Buyers Guide to Lamborghini Driving Experiences
If you're reading this you've probably been looking through our vast range of Lamborghini driving experiences and have a few questions, or if you're looking for a gift for someone perhaps you just need some guidance. This Buyer's Guide focuses on our Lamborghini experiences, the cars, tracks and what you get for your money.
One thing to mention before we get into the nitty gritty - all our experiences come in a presentation gift pack and vouchers are valid for 10 months. The recipient books a date at their leisure so all you have to do is choose which experience to buy them!
Things you need to consider when choosing an Lamborghini experience are:-
- The Cars - Are you looking for an experience that includes a specific model of Lamborghini or one that includes other vehicles as well?
- Budget - How much are you prepared to spend?
- Location - We offer a wide variety of locations for our driving experiences; do you have a particular venue in mind, does it need to be near to you or the person you're buying for, or does it need to be a well known track?
- Restrictions - Different venues have different restrictions with regard to age, weight, height and driving licence requirements. These will all be listed at the bottom of each individual experience page and could affect your decision.
Okay so a bit more detail on each of the above points:
The Cars
Most venues run the Lamborghini's baby, the Gallardo, which is the entry level car for this prestige car maker, but the more exclusive and much more expensive Murcielago is also available at selected locations.
Everyone loves some good statistics so here is some information to get excited about for both of these awesome supercars;
Lamborghini Gallardo
- Power - 500.1 bhp
- Torque - 376.2 ft lbs
- Top Speed - 192 mph
- 5.0 Litre V10
This car is used for most of our experiences as it is very popular and an incredibly classy car. Most of our locations run this model and some do offer you the chance to upgrade to the Murcielago for a small fee.
Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
- Power - 640.1 bhp
- Torque - 486.8 ft lbs
- Top Speed - 211 mph
- 0-62 mph in 3.3 seconds
- 6.5 Litre V12
This car is available at selected venues for you to upgrade to. It is a higher spec model than the Gallardo and therefore experiences with this car do often cost more. This car is most commonly used with our Extreme and Supreme super car experiences, where you will get the chance to drive between 5 and 10 top spec cars.
One other consideration while we're on the subject of cars is whether to include other super cars in the experience. We offer single, double, treble and more car experiences for a range of prices which work out much better value than a single car experience. If you or your recipient will be travelling a fair distance to drive the Lamborghini it may also make the journey more worthwhile to drive, say, a Ferrari and Porsche while at the venue. Obviously that depends on budget, which leads us nicely onto our next point.
Budget
Many people stumble across ExperienceMad.co.uk looking for gift ideas with a particular budget in mind, then see all the amazing experiences we offer, get excited at the thought of seeing the face of the person they are buying for when they open their present, and the budget goes out the window. Other people have no budget in mind but see something they know will go down well and simply have to buy it.
Much as we like to encourage spontaneity it's worth taking into account exactly what you get for your money and sometimes it's not necessary to max out your credit card to get something great. However, in life you do get what you pay for and super car experiences are no different.
Prices are affected by various factors such as the model of Lamborghini (the more expensive the car the more expensive the experience), location (tracks like Silverstone, Rockingham, Donington, etc. have great facilities and huge reputations but they will charge more) and availability (weekday only packages are much better value than weekend packages = the experience is identical but it's more inconvenient for most people to take a day off work).
Some experiences which are available on weekdays only can be upgraded to weekends upon payment of an extra fee direct to the track when booking a date. This gives the recipient the option of a weekend date but the downside is they end up paying for part of their present which is not ideal. However, even with the additional fee the experiences are excellent value and in most cases people don't mind paying the extra if it means they get to do the experience at a time convenient to them. You could always reimburse them if you're feeling generous but for most people given the chance to drive a Lamborghini, it's not an issue.
So what do you get for your money?
£50 - £100
In this price range you will find our very popular Lamborghini driving thrill. This experience gives you the chance to sit behind the wheel of the incredible Lamborghini Gallardo and drive for 6 adrenaline pumping miles (this usually works out at 3/4 laps of the track depending on the venue). This is one of the restricted availability experiences we mentioned earlier and is only available Sunday - Friday at selected locations and weekdays only at other locations (details of location specific information will be available under the restrictions section.)
We occasionally have some special offers that even we can't believe, as cheap as £69 and/or including white knuckle passenger rides! These are astounding deals and quite frankly we don't know how the tracks do it, but we're glad they do because it gives even more people a chance to experience a Lamborghini. Keep your eyes peeled for those special offers, usually available around Christmas or other major selling times of the year (Mothers Day, Fathers Day, etc.) and snap them up when you see them as they are always limited time offers. When they’re gone, they’re gone, as they say (until next time!).
£100 - £200
Experiences priced around £100 usually offer you track availability 7 days a week and some of the more major race tracks start their experiences around this price. Moving up towards the £200 mark you will see experiences available to drive two and three cars. Similar to earlier, the slightly cheaper experiences do tend to have restrictions on when you can go so be aware of this when buying. Multicar experiences are great value - allowing you to combine a Lamborghini with several other cars - as you get to drive two or three of the most popular supercars for approximately 6 miles each! That's 12 or 18 miles depending on whether you go for a 2 or 3 car experience. If you do it on a weekday you'll get all this at a bargain price!
