Exotic Car Driving, the best thrill ride in all of Disney
A Review by Timgt5
This past week I took a mini “vay cay” and went to Orlando. You can of course knock the schlock that is “Disney” but give ole Walt some credit here, where others saw a vast, humid, mosquito infested swamp, Disney saw the perfect location for a giant amusement park that continues to extract vast sums of money from the middle class mommies and daddies who cannot resist the pouty looks on their offspring’s “wittle” faces-this is reason number 5 as to why I do not have them myself, but that is a story for another day.
In summation I have already partaken of the “House of Mouse” and so I was looking at something off the beaten path.
I discovered Exotic Driving Experience-Disney over the internet, website:
Orlando (Walt Disney World Speedway) | Exotic Driving Experience
The company is affiliated with the folks that run the Richard Petty Racing experience (next door). Basically it functions as a fantasy day camp of sorts for car enthusiasts, putting you behind the wheel of some of the world’s finest and fastest supercars.
The way this works is you go on the website and book your car of choice. Current offerings are (from cheapest to most expensive) are The Porsche 911 (this is the normal aspirated rear drive one) The Audi R8 (which was actually out for repairs) The Nissan GTR (nickname Godzilla), The Lamborghini Gallardo and Gallardo Superleggera( a harder core light weight version) the Ferrari 430 Scuderia( a special model of the last gen 430) and the Ferrari 458 Italia (a current darling of the enthusiast press and the one I choose)
For those of you uncomfortable with driving, you can do a 100 dollar “ride along” in which one of their pro instructors takes you out on the track and scares you witless.
I would recommend this time of year as it does not rain much in Florida and the temperature is mild ( mid 70s). The facility is basically next door to the Magic Kingdom, so if you are indeed going to see Mickey, Mini et al, it’s a quick hop and jump from the track. Upfront you will need a valid driver’s license, and current car insurance. Dress code is casual but you have to wear long pants (jeans, khakis, etc).
Arrival time is 30 minutes prior to your appointment. Appointments usually run at 8, 9, 11, 2 and 4PM. Allow 1 ½-2 hours of time. Once you arrive you have to fill out and sign a liability form so you cannot sue them if you act like a moron and go up in fireball. Once your DL and insurance are verified, you will be led into a classroom, groups run from 10-15 people per appointment in order to keep wait times low. There are two packages, a 6 lap package and a 10 lap package. (I went for the 6 lap, which I sadly, regret)
The classroom session contains a brief intro by one of the driver instructors, in our case the owner was on hand for this one. This is a man who truly loves what he does and comes off with a lot of enthusiasm. Following the intro is a video narrated by race car driver Christian Fitipaldi, who walks you through some driving basics and the course you will be driving. If you bring along family and friends, they can come into the training session with you.
After the class session, your group heads out to the pit stop where the cars that are set to go are lined up, making a great photo opportunity. You are led out to your ride of choice and their staff takes a picture of you standing beside the car and in the driver’s seat. After your drive you can buy them affixed to different sized mahogany plaques. Once you are photographed they fit you into a helmet that contains a built in microphone (these cars are very loud) and wait your turn. In addition you are given a USB flash drive, which will record your performance and you inside the car with video, (so be careful with the language when you are driving LOL).
Once it is your turn to run, you are introduced to your “driver coach” who will be riding along with you (Did you really think they are going to let you loose with six-digit price tag sheet metal without some management?) Chris, who I worked with, was very courteous and positive, really likeable. The coaches have a throttle “kill switch” which can turn your supercar into a golf cart if you fail to follow instructions or get reckless; the last thing these people want is to have to scrape the remains of the client off the track, let alone their paid instructor.
