The sound of a purring V8 with a smooth gear change

So, Friday was Aston Martin testing day.

The day started early, as I needed to be there for 8.30am to sign on and it was a 70 mile drive to get there. Having not been able to get a new pair of racing boots in time, I opted for the thinest pair of trainers that I had and took those with me, along with helmet, racing suit and various other bits and pieces.

I got slightly held up in traffic and arrived fifteen minutes late which wasn’t a problem. Although security at the gate took my camera off me   Some other car manufacturers were testing cars and all photography was forbidden in case pictures were made public.

Once I was signed on and my driving licence had been checked I had bacon sandwiches, pastries and coffee whilst being briefed on the activities planned for the day. I’d was going to get to drive the cars not only on the high speed bowl, but also the mile long testing straight, the apline course and the city track too. On each course I’d be accompanied by a race instructor who after demonstrating what we’d be doing, would then hand the car over to me.

First up was the alpine course. This is a track layout that simulates fast, tight and blind bends that up and over hills. The track itself is very tight, no more than two lanes wide at any point and for the tricky bits it also has armco on both sides to stop you going over the edge. For the movie buffs amongst you, it was where this scene in Casino Royale was filmed -

So, off we go and do a few laps with the instructor showing me the lines for some of the corners. Then he hands over the car and off we go. The first thing I notice is that the steering is really nimble, I can turn the wheel and the car responds immediately, with a dab of the accelerator the car hunches down onto the road and explodes forward. The first lap I take quite slowly, as I’m not sure where the corners are, but for the second lap onwards I start to open the car up a little. It handled amazingly well, going over a blind crest I managed to get all four wheels off the ground at one point. The alpine course gives you a good idea as to how the car will handle round a tight circuit where you need to steer a lot and quickly move between two gears most of the time. I got some very positive feedback for my car control and the lines that I took for the laps that I did.

Next up was the city course, this was a series of very low speed exercises to demonstrate the capabilities of the car not only at low speeds, but also the effect of the turning circle and just how easy it is to flick the car through tight bends whilst still keeping control of the car. Out of everything we did that was the one exercise that I least enjoyed, although it did help me understand what the car could do.

Then after a little break for pastries and coffee I got taken out onto a handling circuit and shown what the car could do round a 3/4 long fast twisty circuit. I wasn’t allowed to drive the car, but we did 10 laps at increasing speeds. What made me laugh was that the recommended speed was 50mph and on the last lap we hit 90mph a couple of times. This really gave me a good feel for just how well the car could be steered through corners without losing traction with the road. I would really have enjoyed being able to try this myself, but would have needed a couple of hours at least to learn the bends and the layout to get the best out of it.

Next up was the high speed bowl. This is a track that is a perfect two mile long circle, where the lanes slope upwards. The idea being that aside from doing high speed test runs, you can also drive the car with no hands!

We got out onto the track and the instructor demonstrated that in the fourth lane at 75mph you could drive with no hands on the wheel, simply by feathering the throttle with your foot you could control the car. So I jumped into the car and off we went. It is very strange to take your hands off the wheel of a moving car, especially at that speed and it took me a couple of laps to relax enough to enjoy it. Just when I had started to enjoy it the instructor told me to put my hands back on the wheel and plant the accelerator to the floor. The car moved up into the top lane and we hit 147mph or so and it just felt completely planted on the road surface. I did a handful of laps at that speed, with the armco just inches away from the car before we slowed down and finished the excercise.

Finally we went out onto the mile long straight to to do a number of tests. Firstly with a shorts shift (flappy paddle) gearshift we did a number of high speed runs. This involved taking the car from 0 to as fast as possible down the mile long straight and then brake testing to slow down. I hit 141mph on the first run and braked way too early, the second run I managed just a shade under 150mph. Then we did some braking tests to see how easy it was to slow the car down. I suprised the instructor by cadence braking (old instincts never go away) , but the car was very easy to control from 140mph down to a standstill.

Then we had a late lunch, and at around 3pm it was time to head home. Twice on the way home I had to remind myself that I was no longer on the high speed bowl but rather a public road.

It was a very enjoyable day and the car was everything and more than I expected it to be. I just need to find a decent sponsor for next year, then we’ll race one.