v8 supercar drive

[v8 hurricane]

Yesterday, after the first attempt was rained out a few weeks ago I finally got to drive around Queensland raceway in a v8 'supercar'.

Got my 8 laps done with two spinouts coming into the home stretch and around the S bend in the middle.

Had lots of fun but after waiting a few hours to actually get briefed and suited up and finally in the car it was worth the wait.

The dvd of you driving is a bit pricey at $45, especially when a dvd of someone in our group didnt record and had 1:33 of footage of the 18mins in the car.

[Peuty]

Yeah they are pretty good fun....don't know how you spun it at QR though, you must have been into it!

[sgt_doofey]

I did one here in Adelaide at Mallala. It was a fantastic experience!
Yeah, my DVD ended up a bit dodgy too. One of the cameras was pointing at the wrong spot, so I got half of my footage of the bonnet and the left hand side of the road.

[Pedro]

A few years ago my won a drive at http://www.v8superschool.com.au/ in a raffle and gave it to me as a present.

The drive car was a mock up of a Paul Morris commadore. I confirmed with the instructor that comes with you that I'd done track work and driven on slicks, so off we went. It wasn't to bad but the car didn't have much go and when the instructor asked me how I liked it I told him about the lack of power. He said "What's your daily driver?" I said "F6". His one word reply was "Right"!

[ebxr8240]

Yea with a weekender with 600+ at the wheels they are under powered...

[v8 hurricane]

Yeah. It felt like it was an xr8 with suspension and an exhaust. Still lots of fun though

[FPV GTHO]

If its one of those V8 Race Experience onesm thats about what they are. IIRC theyre about 450hp.

[Revolver]

Problem is they aren't a "v8 supercar" they are (on the pamphlet) a "v8 race prepped" car. Which to me feels like a bit of a cop out. It would be much better of they were old V8SC's. Like the old ones that had been through a season or 2, then the fijitsu series, then retired from full race duties. I mean how good would you feel knowing that the car your punching round the track is the same car that frosty, Ingall or Courtney had punched round the track a few years before. Be a bloody good feeling I reckon.

[BigAL_250]

Yeah, they're no where near V8SC spec.

I got the same feeling when I drove one, and it frankly didn't seem that much faster than the tuned VNSS V8 my dad had at the time. Granted it was an auto commodore (wasn't confident enough to use a manual), so it may not have had as much work done as the actual race prepped cars.

Most of the ones that were out looked like they came out of one of the various production car race series that have been around for a few years now.

[4Vman]

They're Miles off a V8SC...they're stock boss 260's and 290kw...

[Charliewool]

I did the V8 "supercar" experience thing at Winton a while back.... Pretty tame I thought?

After doing a couple of hot laps (passenger only) in a proper Fujitsu car last Friday week at Sandown, there is absolutely no comparison.

[v8 hurricane]

Yeah. I mean I cannot drive anywhere near the proper drivers but I went a hard as I could and I mean it was fast but nothing WOW fast

[LTDHO]

I did it two years ago and was unimpressed. Driving an XR8 with no exhaust doesn't provide much movement down stairs.
I'd say they are more for lounge chair racers who drive camrys.

[tickford2001]

Originally Posted by 4Vman

They're Miles off a V8SC...they're stock boss 260's and 290kw...

exactly, probably actually have less grunt given the exhaust (or lack there-of)and how long they have been flogged for!

about the only thing they have going for them is slick tyres

[SteveJH]

Originally Posted by tickford2001

exactly, probably actually have less grunt given the exhaust (or lack there-of)and how long they have been flogged for!

about the only thing they have going for them is slick tyres

I assume they also have stripped interiors and cages?

Bit of a let down if they've just have stock motors I guess. May as well take your own car to the track, sure you'd probably have to be more careful with it, but it would also probably be cheaper.

