Richyfingers Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 I did a write up on this on another forum last year but thought i'd also share it on here for anyone that might be interested. The company is called Exhilarate Scotland, they offer a number of different services, one of which being is super car hire. The deal in question I got was on special offer for £199 through Groupon. Its refered to as the Oban tour and involves a 4-5hour tour starting in Lochearnhead, a drive up to Oban along some stunning roads and then back down again through Crianlarich. My tour started at 1330 and it was a good hour and a half drive from Glasgow so I set of with plenty of time and had a great drive up to Lochearnhead in the zed. Now the cars that are on the tour vary due to breakdowns, services etc so I wasnt exactly sure what I would be driving. Generally they have a core selection consisting of Ferrari 430 Spyder Caterham 7 Aston Martin DB9 Volante Ariel Atom Porsche 911 Turbo Focus RS aprox 450bhp. Upon arrival I was greeted by a Ferrari 360 (the 430 had broken down), Caterham, DB9, Focus and a rather shiny looking new Lotus Evora which I wasn’t expecting to see. There was another 7 punters on the tour with me along with the 3 guys that run and organise it. A quick chat about the cars and the standards of driving expected, basically don’t drive like a ****, any dangerous driving they kick you off the tour and you wait at the side of the road or just passenger the rest of the tour. They encourage progressive driving however so you really do get to give the cars a good blast. Cant fault the guys that run it, they were all extremely friendly and had a great laugh with them. The tour works on a rota system so generally you get a shot at driving for 30mins then switch over and passenger in another car then move onto the next one and so on. It all works very well and you end up getting a good blast in all the cars. First up I get plonked in the F360, it's always been a dream of mine to drive a Ferrari so I was massively excited, turning the ignition and hearing the engine roar to live was just amazing. I was a bit gutted the F430 was out of action but the 360 was still immense. Nursed it through the little village and then onto some NSL roads and promtly got stuck behind a caravan, sat in 2nd gear and just floored it and I think from that point on I just grinned like an idiot the whole day. What a noise, the sense of speed was just awesome, a complete and utter buzz, it also helped that we got a cracking day for it so the roofs were down. It felt so precise and direct and much easier to handle than I thought it would. Loved every second of it. Next up was the focus, not really much to say about this one, yea its fast and all but its just a focus, not a patch on the others although many folk on the tour raved about the focus and thought it was the best car on the tour. I thought it was a bit meh. Next up was the Aston, 6 litre V12 with the roof down, I got a cracking drive in the DB9, hardly any traffic on the road so I was able to give it a really good blast,the sound of the V12 was just something else, a few tunnels to enjoy on the way too.I'd say it was probably the highlight of the day. A bit wallowy and the brakes are very spongy but as an all round package I thought it was the dogs dangles. Stopped off in Oban for Lunch which is included in the price. Next was the Evora, I was REALLY looking forward to getting my hands on the Evora, although it was no where near the fastest of the day it was sublime to drive, so poised and direct and the brakes were fantastic. Again I got a really good section of road to have a good blast in. Last up was the Caterham, now, by the time I got into the Caterham I think the breaks had been well and truley cooked. Stamping on them had no effect which somehwat ruined the experience, slightly unnerving to approach a junction, put your foot on the brake and nothing happens. Having said that it was a total riot to drive, can certainly see the appeal as a weekend car. Overall it was a bloody fantastic day out and I'd love to do it again, I'll probably book up for another one next year. Hopefully next time I'll get a shot in the F430, Atom and I hear they have a GTR in the line up now. Getting back in the zed at the end of the day was a bit of a comedown. Anyway, enough blabbering, onto the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will370z Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 Nice little write up there mate. Some lovely cars, im not jealous at all honest. Would love to have had some time in the ferrari and aston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik54 Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 ohhh well jel Rich!! Looks like fun - that group-on was a really good deal i tried to get it for my birthday but it was sold out I think Stew used them last year and raved about them also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted March 20, 2012 Share Posted March 20, 2012 It's on my bucket list, thats for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted March 21, 2012 Share Posted March 21, 2012 So how long to do you get in each car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richyfingers Posted March 21, 2012 Author Share Posted March 21, 2012 About 30 mins in each car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronzee Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 That's not too bad. Probably long enough to get a basic grip of each car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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