McLaren MP4-12C GT3 Drive. A Drift Limits Experience.

I recently drove the McLaren MP4-12C GT3 at Drift Limits Motorsport Academy based at Bovingdon Airfield in Hertfordshire.

I was driven to the event by my brother who took some photo's that can be seen below.

Upon arrival we were ushered in to a 30 minute safety briefing given by a chap called Johnny who was very clear about how best to keep safe while driving. There were also some videos of when things go wrong and what not to do. 

After the brief, it was time to grab a helmet and wait for the McLaren. Having arrived early, I felt ready/nervous/exited about taking on the challenge that was the McLaren but the McLaren was not ready for me.

What I was aware of is that this McLaren was indeed a racing car, what I was not aware of is that before you can even think about getting in the car to start it, there was around an hour needed to get the car ready. The coolant had to be flushed and changed, the oil and engine both needed preheating and this took time. To give some idea in words and numbers about the McLaren, it was built to compete in the FIA GT3 Series and has the same twin turbo V8 as the road going 12C with the ECU de-tuned from 592 bhp to 493 bhp to comply with the class regulations. The engine was then paired with a six speed sequential gearbox made in partnership with Ricardo. To compensate a slight loss in power from its road legal counterpart, Mclaren have made some big changes. The gearbox  in the GT3 is 80 kg's lighter than the road cars gearbox, there are also aerodynamic additions such as a new front splitter and rear diffuser. The car is mostly made from carbon fibre and the steering wheel was taken from the MP4-24 F1 car. All these changes means that the Mclaren weighs 1434 kilograms and can accelerate from 0-60 in 2.8 seconds. This will more than likely be the fastest car I will ever drive.

Finally the McLaren was ready to go and I was taken to what is called the Bomber Track, a tight technical circuit that allowed you to get a lot out of the McLaren. This was away from the main supercar track. The first day they took the McLaren out on the supercar track, 6 out of 8 people spun the car.

The Track

The Mclaren MP4-12C GT3 being prepared.

The MP4-12C GT3 ready on track.

Getting in and out of this car is not a glamorous or easy to do. First you have to put your hand on the roll cage, your right leg goes into the foot well, bum down into the seat and finally the left leg comes in. To get out, you simply do the opposite.

Once inside the car, it is very snug with an F1 steering wheel with lots of controls facing you.

behind this are the gearbox paddles. Off to the right is the main control panel and the master switch and the ignition.

Once i'm strapped in, my instructor gets into the passenger seat and talks goes through the starting procedure and that to begin with during the sighting laps, no accelerator is to be used. Once the laps sighting laps were done, gently on the gas. He also tells me about how best to judge the corners as visibility is limited.

The instructor cranks the engine a couple of times before pressing a button on the control panel before telling me to press the ignition button. The engine cranks and the car roars into life.

In order to get going, I have to push the clutch down, press the neutral button with my thumb, pull the right gear leaver towards me to first gear, release the neutral button and ease the clutch up slowly.

I brought the clutch up a little quickly and stalled the car. 

On the second attempt I get it right and we are underway. Making my way around a track without using an accelerator is one of the strangest feelings ever and I will hold my hands up a couple of times I did use the gas accidentally. Its soon time to go up the gears and into third which is where we stay for the remainder of the laps. It does not sound like a lot, but on this tight track, third is plenty. Gradually I start to get used to the sheer power that the car has and my confidence grows. 

Photo's by James Kirby

As well as a monumental amount of power, the faster you go, the cars grip around the corners also becomes apparent, although as I make my way through the laps, some of my cornering could have been better or tighter to the racing line.

Drift Limits Professional photo's

                            

To conclude, I spoke to the instructor as we made our way back to the viewing area, I asked him how he thought I had done. He was happy that I had not crashed the car and said that some areas were good such as the braking, he did say that my cornering could  have been better and that I thought I would be better at driving the car than I was. I too felt this. I would love to say that I was perfect and  did the car well but on this occasion I was not perfect. Having had a few days to gather my thoughts about this drive, I would say I did ok, i'm not a professional racing driver and I only had limited time with the car. If given more time, I would get used to it.

