Supercar test drive

[STiInYourEye]

On Saturday, I participated in a driving event where I was able to drive six supercars- the Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ford GT, Corvette Z06, Aston Martin DB9 Volante, and Bentley Conti GT. We drove each car for about 30 minutes on a set route comprised of interstate and back roads. Because of traffic and, as the day went on, increased police presence, I could only drive at about 7/10ths, but I still got a good feel for each car. Here is a quick breakdown of what I thought:
F430- AMAZING. I couldn't find any faults. The cabin was comfortable, the styling was great. The engine is a masterpiece and sounds beautiful. Breaks (ceramic) and transmission (F1) were perfect.
Gallardo- Great styling and the V10 really screams. The cockpit wasn't nearly as nice as the 430, though, and the e-gear transmission was slow to shift and was very clunky.
GT- What a monster! This was easily the fastest car there. The cabin was very cramped, thoug, and it felt a little too wide for the country roads. Other than that, it was incredible (and gorgeous).
Z06- A real surprise. It was very easy to drive and the performance is epic. The heads up display was very cool and it was very convenient not to have to take my eyes off the road. The cabin got very hot, though, with a lot of heat being transmitted through the transmission tunnel.
DB9- Beautiful inside and out. The V12 was silky smooth and had a great voice. The dash was great looking, but was very hard to see, especially with the top down. It was a great cruiser, but the breaks were very weak.
Conti GT- Nicely styled with a very plush interior. The engine is very powerful, but with dead steering. It would be a nice everyday driver, but I didn't fall for it like I did some of the others.
OK, enough words. Here are some pics:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/6608/dscf00013cm.th.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00013cm.jpg)
http://img303.imageshack.us/img303/7866/dscf00053cy.th.jpg (http://img303.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00053cy.jpg)
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/1161/dscf00079ne.th.jpg (http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00079ne.jpg)
http://img304.imageshack.us/img304/4905/dscf00176tz.th.jpg (http://img304.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00176tz.jpg)
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/2682/dscf00281fz.th.jpg (http://img385.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00281fz.jpg)
http://img469.imageshack.us/img469/4603/dscf00351xb.th.jpg (http://img469.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00351xb.jpg)
http://img347.imageshack.us/img347/1335/dscf00431kj.th.jpg (http://img347.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dscf00431kj.jpg)

[Vansquish]

Wow...sweet man, just one question. How the hell did you pull that off? lol

[coloradosilver]

That thing came through my town as well. It costs like $300 USD a person to play for a half hour. I thought it was a ripoff, didn't participate.

[STiInYourEye]

It cost $800 USD for an entire day of driving. It was expensive, but I couldn't think of another time when I would have the opportunity, so I jumped at it. The company is called World Class Driving and they are touring the US offering days like these. They said they are in the process of getting an Aston V8 Vantage and the Porsche 997 Turbo. I think they also have a 612 and an F430 Spider that see more time on the West Coast. Their website is www.wcdriving.com if you want to see if they will be arriving anywhere near you. I highly recommend it!

[coloradosilver]

^^^^Yeah, thats the one I was thinking of. Too much money for me to justify it. Glad you had a good time though.

[yg60m]

Nice experience mate !! Thanks for sharing :D

[Pehtren]

So which car would you pick as the winner? i guess F430?

Anyway the cars are really beasts :P Glad you had a great time :wink:
300$ isnt that much..... :roll:

[TT]

800 USD might seem expensive, but IMO totally worth it, especially if you won't have other ways to be at the wheel of such cars in your life, like most of us. If we consider how much it costes my passenger ride in the Enzo, this is a bargain!

Must have been a hell of a day!

[Shinigami]

IMO, it's worth it. When else can you get a chance to drive all those cars?

If you wanted to go ahead and do the same by nagging local dealers for test drives, you would waste a lot of time (and gas money driving back and forth) just to be able to do the same thing, never mind the fact that you might have a dealer sitting next to you, telling you to slow down all the time.

I'd do it, and I'm glad you did! Thanks for the impressions :D

[TT]

Thing is, once you sit in such cars, all of a sudden the whole hp thing slips out of your mind: first of all because if, like me, you are used to drive a normal car every day, having 400 or more hp on tap while not proprely scary, puts everything in perspective and anyway, especially on open roads, believe me, you don't really want to rape them that much or that often. There is that feeling or respect/fear that prevent you to do so.
I am thinking about my F360 or Diablo drive and while I floored the Diablo quite a few times in a straight line, most of the time I was cruising in 4th or 5th gear and it was fuckingbloodyfantastic, I swear! The Modena is even "worst" if we want: I doubt I passed 80 kmh and never revved close to the redline, and yet, you have such sense of occasion when you are sitting at the wheel that you don't really think about going arond a bent playing with the throttle to keep the back boiling and ready to step out.

Even at slow to moderate speeds, driving such cars puts a smile on your face and shivers in your back.

[cooperluke]

Amazing!

[STiInYourEye]

Yes, pehtren, my favorite was definitely the F430. It was just so impressive- I can't imagine wanting anything more in a car. It was not the most powerful there, but it still had more than enough horsepower. The Ford GT had much more torque, but with no traction control and and due to the fact that it was the first of these cars I had gotten to drive, it was definitely more intimidating. All the cars were great to drive, but I'll take the Ferrari!

[callen]

sounds like a great day dude! 800 bucks is quite steep, but to get behind the wheel of such a mix of top end supercars would be well worth the money imo... ! congrats on a great opportunity and glad to hear u got to 'give it some stick' as tiff would say 8)

[STiInYourEye]

I asked the organizer if they are considering offering a day where the cars could be driven on a track, and he said that it was one of the ideas he was kicking around. Didier Theys (a very accomplished racing driver with wins at Le Mans and Daytona- to name just a few) was riding along with me in one of the cars, so I got to pick his brain, too. He said he would be very interested in doing a track experience. I would definitely be up for that, as long as it is far enough in the future for me to save up some more money!

[TNT]

still that is awesome!!! i want to do that. but i would want more cars then that if i was paying over 500 bucks.

[pterps]

Wow that's great man, it was a great oppertunity for you to drive these cars and I think it has been worth the money :good:

[yellky]

heh, that's what i call `well spent $800`! :mrgreen: