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Go to Hertz, hire premium car, drive to Run What You Brung day at track, don't crash under any circumstances.
Trimix were you racing Caterhams in the graduates series or somthing else ?
molgrips - if you do take your own car to a track day remove your number plates as insurance companies are quite hot on checking out the photos that appear online.
I did a day an afternoon at Mallory Park.
4 laps driven in a Focus ST, 4 laps driving the Focus, 4 laps driving a single seater, 4 laps driving a Caterham. £150
Focus was awful, probably as quick as the single seater but afterall just a road car and fwd at that so just showed how soft and awful it was.
The single seater was fantastic fun, very direct, could feel everything, what a sports car experience should be, but just lacked a bit of punch,
Caterham was slightly softer than the single seater but therefore easier to drive quicker straight away. Plus the tutor with me was fantastic he would gesture when to speed up and slow down etc, which started with the first lap telling me to go quicker when I thought he would say I was going to quick, by the fourth lap I was actually drifiting the car out some of the tighter corners and I certainly wasn't limited on revs or braking.
At the same time there was one of the fast Nissan Skylines things going round the track and not one person was driving it quick, apart from the occasional person who would put their foot down on the main straight. When I asked one of the instructors about it they said no one drives the exotic cars quick because they know its an exoensive car and dont want to risk damaging it.
Only other advise would be if its your first track day, choose a simple circuit without too many bends. You will have that much to take in that if you go to a twisty circuit you will NEVER remember the best lines through the bends, go to a simple circuit and learn to drive it well rather than going to a long circuit and driving it badly.
I have to be honest - £150 for 12 (driving) laps around Mallory sounds a complete rip off. Just back from 1/2 a day on the VXR experience at Croft. £95 for as many laps as you can do in 3 hours, why would you want anything else? Just keep checking the VXR site for details of next year's events cos they sell out quick.
They're such a great day out - really good instructors in the passenger seats and good cars for driving around the track (especially impressed with the Insignia VXR). I think it's vital to have someone experienced in the car with you, there's no way that I would have been flat in 4th (in the Corsa VXR) through Esses and Barcroft without someone encouraging me. As it was it took a deep breath every time. You also get the chance to go out for passenger laps with current BTCC drivers. Tom Onslow-Cole took me, and it highlighted the talent gap between us! We'll be booking again next year.
Bazzer - I was racing them in 1987-89, it was just called class 1,2 or 3 back then. No graduate scheme. It was my only vehicle, so I drove it to work Mon - Fri, then raced it on the weekend. Crashed it loads though.
As mentioned before, Palmer Sport is possibly the most fun you can have with your clothes on. It's even better when somebody else is paying - I've done it twice thanks to suppliers 😀
The instructors really push you and the grip from the some of the cars like the Jaguar Palmer JP1 is mind blowing. I spun the 911 three times the first time I went there but the instructor was still egging me on 8)
Bazzer - I was racing them in 1987-89, it was just called class 1,2 or 3 back then. No graduate scheme. It was my only vehicle, so I drove it to work Mon - Fri, then raced it on the weekend. Crashed it loads though
It did seem that the people with the budget to cover the cost of crashing had an advantage. When I stopped following it, it had already gone stupid with people having big motorsport prep companies running cars and them turning up in the back of a huge transporter. Not realy the spirit of club motorsport.
Bazzer
Just buy a midget, the handling is so characterfull it doesnt matter that they barely register 100bhp/ton and the upper 'wishbone' is just a leverarm of the damper, or that they didnt even fit a panard rod so the axel is constantly trying to overtake the gearbox.
And if you get the bug theres plenty to fiddle with, from telescopic damper and lowering kits, big brakes, through re-engining it with soemthing like a k-series or zetec/duratec and a t9 or supra gearbox, right upto people building the rover V8 and xr4x4 drivetrain into them!
Mol - one minute you're banging on about emissions and slow cars being safer then you want to do a track day - madness!
Come off it - one afternoon racing hardly compares to ten thousand miles a year, does it?
I hope your thinking isn't this ropey when you do PR for people 😉
bazzer.
Nice to meet a fellow Westfield owner on here. Yours sounds nice, can't believe you are selling, I just couldn't do it.
Mines a 205 block rally spec Pinto 175bhp @ the flywheel built in 2006 and I love it, although it's too loud for any trackdays at the moment.....
Bazzer - shame there's no tracks near us (Cornwall) - I've considered Westies a few times but I'd get shot if I bought one.
One day! Yours does sound truly epic. Any photos?
Mol - eh (last sentence)?!
I was musing the other day about cars that feel "right" - they don't need to be expensive; in fact often quite the opposite. Just cars with the sort of chassis/handling and steering you really trust.
Oddly my R32 Golf was lovely in many ways but I just didn't feel it was happy when pushed hard - steering a bit vague, slightly weird understeer as the Haldex 4WD sorted itself out. Tonnes of grip and quick but just not quite all there.
Whereas my Saxo VTR (with only 90bhp!) felt REALLY sorted - most chuckable car I've had. However it's still beaten as a FWD car by the Ford Puma and Focus ST170 (which handles way better than the mk2 ST).
Bimmer hides it's weight very well with a very sorted chassis and "proper" firm steering (no electrical assistance on the 335i and 335d, just hydraulic - all other models have it) and decent brakes. No track car but certainly fun and you just use the torque to fling it out of bends.
Inlaws had a mk3 MR2 - now that was a very very sorted little car that could have handled a bit more power to make it an Elise basher - reliable, comfy but utterly sublime handling.
"Shock" good cars have been the current Nissan Micra (honestly!), any modern (less than 5 years old) Fiesta and any Focus from a base spec 1.4 to a speedy model. Old shape handles the best.
Rambling? Me?
Mol - eh (last sentence)?!
Your comment sounded like a slur attempt based on a specious connection.. in the style of a tabloid newspaper... hence the PR quip 🙂
Ive got a selection of off road motorcycles and one hour on them is worth one year of racing the Caterham. Im yet to break them, tyres last forever.
Something tells me you're not trying very hard...
Its funny you should say that as Westfields can suffer from front end lift at high speeds
guy in our club has this nice V8 Westie
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subtle aero fins on the nose cone
flaming exhausts included..
also another chap as this 1400 BDA powered westie:
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more obvious aero stuff!