Testing out a Ferrari/Lambo - who's in?

Just bought a Groupon (link below) to drive a Ferrari F430 Spyder or Lamborghini Gallardo on a road course set up on an Air Force base here in Indiana. For $100 I just couldn't pass it up, especially when I declared it my Father's Day present I'm hoping I can choose the F430, but wouldn't complain if I was 'stuck' with the Gallardo. Anyways, if anyone in the area is interested in joining me, shoot me a message and maybe we can try to pick the same time slot. Would be fun to have a couple U2SC guys respresenting the club on the track.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/gsm-logistics-inc-43?pt=aUaIXZDAAAADFqpOZMJy4J18N76Ehf2U6

just sent a text to the wife telling her I find my father's day gift ( which may not work because I was so busy I didn't buy her a mother's day gift d'oh!)

What day are you shooting for?

ok. so I'm probably going to buy it. It's a 3 hour drive for me so what time and day would work best for you Joe?

I haven't picked yet, but anytime during the first weekend would be best. I was thinking the 4:30p slot on Saturday, July 13 might work well. I'm pretty flexible though, shorter drive for me.

Edit: Not that it will make much difference, but the tarmac and tires should be nice and warm later in the day...

I doubt they will let a 16-year-old drive an Italian supercar, so I am out... It would be a great experience though...

I was looking into the reviews on it and they say you're only in the car for 5 minutes. Now I don't know. 6 hours of driving for 5 minutes in a lambo seems a bit silly.

Do the Gallardo! There is a similar company in town that offers supercar drives, though not on a track (which is AMAZING! I AM JEALOUS!). We did our cruising on some country roads then got 'em up to 130 on an empty toll road.

The Gallardo was more raw, more fun, and gave me a rush in the peeners FOR DAYS. The 430 felt like I was commuting really fast in a nice car, which was still amazing but it didn't come with the same rush.

The Gallardo sounded like Dwarven machines of war were battling to the death right behind your every time the gears shifted. It was magical.

To each his own, of course, but that was my take away.

Full report when you're done! Pay extra for any "perks" they offer, including video, so you can DO IT ALL AND SHOW US EVERYTHING.

Lowflyinmx3 wrote:I was looking into the reviews on it and they say you're only in the car for 5 minutes. Now I don't know. 6 hours of driving for 5 minutes in a lambo seems a bit silly.

Yeah, can't blame you, I had to stop and consider that before purchasing myself. Not too much of a drive for me though, and no chance I would get to play with one of those cars for anywhere near $100 again, so was a pretty easy decision for me. I have long dreamed of renting an exotic for a day, but man, that's just $1000 I can't justify spending. And of course I would want the 458 Italia or MP4-12C, with is more like $2000, so that's out.

Nub - Thanks for the feedback! I thought the Gallardo might be fun purely for the V10, but was leaning towards the F430 with it's better performance specs. Now I know I can't go wrong with either. I know what you mean about the rush of the raw power, the couple times I had a chance to drive a Veyron (for very, very short distances) it was a pretty big rush to fire it up, but when you touched the gas it turned into a violent bodily assault by the 16 cylinders right behind your head. I think 10 cylinders under you would be a much more enjoyable ride

I think it's $25 to buy the in-car video, so I'll probably do it. Depending on how I perform, it may or may not get posted here though

joekorn wrote:the couple times I had a chance to drive a Veyron (for very, very short distances) it was a pretty big rush to fire it up, but when you touched the gas it turned into a violent bodily assault by the 16 cylinders right behind your head.

!!!

That is amazing! When!? How? I was just jealous but now I might have to not like yah for awhile. Just for awhile, though.

I would love to just...touch one.

I said the same thing about a boob, once.

nubrocket wrote:

I would love to just...touch one.

I said the same thing about a boob, once.

But just like a boob, after a while touching it just isn't enough..........

Before quitting to stay home with my boys, I managed private jets. One of my clients was a huge car guy, and whenever he flew out from our facility I got to drive whatever car he chose that day. I always took a little trip around the tarmac, making sure to not hurry on my way to the garage. He brought his Veyron a few times, and that thing was a straight up cold, soulless speed machine. No auto seats, had to adjust it with a sliding bar, and good Lord that thing was loud. On the other hand, he had some cars that I found quite a bit more fun. Don't mean to make you even more jealous, but I also got to drive his Ford GT (my favorite, just a fun car right from hitting the red ignition button), a Vanquish (also pretty cool), Continental GT (plush beyond belief but very powerful), Rolls Royce Phantom (could barely see beyond the hood), Carrera GT (super touchy clutch) and several different Mercs. I understand if you hate me now.

I never got to drive an Italian supercar though, so couldn't pass up this opportunity. Hopefully I can keep it between the cones.

I...I...

*curls up; cries*

If it makes you feel any better, that client is in prison now and will be for a very, very long time. Apparently he funded his supercar addiction by less than honest means... which makes me feel bad for even having driven them. I mean it's really cool that I got the chance, but very sad when I think I was sitting in someone's life savings . Man, I sure do miss the world of celebrities and CEOs. Oh wait, no, I don't miss it even a little.

The groupon is now sold out... No longer available...

5 minutes in a supercar? I'm with Low... Not worth the drive (-6 hours for me too)... I'd rather fly to vegas and do the super car stuff there....

Wow, that's weird... think they still have a decent amount of slots open. I did notice that Amazon Local is advertising the same deal now though, so maybe Groupon's time frame is just up.

Can't blame you at all for that much driving, if this wasn't so close I probably would not have been interested either. Would be different if there were other things to do in the area, but don't think Peru, IN has a ton of exciting attractions.

Link to the video of my Gallardo experience is below, it's on Facebook but set to public, so I think everyone should be able to see it.  The upload quality is sketchy and the wind noise was pretty bad, but you can get the gist of it.  I can try uploading to youtube as well if need be.

https://www.facebook.com/joekorn13/media_set?set=vb.1406065404&type=2

Overall, it was a lot of fun and I would definitely recommend doing something like this if you get the chance.  It's hard to adjust to exactly what these kind of cars are capable of, it took me until the third lap to re-calibrate my "slow down, you can't take a turn that sharp that fast!" instincts.

looks like an awesome time, will definitely do this at some point.

Why didn't you pick the Gallardo for your dream car race last night.

I had no idea the Gallardo was that small. Is it as small as it looks.

THIS IS SO GREAT!  Oh that sound.  THAT SOUND.  Even over the wind you can hear that beautiful sound.

nub - Yes, when I hit the beginning of the straight and stood on the pedal... oh man, that was nice.  Also can hear the F430 (and see it) in a couple spots.  The viewing area was right at the edge of the course, about 200 feet from the beginning of the straight, and when both cars would hit the runway at about the same time you could feel the vibration in your chest. 


menes - It was a bit small, but think I made it look much smaller.  If you're over 6'4" it wouldn't be a great everyday car, but I was still enjoying my time in it.  I had trouble figuring out where to rest my left leg, I wanted to avoid the 'clutch' not-quite pedal thing and there wasn't much extra room in the foot box.  Actually, on my second run at the straight the hesitation you see is me struggling to dance my toe over to the throttle (and I was wearing very narrow Puma driving shoes).  As fun as the Gallardo was, I still had to choose the 458 Italia for the Dream Car race last night.  I would stab somebody for a chance to drive one.  OK, maybe not, but it's still on the list of 'must do' things.

Awesome!  What is worth the price?