Lamborghini Driving Experience

[silverdemon]

Hi, first of all; this will be a long story about me so if you don't like:
1. long stories
2. me
3. people bragging about things they can do or just did
please DON'T read any further. For all other peeps around here: here goes!

Some time ago my mother signed in some competition at a local hardware-store and she won 2 tickets for a Lamborghini Driving Experience! Yesterday My father and I had that experience (my mother didn't want to go...) So at about 8 o'clock in the morning we left home to go to Holland's oldest racetrack: Zandvoort!

Once arrived we signed in and had a coffee, a briefing followed and then we went of. The thing about the driving experience is that is was not only driving in the Lamborghini, but it was a whole day full of racing and other fun stuff. We (my dad and me) were in group I which meant that the first thing we did was:

Ice Driving
The Ice driving meant that the rear wheels of a small Suzuki Swift car were on some wheels you also see in shoppingmarket carts (see picture, I'm not native english and I don't know the best word for those wheel-thingies). By doing this the car will tend to break out at the rear even at the slowest speeds. The goal was to do a slalom and then return to the starting point. This was actually a very nice thing to do, because you had to be careful not to go too fast to keep yourself from spinning around, but this whole day also had a competition, the times on this part also counted, so you wanted to complete the slalom as fast as you could.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/ijsrijden1.jpg
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/ijsrijden2.jpgYou can see how I am steering... this was necessary to be able to get around the next pylon...

Quad
After the ice driving we went to the quads (no, not quad-cores, but the bikes on 4 wheels :P) In the dunes that surround the race track of Zandvoort there was a small quad-track, we could drive around that track for about 10 minutes or so and then an other part of the group could drive. This part of the day I found the least interesting. Don't know why, but something has to be the least fun...
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/quad1.jpgmy dad on the quad.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/quad2.jpgme on the quad.

Terrain driving
Then we went to the next part of the day, Terrain driving. Which meant we had to step into a (small) Suzuki Jimny 4x4 and drive down steep slopes, between pylons very close to the path. drive over small bridges, banked curves and such. The competition part of the terrain driving was driving backwards to a pylon with a (soccer-)ball on it. The idea was to stop as close as you could to the ball. The problem was, as the driver you couldn't see where the pylon was in the last few meters. To try and get a better score I put my dad on the rear seat of the car and let him look for me. Unfortunatly he yelled 'stop!' 36cm too early. This part I found nice to do since I had never done it before.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/terrein1.jpgdriving down a steep slope.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/terrein2.jpgbanked piece of road
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/terrein3.jpgthe ball-game (you can see me sitting at the back-seat. my dad was driving here.)

BMW 118i
In The Netherlands we have a race-competition called the 'BMW 130i Cup'. The next part of our day was driving in look-a-like BMW's. They were BMW 118i cars, but specially prepared to suit the racetrack. With those cars we could drive on the real Zandvoort racetrack. Unfortunately only for about 2 laps. Even though short, I had a great time in those cars. the 2Liter 4-cylinder engines produced about 145HP at 7000rpm. And that's a great sound! Also those cars didn't have a real interior, so you could hear every small piece of debris hitting the car at the bottom. The BMW is really a nice car to drive around a racetrack for the first time.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/BMW1.jpgthe cars.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/BMW2.jpgme in my beamer.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/BMW3.jpgmy dad driving in front of me.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/BMW4.jpgme (left) and my dad.

Lunch
After my first track-experience it was time for a well-deserved lunch. Time to look back on a great morning. Since this is the lunch-part I'm not even half-way in my story... more in the next post.

[silverdemon]

After the lunch the real work started! First we went to the Porsches!
Porsche
Real Track-prepared Porsche 911 GT3 racecars (model 997, the newest that is) 415BHP, 3.6-liter 6-cylinder-boxer engine, top speed about 200Mph (320km/h). These cars are close to both the real racing as well as to normal road cars. Though they were real race cars one could just drive away like in a normal (stick-shift) road car. But once you put the pedal to the metal the engine starts to roar out loud and you get a push in your back from the power. Just amazing! And then there is the braking and the cornering of these cars. It's simply brilliant. Let the pictures do the rest of the talking, I'm short of words here...
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/porsche1.jpgmy dad getting ready.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/porsche2.jpgme trying to find the seatbelt.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/porsche3.jpgmy dad and me on the straight.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/porsche4.jpgme closing in on my dad.

