The Edison Project Item #24 – Drive A Supercar

After writing a blog post at leisure outside St Albans Cathedral, I now find myself writing the latest post in the shadow of Kings Cross train station. This scene has no relation to the latest task to be ticked off my list. I simply like the fact that I am finding more and more ways to be smarter in how I blog. Time being one of my biggest challenges. For those curious, I find myself in London on a Sunday attending a Czech lesson at my place of work. Not the ideal place to be heading on a Sunday, but learning a language does feature high on my Edison Project list at number two.

My usual commute to work involves me walking and catching a train. I have very little need for a car during the working week. That does not mean I do not own a car. I have a white Ford Fiesta that suits my needs just fine. However, I have always liked the idea of owning a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. This goal is one I imagine many of you will share. Unfortunately, the cost of owning such a luxury is pretty inhibiting for me. There stands the challenge with this experience to drive a supercar.

Given I would need the best part of £100,000 to own a supercar, the options were either to steal one, or to borrow one. Stealing is not an area I have a lot of expertise in, and I am not too sure there are many discrete 6’5″ car jackers. I contemplated recruiting all my friends and recreating the movie ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’, but the stealing experience within the group peaked at buying five pounds worth of sweets from the local sweet shop, and only declaring a total of one pound. It also turns out none of my close friends (those who would be willing to trust me with such an expensive item) own a supercar.

Luckily for me, there are people stupid enough to let me borrow their supercar. Car Limits offer driving experiences at a number of locations within the UK. At £49 (via Groupon) for three laps in a Lamborghini Gallardo, this was the best option out of those listed that would not see me end up in jail.

The experience took place at North Weald Airfield, Essex, around a marked track on a section of runway no longer in use. Whilst I am a confident driver, even I would find it challenging driving at stupid speeds whilst trying to dodge the planes taking off and landing.

Although it would be nice, it should come as no surprise they do not hand over the keys and off you go. A briefing session is mandatory before you step foot near any of the cars, and even then you are accompanied by an instructor. The briefing session is pretty quick and pretty entertaining (or it was in the one I experienced). Essentially they take you through standard health and safety protocol, and then explain how not to damage the cars. With clutch replacements in the range of £10,000 on some of the cars I would recommend you are all ears in the briefing.

Once the briefing is complete you are handed a lanyard and await your turn. The length of waiting depends on the number of instructors, the volume of cars and size of the queue to drive a specific car model. In our session there were three Gallardo’s and this was by far the most popular choice, however my wait was not long at all.

Whilst driving a supercar has always been a dream, one concern has been whether I would actually fit in the car at 6’5″ tall. The good news is I do fit in a Lamborghini Gallardo, but my hair does not. I am not too precious about my hair so off we went. The first lap was rather tentative as I went out in front of a Ferrari, but I soon got to grips. You can check out my laps in the video below.

A few things to point out on the video. Yes, the cars are going quite slow. This is because you are limited to second gear. The other challenge is not all drivers on the track are speed enthusiasts, or even experienced drivers. The latter is important to note as Car Limits do accept drivers as young as 12. On my laps I hit traffic behind such drivers and my instructor allowed me to do an extra lap. I should point out that these factors did not stop me lapping the Ferrari that went out directly behind me.

Overall this was a great experience and in all honesty I was a little upset I was not in a position to drive more laps and more cars. This is certainly one I will be revisiting in the future. Maybe a few car enthusiasts can send me a few recommendations for car based experiences I should add to the list for future.

Additionally I have recently joined Bloglovin. Follow my blog with Bloglovin. Keep an eye out for my next post as this will also follow an automotive theme.

Item: #24 – Drive A Supercar

Useful Links:Car Limits

Cost: £49 (via Groupon)