Autocar track days - any good?
Discussion
First of all I'd emphatically say that I judge these days to actually represent excellent value. First of all on the matter of track time, you'll find very few trackdays at this price level that give you a genuine 2.5+ hours solid on track (many will be less if you get say 6 x 20min sessions). I wouldn't recommend running a road car for more than a couple of hours on track anyway.
In addition to that, you get to drive the guest manufacturers car (in my case, the Noble on Friday) and from previous experience you really do get to drive the car properly. Throw in a decent bit of food / drink before + after and 3 months subscription to Autocar (about £30 worth) and things start to look pretty enticing. All IMHO of course, but the clincher for me is the ability to try some of the latest and greatest products on track where you'd pay a fortune for the privilege normally.
In addition to that, you get to drive the guest manufacturers car (in my case, the Noble on Friday) and from previous experience you really do get to drive the car properly. Throw in a decent bit of food / drink before + after and 3 months subscription to Autocar (about £30 worth) and things start to look pretty enticing. All IMHO of course, but the clincher for me is the ability to try some of the latest and greatest products on track where you'd pay a fortune for the privilege normally.
I'm not so sure on vfm for the track time, for 3 hrs open pit lane I'd reckon on 1.5 hrs max on track.
The price is close to what a full day normally costs (Bookatracks for example) - although I realise Bedford is one of the more expensive circuits.
I'm not to concerned about food & drink, after all driving the track is what it's all about. I see your point on the guest cars tho'. Do you actually get to drive them without ages faffing around waiting, only to get a few laps?
I suppose it comes down to whether 2+ hours each way to Bedford + 169 notes for 1.5 hours is worth it?
The price is close to what a full day normally costs (Bookatracks for example) - although I realise Bedford is one of the more expensive circuits.
I'm not to concerned about food & drink, after all driving the track is what it's all about. I see your point on the guest cars tho'. Do you actually get to drive them without ages faffing around waiting, only to get a few laps?
I suppose it comes down to whether 2+ hours each way to Bedford + 169 notes for 1.5 hours is worth it?
Leadfoot said:
I'm not so sure on vfm for the track time, for 3 hrs open pit lane I'd reckon on 1.5 hrs max on track.
The price is close to what a full day normally costs (Bookatracks for example) - although I realise Bedford is one of the more expensive circuits.
I'm not to concerned about food & drink, after all driving the track is what it's all about. I see your point on the guest cars tho'. Do you actually get to drive them without ages faffing around waiting, only to get a few laps?
I suppose it comes down to whether 2+ hours each way to Bedford + 169 notes for 1.5 hours is worth it?
I won't comment on VFM - absolutely your call to decide that for yourself. To clarify though:
- Open pit lane means you will get 2.5 hours driving should you want it. As Steve said, most people just don't want to nail their cars for that long. We have 40 people max on these days, and the average is about 30-35. I think I probably had to wait to get on track once last year.
- We're the only track day where you can drive the manufacturers cars at this money. Now, this doesn't mean that you'll get unlimited time in the car, and you will also be accompanied at all times. In practice though the manufacturer will bring 5-6 cars from their range (less for Noble, but we manage). You'll probably get 5-6 laps of the 2.7 mile circuit that we use. In addition we'll have a selection of cars from our long term fleet and we'll happily take you out in those. A few people were allowed to drive these last year, but I make no promises on this score.
We aren't the cheapest, but on balance the formulat seems to be a successful one. Anyway, hope it helps, and I hope to see you on one of our days.
just responding to the original posting....the distinctive feature of the Autocar days is going round in, then driving the manufacturers cars. The actual in-car time is limited from my experience, all up about 50-60 min of which you might drive 30-45 min. You can get in about another 60 min in own car, maybe as 3x20 min sessions but obviously driven by the timetable of waiting for your go(es) in manufacturers car.
Bottom line, IMHO track days are never going to be 'value for money' events, but Bedford is one of the better tracks in terms of stoppage time...go and give it a blast
Bottom line, IMHO track days are never going to be 'value for money' events, but Bedford is one of the better tracks in terms of stoppage time...go and give it a blast
At the risk of sounding like an Autocar Trackday ad :-
I've been to several Autocar trackdays over the last couple of years now and I still don't understand why anyone could think these days are poor value?
A typical weekend Btrack / easyT day will deliver perhaps 6x20 min sessions for circa £180+ so thats a maximum tracktime of 2hours total added to which you have out & in laps x6, so really not many fast laps throughout a day.
The Autocar days operate an open pitlane philosophy which should give you AT LEAST 2 hours tracktime in your own car plus maybe 4-5 laps in the guest manufacturers vehicle. I tend to run for about 45mins before coming in for a rest, which really gives me a chance to get into the groove and certainly adds to my enjoyment on the day. Not paying out for service station snacks and drinks saves me perhaps another £10 and then of course 3 months Autocar sub saves another few quid. Add to that the fact that the day is professionally run by a good bunch of people (I've even had a chat with JP about 'my driving'
) and I think these day's are unbeatable at the moment. Bargain IMHO. Would be nice to see some more PH'ers along...