Lamborghini
Next up: the cars that give this event it's name: The Lamborghini Gallardo. 520HP out of a 5.0L V10 engine. Paddles behind the steeringwheel for shifting. These beasts have (I think) the most distinctive sound of all the cars that were present at the track this day. amazing how these engines sound at nearly 8000rpm! The impression of the cars was however not as 'racy' as one might expect. The Lambos are road-cars, not really prepared for the track. This meant a much smoother ride than the Porsche, but also less of e feeling of speed... even though we might have hit 200km/h at the end of the straight...
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/lambo1.jpgme getting ready (note the pitbabe :))
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/lambo2.jpgme car:smoker:
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/lambo3.jpgmy dad getting ready.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/lambo4.jpg'my dad's rear-end'
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/lambo5.jpgus driving about 200km/h

Go-karts
next-up: go-karts, just to cool down a bit. These things don't go very fast, everybody has driven them (I think). There were three rounds, best two continued to the finals. I came in second in the preliminaries so I could continue. Unfortunately the kart in the final didn't go as well as my previous kart. I had to drive defending lines all the time and came in third.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/kart1.jpgme on my go-kart.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/kart2.jpglining up for the start.

Slalom
Next up, another relatively slow event. Again in the Suzuki Swifts. A slalom-track, three pylons, go left, go right, go left around the last on (doing a 180, then go back right along pylon 2, left round pylon 1 and stop again. Though this was one of the slower events that day it was a hell of a lot of fun:). This time (unlike the ice driving) speed was everything that counted. So we saw more than once that a back-wheel of the car lifted of from the ground. which was fun.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/slalom1.jpgyou get the idea, drive around the pylons
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/slalom2.jpg

Formula Renault
Now it is time for the most racy things I have ever driven. Formula cars. They had three (about equal in performance) types of cars in the pitlane. First there were the Formula Fords. Those are 420kg 140HP single-seater-cars. Then there were the Formula Opel/Lotus (Opel=Vauxhall). Lotus chassis and an Opel 190BHP engine. My dad had to drive in one of those. And then there was the car I drove: a Formula Renault 2.0. 193BHP, 490kg. These things are just insane, totally not nomal! Everything you do is direct. The clutch is heavy, the throttle mega-responsive, the brakes are insane and the steering super-direct. It is just plain insanity! Anyways, I had sooo much fun in that car, just amazing. Everything feels like it is made for speed. here are the pictures (I could talk about this for hours...)
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/formula1.jpgsome of the cars.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/formula2.jpgmy dad in his Formula Opel/Lotus.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/formula3.jpgme in my Formula Renault.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/formula4.jpgmy dad coming into the pits.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/formula5.jpgme coming into the pits faster.

Drifting
The last part of the day was driving along with a professional race-driver who drifted the whole track, going sideways all the time. My dad had his video-camera with him, when I get the chance I'll try to post that piece of film here. When I was in the car we went sideways the whole lap and at the last turn the driver went a bit too sideways, he didn't hesitate, shifted back and gave full throttle. Then we did an insane 360, leaving blue smoke everywhere in the car and a big plume of smoke hanging over the track. After a bit of off-road (grass) he put the pedal to the metal once again and went on going sideways into the pit-lane... real great experience.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/drift1.jpgthese were the drift-cars. Old BMWs with about 160HP
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/drift2.jpgmy dad prepping his camera.
http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/rstakelbeek/drift3.jpgme, ready to go.

Conclusion
I had a great day!

This is one experience I will never forget. My first time on a real race-track, driving in cars little boys (and the older ones too) can only dream about. 520HP under my right foot. Driving a formula car. my first off-road experience. Everything was great fun. If somebody ever has the chance to do something like this: Don't hesitate and do it immediately!

[IndyRacer27]

Looks like you had a blast! What an experience. I'm jealous.

[Omega]

I am so jealous.

My "cool driving experiences" is when my mom lets me park her truck. Otherwise it's biking. Everywhere.

I want to have fun on wheels? Bike.
I need to go to the town that's like, 10mi south of here? Bike.

etc.




Of course, I do know a GM Race Mechanic that works at Infineon Raceway, so once I get my car he can score me some track time for just me, or me and whoever else wants to hit the track (friends, you know). He tells me stories of hitting the track in his Dodge Neon when he gets bored. =D

[angie1313]

I would love to go for a ride it a Lamborghini.... (sigh)

which one was your favorite??

[silverdemon]

I'm jealous.


I am so jealous.

I'm sorry about that. But I would be jealous too if I were you...


I would love to go for a ride it a Lamborghini.... (sigh)

which one was your favorite??

