Caterham Circuit Experience
Discussion
Hi All, I'm looking for any comments/feedback on these days advertised here:
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/experience/caterham-cir...
I sold my Lotus Elise earlier this year to fund a house purchase and i'll be looking at getting back into a track car later this year or early next. I'm considering a few things (including another Lotus) but I'm tempted with the idea of building my own car from a Caterham/Westfield/GBS/etc kit. The thing is, I've never driven or even been a passenger before in a '7 so other than reading about how amazing they are, I really can't be sure if it's for me.
I googled around and bookatrack seem to do car hire on their trackdays but it's pretty expensive (£1k+), which I would pay if I could also reserve good weather!
After some more research I found these Caterham experience days, also facilitated by bookatrack it seems but a much more attractive £545 for a full day AND has tuition which would be ideal. It seems like it's a car shared between 3 people throughout the day, which I don't have an issue with - as my tracktime on an open pit day is usually limited by my stamina anyway.
£545 seems like a bargain based on what I spend normally in my own car on a trackday so I'm very tempted - unless PH has some horrorstories about how the days are run.
http://uk.caterhamcars.com/experience/caterham-cir...
I sold my Lotus Elise earlier this year to fund a house purchase and i'll be looking at getting back into a track car later this year or early next. I'm considering a few things (including another Lotus) but I'm tempted with the idea of building my own car from a Caterham/Westfield/GBS/etc kit. The thing is, I've never driven or even been a passenger before in a '7 so other than reading about how amazing they are, I really can't be sure if it's for me.
I googled around and bookatrack seem to do car hire on their trackdays but it's pretty expensive (£1k+), which I would pay if I could also reserve good weather!
After some more research I found these Caterham experience days, also facilitated by bookatrack it seems but a much more attractive £545 for a full day AND has tuition which would be ideal. It seems like it's a car shared between 3 people throughout the day, which I don't have an issue with - as my tracktime on an open pit day is usually limited by my stamina anyway.
£545 seems like a bargain based on what I spend normally in my own car on a trackday so I'm very tempted - unless PH has some horrorstories about how the days are run.
I did exactly this experience with BAT in Silverstone last summer. I also has a Lotus Elise S2 at the time, although I've now sold that and am thinking of going down the kit car route too!
I thought the day was extremely well organised and professionally ran by BAT. Track time is limited to 15 out of every 45 minutes but the instructors are quite good for helping you to get the most out of it and pushing you on if needed, they all really know their stuff.
Only negative I had from the day was that it was the lower powered caterhams, I'm not a driving God at all but was still getting pretty near the limits by the end of the day.
Other than that there was a nice crowd of people there on the day and plenty free food and drink throughout the day so it was very enjoyable and I'd highly recommend it!
I thought the day was extremely well organised and professionally ran by BAT. Track time is limited to 15 out of every 45 minutes but the instructors are quite good for helping you to get the most out of it and pushing you on if needed, they all really know their stuff.
Only negative I had from the day was that it was the lower powered caterhams, I'm not a driving God at all but was still getting pretty near the limits by the end of the day.
Other than that there was a nice crowd of people there on the day and plenty free food and drink throughout the day so it was very enjoyable and I'd highly recommend it!
Thanks guys, sounds positive!
My main concern with a 7' type car is the flexibility to go out on a sunny evening, weekend away etc which we did lots with the Lotus but I can't imagine the wife being quite so comfortable in a kitcar. If I completely sell myself on the track driving experience, then I'll work on the wife stuff - but if I come away from a BAT day feeling just "OK" about it, I'll probably go back to a Lotus.
My main concern with a 7' type car is the flexibility to go out on a sunny evening, weekend away etc which we did lots with the Lotus but I can't imagine the wife being quite so comfortable in a kitcar. If I completely sell myself on the track driving experience, then I'll work on the wife stuff - but if I come away from a BAT day feeling just "OK" about it, I'll probably go back to a Lotus.
Fonzey said:
Thanks guys, sounds positive!
My main concern with a 7' type car is the flexibility to go out on a sunny evening, weekend away etc which we did lots with the Lotus but I can't imagine the wife being quite so comfortable in a kitcar. If I completely sell myself on the track driving experience, then I'll work on the wife stuff - but if I come away from a BAT day feeling just "OK" about it, I'll probably go back to a Lotus.
I sold my 7 and bought an Elise for exactly this reason, tended to use the 7 for a 20 mile blat and trackdays, got much more use from the Elise, but everybody should own a 7 once...My main concern with a 7' type car is the flexibility to go out on a sunny evening, weekend away etc which we did lots with the Lotus but I can't imagine the wife being quite so comfortable in a kitcar. If I completely sell myself on the track driving experience, then I'll work on the wife stuff - but if I come away from a BAT day feeling just "OK" about it, I'll probably go back to a Lotus.
