people's guests, friends, family) who had fancied a bit of the 'action' themselves, walked into the reception desk, bought a drive voucher, walked back out and straight into the seat of the very car I myself had been waiting my turn for. What good is paying money 6 months in advance if people paying on the day are given priority? Very insulting...

My turn finally arrived, and I was happy at least to be DOING something. However out on the circuit, my mood slipped further and further as my driving was nannied from start to finish by the instructor who was not particularly friendly nor trusting despite doing my best to introduce and express myself as formally as possible to put him at ease. It didn't work, and after 3 minutes my porsche 911 'experience' was over. All I experienced was how to drive a porsche 911 around some cones without breaking the national speed limit.

Next up was the Ferrari 360. According to the sharp marketing blurb slipped into the itinerary on your website: 'Trying to describe what it's like to drive a Ferrari is impossible. ' - I can describe the experience very well. I can say I drove a ferrari, much like a car parking valet for a fancy restaurant can say they drove a ferrari, because I am sure the driving behaviour is very similar. After my 3 minute gentle cruise I stepped out of the car, looking forward to another lengthy wait until the next 'session' after lunch.

After another trip on the minibus back to the 'off-road' section, it was time to step into the peugeot 106. This promised to be more interesting, perhaps the instructors would not be so terrified of letting customers drive these cars? Wrong. Here I drove at an instructed 20 miles per hour around a handful of cones on a 'gravel' circuit, whilst an attendant stood nearby with a hosepipe sprinkling water onto the area, probably in an attempt to disguise the fact that I might have been driving around a slightly potholed industrial estate, it was hard to spot the difference. As I became more comfortable in the short space of time I would be in the car, I found the instructor killed the throttle in order to slow me down. This was as firm a gesture as any that I would simply not be having any fun in any of the cars here. After no more than 2 minutes I stepped out of the 106 and back to the main area.

After another dose of standing around for 40 minutes, it came time to drive the Mitsubishi Evo 8. Once again I held hope that I would be trusted with the car without being made to feel like I'm on my first driving lesson again. This was probably the only fun drive I had that day with instructor 'Matt', who could probably recognise I knew my right hand from my left and actually held a driving license. It was over all too quickly but for the first time I exited the car with a smile. Probably a smile of relief, because the way the 'experiences' had gone beforehand was very dull indeed.

To round the day off it was time to drive the Subaru, but not before another 40 minutes doing nothing waiting to hear my name. After the Evo, I hoped I could be able to drive the Subaru as freely, if not more. However, several laps were spent following a chain of much slower drivers with no prospect of getting in front thanks to the tiny circuit and it's miniscule straights.

I shall summarise by quoting the slick marketing text on your website:

'A familiarisation session with an instructor driving you around the circuit.'

This did not happen. To be honest it was probably not necessary, what is so hard about remembering which way the half-mile circuit goes when it is nothing more than a grouping of cones here and there?

'Introduction and briefing on the rally stages and rally driving techniques.'

So where were these so-called rally stages? To me, and to everyone I have also shown this sentence, it would appear that customers are presented with a set rally stage, being talked through of what to expect through each corner and how to handle certain pieces of the course, then putting it all together. What ACTUALLY happened is that I and others simply drove the 'rally cars' on the same road course which I had earlier drove in the porsche and ferrari with no difference in the way they were to be driven. This simply did not happen and is utterly and completely misleading.

'A de-briefing session in which you get presented with a certificate and a driver analysis form completed by your instructor.'

This too is almost insulting, Whilst I did get a driver analysis form with 'scores' 84%, 85%, 87%, 90%, 92%, I feel that if I had the opportuny to give the centre an analysis form, I would have given a very, very unimpressed 10%.

Seighford centre in staffordshire was the only location available to me when booking. I have to assume that this is what the experience entails for all, and I have to say that as a keen motoring enthusiast I believe the day was very poor. It is not worth spending the '7 hours' at the venue in exchange for 15 minutes of actual driving, if you can call it that.

I am very realistic about what to expect from 'organised' days like these. I know that institutions cannot be expected to let people drive off on their own with valuable cars (except silverstone who have no problem trusting their customers to bring back their formula fords in one piece, now THAT is a driving experience), and I know that businesses won't make as much money spending more on fuel and maintenance, but I feel as though there was ZERO value for money to be had. It is sacrilege that I feel as though I may aswell have stayed at home that day, but that is what resulted from a mind-numbing and fruitless day. I am glad, more than anything, that I did not have a long drive home unlike some other participants who came from portsmouth and blackpool.

However disappointed I was, what really mattered to me was how my parents felt. This day was out of their pocket as a christmas gift and it makes my blood boil to know that they spent a large proportion of their hard earned cash to provide me with another chance to do what I love to do most and they have been met with something so pathetic ... I certainly would have felt cheated if I had paid £50 for this, let alone £300... Oh yes, NOT forgetting the extra £20 for 'insurance' on top, this should surely have been included in the price and no mention of this was made on the website.

