On a 'Driving Experience' at Thruxton:

Ferrari 355 -cheapest
Audi R8 -£15 more
Ferrari California -£40 more again

These are the only options.

Ferrari – passion and performance

Audi – engineering accuracy and performance.

Are you driving with your brains or your balls?

I would take a Ferrari out – after all an Audi is just an Audi.

355 as R8 is ugly and California even uglier.

Id rather have more laps and a bit more freedom to rag it in a less exotic car.

I did the 355 one about 10yrs ago and it was great but having said that i would go for the Audi out of that lot, its mid engined and has the quattro system on it which will be a blast at Thruxton which doesn't have any long straights.

The Califonia is nice but Ferrari's shouldn't be front engined IMO.

Depends what your after. If you want to go as quick as you can then the Audi, then I would say the 355. Not that I know anything but being an slightly older car I assume it will feel more involving to drive than the California.

The reason I say the Audi is that having spoken to the people who run these day event things say that people tend to drive the likes of a Ferrari slower than they would a Focus, because they are not used to such power and handling etc, and they dont want to prang an expensive car! I guess the Audi is quite 'normal' out of the 3

Before you go, get on You Tube and learn the track through in car footage, will help you loads to know which way to turn in adavnce when you trying to watch out for other cars, braking points, throttle control etc etc

Speak to the organisers, tell them what you want out of it and take their advice.

Aston Martin Vantage V8 is available too actually.

Dunno really, would be great to drive a Ferrari, just to do it, but the Audi sounds fun with 4wd.

Saw a comment on youtube saying the 355 was a dog with loads of miles on it, this was 2 years ago, I dont know if they still use the same car but its likely.

I would also be driving a single seater, which I think would probably be the most fun of all.

I'd be amazed if they let you drive them anywhere near full-whack so choose whichever car you like best in principle

Formala Ford – great single seater fun – did an experience day at castle coombe great org and great day. Also not restricted – just an advisory re revs

Did one of these days a year or so ago. Had a go in an Aston DB9, Lamborghini Giardo (sp?), which is basically an R8, and a Ferrai 575.

The Lambo was the most confidence inspiring (4wd, and it was wet that day) but I had the most fun in the Ferrai. If I was buying one it would be the Lambo, if I could do one more lap I'd take the Ferrari.

It's odd but my ascending order of preference is Aston, Lambo, Ferrari which is also the order I drove them in. Maybe as I got to know the track I was having more fun and the last car would have been best whichever it was?

Of yours, 355 no question. Maybe pay the extra £15 anyway if they'll let you do more laps, it just gets better as you practice.

Out of the three, I'd say the Audi. I've driven a ferrari 360 on a track day and was totally underwhelmed by it. Cheap and tacky inside, powerful but I've driven quicker on the road, not that brilliant handling and pedals for small people! What's that about? I had to take my shoes off to drive it!

We drove home in my wifes A3 and it felt like a better drive and 900% better built.

this year I've gone for a single seater experience, hopefully that will be better.

I did a single seater and it was brilliant (esp as you get a load of laps in a mini beforehand) and faster than the ferraris; a more visceral experience

put this way – a road car on the track is like riding a mountain bike on the road, yeah you can do it but the mountain bike is so much better on the dirt and a road bike is right for tarmac – so track car for the track 🙂

We drove home in my wifes A3 and it felt like a better drive

Now, I've never driven a Ferrari 360, but an Audi A3 is like driving with the fun sucked out of it…

At Thruxton – I'd take the A8

the Ferraris will be a handful, but then again, you're not really going to be allowed to rag them so choose which one takes your fancy

I found a ZX7R was considerably more involving around a circuit than a Ferrari. Save your money and get a bike license!

Rich – If its the same people who were running the school 10 years ago they were running 355's back then and i can't see them changing them that regularly.

I did a 1/2 day and have to say that the single seater were the most fun and you got about 10 laps. The 355 was nice, don't get me wrong, but i wouldn't rush to drive it again.

My choice would be the Aston out of the 4 but the Audi will be quicker because of the 4 wheel drive system.

And yes you will be allowed to rag them as the instructors encourage you to get the most out of the car.

Aston

but an Audi A3 is like driving with the fun sucked out of it…

Yeah, I hear a lot of people say that about Audi's, I just don't get it myself. A powerful A3 is like a little go kart, it's stonkingly good fun for a front wheel drive car in the corners. I must be doing it wrong.

A powerful A3 is like a little go kart, it's stonkingly good fun for a front wheel drive car in the corners

We've got an A3 (and have had several before – 2.0TDi, 1.8T, 1.4T) and a small engined Fiesta. The Fiesta is far more fun to drive anywhere other than a dual carriageway/motorway. The A3 is just dull-o-rama.

Still… we may be deviating somewhat from the F355/A8/California question!

