# Nice little birthday pressie...



## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Just had a phone call at lunch time to tell me I've won a place on a Honda S2000 driving day on the 29th June - day before my birthday.

Nice one.

Made all the better as I was having a cold Amstel in the sun at the time.


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## Multiprocess (Aug 9, 2004)

Tough at the top Kell!!! :wink:


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Multiprocess said:


> Tough at the top Kell!!! :wink:


I wouldn't know about that. :?


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## Widget (May 7, 2002)

I won an RX-8 driving day once. Bit of a sales day to be honest :?

Loads of people and minimal driving.

All I can say is don't get your hopes up :?


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

...all i can say is that if you don't spin it at least once on track you are a girl.

:idea: Perhaps this is a day to 'come out' with those new daps? :idea:

If you havn't driven an S2K in anger on track before, then you will have great fun, so long as the instructors are not too retentive.


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## mighTy Tee (Jul 10, 2002)

Nice one Kell.

You should be wearing a very big grin at Donny on the Sunday


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

mighTy Tee said:


> Nice one Kell.
> 
> You should be wearing a very big grin at Donny on the Sunday


I SHOULD be, but I'm going to Devon for a week on the Saturday.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Congrats, you will have an absolute riot if it's dry! 8)


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Widget said:


> I won an RX-8 driving day once. Bit of a sales day to be honest :?
> 
> Loads of people and minimal driving.
> 
> All I can say is don't get your hopes up :?


Now I've got the confirmation email (was beginning to think I'd dreamt it) it certainly sounds like it should be a good day...



> Other than driving the Honda S2000 around the Prodrive circuit, you will also be taken on a high speed passenger lap with a professional racing driver. The wet grip and skid control sessions will allow you to test the S2000 in challenging conditions, while the adverse handling and Advanced Braking System demonstration will prove that our sporty convertible is as good at stopping as it is as at going.
> 
> Other vehicles you'll be able to take for a spin include the 2007 Civic Type R, All Terrain Vehicles, scooters and souped-up Honda lawnmowers.
> 
> Please arrive at 9am to join us for breakfast. The day's activities wind down at around 4:30pm. There'll be a BBQ for lunch and Honda experts will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Well - I made it back in one piece and I have to say it was an excellent day.

Started badly though - a lot of people huddled together in some draughty car parks begining to wonder whether or not we'd turned up on the right day. Once the CRVs did turn up to take us to the hospitality trailer things looked a lot better though.

After brekkie and the obligatory safety briefing we split up into teams and set off about the day's activities.

Our first drive of the day was a 'rally' track in the new Civic Type R. Not what I was expecting as it was all on tarmac and the twistiest track I've ever seen. After a couple of sighting laps with the pro-drive instructors we got our chance.

Those that have driven VTEC engines will not need telling that it feels quite unnatural keeping your right foot planted and revving all the way up to 9k. I kept changing up at about 6k just as it was getting going.

The good news for me was that the instructor said 'there's not much advice I can give you except to try and make sure you brake later and harder so that you're not braking into any of the corners and get back on the throttle to steady the car'. All stuff I knew in theory, but it was hard to put into practice to begin with. Especially on such a twisty track - which didn't really suit the VTEC engine. In fact, the track was so twisty, I was making myself feel sick and had to pull over to 'let the brakes cool down'.

After that, we trundled off up the road to have a play on some Honda bikes and Scooters. Those that had bike licences were allowed to play with the big stuff (including a Goldwing), those of us that didn't had to make do with some twist and go Scooters. But it was a bit of fun swerving in and out of the cones with no worries about someone knocking you off your bike. :roll:

Then, onto the quad bikes. Luckily for us, the bulk of the rain that weekend hadn't fallen and the rain from the previous weekend had mostly drained away - one of the instructors showed me a shot of someone the week before who was stranded when the water came above their seat. Still it was pretty deep and it would have been nice to have been provided with suitable footwear - especially as I knew we had yet to drive on the 'proper' track and didnt' want to do that with sopping wet shoes. All good fun before the highlight of the day... lawnmowers. 

Bit of a laugh, but ultimately pointless.

Then we had lunch before being set loose on the skid pan. First up was a FWD Accord (nice car with a very quiet engine btw). That was fairly easy to stop from spinning at low speeds (<20mph) but once it had a bit of momentum, I'm afraid it was too much for my abilities.