I know for sure that I'll not only give a scalding opinion of this waste of money to whoever asks, I shall go out of my way to warn others to stay well away and choose something more worthwhile, more fun, and for less.

Yours faithfully,
Dan xxxx



SOOOO much venom

This has a similar theme to my last thread, in that he's an LFS junkie that learned to drive fast in real life, in a simulator
#2 - JJ72
Be warned!
Warned about what? Have I done something wrong?
#4 - JJ72
about the "driving experience", pal.

Cos It is rather consistent with other opinions I have gathered.
Oh right I got you

Yes apart from the humour of it all, I did put this up here in case anyone else was thinking of doing one.

Mine and Dans advise is, go to a novice track day event instead in your own car. You'll have FAR FAR FAR more fun, go faster, drive longer and save money
I went on one of those for my 21st. And I had a similar experience...

Off road was rubbish - mostly flat and not at all difficult. My MX-5 wouldn't have struggled with the course.
A 'smoothness' test, with a football on the bonnet. Just driving at a constant speed the ball would fall off over the bumps.
VW Golf circuit familiarisation - a bit dull, but that's to be expected
Lambo - Made to go too slowly to be any fun at all.
Ferrari - Same again, but not quite as bad (the 'instructor' was a little more lenient in the Ferrari).
Extra drive, paid for on the day - Noble M12. This was awesome. I was let loose in a proper car and able to drive somewhere approaching my limit (but certainly not that car's limit).
Passanger ride in an S2000 - was awesome.

Lunch break

Karting - I was the only one to tried. I was clipped apexs and exits, and generally being okay at karting (though certainly not gifted or 'professional'. Everyone else tiptoed around at walking speed as though they were scared of the lawnmower engines karts use).
Rallying.
Vauxhall Nova - Rubbish. Slow and FWD tinbox.
Something else I can't remember - Also rubbish, FWD and slow. The 'brochure' said I'd get to drive a Cosworth rallycar. But apparently it was being unreliable, and they were going to have to stop using it for the rest of the day. I complained and told them (and I'm not exaggerating) that driving something less impressive than my road car,a 306 at the time, does not constitute a driving experience when I'd been promised a Cosworth drive. They gave in, and I was the last one on the day to drive it. Presumably the only one to complain. And, as it was sick, I was allowed to thrash it to get what little power it had left from it's steaming engine bay. It was mildly entertaining. But it was just a runway covered in gravel and littered with cones.

Rallying (but not on gravel)

EvoIV and Impreza. Finally they actually let us loose. We were given about 10 laps of a short course with the instructors actually barking snippets of info on how to go quicker and be smoother. This was preceeded by being driven round the course by the instructor so we could see what to do and when. I love this. Yes, I was in two dull 4WD cars (though the Evo is far, far less dull than an Impreza) that are so 'assisted' that even a monkey could do well in them, but it was still massively more fun than the Ferrari bit, for example.

I'd have rated my day as an optimisitic 60%, but I know where the OP's letter is coming from!


Since then I've driven plenty of Ferraris (but no more Lambos oddly ) and they are vastly more exciting and fun than an Evo, proving that the excessive restraint they put on the cars completely ruins any experience you might actually have.
Quote from EeekiE :complaint

Brilliant piece of writing.. I'd actually be interested in reading the reply, if any!
#8 - 5haz
That complaint was very much justified.

Driving experiences are hit and miss, I did a skidpan day at Castle Coombe that was fantastic, where they let me in the car with the instructor leaving me well alone unless necessary, so much fun powersliding a clapped out old RWD Beamer around, and it wasn't one of these ones with the shopping cart wheels attached to the car, the surface was a mix of oil and water and it was like ice.

The best thing to do in my opinion (and you live in Britain) is to hire out an airfield which allows high speed driving, somewhere like Buntingthorpe or Alconbury for a few hours and hiring an instructor to go round in your own car, it'll come to several hundred quid but youll get your money's worth so long as you don't overload the place's noise meters, and you're prepared to ruin a set of tyres and potentially set fire to your brake pads.
I get the idea that some of these experience days are just made for pikeys and chavs who have obtained a few hundred quid, to turn up, fail epically at driving well, and then come home bragging about how "I've driven a Ferrari"

I must reccommend Mercedes Benz World though... I have only done the Kid's driving experience in an A-class, because I am only 14, but the service is excellent, and having done it about 5 times, not once has the instructor interferred for even a second with his dual controls.

I dunno how the AMG experiences are... I saw a video on Youtube and the whole skidpan thing looked fun... although I heard the instructor tell the man to "avoid the tyre squeal, it upsets our neighbours" when on the dry circuit. This leads me to think:

- What neighbours
- Why don't the Silver Arrows display team drive like pansies then?
Quote from JO53PHS :
I must reccommend Mercedes Benz World though... I have only done the Kid's driving experience in an A-class, because I am only 14, but the service is excellent, and having done it about 5 times, not once has the instructor interferred for even a second with his dual controls.

