Silverstone single seater driving experience - Review
Discussion
TLDR: It's pretty good.
Hi all.
I wanted to write a review on PH for those looking for opinions on this event, as when I recieved it as a gift, this is the first place I came. Hopefully it's of use to someone, and can help them make a decision as to whether their £200 purchase is a wise one or not.
I've been doing trackdays for the last 12 years, generally in my cars with between 150-300bhp, and just as often in fast group on sports bikes, with even a few races entered on my modified GSXR 750 SRAD. Either way, I've had a fair bit of experience, so when my dad and girlfriend jointly got me this experience for my birthday, I was grateful, but somewhat concerned that it was possibly going to be at best, a bit crap, and at worst a total waste of money, as a lot of experience days are. Turns out that my preconceptions were misjudged.
The day
Arriving at Silverstone for 11:00, for a start of 11:40, you sign on at the desk, and to another if you have purchased, or are intending to purchase track video. Once signed on, you hang around the Silverstone wing until your start time, at which point you and a group of between 5-10 others are taken for a standard briefing that took around 30 minutes. They explain racing lines, the characteristics of the single seaters and general safety. It didn't drag, covered all bases, and the instructor was friendly and informative without being condescending.
After this you head back to your own car and take a short drive over to the pit area for the single seaters. You are fitted with helmets, gloves and balaclavas (if you didn't bring your own).
Immediately you are taken out to your cars, told to jump in for seat and belt adjustment, and told to wait for the signal to start engines. Any guests you've brought with you are ushered up to the viewing balcony, where they will remain for the next 30-40 minutes of your drive experience.
One you've been told to start engines, you will follow a pace car out onto the track, and stay behind doing familiarisation laps for around the next 5-10 minutes. Once this is over you'll return to the pits and line yourselves up at the exit ready to start the main drive. When the drive begins, you'll head out of the pits and be able to drive at whatever pace you want. Accounting for slower drivers, the marshals will display blue flags, as an indication to both the slower and faster driver, that they may overtake down the following straight. This drive lasts around 20 minutes after which a chequered flag is flown, and you are to return to the pits.
One exiting the cars, everyone, including guests are invited into the pit garage for a debrief. A small q&a session is given, with timing sheets handed out to each driver. At this point you are able to go and purchase any pictures taken on the day if you wish, after which the experience is over.
The cars
Small single seater things, similar to Formula Fords, bit with various bits of aero giving a more Formula Renault appearance. The briefing stats list them as having 140bhp, and capable of 0-60 in 4.8 seconds. It makes a nice headline, but in my opinion whilst this may be a truth, it's only a half one. There is either some restrictor or mapping which means they are much slower than this, although importantly, they are still surprisingly quick and enjoyable. There was also some text on the board about 5500rpm maximum, although on the very few times I looked at the rev counter, I was close to 7000rpm, so I don't know what that was about. The cars have a 4 speed close ratio gearbox, and a racing clutch which was heavily emphasised as being hard to use. In actuality, if you've ever driven a car with a heavy clutch you'll likely be fine, provided you give it some revs as you start off. The instructors in the briefings suggested 3rd and 4th are the only gears necessary, which I found to be a cautions suggestion, as using second and occasionally even first was needed to get the most from the car. The gearstick is mounted on the right and tricky to use when in a corner, so accidentally finding neutral wasn't uncommon, although this was in part due to the seats being quite wide, and me being relatively slim allowed me to slip around somewhat and i was sometimes unable to get a firm grasp. The cars use semi slick tyres and grip very well around the circuit, although as you'd expect, understeer can present itself until they have some temperature in them. The steering is very direct and you can carry enormous speed though many of the corners, and despite my opinion that there is some lack of power, the cars accelerate very well out of the corners, several times I had to correct corner exit oversteer.
