Mondello Vs. Rally School Ireland

[WhipLash]

Happy New Year to you all! Hope you all has a good break. Isn't just great to be back in work - NOT!

Just wondering if anyone has driven in either Mondello (http://www.mondello.ie) or Rally School of Ireland (http://www.rallyschoolireland.ie) circuits?

According to their web sites, the Introductory PDC Course at Mondello costs €204.97 for 2-2.5 hours. 4 Laps in a Rover 25Gti driven by your instructor, then 6 with you driving and with the instructor alongside, then 10 laps in a Formula Rover racing car.

A half a day at Rally School Ireland costs €177.76 for a Mark II Escort (rear wheel drive) over a 1km tarmac and gravel track (sideways, of course ;) ). You could go the full hog and fork out €355.53 for the Ultimate rally day, which also means you get to drive a Subaru Impreza Turbo 320bhp! :D

As a driving experience, how do these two experiences compare? Which one offers best value and trills for your Euro?

[Junior]

I'd take the full day in Rally School Ireland thank you.

[Phil]

I'm with Junior. The Rally school Ireland sounds the dogs bol...

Is anyone interested in meeting up for a day and taking one of these escorts out for an old spin? :D

Any other ideas welcome.

[Junior]

There will be a few of us from a few sites [eob.com maxed-ie.net] going to a track day soon, I'd advise to come along and take a look anyways if your not interested in racing it is a good days sport watching other idiots thrash their cars to an inch of their lifes.

[Phil]

Cheers Junior,

Let me know when you's are meeting up. I would be interested in tagging along.

[528i]

Ive got the introductory PDC at mondello booked for early Feburuary & will report back to HQ - given the choice i'd opt for monaghan but this was a gift so hey.. they were frankly appauled at the suggestion of swapping afew the laps in the 25GTi for a zoom around in the bmw - crazy talk about insurance & rovers being fast enough... said to join a porsche club or something..:mad:

[Phil]

Hey Junior/ 528i, if any of you's bring a camera, why not take a few snaps and stick them up on the forum. It would ideal to see what the day out is like.

[littlefitzer]

Did anyone see that Mondello advanced school on 'Drive' the other night?? IMHO it didn't do much to sell it to me...in fact it made it look quite **** indeed!! I reckon I'd much prefer spend (waste!!!) my money on the Rallying!! You didn't seem to get much for your money...what was it 4 laps in the rover and then 4 in the single seater....whoop-de-doo!! Not exactly value fro money, eh?

[Phil]

Its not looking good for Mondello.

Rally School Ireland seems to be the clear winner.
As whippy said above, you can't beat the Mark II Escort (rear wheel drive) over a 1km tarmac and gravel track (sideways, of course ).

I think i'll be making a present to myself and taking the escort out for an old spin ;)

[WhipLash]

Yeah, agreed littlefitzer. To me the Mondello experience looked, well, rather lame. That Rover 214 suited a woman driver right down to the ground though! :D

Somehow I think sliding a car sideways across gravel and tarmac sounds like much better fun all together. I'd imagine that you'd get much more excitement and trills out of the rally experience. And at least you won’t be driving as fast as at Mondello, so each lap won’t appear to be as short.

[Junior]

Now lads lest we forget you hardly need a rally school to put a car sideways ??? Phil you must have tried to get that Bimmer of yours outta shape [on purpose] a few times ???

Theres nothing in the world to compare to the experience of Arse Drive Cars... so much so that theres a few of us thinking of building one a RWD Corrado

[Phil]

Originally posted by 528i
Ive got the introductory PDC at mondello booked for early Feburuary & will report back to HQ - given the choice i'd opt for monaghan but this was a gift so hey.. they were frankly appauled at the suggestion of swapping afew the laps in the 25GTi for a zoom around in the bmw - crazy talk about insurance & rovers being fast enough... said to join a porsche club or something..:mad:

Hi 528i

Any news on Mondello?

Interested to find out what the experience was like, especially for all that money.

[Racer]

Mondello PDC Basic course is as follows

5 laps in a 1800 Rover GTi (Instructor Driving VERY fast)

8 laps in a 1800 Rover GTi (U driving)

8 laps in a Single seater

Advanced courses are as above but with a lot more laps!

Rally school Ireland
About 4 laps in a Mk2
Another 4 laps in a Mk2
5/6 laps in a Gp N Subaru

The RSI IMO was absolutely useless, the cars are not all that well prepped, the track is nutting but slow slow corners and the instructors don't let U "push it" at all.

In the Impreza the FASTEST we got up to was 40mph for a split second and that was in FOURTH gear, if U even attempt to bring the revs above 4000 (ie the Turbo) you get a bolloxing by the instructor..

To illustrate how much U ae being held back in the Boobaru.... I paid extra for a few laps in a Ka where the instructor lets U at it and was just 1.5 seconds off the time I did in the Impreza!!


So I'd go for the PDC but to be honest the best bet would be to take ur road car to a track day!!

Hope this helps

Barry

[Phil]

Thanks for the info Racer. Yeah the RSI sounds as much fun as watching paint dry.

Just on the track days, I belive you are not allowed to overtake.( only on the straights)

Do you find yourself stuck behind slower drivers alot of the time, and if so can you over take on the corners without getting a bolloxing from the organisers?

[Junior]

Alrite Barry !

Phil you can overtake ... but it's more the driver in front moves out of the way rather than you chancing a diving down the inside under braking for the hairpin on the last lap while your slightly sideways manovure.

It's all about concentration and being polite.

[Phil]

Originally posted by Junior
Phil you can overtake ...

Yes would you belive that I can overtake with the best of them. Its wether or not I can lap you is the real question. :D

[Junior]

That sounds like fighting talk ...

I must find out when the next track day at Mondello is ... Would you be up for trying to beat a measly 1.6 with your BM ?

[WhipLash]

Originally posted by Junior
Would you be up for trying to beat a measly 1.6 with your BM ?

If you're talking about the 106, then isn't that a bit of an under statement Junior? A Pug 106 Gti (plus whatever modifications) is hardly a measly 1.6 now, especially considering the power to weight ratio?

But then again, I suppose it doesn’t have real wheel drive :D

[Aido]

I did the single seater in Mondello a couple of years ago. Did about 4 or 5 laps in a zetec fiesta and then ten laps in a single seater. It had a 1.6 vw engine. You started in third gear and was like a tractor to drive. Even the lap times were just written in pen. I tried to brake a little late for one corner and spun a little but it never showed up on the times! You'd have more fun driving from Naas to Mondello, if you had a nice BM! What you got Phil?

[Racer]

that must be a while ago you did the course Aido.? I drove one of them Formula V's your talking about and your right the were not he best!

Its a LOT LOT better now, all times a re printed off the computer timing system , they use Rover 1800GTi's and Formula Rover single seaters aswell as Vauxhall Juniors..