djrm Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hi everyone Following a recent post of mine I have been thinking. I asked everyone on here basically what they thought of Supercar Experience Days and the overall response seemed to be that they are good but flawed. The majority of you seemed to think that it was great to get the chance to drive a Ferrari / Lambo etc but that you were very restricted in what you were allowed to do therefore making it more of a test drive day. This got me to thinking, what if I bought a Ferrari 360, and charged people less than the rest to drive it and as it is my Business, make my policy that you really do get to drive the car properly, no restrictions etc. Obviously there will be a limit to how mad you are allowed to go and if you seem to be being unsafe etc you will be stopped but that will only be in dangerous situations. I understand that there are many things to be looked into before doing this like Insurances and some sort of Instructor training for me to be allowed legally to do it but other than that I think it's do-able.... What do you guys think? Thought I would ask here first as there are a lot of wise heads here and I know I will get good honest advice... Looking forward to your replies! Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 A few things: Where can I drive it? If a track, which one? How long for? Hiring costs of the track/airfield to think about. If you let people really drive it, expect significantly increased wear on mechanicals, especially clutches. What happens when the car breaks down, takes a couple of weeks to fix but you've got other days already booked? Can you borrow another car from somewhere, or do you have to cancel and re-book? Possible annoying of customers either way. More as I think of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I was at a supercar experience a while back, and in the briefing prior to driving a Lamborghini Gallardo, they were discussing the type of driving which wasn't permitted. They explained they have gone through 2 clutches on the Lambo, costing something like £4k a pop. So expect costs based on disrespectful or abusive drivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djrm Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks for the replies guys, keep them coming!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djrm Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 I knew that maintenance would be a big cost and will be budgeting for that. As for where it can be driven, I would think about doing days all around the Country and will obviously be looking into track hire costs etc. These are very helpful replies, please keep them coming in! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I'm just thinking about people that driver think they can drive like Clarkson and drift it all over the place. You'd go through tyres in no time and they ain't gonna be cheap, plus the aforementioned wear on mechanicals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbs Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 IMO not a viable business with only one car, and as for offering track time all around the country, that will really bump up your costs getting the car (s) to a track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 is this not the same as just hiring a supercar for the day/weekend/week/month then you can drive it however etc. no one sat next to you and someone else picks up the repair bill. but then you pay for this service as its highly expensive. because of the possible costs incurred, thats why the supercar experience days exsist. they get a group of people together give them a small amount of time on track and it only costs a few hundred compared to hiring a super car on an individual bases which costs 1000's a day. personally i think your business model is flawed, you'll either have to charge very high amounts to cover the costs, and people won't sign up for it, or your costs will be low but with running 1/2 vehicles you may find repairing them etc eats out your profit. your also heading in to a very saturated market with a limited client base. in difficult financial times. i'm not saying you couldn't do it more that it would need alot of financial planning doing and a decent business plan put together to see if it would be viable. if it was me i wouldn't be investing in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantone Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 is this not the same as just hiring a supercar for the day/weekend/week/month then you can drive it however etc. no one sat next to you and someone else picks up the repair bill. but then you pay for this service as its highly expensive. because of the possible costs incurred, thats why the supercar experience days exsist. they get a group of people together give them a small amount of time on track and it only costs a few hundred compared to hiring a super car on an individual bases which costs 1000's a day. personally i think your business model is flawed, you'll either have to charge very high amounts to cover the costs, and people won't sign up for it, or your costs will be low but with running 1/2 vehicles you may find repairing them etc eats out your profit. your also heading in to a very saturated market with a limited client base. in difficult financial times. i'm not saying you couldn't do it more that it would need alot of financial planning doing and a decent business plan put together to see if it would be viable. if it was me i wouldn't be investing in it. Are you saying "Ahm oot" Mr. Rtbiscuit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wasso Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 is this not the same as just hiring a supercar for the day/weekend/week/month then you can drive it however etc. no one sat next to you and someone else picks up the repair bill. but then you pay for this service as its highly expensive. because of the possible costs incurred, thats why the supercar experience days exsist. they get a group of people together give them a small amount of time on track and it only costs a few hundred compared to hiring a super car on an individual bases which costs 1000's a day. personally i think your business model is flawed, you'll either have to charge very high amounts to cover the costs, and people won't sign up for it, or your costs will be low but with running 1/2 vehicles you may find repairing them etc eats out your profit. your also heading in to a very saturated market with a limited client base. in difficult financial times. i'm not saying you couldn't do it more that it would need alot of financial planning doing and a decent business plan put together to see if it would be viable. if it was me i wouldn't be investing in it. Are you saying "Ahm oot" Mr. Rtbiscuit? I was going to say the same Let me tell you where I am - I'm out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 a'm ooout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yeah just at a basic level the numbers dont add up am afraid. To hire the track, you would have to hire the whole thing to run your car around on its own which would be substantial £s on a saturday for instance. I doubt any of the current supercar experience companies that hire the track would share it with a lone 360 with a remit to belt around at 100mph+. The cost alone of the track hire I can't see how can be recovered. Then as the others have said, maintenance of a ragged 360 would be a nightmare and as soon as its off the road you are losing big money by the day. I like the idea, supercar experiences are somewhat of an anti-climax, especially when you end up driving slower than you would in your Zed if you get stuck behind a slow mover for half a lap. Maybe there is better money in it if you buy the track and let people bring their own cars to rag around it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Ive got a couple of mates who hire out £1000 BMW's/Skylines for drift tuition, they are charging £3-400 a day for pretty much the same thing (track, instructors, insurance, car maintenance) except the cars are @*!# and cheap, the instructors get paid next to bugger all, the insurance is relatively low due to the low speed involved and the track is actually a car park. To make money you would need to be charging what, £5/600 per day ........ you can hire a 360 from a normal company for £600 per day though and drive it wherever you like. For that reason, Im oot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBoy Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 To make money you would need to be charging what, £5/600 per day ........ you can hire a 360 from a normal company for £600 per day though and drive it wherever you like. For that reason, Im oot. Have to agree with this I'm afraid, I actually looked this up with a few mates a while ago for s**ts and giggles and you can hire a V12 vantage with a 100 mile free allowance for a day for just under £500 with the company we looked at (not that they'd touch me because i'm not old enough ). I think there's a reason supercar experience companies are large operations, and also a reason that they restrict how you drive the car. Admirable that you want to let people really experience a supercar for a good price but you'd be making up the difference out of your own pocket. DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I went on an experience day last year and the cars were taking a pounding... While not ragging it and wheel spinning etc, i was nailing the GTR and the Lambo that i drove. However most noticeably, there was a huge throughput of people there - the cars rarely got more than a 30 second break between 4-lap sessions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainSensible Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 The guys that already offer this kind of thing aren't stupid. They realise that if you let someone drive their car on the ragged edge that maintenance bills will sink them. That's why they place the restrictions they do. If you honestly think you can just over look this and not worry about damage/wear and tear you are living in cuckoo land. Sorry to be harsh, but that's the way I see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 To run properly would take in the region of £300k minImum using something like a 360. One car wouldn't be profitable so you'd need multiple. 300k would let you buy 4 cars and hire a few tracks with maintenance and insurance. Maybe my made up figures are total pie in the sky but once you factor in instructors, fuel and the inevitable big bills then I really don't see any short term investment return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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