355s are really dated now. Drive the California for the best power and noise. Audi is numb. Astons are OK- I drove my mates V8 Vantage but it's not the best track machine

I am guessing what ever you take out the rev limit will be very low…If you want to drive a flash car jump in a "supercar" but if you want a big fat grin from ear to ear get in the single seater as long as possible,, it will brake better corner better and just about do everything better than all the others…its a weight thing

probably go for the Aston or the R8

355's old and the California is Ferraris extremely expensive Mazda MX5

If possible i'd go for a Gallardo

If it was me it'd be the Audi. Don't like Ferrarri's, never have. Audi have a proper history of Grand Prix racing, and the R8 is a fabulous looking car. An Aston would be my other choice, with possibly the Lambo as third. Sorry to all the Ferrarri lovers, but there hasn't been one of their cars I'd want to buy or drive in the last twenty years. A 250GTO? Now you're talking.

A powerful A3 is like a little go kart

Audi deign stupidity is only rivalled by Proshe.

At least Porche put the engine right over the driven axle at the back (good acceleration, at the expense of light front end on the way out of corners)

Audi push the engines so far forwards to get as much legroom as possible its almost silly!

How exactly does a front wheel drive car with all its weight in front of the front wheels feel anything like a go cart which gets its bizarre handling from a combination of no diff, 1 brake and the weight slap bang in the middle of the chassis?

Given a choice, I would drive an Audi RS6 Avant. Top Gear Magazine had a whole fleet of top end sports cars on the IOM
race circuit in the wet, and the Audi went faster than the Lambo, Aston, Ferrarri and all the others.
But for hammering round a circuit the there isn't anything better than one of these:
http://www.caterham.co.uk/assets/html/showroom/superlightr500.html.

Cheers guys, no definitive answer really, but that's always the way.

I'm thinking maybe the Aston, Audi, or just drive the single seater and save some cash.

Sunny day = single seater
Anything else = R8

Yeah sounds about right, but you cant decide on the day.

The 355. The Cali is a cruiser/convertible ergo softer (Ferraris admission) and the R8 a 4wd road car. Round a track you want light, simple…pure…and raw. 355 fits bill.

None OP. I'd go for a Caterham or Elise though. Any day of the week. More involving IMO and you would be allowed to do more than in a supercar.

Best track day I had was in Formula Ford followed by Catherham.

The formula ford was just so much fun, simple, mechanical and you could go as quick as you wanted.

The Caterham was slightly easier to drive (more forgiving) but the guy sat next to me really helped as he would tell me when to push on, and when to ease off. That is invaluable as there is no way in a few laps that you can learn a track enough to drive it quickly. In the Caterham I ended up getting to the stage of drifting it out of some corners…not just the slow ones, and I never thought they would let you go that quick!

I'd be amazed if they let you drive them anywhere near full-whack so choose whichever car you like best in principle

This. You're not going to be allowed anywhere near the limits, so pick whichever one will sound best for telling people about down the pub. Don't forget to mention how great the instructor thought you were and that you could take up racing if you really wanted to.

(these sorts of things are far more "experience" than "driving" IMHO).

Thanks again.

I totally agree that a Caterham would be far superior, the thing is I'm trying to use up some Tesco vouchers so choice is a bit limited.

Regarding how much they let you push on, looking at the videos on Youtube it looks like they encourage overtaking and driving fairly quickly.

I will definitely have 5 laps in a single seater, its just whether to then have another 4 laps in one of these cars, I'm thinking it may not be worth it for an extra £75-£130, that I could put to other uses.

I think the 355 is dated but that may work in its favour – less electronics etc? I took a 360 out and it was immense… surely the 4wd in the audi is a turn off for a track/driver experience? They let me get it to the point of the back end twitching…

Oh and the california would probably be nice, but not as nice as a 355 for a track IMO.

355, is your answer, from that choice.

Let us know how you get on, with pics!

I did a track day in a 355 a few years back, it was 'mildly moist' as the TG boys would say, and it was great fun, the acceleration, noise, the feel, everything… 8)

I'm sure the Audi would be fun, but a bit sanitised and TBH is that what you want from a track day? Aston, again very nice and lovely to listen too, but you'll hear it all day anyway as people will be using that the same day as your experience too. The only plus I can see for the California is the retractable roof, but that'll only come down if you catch that one day of summer this year…

Whatever, it'll be a hoot. Enjoy

My mate's got a 355. It's pretty, noisy and not very fast. Can't think it's going to be that amazing on a track.

I'd go for the Aston.

Forgive me if I'm missing something, but if you only get a limited number of laps in a nice car, then what's the point of driving round as fast as possible? The fun's over too quickly that way. 🙁

Take the Aston, put on a nice CD (perhaps Grieg's 'Peer Gynt' suite), and drive round at a nice, leisurely pace, enjoying the comfort of such a nice car. Maybe stop off round the track somewhere, have a little picnic. Some nice smoked salmon and cucumber sandwiches, bit of Black Forest gateau, and a pot of tea. Much more enjoyable. 😀

What is it with people wanting to tear arse around the place all the time? Doesn't get you there any quicker; Death is coming to us all. Why rush to the grave, when you can approach it at a leisurely stroll?