Oh no, trust me there is a white Coupe R in my neighbourhood, sounds fantastic (we have little unofficial exhaust tete-a-tete's occasionally whilst driving in at the same time and annoying the other neighbours) and you will be surprised at how many of the Porsche/Maserati and expensive Beamer/Merc crowd ogle them when we come in (is it me, or do the new crop of AMG Merc's sound like asthmatic whales, I sometimes honestly think there is something wrong with their exhausts, or they are leaking or something)....

And as for Mclaren, my darling Wife who knows me so well and buys me what she calls 'Daddy' presents (my kids think I am just having another MLC and call them 'Crisis' presents), buys me occasional track days for my BDay's, this time the last time we were in the UK, a McLaren 570s, 458, V8 R8, F-Type V6 Vert (where I decided on my car) and an Ariel Atom V8..

McLaren - Sublime, effortless but like you say, not much nice noises out of it, or maybe the cabin was too well put together and I couldn't hear it, nevertheless the best car all day by a country mile, cant wait to have a go in the 720...

458 - Gotta say, not my cup of tea. It was nice, not as nice to drive as the 570 and not as well put together, but sounded better, maybe the 488 will be better, will try that one next time..

R8 - Ouch, thought this would be my fave, didn't like it at all, seemed sluggish, heavy etc. Thought it might have been because it was a high mileage one, needed a tune or something, but nope, 18K miles on it when I looked. Again, maybe the V10 is better, will try it on next outing

F-Type, nuff said, bought one (but honestly, the others were a biiiiit out of my price range anyway)

Ariel Atom - Well what can you say about this thing until you have driven one. After 10 laps of what I thought was pretty good, fast driving I was ready to go home. Last car of the day, bit (lot) tired and all that, but no, the missus had paid for 3 'Hot' laps with the instructor, and I don't think there are any words to explain how exhilarating/terrifying/noisy/pant-wetting that is, something that every red blooded petrolhead should try once in their life. Unassuming looking older geezer, smoking a ***, said 'jump in Mate', he knocked 5 seconds, yes FIVE, off my lap time on a relatively short track, put the fear of god in me, in a good way of course..

Looking for a P1/La Ferrari/918 day out now, if there is such a thing!! Maybe will try one of those F1 2 seater jobbies as well, I believe they still do them in France..

 

Oh, and what is the VAP tune? Do I want it, do I 'need' it, will it break my car?

 

Yes, no, no.

 

Corrected for you.

 

 

So, say that I did this 'Unnecessary' thing, what does it entail exactly. It looks like it could go from just a software thing, right up to engine mods.....

 

VAP are mainly about tunes, but they also do some external mechanical mods such as pulleys, cats and exhausts.
No internal engine mods that I know of, see this thread for starters: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...8s-v8r-158091/
I can't see where you have given any details of your F-Type, it's a great help to others if you put this info in your signature - exact year and model, coupe or 'vert etc.
The beauty of their tunes are you apply them yourself at home, easy as pie.
Their tunes are also rock solid and their service is first rate, what's not to like?

 

For the ultimate driving experience, you should try out this:
Rajamäki Racing Experience

Doing some laps in Nico Rosbergs 2007 model Formula 1 car is something you will not forget.

I got this as a present for my 50. birthday, and it is the most fun and challenging time I have ever had on a track.

 

Got my 50th coming up next year and the Missus has said we can go to a place of my choosing! Unfortunately, that place is closed for reservations 'At this time' but anyway, I also have my limitations as I am 6'5" and there are not a lot of places that cater to fellas my size, normally have to get special dispensation to do even normal track days because I don't fit in all cars with a helmet on.......

I am off to the F1 in Abu Dhabi in Nov, they do some single seater stuff there but not F1 cars (old or new), that is why I would do the 2 seater F1, no height limits, plus you get to go around with somebody that actually knows how to use an F1 car properly, which I don't...

 

Has anyone ever replaced the cam shaft(s) as part of a horsepower increase effort?

 

 

If you do get the VAP tune, it makes a huge difference in power and turned my car from being quick to feeling like a beast. Right now, feel like I need new tires or bigger wheels before adding more power. In fact, in second on backroads I have to be careful with the amount of throttle or the back will come out. High speed driving is where the tune makes the most difference.

 

If you do get the VAP tune, it makes a huge difference in power and turned my car from being quick to feeling like a beast. Right now, I feel like I need new tires or bigger wheels before adding more power. In fact, in second on backroads I have to be careful with the amount of throttle or the traction control will kick in. On the other hand, high speed driving is where I feel the tune makes the biggest difference. In some ways the base tune is more fun in the city because you get a chance to push the engine harder but I personally prefer the "beast mode" of the tune even in the city. Hope this helps.

 

Closed for reservations is probabely because it's the end of the season, and they have not the times/prices ready for next year yet. Regarding size, I guess that could be a challenge. When I was there they had 3 different F1 cars. From memory, the 2002/3 Renault driven by Jarno Trulli) , an 2002 Arrows (driven by Tacuma Sato) and I can't remember the third one. I got to drive both the Renault and the Arrows as they could best be made to fit those who were "medium to large" in size (I am 180 cm). They had different seats that could be swapped out, but there will still be a maximum and minimum size to stay within. I am shure they can easilly answere any questions regarding that.

They also offered a 2 seater F1 which my wife did. I must admitt that she most probabely got arround the track faster than I did

We also did two sessions in a single seater (formula Renault class) as a "warm up", which also was great fun (+ many sighting laps in my own car - an Audi TTS at that time).

I did made a video from the event. Unfortunately the GoPro camera broke down from the vibrations in the formula Renault class cars, but there are some clips from the F1 driving as well - just not onboard clips:


Have fun in Abu Dhabi!

 

Certainly food for thought, but as the only driving time I really get is city time, and the system here is crippled by the amount of speed cameras there are (EVERYWHERE) and the somewhat conservative speed limits on what I would think should be motorway speed limits (10 lane, empty highways), then it might only turn into a ticket machine for me!!

I am all for things being all they can be, and I am right on the speed limit -1kph all the time, but maybe this would be better left alone for me..