Loving this idea, you will also get a photobook via photobox to keep all the days photos, There is a cafe and spectator areas, so your mates can get some decent pics, because lets face it... It's pretty cool :D Decent, if you're after gift ideas for Christmas :)
Location: Hemel Hempstead,
Hertfordshire
"A must for motor racing fanatics, as it is as close as it gets to being a real F1 driver. Kick off with a briefing which covers safety and driving techniques. Hop into the passenger seat of a sports car for four familiarisation laps to get acquainted with the twists and turns of the track, then it's time for the main event. Slide behind the wheel of the incredible 192 bhp Formula Renault single-seater, get harnessed up and set off for ten mind blowing laps round the mile long circuit. With a carbon-fibre chassis and a 0 to 100 mph time of just 4.85 seconds, this car will take your breath away. Are you ready?"
Availability
Several weekdays per month throughout the year. Saturday mornings are available for an additional £39 when booking.
Available to 17+ only with a full manual licence
Looks like it's the pre-2010 Formula Renault 2.0 car:
Engine: 2,0L Renault F4R (similar lineage as the engine in the older RenaultSport Clio) - 192 bhp, 159lb.ft of torque
Gearbox: Sadev 6-speed sequential gearbox with mechanical control
Weight: 490 kg without driver
- ollie87
Top comments
BrainCritic to chapchap
4 Dec 1511#18
Cool story bro (God, been wanting to say that for ages).
chapchap
4 Dec 1511#13
I did this one. After a couple of laps they called me in and said,"Sorry, no professionals." I said I am not a professional but just a really talented amateur. They said," Well you should be a professional. You'll be the best F1 driver in the country!"
barbiegirl to chapchap
4 Dec 1510#17
And then you woke up yeah?
welshslider to chapchap
4 Dec 154#34
Do you work in IT?
All comments (54)
MarcusD
4 Dec 153#1
Potentially 24% cashback via Quidco as well :smiley:
qyestionmark
4 Dec 15#2
Reanualt? Is that a Renault after a crash? :smirk:
Still it sounds like fun so heat from me!
Mrman123
4 Dec 15#3
Great deal, would be so much fun.
j4ayk
4 Dec 15#4
Sounds epic... Have some hot stuff!!
ollie87
4 Dec 15#5
Only Formula Renault 2.0 then, not 3.5.
vulcanproject to ollie87
4 Dec 15#14
Lol I like how you say only. It's a purpose built racing car that hardly any road going cars only hyper cars would get close to. They are pretty much as fast as moto gp bikes around international circuits
biggysilly
4 Dec 15#6
"Reanualt Formula Driving experience day + 43 page Photobook £99.00 @ Red Letter Days"
Maybe they call it this because you sit at the rear of the car. :man:
Maybe a kind Mod will edit it for the OP
andrewp
4 Dec 15#7
Its something i'd love to have a go at and I believe Groupon are doing a similar deal for anyone who lives in the northern half of the country it might be worth checking out >>>https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/m-tech
Problem is the length of time you get. 10 x 1 mile laps will be over so quickly. But at this price its not too bad if you live close by so have some heat
masiv007
4 Dec 153#8
10 laps of 1 mile Circuit. . . seems v short. by the time you get familiarised with car and track, its over!
Did the Silverstone single seater couple of years ago. it's mmmore expensive but you gets 10 mins behind a pace car then 20 mins free run.
snack_attack to masiv007
4 Dec 152#37
For £99 don't expect much with this experience.
You won't be even driving on a race track. The hemel hempstead 'track' is actually a very old airfield with poor quality tarmac. The 'track' is then made by a few cones and some dodgy arrow markings. You'll get a maximum of 10 minutes of driving time....if you're lucky.
I've done these types of days in the past. Yes it's good if it's your first time driving a single seater purely down to the novelty factor. But these are old cars, you won't go faster than 70mph and you won't go higher than 4th gear. In fact, you'll be told to keep it strictly in 3rd or 4th throughout the experience.
15 years ago I went to palmersport in Bedford...yes it's £800. But you get to drive atoms, caterhams, karts, le-mans type cars, single seaters, m4s on a proper race track. You're encouraged to go faster and a few spins are laughed at by the instructor along with a thumbs up. It's 8 times more pricey but a 100 times better. I've been going once every 3 years.
fluffykitty79
4 Dec 154#9
£79.20 with code CYBER2015 can't be used in conjunction with cashback.
I couldn't find anywhere to insert code on main site only on my phone.
It's my partners birthday straight after Christmas so it's hard to think of more ideas. This is perfect, Thanks OP
killgannon
4 Dec 152#10
Hot if the engine will last that long!
EngineerD to killgannon
4 Dec 151#12
F4R is a solid engine!
Scorpion
4 Dec 15#11
VA VA Booooooom!
chapchap
4 Dec 1511#13
I did this one. After a couple of laps they called me in and said,"Sorry, no professionals." I said I am not a professional but just a really talented amateur. They said," Well you should be a professional. You'll be the best F1 driver in the country!"
barbiegirl to chapchap
4 Dec 1510#17
And then you woke up yeah?