Counterpoint - my mrs isn't really into cars and did a lot of eye rolling when it came into my life.. but from the first trip out she's loved the caterham cos it's a bit silly and has personality - to the point where I get encouraged to take it over the boring car.
I might get away with an elise, but if I got a 'proper' sports car, she'd hate it. You never know.. Fair to say my usage fits the 20 mile blat and trackdays camp mind.
I might get away with an elise, but if I got a 'proper' sports car, she'd hate it. You never know.. Fair to say my usage fits the 20 mile blat and trackdays camp mind.
Fully recommend you get on one OP.
Went on one of the BaT Caterham Circuit Experience days at Donington GP last year and had to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable and very educational experience learning about how to get the most out of the car.
I realise some of this won't apply to you, as you have a few track days under your belt and probably a fair bit on instruction to boot, but I went on one as I'd had my Caterham for a year but had never been on track with it or any other car as I was too afraid to stack my own pride and joy into the tyre barrier, but knew that even when driving my Caterham "hard" it had much more to give and it would be worth exploring the limits of a similar car in a controlled environment.
The cars were in excellent condition and the instructors all seemed very professional. My instructor for the day got me up to a comfortable pace and built on that very well with lots of excellent reinforcement and guidance, by the end of the day I was running very quickly round the track usually blasting past the other CCE cars on track much to my surprise.
Glad to say I only had one moment on track when I span it at the old hairpin, kept it on track after a full 360 degree spin (probably more by luck than anything) and my instructor used it as a good way to demonstrate why you need power on and can't be too afraid of the the throttle.
I came away from the day with a massive grin on my face and learned a lot of skills and confidence for when I'm driving my own.
The amount of time in the drivers seat for me over the day was just right, I felt well worked but not physically drained, each of the sessions was enough to get into the swing, build from the last session, start introducing new stuff then stop and get a brew.
On another note, BaT do road rentals and if you buy a car from them I believe you get the price knocked off too... seems to be the only discount Caterham do to be honest.
On the touring/weekend away front, it depends what you and your other half are like, I've done quite a few trips in mine with the other half with the use of a special Caterham boot bag and lightweight/backpacker camping equipment to places like Silverstone Classic and it was a blast, means you (or maybe not you) have to be pretty selective when packing. If you both like your creature comforts it might wear a little thin as the wet weather gear is basically a small vinyl tent that is designed to keep some of the rain away, maybe; that said if you approach it with a slightly loopy sense of adventure in full awareness it is a small silly, fun, little British sports car, they are incredibly entertaining.
Went on one of the BaT Caterham Circuit Experience days at Donington GP last year and had to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable and very educational experience learning about how to get the most out of the car.
I realise some of this won't apply to you, as you have a few track days under your belt and probably a fair bit on instruction to boot, but I went on one as I'd had my Caterham for a year but had never been on track with it or any other car as I was too afraid to stack my own pride and joy into the tyre barrier, but knew that even when driving my Caterham "hard" it had much more to give and it would be worth exploring the limits of a similar car in a controlled environment.
The cars were in excellent condition and the instructors all seemed very professional. My instructor for the day got me up to a comfortable pace and built on that very well with lots of excellent reinforcement and guidance, by the end of the day I was running very quickly round the track usually blasting past the other CCE cars on track much to my surprise.
Glad to say I only had one moment on track when I span it at the old hairpin, kept it on track after a full 360 degree spin (probably more by luck than anything) and my instructor used it as a good way to demonstrate why you need power on and can't be too afraid of the the throttle.
I came away from the day with a massive grin on my face and learned a lot of skills and confidence for when I'm driving my own.
The amount of time in the drivers seat for me over the day was just right, I felt well worked but not physically drained, each of the sessions was enough to get into the swing, build from the last session, start introducing new stuff then stop and get a brew.
On another note, BaT do road rentals and if you buy a car from them I believe you get the price knocked off too... seems to be the only discount Caterham do to be honest.
On the touring/weekend away front, it depends what you and your other half are like, I've done quite a few trips in mine with the other half with the use of a special Caterham boot bag and lightweight/backpacker camping equipment to places like Silverstone Classic and it was a blast, means you (or maybe not you) have to be pretty selective when packing. If you both like your creature comforts it might wear a little thin as the wet weather gear is basically a small vinyl tent that is designed to keep some of the rain away, maybe; that said if you approach it with a slightly loopy sense of adventure in full awareness it is a small silly, fun, little British sports car, they are incredibly entertaining.
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