MB World - Kid's Driving

[st13phil]

So, has anyone taken kids (theirs or those of relatives/friends!) to MB World and let them have a go at the Stars Driving Experience?

My wife and I are considering buying the Stars Driving Experience Plus package as a gift for the twin 14-year old sons of some good friends of ours and we'd like any feedback - both good and bad - anyone who's actually done it can give. How well it's organised, how much actual driving two kids who have some quad-bike driving experience are likely to get in their 60 minute sessions (safety's important, but some of these things turn into a 45 minute safety briefing, 5 minutes behind the wheel and a 10 minute debriefing ), and any other info about how well they get looked after would be very welcome.

 

[R2D2]

My kids have driven Automatic A Classes at MBWorld. They loved it! They drove on the old brooklands straight (v slowly) and then they did steering excercises around cones, corners and a slalom.

 

[Moose]

Not kids, but I did the complementary drivers experience and it was very good and very professional.
About 5 minutes safety brief followed by a few hours driving on tarmac and offroad.

 

[gbjeppm]

My son did it for his 16th birthday, one session of 30 mins, and he probably drove the A class Auto for about 15 mins, on the straight bits of the brooklands track. They don't really get above 20 mph, but the instructor was good and he quite enjoyed it.

It is geared up for repeat business, they give you a driver card, and the better and more often you drive, the better car you can drive, if you do it enough you can drive an SLK, but I think you could probably have bought one, by the time they let your kids drive one.

I actually think it is targeted at the younger drivers 8 yrs plus, rather than those approaching being a Learner. He was actually quite embarassed when he went at 16, with other much younger kids from his school also doing it.

Hope this helps, don't get me wrong, it is well organised, and reasonable value.

 

[st13phil]

Thanks for the info, chaps. I had wondered what age range it was aimed at and guessed that it was perhaps not aimed at those almost old enough to get a provisional licence. How old were your kids when they did it R2D2?

 

[vijilants]

Hi, I took mine down this year....14 and 15 years old. One drove an auto and the other drove a manual.

I must say that it may be a bit pricey but its a really good experience for them !!!!! They had a great time !

 

[Gollom]

Hi, I took mine down this year....14 and 15 years old. One drove an auto and the other drove a manual.

I must say that it may be a bit pricey but its a really good experience for them !!!!! They had a great time !

How much are we talking about?

 

[R2D2]

Thanks for the info, chaps. I had wondered what age range it was aimed at and guessed that it was perhaps not aimed at those almost old enough to get a provisional licence. How old were your kids when they did it R2D2?

hmm 12 and 17 I think- they definately enjoyed it especially my lad who is now 13.

 

[jeremytaylor]

Our 7 year old is eating us out of house and home in a desperate attempt to reach the 1.5m height threshold!!

 

[st13phil]

Thanks again to all of you for sharing the info on your kids' experiences. I'll phone up MB-World and see what I can get booked up...

 

[vijilants]

How much are we talking about?

£120 for the two....although I read somewhere that this month they are giving 10 or 20 % discount.

 

[st13phil]

OK, I did the deed. 2 x £60 for an hour session each. No sign of a discount though. And I asked

 

[jeremytaylor]

Let us know what they think of it, please.

 

[st13phil]

Will do. It probably won't be until the spring that they do it, but I will definitely give an update afterwards.

 

[st13phil]

Well, almost 9 months on and we finally managed to get the boys to MB-World yesterday (Sat 27th) to have their Driving Experience. Frankly, it's amazing the number of weekends that weren't available due to their other commitments - tennis tournamants, football, etc - or holidays! Anyway, to the point...

They were both booked in for 2pm so we made a day of it and went to the Brooklands Museum as well. Dead on 2pm they were whisked off by their instructors in A-Class auto's and spent the next hour driving in and out of cones and practicing all sorts of low speed manouvres including reversing into parking bays, parallel parking and suchlike. They obviously displayed some sort of ability because both of them had a go at emergency stops from 40-ish mph, too. Both had good instructors and both really enjoyed it (not a bad achievement for two 15 year-old boys). As Matt says above, it's definitely geared up for repeat business but overall it was very good. Although there were a couple of younger kids there, most seemed to be in the 14+ age range so there was no embarrassment factor to deal with which was handy - but I guess that's just the luck of the draw.

The Brooklands museum is worth a look too. You get a modest discount on entrance fee if you buy your tickets in the MB-World Boutique and the ticket is valid for re-entrance on the same day, so you can alternate between the museum and MB-World if, like us, you have a fixed appointment with the latter in the middle of the day. As it was pretty quiet yesterday morning we managed to get on the Concorde "flight" which was both informative and, for anyone who has a soft spot for that particular bird, quite emotional. When they played Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" over film of the last take off and landing of Concorde during the "flight" it brought a lump to the throat.

The boys enjoyed the exhibits at MB-World, too. Being able to "play" with £100k AMG cars just does something to 15 year-old males Gary, their father, who cam along with us was in an almost permanent state of ecstacy every time he looked at the 300SL Gullwing and, in fact, we couldn't keep him away from the thing

All in all, a good day out.