The track you drive on is an older race course that is also used by the Petty Racing Experience. Whereas the NASCAR folks use the whole oval, the Exotics only use half of the oval. The interior is a set of autocross style “S” bends of varying degrees, these are set up to give the driver a feel for how fast these cars react to changes in direction, before popping back on the straight and “giving it the beans” . The S bends are set up with cones laid out at points to show the ideal line you should take. (They should really set something like this up for regular drivers-ed). The first lap is a slower sighting lap to give the driver a feel for the course and then its full throttle. You start gently building up speed, and then you hit the S bends, once through those it’s a sharp right hander and foot to the floor, then a dramatic slam on brakes and once more through the S bends (if you suffer from motion sickness, this will not be your thing) Needless to say everyone who drove finished grinning from ear to ear.
After your drive, you are then allowed to purchase photos (you can take your own as well, and if your spectators want to videotape your run, they are welcome to do so.) and the in car video of your run provided on the USB drive (both are optional extras)
Now a bit about what I drove. The Ferrari 458 Italia
The Italia is the big dog in this group in terms of price, but enthusiast magazines gush over it endlessly, I can most certainly attest to all the hype, because this thing is f’ing epic!
So now I will indulge in some Jeremy Clarkson style hyperbole while telling you all about the 458 I drove rather than give you a Consumer Reports style dry review…
Let’s start with its style,
This car looks so good that if you caught were caught driving it in a speed camera trap, you would ask the local constabulary to send you an 8 by 10 glossy print to put up on your wall, think Sofia Vergara, wearing a tight, perfectly tailored cocktail dress
Attachment 3944
This is Mrs. Vergara,
[ATTACH]Attachment 3945[/ATTACH]
This is the 458 I drove; note the resemblance, the curves in all the right places, the flawlessly chiseled high cheekbones, etc… (The front end) The photo by the way does not begin to do this justice; it is much prettier in person.
Interior
In terms of surface material quality, it’s fantastic. As expected in a car that costs over 250,000 dollars materials are top grade. The cows sacrificed for the dash and seats, most likely lived pampered lives. The seat is surprisingly forgiving even for a big guy like me, both perfectly shaped and bolstered.
The interior ergonomics however are bizarre to say the least. The dash layout is something that only inebriated Italians would have worked out, any normal person would have to study the manual for a couple of hours before learning where the radio “on” button was actually located. Since Ferraris are first and foremost driving machines, they decided to give all the real estate behind the steering wheel over to the “flappy paddle” shifters, and move the normal controls such as wipers, turn indicators, start button, etc… on to the front of the steering wheel ala Formula One. While this may be great on the track, in the real world it’s kind of stupid, as the steering wheel uh… well turns so you cannot for example easily tell which side indicator to actually hit making a turn as it will be on the opposite side of the wheel. Fortunately as I was only there to knock out some hot laps, none of this was really relevant.
Okay, six inches off the ground, 560 Horsepower, a bright sunny day, here we go.
The drive
Now we get in, belt up, and stick the key in pressing the start button. The big 4.5 liter V8 (sitting about six inches behind your head, fires up sounding like a grizzly bear waking up early from hibernation, it’s not a happy sound, it is the sound of something that means business. If you pulled up behind a Toyota Prius in this thing and blipped the throttle, it would lose control of its bowls and poop its pants. Put it in gear via the paddle shifters (there is not shifter at all on the floor, the supercar makers are past that now) and at slower speeds the 458 is surprisingly docile, the engine burbles away as you approach the start line, then you hit the throttle, the sleeping bear has just awakened and has seen you in its cave trying to steal its food. The V8 barks up and as the revs hit 3000, it goes from lumber to gallop real fast.
As revs climb the ultra slick, lightning fast dual clutch seven-speed goes to work, able to shift up within microseconds; the car virtually loses no revs at all in moving through each gear. Gear changes are so fast you do not have to time to even feel the transmission working. Power from the direct injected V8 comes on strong as your chest is pushed back into the seat, sort of like the big drop on a fast roller coaster. If you never have driven anything like this it’s a surreal experience. Given proper launch it hits 60 in 3.2 seconds.