BrainCritic to chapchap
4 Dec 1511#18
Cool story bro (God, been wanting to say that for ages).
welshslider to chapchap
4 Dec 154#34
Do you work in IT?
RobDay to chapchap
5 Dec 15#48
Sounds like the kind of story I'd read to my son before bed!
So how is F1 life for you now, what do you make of Hamilton in this year championship?
kemik to chapchap
5 Dec 15#50
He said the same to me too and rather than believing him I took it as.... 'you're burning up more petrol than you've paid us....so get out of the bloody car!'
jakesamuelblack to chapchap
5 Dec 151#52
Really!? When I did it some idiot left a ramp out on the track. I hit it and everyone said 'he's dead'. I flipped over in the air and everyone said 'he's definitely dead'. Landed on 4 wheels, pulled over and I said I don't know what you were worried about.
username1234 to chapchap
6 Dec 15#54
All great, good for you. The important information is missing, did they give you your money back?
barbiegirl
4 Dec 15#15
c.343bhp per ton if you weigh 70 kilos. Fast but not that fast. There are road cars as powerful....
vulcanproject to barbiegirl
4 Dec 151#25
How many of those road cars with similar power to weight have barely half a tonne of mass for lateral acceleration change through the corners a few millimetres off the ground, slick racing tyres and generate significant downforce, like half the weight of the car again?
The combination of this makes them plenty fast around circuits even compared to exotic road stuff...
Del67
4 Dec 151#16
Renault
crystald31
4 Dec 15#19
Just booked using discount code NRVC25 & got 25% off - bargain!
robot1000 to crystald31
4 Dec 15#35
Where did you enter the code?
sq999
4 Dec 151#20
Good attempt to fix the spelling but it's still wrong :P
Renault.
kirkyuk
4 Dec 15#21
Does anyone know where in Hemel Hempstead the track is?
mr_oily to kirkyuk
4 Dec 15#39
Think it's probably Bovingdon Airfield - nothing beats driving a single seater IMO so it's probably a giggle for this price but it's just weaving in and out of cones if I'm looking at the right YouTube vids!
da_pwomise
4 Dec 151#22
Available at Bicester and Oxford too! Great deal :smiley:
defgimp
4 Dec 15#23
May seem like a silly question, but who takes all the photos for your photo book?
sancheez to defgimp
4 Dec 153#24
Speed cameras.
The pile of tickets won't be far behind....
Lucky_Taz
4 Dec 151#26
Shame about these T&Cs
A £5,000 damage excess is present on all cars on all days, this can be reduced to £1,000 for the fee above and must be purchased before driving, (those who elect not to take the damage waiver are required to give us a credit card to cover the excess, please do not book an experience if this doesn’t suit you).
We run a 1 spin for free system, if you spin a second time, unfortunately due to operational timings and damage to equipment, your experience will end there, track staff’s orders are final.
EngineerD to Lucky_Taz
4 Dec 15#32
That's why it's so cheap then, they are skimping on their insurance.
Apocalypse451
4 Dec 15#27
Do you actually drive or are you driven by an instructor for ten laps? Sounds like you're had previous.............. experience that is!
bradevosprint
4 Dec 152#28
Its a single seater...
Apocalypse451
4 Dec 15#29
Fair enough.
bradevosprint
4 Dec 15#30
From experience, for £100 i would do the single seater experience at donington park. You get about 15mins which is fine for 1st time in a single seater.
10 laps at the other place will be 5mins tops im guessing.
Im planning on doing the formula renault but the £200 or £300 session as it looks much better value.
They also have an F430 challenge race car and a 750 bhp nitrous gallardo lol
barbiegirl
4 Dec 15#31
Caterham SuperLight R, Atoms, errr..not many more. Fair point...
Apocalypse451
4 Dec 15#33
@ bradevosprint
Good points raised, much appreciated. Though maybe at £80 (using the code) and four shadowing laps, maybe worth it to some.
If that's what you get I think it might be a huge disappointment.
vulcanproject
4 Dec 15#40
Obviously the Jonathan Palmer courses are the ones to go for if you are serious, a quick tazz about an old airfield is exactly what you get for £99 and I started out with this sort of thing way back when.
It's a good way to start though because when you do move up to more serious track days you have experience. If you have done stuff like this before and then Palmer gets you in like the old Jag lightweights and such you don't feel like you have gone off the deep end.
djaceonline123
4 Dec 15#41
If your a john lewis or waitrose employee, you also get 25% off
niblot1
4 Dec 15#42
just purchased this one, the one at Hemel hasn't got the best reviews online, seems to be a few cones spread out over a runway. The one in Bicester seems to be SWB Motorsport at the Bicester Heritage site which seems to have much better reviews online.
qwer12
4 Dec 15#43
Where do you enter discount codes on the site?
Gamer_U
4 Dec 15#45
Renualt? Even the glorious Renault has their own knockoff brand now.
T2000Bill
5 Dec 15#46
Seriously 99 quid for some laps is a bonus. I did a dirt track day about 10 years ago that cost this and I was sweating after 5 laps on dirt with a Scooby, laps were half a mile, although I did get a go in Tony Ponds V8 Rover and broke the rear diff and then made a MK2 Golf GTI weep after 10 laps of dirt, if you think you can drive you should try this, it's quite humbling.