[Charliewool]

Originally Posted by tickford2001

exactly, probably actually have less grunt given the exhaust (or lack there-of)and how long they have been flogged for!

about the only thing they have going for them is slick tyres

And brakes.... Interestingly, on a few of the cars they use at Winton, they have dual calipers fitted.. (that's 2 calipers on each front disc)

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by LTDHO

I'd say they are more for lounge chair racers who drive camrys.

i'd say it's more a cop out due to cost. what would writing off a true v8 supercar be worth (even a few years old) compared to a modded up xr8?

[jcxr]

Originally Posted by Charliewool

And brakes.... Interestingly, on a few of the cars they use at Winton, they have dual calipers fitted.. (that's 2 calipers on each front disc)

Yes, I noticed the same on the Calder Park cars, seem to work OK

[v8 hurricane]

Originally Posted by aussie muscle

i'd say it's more a cop out due to cost. what would writing off a true v8 supercar be worth (even a few years old) compared to a modded up xr8?

probably a safety thing aswell. as fairly inexperienced drivers can easily go, the more power, the more dangerous if they're not used to it

[sly_ba]

I have done this too. Good fun...

They are never going to use v8 supercars, far to much car for jo blo to punt around a track... plus can you imagine the rebuild costs on a race spec 302 or 305?? 20K - 30K? Or a holinger box?

[b0son]

Originally Posted by sly_ba

They are never going to use v8 supercars, far to much car for jo blo to punt around a track... plus can you imagine the rebuild costs on a race spec 302 or 305?? 20K - 30K? Or a holinger box?

Cut the rpm limit by 1000-1500rpm. It'll still have plenty of power, but massively improved longevity.

[Matt P]

TEGA and AVESCO would never let punters with out a cams licence run one. I was lucky enought to go to a meet and greet day for a privateer and 2 members of TEGA were present to make sure the car was being drive in a safe manner for the passengers on board. The other issue is cost a $9000 dollar clutch that costs $35 every time you push it down is not going to last long in the hands of some punters and in the old days before the sequential box a miss shift could cost you a engine.

[4VCLEVO]

I did it in october at sandown. I thought the cars were fast enough for amatures, but 8 laps just isn't enough, you just get into the swing of it and it's over. Was fun though.

[BIG_BOSS]

i did it at QR last year, was a great day, the car i was in does go harder than my stock boss 260, would not pay $45 for the dvd again, that cuts off the last 3 laps (which are ure best laps). but did enjoy my day, even better when others pay for it.

[XRtowcar]

Did Winton late last year.
XR8 with a pretty tired Boss.
Not a lot of compression or top end.
Lots of understeer and too much traction control interference.
Was lapping four seconds a lap slower than my 1.6 MX5 engined clubman.
Was doing 1.47's. Really setup properly should of been doing 1.40's.
Was fun but a little under whelming.
Best bit was thrashing some body else's car.

[jd dad]

did the day at Calder a cpl of years back, they stick and stop fantastic but waaaayyy underpowered. Had a mate with me that went back and did another day as he loved it but nowhere near fast enough to get me for a 2nd go

[LS2 KLR]

My wife got me one of these for fathers day this year at sandown. I went there not expecting much and came away feeling on top of the world. The XR8 was tired and only allowed me to rev to 5000. But I think what made it for me was how fast I could take the corners, and how late I could brake. Plus being able to drive the same track as the V8 supercars.

Did anyone else get asked if they'd thought about doing this properly? Or is that what they ask everyone? One can only dream, who wouldn't want to be a race car driver.

[Grippy]

I did one of these days at Calder a couple of years ago. These cars get flogged day in, day out by the public with barely a chance to cool down before someone else jumps in and hammers it again. Im not surprised they have twin calipers on the front rotors.

These cars are obviously built with longevity in mind to keep running costs of the business to a minimum, think of them as go karts at your local public kart centre, they get some fuel thrown in them and off you go.

For the average punter/V8 Supercar fan they're a bit of fun and look the goods, but are far from a prepared race car