That's a bit hard to say. All the cars were a different experience.
If you want to know which one was the most racy: definitely the Formula Renault. Everything on that car breathes racing.
If you want to have a smooth yet fast drive, the Lambo would be your best ride.
The Porsche is right in between them, it feels very racy but yet it was relatively easy to drive.
But if I had to choose which car I would want to race in for a whole season I think I would have to say the BMW 118i (or 130i) series. Just because I'm just 22 (almost 23) years old. I have my license for less than 5 years now, and I have never driven anything like any of the cars I have driven yesterday. The BMW was the easiest to drive and I think it would be easiest to really race in too.
Maybe if I had more experience I would choose a different car... probably the Formula Renault I think...

I don't really know, the whole day was just such a kick...

[Mitternacht]

Man I gotta get my car running soon! You make me miss it!

[Quakken]

Where do I sign up?

[noopypoop]

Wait, did they seriously put the track's logo on a $300k car?

[Omega]

Wait, did they seriously put the track's logo on a $300k car?

Yes, they did.

Two things:

1.If the track bought the car, they can do whatever to it they want
2. Vinyls. You can take them off with no damage to the paint. In fact, a lot of racing cars use Vinyls because they're easier to apply, easier to maintain (oh god it's messed up, print another one), and if you change sponsors you can take off the old and put on the new. In fact, I'm looking at getting a bicycle sponsorship for freeride parts and I'll probably look into making vinyls for sponsors.

[Quakken]

They should have went with Lotuses. But that's just opinion, that lambo could beat the best lotus (but what would be more fun to drive? I would want to try both.)

[Omega]

Depends on the track. Yeah, the Murcialago has the Audi AWD system, but the Lotuses (I like the Elise, but pretty much all of them) are so light and their suspensions are made of wtf and crazy. Small, technical course, and the Lambo can't get in a good position to release it's power. Long, straighter course, and the Lotus hits it's top speed quickly and doesn't do a whole lot after that.

[silverdemon]

Where do I sign up?

here (http://www.raceplanet.nl/index_zandvoort.php?cat=Individueel&sub=Lambo_experience&id=369). Unfortunately the website is in Dutch, so you'll probably have a hard time signing up. At the bottom of the page it says "inschrijfformulier" in a small linky. click that and you will be able to sign up.


Yes, they did.

Two things:

1.If the track bought the car, they can do whatever to it they want
2. Vinyls. You can take them off with no damage to the paint. In fact, a lot of racing cars use Vinyls because they're easier to apply, easier to maintain (oh god it's messed up, print another one), and if you change sponsors you can take off the old and put on the new. In fact, I'm looking at getting a bicycle sponsorship for freeride parts and I'll probably look into making vinyls for sponsors.

The Cars (all of them) belong to a company called "Team Bleekemolen" and thus they can do with them whatever they want. Bleekemolen is the name of a family who are pretty familiar in racing. First there was the old Michel, he got 2 sons, Jeroen (A1, Porsche supercup) and Sebastian (dutch races only I believe) and also a nephew (micha) who all race. And as they raced they wanted to let the normal people also feel how racecars drive and they set up this experiences.
On the logo: I think they are indeed vinyls.


They should have went with Lotuses. But that's just opinion, that lambo could beat the best lotus (but what would be more fun to drive? I would want to try both.)

That's why they experience was more than just the Lamborghini's. I see what you mean with racing experience and that it is less exciting (maybe) to drive in a big can with tons of power. And maybe more fun with small light-weight cars with a bit less power.
But I had just that experience when I drove the Formula Renault car. It only weights about 450-500kg and has 'only' got 193BHP. Obviously a lotus would drive much easier than the Formula car.


Depends on the track. Yeah, the Murcialago has the Audi AWD system, but the Lotuses (I like the Elise, but pretty much all of them) are so light and their suspensions are made of wtf and crazy. Small, technical course, and the Lambo can't get in a good position to release it's power. Long, straighter course, and the Lotus hits it's top speed quickly and doesn't do a whole lot after that.

I think the Lamborghini (we drove Gallardos btw, not murciélagos) would have to work itself to sweat to beat a Lotus Elise. Like you said, the are so light and agile. Also the racing experience in the Lambo is less because of all the electronics systems like traction control and ESP that prevent you from having real fun. (we were not allowed to turn those off :()

[gaz_the_chav]

Thanks for posting that - well worth the read! Only thing for it now is a plane ticket to there and get going at race planet lol!

Glad you had a nice day

-gaz