:- I've been to several Autocar trackdays over the last couple of years now and I still don't understand why anyone could think these days are poor value?
A typical weekend Btrack / easyT day will deliver perhaps 6x20 min sessions for circa £180+ so thats a maximum tracktime of 2hours total added to which you have out & in laps x6, so really not many fast laps throughout a day.
The Autocar days operate an open pitlane philosophy which should give you AT LEAST 2 hours tracktime in your own car plus maybe 4-5 laps in the guest manufacturers vehicle. I tend to run for about 45mins before coming in for a rest, which really gives me a chance to get into the groove and certainly adds to my enjoyment on the day. Not paying out for service station snacks and drinks saves me perhaps another £10 and then of course 3 months Autocar sub saves another few quid. Add to that the fact that the day is professionally run by a good bunch of people (I've even had a chat with JP about 'my driving'
) and I think these day's are unbeatable at the moment. Bargain IMHO. Would be nice to see some more PH'ers along...Right then.......
Trackdemon, I normally try to go for open pit lane days. I was comparing the cost of a full day to this one.
Stuart, I've booked for the Noble event of Friday. I'll be in the green Griffith. Look forward to meeting you.
Ian
p.s. The extra 50 quid for a passenger stick in the throat a bit as well! I'd forgoten about this as it's 3 years since I've been to Bedford.
Trackdemon, I normally try to go for open pit lane days. I was comparing the cost of a full day to this one.
Stuart, I've booked for the Noble event of Friday. I'll be in the green Griffith. Look forward to meeting you.
Ian
p.s. The extra 50 quid for a passenger stick in the throat a bit as well! I'd forgoten about this as it's 3 years since I've been to Bedford.
Chaps
Been out shooting 0-100-0 for the last couple of days (I'll tell you about it on Friday) but looking forward to Friday immensely. I have a meeting at Goodwood in the early afternoon so won't be around until 6-ish, but you'll have Chris Chilton (Road Test ed) and Jack Galusha (Road tester) to keep you busy.
See you Friday.
Stuart
Been out shooting 0-100-0 for the last couple of days (I'll tell you about it on Friday) but looking forward to Friday immensely. I have a meeting at Goodwood in the early afternoon so won't be around until 6-ish, but you'll have Chris Chilton (Road Test ed) and Jack Galusha (Road tester) to keep you busy.
See you Friday.
Stuart
OK here's how it went......
I did 100 odd miles on track. This is roughly the same as I'd do in the morning of a full days event, but my track time was cut short a bit by a lack of juice. Had I thought to bring a jerry can full (or topped up at the circuit - but there was only 1/2 hr to go so I couldn't be ar5ed) I reckon maybe another 20-30 track miles. So not bad at all.
Noble drive:. As I'd pulled into the pits at 1830 & my drive was scheduled for 1850 I thought I may as well just go & grab a coffee & wait. As it happened I didn't get into the Noble until >1900 so I did waste a bit of time there as well.
I only got 2 flying laps so a bit of a disapointment but I have to say it was a very impressive bit of kit.
So, vfm wise it was well worth it for the track time but I wouldn't place too much emphasis on the guest cars part.
I did 100 odd miles on track. This is roughly the same as I'd do in the morning of a full days event, but my track time was cut short a bit by a lack of juice. Had I thought to bring a jerry can full (or topped up at the circuit - but there was only 1/2 hr to go so I couldn't be ar5ed) I reckon maybe another 20-30 track miles. So not bad at all.
Noble drive:. As I'd pulled into the pits at 1830 & my drive was scheduled for 1850 I thought I may as well just go & grab a coffee & wait. As it happened I didn't get into the Noble until >1900 so I did waste a bit of time there as well.
I only got 2 flying laps so a bit of a disapointment but I have to say it was a very impressive bit of kit.
So, vfm wise it was well worth it for the track time but I wouldn't place too much emphasis on the guest cars part.
Leadfoot - good to meet you and glad you enjoyed it.
We had a bit of a problem with the cars which meant customer laps were cut short to get through everyone. Apparently Noble had remapped the ECU on the red car and the result was a misfire which meant that it had to be retired. On our other trackdays we'll have 5+ manufacturers cars available which should give you the chance to spend a lot more time in the car.
We had a bit of a problem with the cars which meant customer laps were cut short to get through everyone. Apparently Noble had remapped the ECU on the red car and the result was a misfire which meant that it had to be retired. On our other trackdays we'll have 5+ manufacturers cars available which should give you the chance to spend a lot more time in the car.
C3 GTK said:
C3 GTK - have you taken this car to Bedford before? Be careful - it sounds like it might not pass the noise regs.
No not this car. But it's quieter than the Porsche I took last year
I'll take my slippers just in case
OK, well so that you know we operate all our days at 87db drive by and 101 static. This is lower than a "noisy" day, but if you've been with Autocar in the past then you should be fine. I'll show you where you might have to lift
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