To sum up the car it is a monster. Being allowed to drive an off the peg racing car built by McLaren with the intention of winning championships is a privilege.

If you decide to drive this car, reading this text will not prepare you in any way for when you drive it. You simply cannot prepare yourself for the power that this car confronts you with.

 I would like to the Drift Limits team for doing a great job, especially to the brave man that was my instructor.

Below is the GoPro footage of the drive.

https://youtu.be/ylE65EqkWFU

For further information on Drift Limits, please visit:

https://driftlimits.co.uk/

Dodge Challenger Hellcat - A Car Chase Heroes Drive.

Recently, I received an email from Car Chase Heroes telling me that they had just bought a 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and were making it available to drive.

Having driven the General Lee (http://kirbyscarblog.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-general-lee-car-chase-heroes-drive.html), I wanted to find out what the modern Dodge models are like so I took up their offer and went to Abingdon Airfield in Oxfordshire to have a go. Upon arrival, I signed in, attended a safety briefing then I was taken around the airfield track by an instructor in a BMW who gave us two laps of the track and gave some great pointers. 

The 2018 Dodge Hellcat weighs around 2 tons and comes equipped with a 6.2 Litre Hemi V8 SRT Demon engine that sends 707 horsepower to the rear wheels. This Dodge can go from 0-60 in just 3.2 seconds and then carrying on up to 199 mph. Controlling this is a six speed manual TREMEC gearbox, power steering, traction control and to slow this monster down, Dodge uses Brembo 6 Piston High Performance Disc Brakes along with Hydraulic Assist Brake Booster. 

This will be the most powerful car I have driven to date and on the day it was a wet track. This would make for an interesting drive.

Inside you have comfortable seats and an 8.4 inch touchscreen display that give a wide range of settings such as dual zone climate control and integrated voice Command with Bluetooth. This car also comes with heated seats and mirrors, automatic headlights and a myriad of other controls to make your dive as comfortable and as easy as possible.The back seats look a little cramped but Dodge has the biggest backseat area in it's class. The eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed that this car is left hand drive, Dodge has no plans to make this a right hand drive car but don't let put you off diving it.

Push the clutch down and press the red start button and the hellcat's V8 roars into life. You can literally hear its power waiting to be unleashed.

I was pleasantly surprised when I put the car into gear, the clutch and gear shift are light. I was expecting this to be like a workout as previous cars I have driven were. I made my way from the paddock to the track and waited for other cars to pass and give me a bit of room to enjoy the Dodge. Once underway the torque and speed of the car become apparent, changing up through the gears this car moves so quickly and the engine noise is great. braking for the first corner, the Hellcat has no issues here but i'm not pushing the car too hard as i'm getting used to the car and the track is wet.

Apply more power for the next straight, more speed and noise and the next corner approaches quickly. The brakes the car are good and they would have to be given what they have to slow down.  Around the next corner and let the car drift out towards the edge of the track and accelerating, towards the final corner. As I carry on around the track, my confidence with the Hellcat increases. On the second corner of lap 2, I feel the back wheels starting to spin as I come out of the corner, ease up on the accelerator a little and let the car grip before accelerating down the straight. 

On the last lap, I see a 2013 Shelby GT500 in front of me and I begin to chase it down. by the second corner, it is much closer, finally on the third straight, I make my move and pass it. 

Sadly it was time to head back to the paddock and give the car back. I shook hands with Neil and went to get the photo's

This car is bonkers and great fun to drive and is an out and out assault on the senses. Even with traction control on you can still have fun in the corners. Like previous muscle cars, this car is great for long straight roads and drag racing. Given it's width and how the car drove, it's not suited for tight twisty country roads with sudden changes in the road.

As I left, I spoke to the company owner Tom. Tom informed me that this car had come off of the boat from America 3 days prior to me driving it and this was the first event it had been at. 