I wanted to try the 4WD Legend, but didn't get the opportunity. Did get the try the S2000 on both the straight and the circle and simply couldn't stop the back end overtaking the front. I felt slightly better at the end of the day though as having had the opportunity to talk to a few people, virtually no one could.

Also managed to set the fastest time of the day on the F1 Simulator by a good 10 seconds though - only to find out at the prize giving later on that someone had beaten my time by 1/100th of a second.  Bit disappointing as the prize was a passenger lap in an Ariel Atom.

So then we eventually got to go out on the big track. There were more Type Rs as well as plenty of S2000s.

I took out a Type R to begin with and found it was much better suited to the longer track where you could get it into the VTEC zone (and keep it there). Again, I was surprised to find the instructor compliment me on my driving and we just chatted about the fact that he was thinking about buying a MKI TT.

It all went a bit wrong in the S2000 though. Given that it was meant to be an S2000 day, there was very little time in this car, and to be honest I'm grateful. I really, really didn't like it. :?

First off, I couldn't get comfy and because the instructors were pro-drive and not Honda guys, he couldn't tell me how to lower the seat. So I felt like I was driving on top of the car rather than in it. The steering wheel was actually on my legs so I couldn't turn it properly and I kept missing the gears. :roll:

I'm sure the instructor figured I'd never driven a car before. Ultimately, I wasn't carrying as much speed into the corners as I was in the Type R and if I was in the market for a road car that was fun on a track, I'd take the Civic over the S2000. Especially as even in the hands of the instructors, the Civic gave away very little over a lap - and was actually quicker through the twisty stuff.

All in all - a thoroughly enjoyable day and I'm pleased that I did go. After widget's comments about the Mazda day, I was tempted to not bother and just go down to Devon a day early.

Pictures to follow - I had to download them to someone else's laptop while on holiday.


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

Nice write up.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

What shoes did you wear Kell?

Shame you didn't really get stuck into the S2000 - it's a challenging car to push 10/10ths


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

garyc said:


> What shoes did you wear Kell?


Not sure if that's a genuine question or a piss-take, but I did give it some thought. Having been told that we needed to take along something we didn't mind getting muddy, I wore an old pair of trainers.

I would have worn something with slightly thinner soles if it was just track driving, but didn't want to ruin any 'good' trainers.

TBH, my driving is not of a level where the shoes make that much difference.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

garyc said:


> What shoes did you wear Kell?


Not sure if that's a genuine question or a piss-take, but I did give it some thought. Having been told that we needed to take along something we didn't mind getting muddy, I wore an old pair of trainers.

I would have worn something with slightly thinner soles if it was just track driving, but didn't want to ruin any 'good' trainers.

TBH, my driving is not of a level where the shoes make that much difference.


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## Widget (May 7, 2002)

I'm glad you had a good day.

To be honest, it sounds like the first Mazda day I won at Rockingham, rather than the second at Oulton Park.

Zoom-Zoom; my arse!

They are basically sales days, aren't they? Just offering a considerable amount more than a Saturday afternoon test drive, with professional advice being offered rather than a salesman's patter.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

Widget said:


> I'm glad you had a good day.
> 
> To be honest, it sounds like the first Mazda day I won at Rockingham, rather than the second at Oulton Park.
> 
> ...


The thing is, of course they're done to shift metal, but that really wasn't the purpose of the day. There was absolutely no pressure to buy and, because most of the day we were in the hands of the pro-drive guys, there was lots of pressure to go as fast as possible.

Pleasantly surprised.


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

Kell said:


> garyc said:
> 
> 
> > What shoes did you wear Kell?
> ...


twas a bit of both.

Narrow thin-soled shoes do make track driving much easier - especially in really tight cock-pitted (sic) cars like Caterham, S2K etc. You are less likely to hit two pedals at once and generally the footwell becomes a less cramped place for those with shoe size 9+

Shame you didnt feel that you got get most out of S2K. I had two track sessions in them and found them a real challenge to drive consitently close to grip limits. Not driven the new CTRs but the last ITRs I drove were a hoot for FWDs. S2K still more rewardin to get right tho, even if they are no faster.

I presume hoods were up?

You should have taken two pairs of shoes. :idea: :wink:


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