£200+
As the price of the experience goes up availability becomes far less restricted and you will have a more varied choice of cars to choose from (including different models). Our top end products in the Lamborghini range allow you to drive between 5 and 10 supercars. This is for the real car fanatics and will really give you a supercar experience. Some include the opportunity to try out the single seater cars as part of the selection.
Location
As the Lamborghini is one of our most popular supercars it is available at most venues. Many of our packages can be used at a range of locations so these are an easy choice if you're not sure where the person you are buying for would like to drive the Lamborghini. Below is a list of the most popular locations running the Lamborghini, along with a few useful nuggets of information about those tracks;
Chobham - Located in Surrey, between Chobham and Chertsey is a very popular choice for people in the South East, especially as it is fairly close to London. It is situated in an airfield, this 2 mile long track is an ideal choice as it boasts long straights and tight bends to allow you to really put your driving to the test.
Kenilworth - Located in Warwickshire and is a multi surface track designed for high speed and features corners to really test the ability of the driver. The track is 1.8 miles long.
Elvington - Located in Yorkshire and is again situated on an airfield. The track is 1.5 miles long and offers long straights and corners as well as having plenty of run-off area ideal for beginners and the pro's.
Prestwold Hall - Located in Loughborough, Leicestershire is a 1.8 mile long purpose built track with a lot of high speed corners to tackle as well as some fast straights to give you the chance to really put your foot down.
Rockingham - Located in Corby, Northamptonshire is very well equipped with three different tracks, the Oval Circuit (1.5 miles), the National Circuit (1.7 miles) and the International Circuit (2.5 miles). Most commonly used for our experience driving days is the Oval Circuit as it really gives you the chance to pick up some high speed.
Other popular locations for the Lamborghini experience include; Three Sisters, Lancashire; Donnington, Derbyshire; Great Tew, Oxfordshire; Goodwood, West Sussex and more!
The model of Lamborghini varies between locations and some locations offer the chance to upgrade to the Lamborghini Murcielago for an additional fee. Check before purchasing that your chosen venue has what you want.
Restrictions
Okay, it's boring to talk about restrictions but when choosing an experience you need to make sure the participant meets the required criteria. Are they tall enough, too tall, too heavy, do they have a valid driving license?
Check the restrictions for each experience to be certain but for most Lamborghini experiences the minimum height is 5'2", maximum height is 6'4" and maximum weight is 18 stone.
These restrictions are in place to ensure comfort and safety when driving the vehicle. Some tracks are prepared to take people slightly over on height but you must check before buying if this is the case as different locations vary.
With regard to driving licence requirements, at Three Sisters, Donington and Rockingham the minimum age is 18 and a full driving licence (held for a minimum of 12 months) is required. At most other venues you must be 17 years or over and have a full driving license (no other restrictions).
Although most experiences specify that a UK driver's licence is required, provided the person doing the experience has a full manual driving licence that allows them to drive on UK roads and has held it for a minimum of 12 months with no convictions, then it is generally not an issue.
Junior Lamborghini driving is also available; this is for children aged between 12 and 16 and is available at selected locations during the school holidays (although you need to plan 6-8 weeks in advance as school holidays are always a busy time!).
Our Verdict
For most people who have never driven a Lamborghini Gallardo, this is more than sufficient excitement for one day the entry level experiences are ideal. Not only do you get demo laps with an instructor, you also get to take to the wheel for 6 miles yourself and for a cost of around £75 you can'tgo wrong!
You do however get a lot more out of spending a little more. You can add another supercar to the experience for around an extra £50 and for £199 you can drive three of these fabulous supercars. This is for weekdays which are great value as weekend packages including 3 cars can be around £300 so it's a great saving if you can take a day of work!
The venues we have available for these experiences are all really good. The staff are friendly and helpful and the tracks all provide a variety of high speed corners and wickedly fast straights which really gives you the chance to push your supercar to the max! Chobham in Surrey is an incredibly popular track and one we would definitely recommend.
Whichever experience you choose you won't be disappointed. All guarantee big smiles and long lasting memories, but we hope this guide helps you select the best one for the lucky person you are buying for!
Location Information
Midlands: Derbyshire (Castle Donington -
Donington Park), Leicestershire (Kirkby Mallory, Kirkby Mallory -
Mallory Park, Loughborough -
Prestwold Hall, Lutterworth -
Bruntingthorpe), Lincolnshire (Gainsborough - Blyton), Northamptonshire (Corby -
Rockingham, Towcester -
Silverstone), Staffordshire (Seighford), Warwickshire (Kenilworth -
Prodrive Test Facility, Stratford-upon-Avon - Long Marston)
North East: North Yorkshire (York -
Elvington)
North West: Lancashire (Wigan, Wigan -
Three Sisters)
South East: Hampshire (Andover -
Thruxton), Kent (Lydden ), Oxfordshire (Chipping Norton - Enstone, Chipping Norton - Great Tew, Upper Heyford - Heyford Park), Surrey (Chertsey, Chobham - Longcross, Cranleigh), West Sussex (Chichester -
Goodwood)
Wales: Glamorganshire (Llandow)