Slowing down off the high speed banking, is like right now as massive vented disks throw you forward with incredible force when you stomp on them as the coach instructs and the V8 does its loud “whop, whop, whop” as you slow down. Off the straight and into the first hard right hander on the course, I find the 458 perfectly planted, going where your eyes look with the unerring accuracy of a Swiss watch repairman on his best day. The steering reaction borders on telepathic as the car seems to instinctively know the right line before you do. There is absolutely no lean, no roll the car simply slots it way left to right, with a bit of extra throttle input the back will step out in totally predictable fashion. The level of control you have over what this car does is astonishing. Imagine a guy with “two left feet” putting on a special pair of sneakers and suddenly dancing like Usher, it is just that good. The 458 is the car that can make anyone into a superhero on the track.
Out of the S turns and back on the power. The triple exhaust pipes up, the grizzly also took a few singing lesions from Pavarotti goes into its operatic wail, meanwhile behind your head you can hear the mighty V8, working pistons pumping way, air and fuel being injected, 560 HP of pounding ferocity, the whole thing makes for a marvelous racket that sends chills through the body of anyone behind the wheel, it is an epic soundtrack. As for The radio, I would not care if I owned this car and never found the on button, the 458 sounds so good, that nothing you hear on FM, AM, Sirius or your MP3 collection will compare. I could listen to this thing all day, but sadly my six laps ended much too quickly (I wish now I had sprung for the 10 lap deal) to paraphrase Billy Ocean “its simply….awesome…”
So the 458 then, frankly you would be daft to own one, insurance costs would send the Geico Gecko and Flo from Progressive running the other way. The maintenance costs are ridiculous and your oil changes are on “Tony’s” schedule and not yours. And of course if you drove this in NYC or San Francisco you will draw a crowd of “Occupy” protestors who will scratch the lustrous paint with their filthy picket signs. The control layout is silly and you need to bring “Howard Wolowitz” along to figure out the in car telemetrics.
If you do become a derivatives trader, hit it big on the Powerball or win next year’s American Idol, this is a wonderful beast to own. It is a true track star that can work miracles on the curves, the transmission is simply the best I have experienced in a car and that oh so magnificent V8, with a soundtrack that would make Howard Shore envious, it is indeed one of the greatest sports cars on the planet and of all time.
We need cars like this frankly, in world of beige soulless, electric and hybrid lumps, the 458 reminds us that there are still people out there who build cars with real emotion, real heart, real passion. The gorgeous lines, the feel of the butter soft leather, the bark of the exhaust, the ferocious engine and the nearly unequaled athleticism make the 458 something magical indeed, and I was glad to spend even a few moments seated behind the wheel in its natural environment, the track.
[b]Now for some Q and[/B] A
1. Do I need to know how to drive a stick?
No, all of the cars used are automatics, but you can opt for using the flappy paddles to shift.
2. Can I bring guests?
Yes, guests are allowed as spectators and can even sit in with you on the training classes
3. Bilingual
Yes-training classes are conducted in both English and Spanish, a couple of the driver coaches were fluent Spanish speakers.
4. How fast can I go?
Depends on the car and the coach, as long as you follow instructions and stay safe they let you have full power, my best run ended at 110 mph, although I could have gotten faster had I had more laps.
5. Souvenirs?
You can buy a photo plaque of you standing next to your car and in the driver’s seat. Also you can purchase in car video (via USB) of your run, which comes with telemetry.
6. Gift Cards?
You can buy gift cards and they have no expiration date.
So for those car lovers out there who are not filthy rich, this is a great opportunity to get drive a dream machine, without being harassed by a fleet of “County Mounties” The folks at Exotic Driving Experience were professional, very courteous, and run an efficient operation. The franchise has since expanded to several cities, so there now may be one of these closer to you than in Florida. I highly recommend this experience to anyone interested in sampling some incredible machines
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