I certainly don't reccommend your spelling. However, I do recommend getting a spell checker for Internet Exploder
Oh be quiet you n00b :chairs:
There are too many of these things in the UK, that's why a lot of them are terrible. AMG is setting up a deal with Skip Barber this year in the US, and it's supposed to be like their High Performance School which is actually unadulterated driving. Even the "new driver" program that Barber puts on has you at 11/10ths around the autocross. They used to put brand new teen drivers into 8.3 liter Vipers... but now it's Mazdas.

Then there's the Audi Experience at Infineon which is partnered with Jim Russell. They let you take the R8 up to the limit over the course of the two-day. That's about as close to racing school as you can get without driving the F3 cars at Russell.

Granted all of these options are more expensive (the Audi and Skippy 2-day high-performance stuff is about $2,500).

Bottom line, if you want a glorified test drive, do any experience. If you want an actual expereince, then do a racing school.
#13 - 5haz
That is pretty expensive, but you only get what you pay for.
i know someone who did a hugly overpriced experiance day that was totally dull. after he did that i said to him about trackdays so he bout a beat up 205 gti for £100( guy just wanted to get rid) and did a track day, had alot more fun and it was alot cheaper
Quote from james12s :i know someone who did a hugly overpriced experiance day that was totally dull. after he did that i said to him about trackdays so he bout a beat up 205 gti for £100( guy just wanted to get rid) and did a track day, had alot more fun and it was alot cheaper

lucky c*nt!
I had a knock hill racing experience voucher for my 18th, all in all for £100 I only got to drive 10 laps of the circuit, which was quite a let down.

To begin with I got the Leon Cupra R with an insturctor who was very lenient on how fast I could go, but the only real fun I had in that car was on my 3rd and final lap.

Then it was a 1.2 formula thing, the only thing I disliked about it was that the gears are operated by two buttons up the steering wheel, 1 above the other, so going up and down was done with my right thumb. I had 7 laps in this little thing, however I knew that it would go by quickly so I set straight to having some fun, getting it sideways through the last hairpin was a blast. Then after 2 laps I was stuck behind about 4 cars, 3 of them let me and the guy infront by, but the guy infront clealry had 1 of those egos, so I had to wait untill he was blue flagged, then I got 1 flatout inlap in which I braked far to late for the second right hander and went sideways into the gravel. Just kept my foot in it and dropped a gear and it came out ok, I thought it was broken tbh coz im sure when I was full sideways the front wheel was bent..

I wouldn't like to pay for a ferrari experience or something of the sort, having an instructor there would just be off putting and a waste of money.

I'm glad to see someone is complaining, I was quite annoyed after my day, but mine was only a £100 voucher and I was more annoyed at being stuck behind such slowasses for most of the time, but I'd still go back.
The thing is for £100-300 your average Joe will be perfectly happy with what they get. They have zero expectations of what to expect and generally leave reasonably happy. If they were truly terrible they wouldn't be in business. The provide a service the market clearly wants.

Of course if you have expectations of what to expect then the fact is that 90% of track day experiences will not deliver anywhere near what you want. It's like buying a £15 MP3 player and being dissapointed with the playback quality.

I am not sure that complaining is really worth it. In reality your doing them a favour by making them aware of any faults in their business. If your friend is really passionate about his dissatisfaction he should start his own track day experience
In the US at least, I think the way to do it is to go to an SCCA PDX. Its a track day, but you get an instructor who knows the track.
LOL, that sounds even less entertaining than my experiance with my 75cc mini crosser up in the ATV tracks near my vacation spot.

I have a bigger bike, but the mini crosser has short gearing and the paths are realy tight in places. There's nothing like hitting the apex of a turn with tree branches flying past your helmet only a foot or less away.
once of a lifetime expierence, drive a ferrari ...3 minutes on 20mp/h:chairfall you can barely finish the straight of the track on that speed
Quote from Intrepid :lucky c*nt!

lol exactly, exterior wish it was in a bit of a state tbh but mechanically it was fine. the interior was shot but again didnt matter as it soon got removed
Wow, what a fantastic letter.
Well, me and my dad did a driving experiance day what appeared to be a trackday. Awome!

Driving a circuit prepped BMW 325 E36 with some M3 suspension parts. It was really really nice. We passed scooby's who struggled in corners, some rich bloke in his Wiesmann GT who was scared I guess lol. We could drive for 3 hours (30min instructions).
Quote from Scrabby :Well, me and my dad did a driving experiance day what appeared to be a trackday. Awome!

Driving a circuit prepped BMW 325 E36 with some M3 suspension parts. It was really really nice. We passed scooby's who struggled in corners, some rich bloke in his Wiesmann GT who was scared I guess lol. We could drive for 3 hours (30min instructions).

@ Zolder? Can you tell me anything about the price maybe?
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Driving experience day...
(33 posts, started )
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