Have Your Say: What's Your Most Impressive Real World Drive?

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Continuing our series where your comments are the real story, we want to hear about your interesting real world driving experiences.

For most of us, the cars we drive in racing sims are just a fantasy, and we won't get near them in real life. But with over 2,000,000 members here at RD, we know that many of you have had that fantasy become a reality, at least temporarily.

Let us know in the comments what the most impressive car you've ever driven is. This is not a contest, so whether your coolest drive was an open-wheel race car or a Lada, we want to hear about it.

Some of you have driven in real-world race series, or compete in weekend events with your hand-built track toy. Others may have a friend or know of a local rental agency that lets you feel the rush of an exotic car for a period.

Or perhaps it was a ride-along. Have a professional driver push a car to its limits, be it on or off road, drift, drag or otherwise, experiencing what a vehicle is capable of as a passenger can make for an equally riveting experience.

We want to hear it all. Let us know the type of car that's most impressed you to drive so far in your life, and the story behind how you made it happen.
About author
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

Comments

For me it was the Formel Renault 2.0 at Red Bull Ring...it was the first ever downforce experience for me ( i had to push so hard to reach the benefits of downforce).
Also impressive was my last karting endurance race (3h) in stormy and rainy conditions and of course my drive in a group n mitsubishi evo on a rallye stage.
Looking forward to finally get to drive the famous Nordschleife.
 
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Finishing 2nd in my class at SCCA Solo(autocross) National Championship in my class and setting the fastest time in class for day 2 in my Golf GTI. Pretty cool experience in the end to have the winner in class being a multi time national champ saying he didn't expected to be pushed as hard that year was satisfying. Kinda doubt I'll repeat time anytime soon now...lol
 
I went to the TT on my VFR400 in 1999 and apart from a Fireblade, nobody overtook me over the mountain section. I was on it that day. It was just one of those everything comes together rides.
 
5 laps in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup at Alastaro Circuit or ~20 laps in the Formula Renault 2.0 at Botniaring, hard to decide which was more impressive experience. The downforce and the braking force of the FR 2.0 or the raw feeling of the sequential gearbox and roaring flat 6 of the Cup car.

Anyway both were surprisingly easy to drive out of the box, experience from the sims definitely helped.

For me the best feeling comes from just racing against other drivers, no matter what car you have.
 
I drove 2 of our Formula Student cars. Each one just once and only in after-season testing, but they were the most proper race machines I'd ever been in.
Same, having driven our 2021 Formula Student car is something that still feels like a dream. Sure the car was a handful to drive, and we weren't that quick in comparison to other teams. But it felt so raw, so direct. And the fact we had been working on that car for a year, and it was my turn to not mess it up on track. Like a go kart on steroids :)
 
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For me a dream since my childhood, to sit in my fathers racecar. Since 2010 it is real, I´m with the Melkus MT77 part of the ADAC Historic Cup. The MT 77 ist from 1977 and my father drove it in the German Democratic Republic up to 1995. The reborn of the MT was 2009 and my father gave the seat and steeringwheel to me. It is not the fastest car on earth, but for me the most impressive, because it is the car of my father and it is a family member.

Pic 1: Me as a child ca. 1986 in our MT77.
Pic 2: Me on the new Sachsenring - ADAC Sachsenring Classic
Pic 3: Our MT77 in Assetto Corsa: Thanks to Yuriy.


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PT Cruiser. Its a shame people actually fell for the joke that the car is bad. I bet they never found out the car actually comes with a factory-locked turbo and if tuned you can get 2k rpm and 15+ psi of boost out of it without spending much money. It also can be incredibly reliable and i've run it a lot of terrain with 0 signs of rust. Its a very spacious and fun to drive car.
 
It was not really a drive but a flight. As a teenager i was in the Air Training Core (Bit like the scouts but put together by RAF) We had uniforms and marched up ad down ect. One day it was time for my first and only flight in a Chipmonk plane. (A old propeler plane simalar to a spitfire. I went up from RAF base Hallavington and flew over Castle Coombe track near by. The cars at the racing school looked like my Corgi's as they and evreything around me was so small inside a 2 seater plane. I am just glad i did not have to open the parachute.
I did that sort of thing at secondary school, flying a Chipmunk twice! The second time I took a VHS-C camcorder to record the flight, but it meant they didn't do and stall turns or stunts :-D

Someone else mentioned Ariel Atom; we nearly did some work with them once, so they brought some cars to our work and gave people drives around the local area. I remember following an Atom home in my Supra thinking this was almost a video game moment :-D
 
I drove porsche gt3 cup and gt2 rs and it was great but the car experience where I thought "Oh my god I will die for good this time" was a 1995 black nissan skyline GTR R33 : I precise that I did not drive it that day, it was a drift showcase event in moutain and the driver had very high skills level as he really knew his own limits and those of his car! When you see the ravine at your window (valley was 1000 meters below so car fall would have been deadly) and you hear the tyres ripping on gravels that is a terrific experience...I just recall it like it was yesterday but it is more than 20 years ago :confused:
 
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A good friend of mine let me drive his Mercedes A45 AMG last year . I could take it to some of our twisty backroads. Such a fun car to drive even tho it's not as lightweight as you might think. But because of the super stiff suspension and AWD, it was an amazing experience!
 
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Any time I drive a rental car, ANY rental car. Full throttle, no mercy, no regrets. Oh! and every time I get on my Abarth 595... :)
 
Some fantastic posts above! Some of you guys have driven some very exciting cars at dream locations.

Slightly more “normal” is my best ever drive which is a Mustang GT through some beautiful Yorkshire countryside and hills a few years back in the summer, was great
 

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1. Most Crazy was for sure driving 210km/h in my 1989 Honda CRX on the Autobahn end of the 90s. Felt for sure like 300km/h in a modern car. :D Near dead experience :confused:

2. Most impressive was driving a BMW Z3 M32 with about 320hp, 100kilometers long. A friend of mine was cardealer and asked me if i want pick the car up with him.

3. Maybe the best future experience - i have booked some rounds Audi R8 in Oschersleben in April. Looking forward.
 
A peugeot 306. That gives you a new meaning on the word "driving"....

In fact it's so impressive that it makes you question driving!
 
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I drive/pilot my Audi TT MK3 Quattro 230 hp (it's quite sufficient) every day, summer and winter. Very fun to drive.
 
it hasn't happened yet, but in summer I'll have the chance to take a Caterham Super Seven for a few days around switzerland, france and germany. really looking forward to it, even though it's by far not as impressive as some stuff i've already read here :D
 

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