The circuit
Contrary to what some expected on the day, Silverstone is not the track that's used. Instead, Stowe circuit, an inner short track is what the day takes place on. It doesn't look like much, and would probably be pretty awful for a regular car, but works well for the capabilities of the single seaters. Having done trackdays at Silverstone, the main circuit would not be suited to these cars. The Stowe track does have a few long corners, and a few tighter hairpins, and some cones to clearly mark turn in points, as well as to cordon off areas that are closer to the barriers, as well as two straights where overtaking can be done. The overtaking is done on these straights only, by use of a displayed blue flag which is a signal to the slower driver to move to the right, and for the faster one to move left and overtake. I was sceptical when this was mentioned in the briefing, but it actually worked very well. Not once did any other driver not see, or fail to move out of the way when these were displayed. I was occasionally caught in a chain of slower drivers overtaking another slower driver, but I appreciate they were driving at their own pace, and I was quickly able to get past on the next straight without frustration. The straights are fairly long, and certainly long enough to give yourself a bit of a scare depending on how brave you are with late braking and corner entry, I'd estimate the top speed I reached on the day to be around 90-100mph. in hindsight I could have probably been a bit quicker and left another 5-10 metres or so, but didn't think spinning or crashing the car was worth it. Its worth noting that in briefing it was explained that if you spin twice, you're out, although no one on the day spun at all, helped by the dry weather. Generally stringing together a full lap without finding a back marker is a bit tricky, but I managed a few and had the fastest time on the day of 1.03.951, and another quick driver was 0.7 seconds behind. Lap record is listed at around 1 minute dead I think, although I think this is incorrect as a pro could be a lot quicker. This timing printout gives an idea of the general speed of people attending.
Verdict
Excellent, I'm glad I was wrong. A thoroughly enjoyable day and far better than any of the supercar experiences I've seen where you drive around with a prohibitive instructor. Generally the Silverstone experience gets good reviews, mostly from people who are complete novices, which isn't necessarily representive of many of us. From experienced track drivers, I've seen it getting slated in some places, and I think even on here, but in my opinion unless you are racing at fast club level in single seaters, you'll have a blast.
Is it worth £200? Yes, as a gift I think it is, although I wouldn't buy it for myself as I do trackdays, but for someone who is new to motorsport, I highly recommend it. Infienitely better value than many supercar experiences in terms of driving, although if your aim is to drive a Ferrari, or want to drive Silverstone proper, you will find this lacking.
I think that a half day at Palmersport for around £600 is probably better value for money, but the cars they use there are genuinely in a different class and very very fast, and the majority of people who would be looking to take part in a Silverstone day would likely be hugely out of their depth at Bedford.
5/5 For what is being advertised, this is bang on.
I hope this was of use
thanks for reading
Hi all.
I wanted to write a review on PH for those looking for opinions on this event, as when I recieved it as a gift, this is the first place I came. Hopefully it's of use to someone, and can help them make a decision as to whether their £200 purchase is a wise one or not.
I've been doing trackdays for the last 12 years, generally in my cars with between 150-300bhp, and just as often in fast group on sports bikes, with even a few races entered on my modified GSXR 750 SRAD. Either way, I've had a fair bit of experience, so when my dad and girlfriend jointly got me this experience for my birthday, I was grateful, but somewhat concerned that it was possibly going to be at best, a bit crap, and at worst a total waste of money, as a lot of experience days are. Turns out that my preconceptions were misjudged.
The day
Arriving at Silverstone for 11:00, for a start of 11:40, you sign on at the desk, and to another if you have purchased, or are intending to purchase track video. Once signed on, you hang around the Silverstone wing until your start time, at which point you and a group of between 5-10 others are taken for a standard briefing that took around 30 minutes. They explain racing lines, the characteristics of the single seaters and general safety. It didn't drag, covered all bases, and the instructor was friendly and informative without being condescending.
After this you head back to your own car and take a short drive over to the pit area for the single seaters. You are fitted with helmets, gloves and balaclavas (if you didn't bring your own).
Immediately you are taken out to your cars, told to jump in for seat and belt adjustment, and told to wait for the signal to start engines. Any guests you've brought with you are ushered up to the viewing balcony, where they will remain for the next 30-40 minutes of your drive experience.
