Formula car driving experience. F1 or Palmersport?

[3xpendable]

I have raced gearbox karts for years, and in 2015 did the Palmersport evening Formula event where I drove a kart, JP-LM, Formula 3000 and an Ariel Atom. Had a great time and as such I'm considering doing something similar, or even an F1 driving experience for my 50th birthday.

Unless I do an F1 experience, I'm not interested in another other than Palmersport. The reason being I'm not interested in driving something that feels sluggish compared to my kart, and I know from experience that Palmersport allow you to really push, whereas many of these other single seater experience places do not, and you only get a few laps.

Regarding F1. Most of the ones I have seen, seem to basically be late 90's/early 2000's cars that have Judd or similar V8 engines fitted so I don't feel like they will be the most enjoyable experience. The only 2 I've see that seem to be in full spec (though seriously detuned of course) F1 cars are in Magny Cours, driving a Williams FW33, and in Paul Ricard, Driving a 2012 Renault (Or Lotus as it was then).


https://www.lrs-formula.com/en/f1-driving-experien...

https://winfieldracingschool.com/produit/f1-drivin...

Those are 9000-12000 respectively, which I'm not sure I want to spend that much.

There is another one, that I don't know much about for about 5k

https://www.puresport.net/us/drive-formula1-imola?...

Has anyone completed these? Was it worth the price or should I just do a full day event at Palmersport?

Thanks

[simon_harris]

I don't think it is an apples for apples comparison. I would say if you can afford it do the F1 cars - that is a lifetime brag right there.

[Joe5y]

3xpendable said:

Unless I do an F1 experience, I'm not interested in another other than Palmersport. The reason being I'm not interested in driving something that feels sluggish compared to my kart, and I know from experience that Palmersport allow you to really push, whereas many of these other single seater experience places do not, and you only get a few laps.
Thanks

Hi 3x

I am unable to give a true answer to your question as I am in a similar consideration. What I can say is that I have just completed my 3rd Palmer Day and have booked my 4th for the 25th of this month.

I'd worry that in any F1 "experience" the cars are going to be vastly de-tuned, not just for safety but also for the longevity of the car. From the research I have done, it would suggest they would follow a similar tack to other experiences where you will be unable to truly find the limit of the car (or yourself).

[3xpendable]

simon_harris said:

I don't think it is an apples for apples comparison. I would say if you can afford it do the F1 cars - that is a lifetime brag right there.

Of course it isn't apples to apples. I think my question was more "is 10 grand worth it" Vs Palmersport (about a tenth of that)

You're right though, it's really a question of if it is worth the bragging rights.

[3xpendable]

Joe5y said:

Hi 3x

I am unable to give a true answer to your question as I am in a similar consideration. What I can say is that I have just completed my 3rd Palmer Day and have booked my 4th for the 25th of this month.

I'd worry that in any F1 "experience" the cars are going to be vastly de-tuned, not just for safety but also for the longevity of the car. From the research I have done, it would suggest they would follow a similar tack to other experiences where you will be unable to truly find the limit of the car (or yourself).

Thanks for posting! Sounds like we share the same concern. I consider myself a competent driver having raced karts for years on both short and long circuit and done a fair amount of sim racing, so would probably push harder than an average driver. I did watch some onboard with the 2012 Lotus, and it was clearly speed limited (by a significant amount), down the straights.

It present, I'm leaning towards Palmersport more.

[matt5964]

You could rent a race car for a trackday?
Maybe a radical

http://www.swracecarhire.com/Racecar%20Hire.html

We rented the caterham from here was a great day , fully supported and you can push as much as you like all day

[3xpendable]

Not realised that was an option, thank you. I'll look into it.

[simon_harris]

I've done palmer a few times and it is always a fun day, for me it would be the F1 car without question, even if de-tuned etc.

A mate of mine got together with a few other friends and rented a ginetta for a day, full garage support the whole thing they had a great time with that.

If you have a race licence you could always do a rent a race thing and mix it up for a weekend with some proper racing.

[lenard]

highly recommend palmer sport. did it last year and loved it, the Ginetta was great to drive and you really get to push the car hard, the f3000 car was out of this world fun, until i crashed it and spent two weeks in hospital.

[andrewcliffe]

I know someone who did the LRS Formula event in France last year. They got to drive a Williams FW33 (6 laps) after 2 sessions in a Formula Renault. His video looks as if it wasn't rev limited.

