If you love driving, you have to go on a driving experience day. There are lots of different driving experiences available. Choose from driving a tank, 4×4 or racing car. Learn skills such as rallying, drifting, and skid control. Use a safe environment to demonstrate your driving skills and impress your mates
[amazon_link asins=’B018QE4ITU’ template=’ActiveOutdoors-ProductAd’ store=’activoutdo-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’4d24c24a-e2e6-11e8-8051-1fe83ab18c0d’]A few years ago, if you wanted to buy someone the gift of a driving experience day, you could buy a track day where you drive really fast around a flat race track. Oh how things have moved on since then. Now you can choose from a full list of driving experience days. You can test your skill at speed, go for an adrenalin rush on a skid pan, or just brute force with a 4×4 or tank driving experience.
All driving experience days come with a spot of training and instruction beforehand. Don’t worry if you aren’t old enough to drive – there are young drivers experiences as well.
Things to think about when choosing a driving experience day
Having been on a few driving experience days, here are a few of my tips that will help you to choose the right one for you.
- Do you want to just go fast? – choose a track day, drifting or supercar driving experience day
- Do you want to drive something different? Try tank driving, rallying, monster trucks or hovercraft driving experience days
- Do you want to improve your driving skills? – Try rallying, skid pan driving, drifting, 4×4 or super car driving experience days.
- Are you having a stag do or day out with the lads? – Select a driving experience day where you can all drive together, such as tank paintball, go kart racing, Segway, or hovercraft racing
Drifting
Drifting is where you perform high speed cornering by allowing the back of the car to drift out wide in the bend. You effectively take the corner sideways. It originated on the streets of Japan (see the film Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift). On the drifting driving experience, you will be taught how to use your skill in high speed cornering to drift around those bends with grace and style.
Off Road Driving Experiences
Off roading generally means driving a 4×4 such as a Landrover. You get to drive over some very challenging terrain. Ruts, bumps, very steep hill climbs and the compulsory water splash. You get taught how to go up some seriously steep inclines, and through some deep puddles. Much more fun than the school run.
Tank Driving and Tank Paintball
I have been on this driving experience day, and it sure is fun. If you want to know what it is like to drive one of these beasts, the tank driving experience is for you. Mud will be flying in all directions. You get to drive the tank with the hatches open and hatches closed. when the hatches are closed, you can only see where you are driving through a thin slot.
Tank paintball adds to the fun. This is best done with a group of friends, such as on a stag do. You not only get to drive and race around in tanks, but also to fire paintballs at each other from the high powered paintball gun on the turret.
Rally Driving
Been there and done that. A fantastic day. Sitting in the driving seat hurtling towards a corner with the instructor insisting you still go faster before you slam on the brakes and slide around the corner is such a rush. Speeding through mud and dirt, you will be taught how to drive a rally car. Seriously fast. The instructors teach you how to throw the weight of the car around to get the best grip in the mud. The adrenaline really gets going as you approach the bends and the instructor will teach you how to get round those corners fast, even when the car is sliding on mud and gravel. Grin-worthy stuff.
You get taught how to accelerate into the corners and brake hard as you turn so as to throw the weight of the car over the front wheels to give maximum grip. Hand brake turns are in the lesson as well. You will get told off for turning the steering wheel with the palm of one hand though.
Quad Biking
One of the muddiest days I have ever had. If you though of roading was fun, wait until you try quad biking. Speed around a muddy course with lots of lumps and bumps. You will usually be given overalls, as you end up smothered in mud and wearing the biggest grin ever.
Segway Driving
Not really driving, but more of balancing on a two wheeled off roader. Use your skill to navigate the course. Since Segways were banned in the UK from driving on the roads and pavements, they have been used at a number of forest and off road locations in the UK. You start off with a lesson on how to balance, steer and move about. then you are free to go whizzing off around a woodland course. Great for racing your mates or girlfriend.
The Best Segway Experiences Around the World
Skid Pan Driving
Think you can drive on icy and slippery roads? Think again. The skid control experience is useful for understanding how to control your car when things get slippery. Great fun and very useful.
Depending where you go, the skid experience is created either by spraying water onto a private track, making it very slippery. Or, it can be simulated by using a car that is mounted on a cradle. The instructor uses controls to lift one corner of the cradle, lifting one wheel off the ground and leaving a castor-type wheel in its place. As you can imagine, you have now lost the control of that corner of the car. For more slippery stuff, you could try ice driving
Train Driving
For those who like their steam engines, you too could be standing on the footplate, driving a steam train. Get that nostalgic feeling.
Stunt Driving Schools
Youv’e seen it in the moives. Now learn how to do it yourself. Learn how to do a variety of stunts in someone else’s car. How good is that?
Racing Car Driving Experience
An introduction to what it’s like in a racing car. Speed round a racing track in a racing car.
Go Karting
Low down on the ground gives the impression you are really haring along. Fab fun.
Hovercraft Driving
On land and water, float over everything in a hovercraft. There are a variety of sizes of hovercraft. They all can move at quite a speed. You won’t want to go home.
Monster Truck Driving
Bigfoot style massive monster trucks. Drive of BIG obstacles and crush cars. Big boy stuff you have just got to do, if you are up for it.
Classic Cars
If you are more for that bit of classic style, you will find the classic car driving experience wonderful.
Super Cars and Sports Cars
[amazon_link asins=’B074ZJ8VBD’ template=’ActiveOutdoors-ProductAd’ store=’activoutdo-21′ marketplace=’UK’ link_id=’b5924f36-e2e6-11e8-b650-c5e6bda8beec’]Speed around a race track in three different fantastic supercars. You get to drive each of the the three supercars around the track. You will also get the opportunity to sit in the passenger seat whilst a professional driver shows you how it should be driven on a high speed blast around the race circuit. What an experience! Not only will you look the part, you will feel it as well. Ferraris, Porches, Jaguars and Aston Martins are all there to be driven. Which will you choose?