One you've been told to start engines, you will follow a pace car out onto the track, and stay behind doing familiarisation laps for around the next 5-10 minutes. Once this is over you'll return to the pits and line yourselves up at the exit ready to start the main drive. When the drive begins, you'll head out of the pits and be able to drive at whatever pace you want. Accounting for slower drivers, the marshals will display blue flags, as an indication to both the slower and faster driver, that they may overtake down the following straight. This drive lasts around 20 minutes after which a chequered flag is flown, and you are to return to the pits.
One exiting the cars, everyone, including guests are invited into the pit garage for a debrief. A small q&a session is given, with timing sheets handed out to each driver. At this point you are able to go and purchase any pictures taken on the day if you wish, after which the experience is over.
The cars
Small single seater things, similar to Formula Fords, bit with various bits of aero giving a more Formula Renault appearance. The briefing stats list them as having 140bhp, and capable of 0-60 in 4.8 seconds. It makes a nice headline, but in my opinion whilst this may be a truth, it's only a half one. There is either some restrictor or mapping which means they are much slower than this, although importantly, they are still surprisingly quick and enjoyable. There was also some text on the board about 5500rpm maximum, although on the very few times I looked at the rev counter, I was close to 7000rpm, so I don't know what that was about. The cars have a 4 speed close ratio gearbox, and a racing clutch which was heavily emphasised as being hard to use. In actuality, if you've ever driven a car with a heavy clutch you'll likely be fine, provided you give it some revs as you start off. The instructors in the briefings suggested 3rd and 4th are the only gears necessary, which I found to be a cautions suggestion, as using second and occasionally even first was needed to get the most from the car. The gearstick is mounted on the right and tricky to use when in a corner, so accidentally finding neutral wasn't uncommon, although this was in part due to the seats being quite wide, and me being relatively slim allowed me to slip around somewhat and i was sometimes unable to get a firm grasp. The cars use semi slick tyres and grip very well around the circuit, although as you'd expect, understeer can present itself until they have some temperature in them. The steering is very direct and you can carry enormous speed though many of the corners, and despite my opinion that there is some lack of power, the cars accelerate very well out of the corners, several times I had to correct corner exit oversteer.
The circuit
Contrary to what some expected on the day, Silverstone is not the track that's used. Instead, Stowe circuit, an inner short track is what the day takes place on. It doesn't look like much, and would probably be pretty awful for a regular car, but works well for the capabilities of the single seaters. Having done trackdays at Silverstone, the main circuit would not be suited to these cars. The Stowe track does have a few long corners, and a few tighter hairpins, and some cones to clearly mark turn in points, as well as to cordon off areas that are closer to the barriers, as well as two straights where overtaking can be done. The overtaking is done on these straights only, by use of a displayed blue flag which is a signal to the slower driver to move to the right, and for the faster one to move left and overtake. I was sceptical when this was mentioned in the briefing, but it actually worked very well. Not once did any other driver not see, or fail to move out of the way when these were displayed. I was occasionally caught in a chain of slower drivers overtaking another slower driver, but I appreciate they were driving at their own pace, and I was quickly able to get past on the next straight without frustration. The straights are fairly long, and certainly long enough to give yourself a bit of a scare depending on how brave you are with late braking and corner entry, I'd estimate the top speed I reached on the day to be around 90-100mph. in hindsight I could have probably been a bit quicker and left another 5-10 metres or so, but didn't think spinning or crashing the car was worth it. Its worth noting that in briefing it was explained that if you spin twice, you're out, although no one on the day spun at all, helped by the dry weather. Generally stringing together a full lap without finding a back marker is a bit tricky, but I managed a few and had the fastest time on the day of 1.03.951, and another quick driver was 0.7 seconds behind. Lap record is listed at around 1 minute dead I think, although I think this is incorrect as a pro could be a lot quicker. This timing printout gives an idea of the general speed of people attending.
Verdict
Excellent, I'm glad I was wrong. A thoroughly enjoyable day and far better than any of the supercar experiences I've seen where you drive around with a prohibitive instructor. Generally the Silverstone experience gets good reviews, mostly from people who are complete novices, which isn't necessarily representive of many of us. From experienced track drivers, I've seen it getting slated in some places, and I think even on here, but in my opinion unless you are racing at fast club level in single seaters, you'll have a blast.