Not cheap though at circa €10k for the 6 lap package with insurance.

[KR158]

Hi,


I think I may be able to help you with this as I went through a very similar thought process, on & off, over the last few years before driving with LRS a few weeks ago.

I must iterate that these opinions are entirely my own & I have absolutely no link to any of the experiences I'm about to mention.

I had a long look at all of the F1 options available & chose LRS as they offer the purest F1 experience I could find, I'm really pleased that I did for various reasons I'll state a little later on.


Firstly, I looked at the UK based Jordan & ruled it out purely because I wanted a 100% F1 Car on an open Track with the freedom to explore F1 high speed performance. The Jordan "appears" to have an F2 drive Train on a "relatively" short Track. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this, but it wasn't for me. Although it did look like a lot of fun & the Car looks to be in absolutely beautiful condition.

Similarly Abu Dhabi offered a 2000 Jaguar on a full length Track but I seem to remember it had an F2 rear end, again, I imagine it's absolutely mind bending but I just felt that it wasn't right for me.

AGS offer an F1 type experience, but from memory, it isn't an F1 Car with F1 competition history, appearing to be a Car built by them to a set of true F1 Regulations but never having competed in F1.


Having decided to look further afield I found Puresport. They run an ex Damon Hill, Pedro Diniz 1997 Arrows A18 primarily running on Italian circuits, although I seem to remember they also run in Austria too. From memory, this is a true F1 Chassis, F1 spec Engine (V8? Ford? Judd?) & Gearbox. The only reason I didn't drive with them was I that I wasn't free on any of their available dates. I "think" the Car also runs with Exhaust silencers, so the noise may be a little muted, however I would have quite, quite happily driven with them especially being a fan of Hill & the iconic Italian Tracks.

I had a look at the Winfield option & it looks to be absolutely superb, but I simply couldn't afford the kind of Money they're asking.


So, onto LRS. Genuine F1 Chassis (Chassis manufacturing Plates still in place), Genuine early 90's Ford Cosworth V8 F1 Spec Engines, No Silencers. I was lucky enough to drive both the '98 Benetton & the '01 Prost. Whilst I hadn't originally intended to drive both, it was a quiet day & I'd hammered in a load of overtime the Month before, consequently I bought a couple of extra Laps on the day & split my Lap allocation between both Cars on the spur of the moment. LRS Staff were more than happy to help me with this, even going so far as to suggest a few things, making the day even more special!
As I've stated, the Cars are running V8's not V10's but this in NO way detracts from the experience, I also forgot my Ear Plugs in the Prost making things even more visceral. Especially with it's top exiting Exhausts positioned little more than a meter behind your Ears!

I was told that they're running Traction control (a comforting thought), they also run on Slicks as opposed to the horrible Grooved Tyres of the day & have pre '98 2M track Suspension wishbones as opposed to the 1.8M they originally ran. Whilst all of these are undeniably minor "compromises" (if you want to think of them as such. I don't.) of the original spec, all are logical, sensible & very reassuring "mods" when a novice like me is Bolted into the Cockpit with 650Bhp to play with! However all "mods"/ components are true F1 spec, just not 100% accurate to that particular Model/Era of Car. Besides, these are details only a true F1 Nerd like me would notice & the Cars are beautifully prepared, maintained, presented, operated & are absolutely Mind bending to drive, quickly inspiring confidence.

The LRS Staff are highly professional but incredibly warm, open, friendly, happy to Chat & never made me feel like a mere Customer, they WANT to talk, teach & share in your day (that's how it felt to me anyway). The Briefings superb, their passion shows through everywhere. Feedback is excellent & Lunch was also very nice indeed!

I suppose that the ultimate recommendation is that I've been Hammering the Overtime ever since & really want to return within the next couple of Months for another few Laps at the longer, faster Magny Cours (I drove the relatively short, but massively fun Du Var Circuit), hopefully in the Williams.

Here's a Link to a Web Page that I found helpful

https://www.prestigeonline.com/my/lifestyle/motori...

All in all, it's something I'd waited 30+ years to experience & thoroughly, thoroughly, THOROUGHLY enjoyed every moment. Hopefully I've given some perspective & I'm happy to answer any questions you may have

Ps. The 2 pre F1 drive, Formula Renault sessions are great fun & the Engineering feedback is excellent (mainly, you can Brake later, keep trying to Brake later & later

Edited by KR158 on Friday 19th July 15:28