MrWani
5 Dec 15#47
That YouTube video looks terrible. I did a similar priced experience at Thruxton. Got to drive an mg for a few laps then 6 laps in a single seater (formula ford I think). it was limited to 4k revs but at least you got to open it up and race a few ferrari's.
qwerta369
5 Dec 15#49
What you talking about? Shut up.
Dodge62
5 Dec 15#51
Not sure about that - for "more serious trackdays" you're unlikely to be in a single seater - in fact they're banned on almost all trackdays. Single seaters are quite unlike "normal" cars, and the track here will be quite unlike any proper racing track - so it's not really very good preparation. Something like the Elise Experience at Thruxton would be much better "training" - and you get an instructor with you to help you learn. More expensive though. I did that to learn Thruxton before racing there (almost no test or trackdays at Thruxton). Actually the best part of the day was the extra laps I bought in - yes - a Formula Renault. Scary things - massive vibration from engine and suspension, difficult-to-master right hand gearshift and very fast. Wouldn't really fancy one on a coned-off airfield.
vulcanproject
5 Dec 15#53
I use the word track days loosely, we were talking about the Palmer sport experiences at the time if you had read the conversation, where you can drive a single seater and other fast lightweights. That is the type of instructor based experience you're talking about.
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
Location: Hemel Hempstead,
Hertfordshire
"A must for motor racing fanatics, as it is as close as it gets to being a real F1 driver. Kick off with a briefing which covers safety and driving techniques. Hop into the passenger seat of a sports car for four familiarisation laps to get acquainted with the twists and turns of the track, then it's time for the main event. Slide behind the wheel of the incredible 192 bhp Formula Renault single-seater, get harnessed up and set off for ten mind blowing laps round the mile long circuit. With a carbon-fibre chassis and a 0 to 100 mph time of just 4.85 seconds, this car will take your breath away. Are you ready?"
Availability
Several weekdays per month throughout the year. Saturday mornings are available for an additional £39 when booking.
Available to 17+ only with a full manual licence
Looks like it's the pre-2010 Formula Renault 2.0 car:
Engine: 2,0L Renault F4R (similar lineage as the engine in the older RenaultSport Clio) - 192 bhp, 159lb.ft of torque
Gearbox: Sadev 6-speed sequential gearbox with mechanical control
Weight: 490 kg without driver
- ollie87
Top comments
All comments (54)
Still it sounds like fun so heat from me!
Maybe they call it this because you sit at the rear of the car. :man:
Maybe a kind Mod will edit it for the OP
Problem is the length of time you get. 10 x 1 mile laps will be over so quickly. But at this price its not too bad if you live close by so have some heat
Did the Silverstone single seater couple of years ago. it's mmmore expensive but you gets 10 mins behind a pace car then 20 mins free run.
For £99 don't expect much with this experience.
You won't be even driving on a race track. The hemel hempstead 'track' is actually a very old airfield with poor quality tarmac. The 'track' is then made by a few cones and some dodgy arrow markings. You'll get a maximum of 10 minutes of driving time....if you're lucky.
I've done these types of days in the past. Yes it's good if it's your first time driving a single seater purely down to the novelty factor. But these are old cars, you won't go faster than 70mph and you won't go higher than 4th gear. In fact, you'll be told to keep it strictly in 3rd or 4th throughout the experience.
15 years ago I went to palmersport in Bedford...yes it's £800. But you get to drive atoms, caterhams, karts, le-mans type cars, single seaters, m4s on a proper race track. You're encouraged to go faster and a few spins are laughed at by the instructor along with a thumbs up. It's 8 times more pricey but a 100 times better. I've been going once every 3 years.
I couldn't find anywhere to insert code on main site only on my phone.
It's my partners birthday straight after Christmas so it's hard to think of more ideas. This is perfect, Thanks OP
So how is F1 life for you now, what do you make of Hamilton in this year championship?
The combination of this makes them plenty fast around circuits even compared to exotic road stuff...
Renault.
The pile of tickets won't be far behind....
A £5,000 damage excess is present on all cars on all days, this can be reduced to £1,000 for the fee above and must be purchased before driving, (those who elect not to take the damage waiver are required to give us a credit card to cover the excess, please do not book an experience if this doesn’t suit you).
We run a 1 spin for free system, if you spin a second time, unfortunately due to operational timings and damage to equipment, your experience will end there, track staff’s orders are final.
10 laps at the other place will be 5mins tops im guessing.
Im planning on doing the formula renault but the £200 or £300 session as it looks much better value.
They also have an F430 challenge race car and a 750 bhp nitrous gallardo lol
Good points raised, much appreciated. Though maybe at £80 (using the code) and four shadowing laps, maybe worth it to some.
Decisions eh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFJNm7bmcbE
It's a good way to start though because when you do move up to more serious track days you have experience. If you have done stuff like this before and then Palmer gets you in like the old Jag lightweights and such you don't feel like you have gone off the deep end.