Is it worth £200? Yes, as a gift I think it is, although I wouldn't buy it for myself as I do trackdays, but for someone who is new to motorsport, I highly recommend it. Infienitely better value than many supercar experiences in terms of driving, although if your aim is to drive a Ferrari, or want to drive Silverstone proper, you will find this lacking.
I think that a half day at Palmersport for around £600 is probably better value for money, but the cars they use there are genuinely in a different class and very very fast, and the majority of people who would be looking to take part in a Silverstone day would likely be hugely out of their depth at Bedford.
5/5 For what is being advertised, this is bang on.
I hope this was of use
thanks for readingEdited by Pebbles167 on Sunday 30th January 04:01
Thanks for the feedback, really interesting
Did you feel 20min was short, or alright...? Maybe "2x20min" for some more £ would be beneficial?
The idea of doing some track in a single seater sounds good to me But would not spend £600 for it, so your experience and feedback is definitely beneficial!
Did you feel 20min was short, or alright...? Maybe "2x20min" for some more £ would be beneficial?
The idea of doing some track in a single seater sounds good to me
But would not spend £600 for it, so your experience and feedback is definitely beneficial!I was given a gift voucher and considered doing this. I plumped for the Caterhams instead as I've always wanted to drive one (and periodically work through the man-maths for buying one 
).
The Caterham day was fun but I left it feeling really frustrated. This is a bit more money but it sounds like you got significantly more value out of it.
For comparison, the time spent actually driving the Caterham was less than 5 minutes.
). The Caterham day was fun but I left it feeling really frustrated. This is a bit more money but it sounds like you got significantly more value out of it.
For comparison, the time spent actually driving the Caterham was less than 5 minutes.
Edited by durbster on Monday 28th June 20:45
cedrichn said:
Thanks for the feedback, really interesting
Did you feel 20min was short, or alright...? Maybe "2x20min" for some more £ would be beneficial?
The idea of doing some track in a single seater sounds good to me But would not spend £600 for it, so your experience and feedback is definitely beneficial!
20 minutes is about right I think, as its more or less the length of standard session I'd do on a trackday. It's worth noting this was the "single seater experience" and they also offer a "single seater thrill" for around £120 which looks to be about half the time. 20 was more than enough time to learn the quirks and get to a decent pace for several laps. Did you feel 20min was short, or alright...? Maybe "2x20min" for some more £ would be beneficial?
The idea of doing some track in a single seater sounds good to me
But would not spend £600 for it, so your experience and feedback is definitely beneficial!Having never driven a single seater before added to the enjoyment for me, and I was glad there was enough performance to make it interesting.
durbster said:
I was given a gift voucher and considered doing this. I plumped for the Caterhams instead as I've always wanted to drive one (and periodically work through the man-maths for buying one ).
The Caterham day was fun but I left it feeling really frustrated. This is a bit more money but it sounds like you get significantly more value out of it.
For comparison, the time spent actually driving the Caterham was less than 5 minutes.
This is what I assumed this single seater day would be like, sorry you had a frustrating time. Its unfortunate, but I understand them wanting to be cautious when letting you drive a relatively expensive vehicle, they probably get a lot of bad drivers. My dad had a similar experience at Castle Combe, although he wasn't expecting much excitement, and just wanted to have a quick drive of a Gallardo and an Atom. ). The Caterham day was fun but I left it feeling really frustrated. This is a bit more money but it sounds like you get significantly more value out of it.
For comparison, the time spent actually driving the Caterham was less than 5 minutes.
I watched some BMW 2 series flying round Silverstone proper, which is a day they offer. I was surprised to see that it was actually a customer driving and not an instructor, as they were certainly going faster than usual for one of these types of day. Possibly worth a look if you ever went again?
Silverstone is not your £39 for 3 miles Supercar experience. We have people of all abilities. But it is always a joy when someone gets in the car and gets something out of it. If you are capable, you are certainly not held back, in fact just the opposite. Nothing better than when someone "gets it."
voram said:
That's an interesting read. I've been looking at various circuits which offer experiences and am currently tempted by either Silverstone or Thruxton. Will have to get something organised.
