Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

OK, here's a dilemma for my fellow gearheads.

Won a competition at work and now I have a shiny new coupon for a "car experience", worth about 299? monies.

With this coupon I have a choice of a bunch of things to do with cars, I'll list a few that caught my eye.

1) Drive an exotic for an hour (with instructor). This usually is a Ferrari or Lambo that you get to drive on regular roads/highway with an instructor next to you (to make sure you play nice)

+
it's a SUPERCAR that you won't have a chance to drive otherwise :woot:
it'll rock, even if it's short

-
been there done that
it's only an hour long, which frankly isn't a lot for 300 monies
it's on a normal road + with someone watching you, so you won't be able to use all of the potential of the supercar (mind you, in the Ferrari I was allowed about 20 0-100kph sprints and a topspeed of 180 kph before the instructor went "uh, you may wanna slow down now")

2) one of those "driving experiences" on a racetrack, which gives you the chance to drive several fast cars on a racetrack

+ you get to drive in a Formula car in the end
+ it takes about a half a day, so you do get your money's worth
+ they kinda teach you how do drive quickly and gently, which is always nice

- you have to have a theorethical training first... boring...
- the selection of cars is rather meh... first it's a Clio, then a Megane Cup and finally an F Renault
- the laps you get to do yourself in each car is very limited. I think it's 10 laps in the Clio, 5 laps in the Megane and only 2 in the formula car
- It's in France, atleast a 3 hour drive away from me

3) rent a "fun" convertible car for a weekend.

+ the selection of cars is rather nice, Mini Cooper S, VW Eos, there's even a Beetle convertible (;) kat) etc.
+ you get to choose the weekend yourself + you get to choose the car
+ It's from friday evening until monday morning, so you do get an awful lot of time to get to know the car
+ I can take my wife with me on trips to wherever

- this IS Belgium, where it always rains, so driving open topped may not be an option
- you still have to pay for your own gas, and with "spirited" driving this may be a lot extra


please help me decide, I can't decide anything without help anymore!
 
Since you already drove a Ferrari before go for the track day thing.
 
I'd go for the track one - it'd be a blast and you'd probably walk away having learned something.
 
NooDle: If you don't mind the 3h drive too much, go for the track day. It may be just a few laps, but a few laps in several racing cars are better than idling around on public roads in a supercar.

More randomness: I just got a 15% discount from my car insurance. :)
 
^according to teh google, it's a 300 km trip one way... that's pretty steep for what is basically not even 10 laps of track time...

driving 6 hrs with my car to a track, where I can in total do 6 laps... does not compute
they have other track day thingies, but all of them are either way the heck far away (Zandvoort is among there, but that's about the same distance), or they are close by but crap (woo teach me how to drift in an E36 BMW 325i :?)

found other stuff too

- drive a Carver for an hour + a Hummer for an hour (boo I dont want a Hummer)
- Subaru WRX experience (again, good but it'll take me half a day to get there)
- "dream car" rental for an hour : Audi R8, Bentley GTC, Aston Martin V8 Volante, Ferrari F430, Ferrari California or Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder


:glare: :hmm:
 
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Rent the cabrio for a weekend. It's the longest you get to do stuff, and if you choose something that doesn't have hilarious levels of scuttle shake, it might even be fun.
 
public said:
Rent the cabrio for a weekend. It's the longest you get to do stuff, and if you choose something that doesn't have hilarious levels of scuttle shake, it might even be fun.
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Agreed, rent it, trash it, return it.

A supercar experience would be nice, but cmon 1 hour for 300?, +you can never go balls to the wall when an instructor is with you. With a rental cabrio you can atleast look good, drop the clutch at every junction and experience gear changing without using the clutch at all. :)
 
Posmo said:
Agreed, rent it, trash it, return it.

A supercar experience would be nice, but cmon 1 hour for 300?, +you can never go balls to the wall when an instructor is with you. With a rental cabrio you can atleast look good, drop the clutch at every junction and experience gear changing without using the clutch at all. :)
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I just read a discussion from Jalopnik, about how people have beat their rentals to hell. I hate the idea. I've misused a couple of state-owned vehicles, but towards loaners and rentals I'm a lot more sympathetic.

http://jalopnik.com/5170639/whats-the-hardest-youve-beaten-a-rental-car

It's a great read, though :mrgreen:
 
I would choose the track day (It must feel great to drive flat out without fear of being fined or arrested and you can learn things!)
 
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Grab a shotgun, some garbage bags and a shovel...and meet me in Illinois. :mad:


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Prick
 
Labcoatguy said:
I have an irrational want for an FJ80 Land Cruiser. I have nowhere to offroad it, though some Boston roads almost count, it'd be stupid thirsty on the interstate, handles wobblingly on the road, need I continue? But it's a friggin' Land Cruiser.
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Well, I live about 20 miles off boston and I can think of at least 2 places in my town that I could use that :p
You can park it at my house and I can use it on the snow :D
 
Sometimes I wonder about my automotive class...

poster80892574.jpg
 
^I would service that.
 
wink wink nudge nudge, say no more.
 
:lmao:
I find it so stupid that most of the kids who choose automotive as their focus(I go to a vocational school) have no idea about cars, the difference between makes and models, how they work in at least a basic way, or how to work on them!
 
Topgearfanatic said:
:lmao:
I find it so stupid that most of the kids who choose automotive as their focus(I go to a vocational school) have no idea about cars, the difference between makes and models, how they work in at least a basic way, or how to work on them!
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Personally, it's not like that in my class. Most of my classmates seem to know their stuff. There's always a few of those kids who are just there for an "easy class" though. :lol:
 
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