Supercar drive day Week 1 winner announced

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By Paul Maric | May 18th, 2009

It was a very tough selection process. With in excess of 500 entries there was a lot of work to be done over the weekend by the judging panel – David Twomey, Matt Brogan and Paul Maric.

The winner of Week 1′s competition gets access to a full day behind the wheel of up to five supercars, taking in both the aural and visual delights of their surroundings and teamed machinery.

The winning entry from CarAdvice reader Dion Knowles read as follows:

Nurburgring, Germany. A sighter in the M5 Ring Taxi, followed by an afternoon lapping in the ultimate German sports car, the Porsche 911. Is good, yah?

As with the rest of our winners, we’ll get back in touch with them to see what they thought of the once in a lifetime experience, courtesy of Octane Supercar Events which will be sure to earn them bragging rights for many years to come!

Congratulations Dion and make sure you get entering into week 2 of the competition if you weren’t successfull with week 1.

Nick

Well done mate!!!
crouchy

Well the creativity has blown me over!!!!!!! I can only assume that it was pulled out of a hat???
http://www.caradvice.com.au Paul Maric

Crouchy:

With all due respect, your entry was certainly nothing to write home about, likewise with your spelling.

Congratulations to Dion, no doubt he’ll have a super time!
Alex

Really? Over 500 to choose from and that was the best? Oh well, congratulations Dion.
http://www.AUSringers.com Liam

Haha, love your work guys!
http://www.caradvice.com.au Paul Maric

If you guys think you can do better, by all means go for it!

We will hopefully have something special for the final week of our draw…we will have more information as it comes to hand.
BrisVegas

Just goes to show it’s always worth entering these things. You never know what will get the judges’ attention.
Alex

Oh I don’t think I can do better, but it would be nice if you’d bring your reasons home a bit and publish some of the bad ones. Especially Crouchy’s; you’ve intrigued me.
crouchy

Haha yes please post mine.. i have forgotten what i wrote. Last time i checked the requirements i didn’t see anything about correct spelling though!

By no means did i expect to win and i’m not saying that mine was better but I was just expecting something a little more creative, thats all.

Thanks for the comment though Paul. Giving stick to someone who spends half his day enjoying your website is quite frankly unprofessional. For your information, i suffer from an intellectual disorder and if you look back over my comments you may recognize a pattern. I try my best to spell correctly and contribute to a website which i have great respect for.

I am saddened to say that you have disappointed me. Imagine if football umpires bit back at everyone who questioned their work?
Mookey Stik

Congrats Dion – am green with envy – enjoy
http://www.caradvice.com.au Paul Maric

Crouchy:

There were no spelling requirements.

I was merely suggesting it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Alex:

Not going to happen.

The results were drawn at the judges’ discretion. Dion’s entry hit the nail right on the head, he told us about his favorite race track and supercar and included a play on a common German phrase.

Of of the 8 finalists, Dion’s entry attracted the most votes by the judges and was drawn as the winner. Trust me, there’s no conspiracy in the CarAdvice office to defraud our readers.
B-Man

Time to grow up Crouchy.
crouchy

Cheers for the advice B-Man, i will definately take that on board…

Out of interest i was surprised to see the results of the current poll. Would have thought that the full throttle special would really appeal to people on here but it seems this is what they want the least of..
BrisVegas

Wow! I Had my drive day today in Brisbane. I’m still buzzing hours after it ended, so I thought I’d share my thoughts with you all.

The car lineup was:-

Lamborghini Gallardo manual
Ferrari F430 Spider F1 paddleshift
Aston Martin Vantage manual
Audi R8 manual
Lotus Exige manual

The Lambo & Fezza were incredible. I think the Lambo was a little quicker and more impressive ultimately, but the Ferrari was so easy to drive fast and the sound once the exhaust valves opened up was intoxicating. I could see myself driving it into a tree though, such is the fascination of the massive yellow tacho, the paddle shift and the steering wheel manettino settings. I thought I’d just leave it in ‘auto’ and focus on staying on the road but that lasted about a minute. The car loves to rev and the pop and crackle on overrun mean it’s much better to use the paddles and keep it a gear or two lower than the auto would have you in. I drove the F430 over Mt Glorious on some pretty wet and slippery roads, yet it never gave me any moments of fear at all. It was comfortably light to steer and the cornering and braking were excellent. Noticeably lighter than cars like the Vantage and Gallardo. I could imagine a good driver would be able to wring it’s neck on the track and it would take it in it’s stride. Amazing car. Did I mention the sound it makes?!

The Gallardo was quite simply a brutal car. I can only imagine what the Murcielago is like to drive. The 500hp Gallardo might be the baby Lambo, but driving it was an ‘event’. The controls are heavy and the ergonomics are extreme, but once you let it have it’s head, it all makes sense. At low-middling revs, it’s actually a bit of a chore to drive. I wouldn’t want to drive one everyday. The Audi and Ferrari were much ‘lighter’ and easier to toodle around at 5/10th’s in. However, the Lambo looks outrageous, sounds incredible on song and carries the biggest stick. What’s not to like?

The Audi R8 was the easiest to drive by miles. Plenty of power and a lovely exhaust rumble, but just so easy to drive. The shape of the thing is gorgeous and easily the most modern of the group. It’s the car to jump in and feel at home in straight away. It’s wonderfully German in it’s design and function. Everything works and feels right. If you can drive a VW, the R8 will feel familiar straight away. For a supercar that you could comfortably drive every day, this is a no brainer.

The Vantage was a very cool car. It’s arguably the best shape of the group and the one that’s the least ostentatious. Whilst it looks nuggety and nimble, it is actually pretty heavy and ‘masculine’ to drive. It felt like a much larger car to drive than it was. The Vantage had a wonderful deep exhaust note and plenty of mid-range pulling power. The interior of the Vantage was probably the most cossetting. The Vantage would be a very easy car to consume highway miles in. All class.

The Lotus Exige was just mental. It’s tiny, bum-on-the-ground low, rough, fidgety, noisy and hot to drive. But the harder you pressed on, the better it went. The supercharged 1.8 Toyota motor sounded like a blender crushing ice behind your ears, but it kept the ‘big boys’ honest. I suspect on a track, it would give the heavier supercars a hiding. I’m 6’2″ and 100kg and I was a bit concerned I wouldn’t get into the Exige. It took a bit of contorting, but once inside, there was plenty of legroom and headroom and the view of the road was fine. As a weekend toy, I can see why they’re so addictive. I think I’d have to get the soft top Elise though. The convertible roof would make it feel a bit less claustrophobic.

I had an awesome day and it was very hard to get back into my Fiesta for the drive home afterwards. I’ve been reading about these supercars in magazines and on the web for years. Many thanks to caradvice for giving me the chance to experience them first hand. I’m very grateful for the experience.

Thanks also to the crew at Octane Supercar Events and my guides Libby and Tony. For anyone thinking about treating themselves or someone they know, do it. It’s extremely memorable.

Dion