Well if all single seater experiences are as good I'd definitely say you'd enjoy it. Castle Combe do one which I've heard good things about, although I've not done it myself. Nickjd said:
Silverstone is not your £39 for 3 miles Supercar experience. We have people of all abilities. But it is always a joy when someone gets in the car and gets something out of it. If you are capable, you are certainly not held back, in fact just the opposite. Nothing better than when someone "gets it."
I think closer to £100 for 3 miles is closer to most prices. I take it you work at Silverstone? Whatever department you work in, if you happen to bump into the guys who run the "drive Silverstone" events, or if you in fact work there yourself, a thankyou and a big thumbs up from me for the Sunday just gone. Hope you feel my write up does it justice. Edited by Pebbles167 on Monday 28th June 20:05
Thanks for the report !
Are they left foot braking only or the normal 3-pedal layout ?
That circuit has always looked too small to me too. I can see why they run it on that, but it would have been nice to see a decent speed corner where you could feel the Aero working. I suspect that having varying skill levels on the day means that probably isn`t a good idea but as someone who has done a lot of trackdays over the last 16 years I`d want that bit more.
Are they left foot braking only or the normal 3-pedal layout ?
That circuit has always looked too small to me too. I can see why they run it on that, but it would have been nice to see a decent speed corner where you could feel the Aero working. I suspect that having varying skill levels on the day means that probably isn`t a good idea but as someone who has done a lot of trackdays over the last 16 years I`d want that bit more.
Wh00sher said:
Thanks for the report !
Are they left foot braking only or the normal 3-pedal layout ?
That circuit has always looked too small to me too. I can see why they run it on that, but it would have been nice to see a decent speed corner where you could feel the Aero working. I suspect that having varying skill levels on the day means that probably isn`t a good idea but as someone who has done a lot of trackdays over the last 16 years I`d want that bit more.
Normal 3 pedal layout, I tried to give left foot braking a go, but couldn't fit my left foot over to the right, and I'm a size 7 so imagine it would be tricky or impossible for most. Then again, could have been my seating position. Are they left foot braking only or the normal 3-pedal layout ?
That circuit has always looked too small to me too. I can see why they run it on that, but it would have been nice to see a decent speed corner where you could feel the Aero working. I suspect that having varying skill levels on the day means that probably isn`t a good idea but as someone who has done a lot of trackdays over the last 16 years I`d want that bit more.
The circuit is small, but these cars wouldn't run well on the main circuit, at least in my opinion. I have a 260bhp Subaru, quick, but not ultra fast, and i reckon that would out accelerate one of these single seaters in a drag. And when you consider the singles are supposed to be around 300bhp/tonne, I can only assume there is some restriction or something.
You'd need to head elsewhere for proper high speed thrills, but this does get the adrenaline pumping, mainly because of the small track actually.
Great write up, thanks for your effort.
Sounds a bit like to karting - on the right circuit they're exactly the right thing to enjoy. It's a balancing act - too fast and it'd be too hard for the novice, too slow and the keener folk would find it dull.
I know as enthusiasts we see single seaters as the absolute fastest and most extreme track cars, but making them horribly spiky like a race car wouldn't go well for Joe public.
Sounds a bit like to karting - on the right circuit they're exactly the right thing to enjoy. It's a balancing act - too fast and it'd be too hard for the novice, too slow and the keener folk would find it dull.
I know as enthusiasts we see single seaters as the absolute fastest and most extreme track cars, but making them horribly spiky like a race car wouldn't go well for Joe public.
Good post OP.
I did exactly the same thing, perhaps 8 years ago.
At the time I must of had 10 years of track driving under my belt. It was a gift.
I’d say the same as you. A good present but I wouldn’t buy for myself.
I was second fastest on the day. The shame.
I did exactly the same thing, perhaps 8 years ago.
At the time I must of had 10 years of track driving under my belt. It was a gift.
I’d say the same as you. A good present but I wouldn’t buy for myself.
I was second fastest on the day. The shame.
Edited by Tommie38 on Saturday 10th July 08:00
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