I would like to thank the staff at Car Chase Heroes for an easy morning of fun. The staff were all friendly and extremely helpful. 

For further information, please visit

https://www.carchaseheroes.com/

https://www.dodge.com/

A Car Chase Heroes Drive Part 2

As I make my way through the paddock after driving the General Lee, I notice a car at the back of the paddock that appeared to be looking back at me.

I found my dad and Maddi, both were happy to see me and also stay on a little longer than originally planned. I was shown the photo's and they all looked good.

I then went to find Tom, the owner to ask him about the car I had walked past earlier.

The car in question was this.

A MkI Ford Escort RS2000. 

Tom told me that he had bought this the day before and that he would be using today as trial run to see how the car would drive and how people took to it. His plan was to respray the car to make it look like the car that Paul Walker had driven in the Fast & The Furious 6. 

Having been given the green light from my dad and Maddi to stay on a bit longer I took the plunge and asked if I could take it for a spin. 

Making my way back to the paddock I was greeted by Amber and Michelle who were not overly surprised to see that I had come back for more. We chatted for a while I waited for my turn in the Escort.

This MkI Ford Escort RS2000 comes with a 16 valve, 2 litre DOHC engine that produces 100 BHP and a top speed of 110 mph. It has a 4 speed manual gearbox and weighs around 915 kilos.

My name was called and I made my way to the Escort. Once inside,  I put the seat belt on and got used to being inside the car. The first thing I noticed is that the pedals are tiny and offset to the right. This would make for an interesting drive as I have big wide feet.  

My instructor got in and introduced himself, his name was Oak. Oak took the driver card from me but informed me that as this was a recent purchase, they had not put in a camera to film the drive. We chatted briefly and then it was time to go onto the track. 

As I turned the key, the 2 litre engine barked to life, I put the car into gear, made my way around the paddock and towards the track entry

With a clear track  I accelerate hard and moving up through the gears I make my way to the hairpin corner. I then begin to break change down a gear and take a wide line through this corner. There is a little amount of body roll as the car makes it's way through the corner. Back on the power to change up and I accidentally push down on the brake and clutch another attempt and the gear change is completed. Down the second corner where a hard right hand corner awaited me. Once through it was time to accelerate up to 4th gear before making my way through a chicane. I was then overtaken by the white Audi R8. Time to break hard and change down for the left hand hairpin corner. Back on the power and back to 4th gear, through 2nd  chicane that heads towards the last corner which required another change to 3rd gear. Through this then back on the power for the second lap. 

Ahead of me in the distance I spot a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, I decided to see if I could catch and overtake it before the end of the second lap. I rapidly made my way through the corners and get closer to it. Half way through the lap I close in and overtake just before the chicane. With the overtake completed safely I make my way around to finish the lap and start the final trip around the track. I made the most of a clear track in front and really got into the swing of driving this Escort.

It was then time to pull into the paddock and hand the keys back.

Professional Photo's

Once back in the paddock, Oak handed me the driver sign on card I thanked him and got out. 

It's easy to see why the Ford Escort was so good as a rally car, it's light, quick and fairly easy to drive. It’s a small car with a big heart. Making my way back through the paddock, I bumped into David da Costa, I again thanked him for the sighting laps and he took a look at my sign on card and seemed to be impressed. Moving on through the paddock, I saw Amber and Michelle and thanked them for their help.

I found my dad and Maddi waiting for me and it was time to get the photo's and head home. On the way out I spoke to Tom again and thanked him for a brilliant morning of driving.

If you ever get the chance to do a drive with Car Chase Heroes I really do recommend it. They are very easy to talk to and helpful. I would like to thank the following people for all of their help.

Tom Roche, David (safety briefing), David da Costa, Amber & Michelle (Paddock), Matt and Oak (Instructors) and finally April Essom (Office).

For further information about Car Chase Heroes, please visit

https://www.carchaseheroes.com/index and book a drive with them.