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A V8 supercar experience puts you behind the wheel of a real race car, or in the passenger seat while a professional uses every metre of the track. Drive a handful of laps with a coach beside you, or hold on for hot laps at race speed. A race suit and helmet come with the session, and most drives need no racing background.
It starts with a race suit, a helmet and a roar you feel in your chest before the car moves. Then you either drive the laps yourself with a coach beside you, or ride shotgun while a pro takes the corners flat out. At Sydney Motorsport Park, Sandown and Mallala the car is a NextGen Mustang. At Wanneroo in Perth, you choose between a Ford sedan, a Holden sedan or a Holden Ute.
The NextGen Mustang drive with two hot laps gives you six laps with a Motorsport Australia accredited in-car coach, then two hot laps beside a professional, and a photo in a professional garage afterwards. For the Mt Panorama hill itself, two front-seat hot laps at Bathurst put a professional driver at the wheel, while the four-lap Bathurst drive runs on a road that is closed for the event.
At Sandown Raceway, the V8 drive and front-seat hot laps combine eight laps behind the wheel with two as a passenger. Sit beside motorsport legend John Bowe in the John Bowe hot laps, or settle in for the Legend Drive: 20 laps, with race craft preparation before and between drives so you can find a faster line.
The Gold Coast 5-lap qualifier uses a race-prepared Supercar at Norwell Motorplex, fitted with slick tyres, racing suspension, performance brakes and a full roll cage. The Mustang or Camaro 5-lap drive puts you in a Generation 3 car with in-car instruction from a professional race driver and a commemorative photo certificate.
The 7-lap drive and ride combo gives you four driving laps at Wanneroo Raceway, then three front-seat hot laps to finish, in the Ford sedan, Holden sedan or Holden Ute of your choice. If you'd rather not drive, three hot laps around Barbagallo Raceway put you in the passenger seat with a professional race driver.
Adelaide's V8 drive and front-seat hot laps at Mallala mix driving laps with two front-seat hot laps, and the V8 buggy session at Tailem Bend brings an off-road option. In Darwin, four laps at Hidden Valley Raceway come with an intercom headset to your instructor and speeds of up to 200km/h.
Some people can tell you who won Bathurst in a given year and which corner it was decided on. A turn behind the wheel of a V8, or a hot lap beside a pro, lets them finally feel what they've been shouting at the telly about.
Drive experiences ask for a minimum age and a licence, and the circuit and format vary, so a RedBalloon gift voucher lets them choose the track, the car and the number of laps that suits them.
A V8 supercar experience puts you in a V8 race car on a real circuit. You either drive laps yourself with an instructor beside you, or ride as a passenger while a professional driver goes flat out. Race suit and helmet are supplied. The Mallala drive and hot lap combination does both and is a popular option.
A hot lap is a passenger lap in a V8 race car driven by a professional at race pace, so there is nothing to do but hold on. Some sessions are hot laps only, like front-seat laps on Mt Panorama, and others add driving laps first.
In Melbourne the sessions run at Sandown Raceway, in Sydney at Sydney Motorsport Park, and in Perth at Wanneroo and Barbagallo. The range also covers the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Bathurst, so you can usually find a circuit in or near your city.
To drive, you need to be 18 or older. The Sydney and Melbourne drives ask for at least a P-plate licence, and the Perth drive needs a full licence and the ability to drive a manual. Passenger rides vary by product, so check the page: the VIP V8 experience sets a minimum passenger age of 13 with parental consent.
Yes, because the cars are built around a driver. The Sydney and Melbourne drives, the Legend Drive and the VIP experience have a 130kg maximum weight, and the Sydney drive also sets a height range of 135cm to 194cm. The Radical SR3 hot laps at The Bend are tighter, with a 100kg maximum.
It depends on how much driving you want. A hot lap is the quick, loud option, while the 20-lap Melbourne drive gives you 20 laps with coaching in between, which is long enough to feel yourself getting quicker.
Sessions begin with a safety briefing, and you wear a race suit and helmet throughout. Drive laps are coached by an accredited instructor, and the NextGen Mustang sessions use a Motorsport Australia accredited in-car coach. Hot laps are driven by professional race drivers.
A V8 experience is about race cars on tarmac circuits. Rally driving moves to off-road tracks, and exotic supercar experiences put you in road-legal cars like a Lamborghini or Ferrari. Several V8 products also add a WRX rally car or V8 buggy.
Rally cars on gravel head onto off-road tracks; drifting is all about sliding sideways, and off-road racing adds jumps. If it's the car that you love, Lamborghini and Ferrari drives, and F1-style driving offer different machines, and car enthusiast gifts collect the lot.