Drive a Supercar in India Without Buying One!


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Who among us would not want to drive a supercar, any supercar at least once before we are done and dusted? Now that almost all iconic supercar brands are available in India, the only thing that keeps an enthusiast away from owning one is CASH (which is always short in supply).

Consider the fact that any supercar, starting from the 'budget' ones (if you could call them so) M5s, AMGs, EVO Xs, etc. to the exotic 458s, DBSs, Ageras, Gallardos, etc. would cost anything between Rs. 1 crore to (think of a figure and put it here[cry]) in India, owning (and consequently, driving) a these fantastic machines would remain a distant dream for most, if not all of us car enthusiasts.

I remember reading an interview of Damon Hill where he was telling about p1international - the supercar club partnered by him in the UK that lets it's members drive any of the 32 supercars owned by the club for payment of a stipulated annual fee - the idea behind this being that ownership of a supercar is a massively depreciating proposition and that's why it keeps even the well-off people from owning one; but most people who have the money AND a desire to drive a supercar without wanting to get into actual ownership would not mind paying an amount equivalent to the fraction of the cost of a supercar if they get to drive them every now and then in return.

I am glad to announce that such an initiative has begun in India too[clap].

Club Torque, a Mumbai based outfit, has announced that it shall lend it's supercars (at present limited to the Ferrari F430, Audi R8, Mercedes E-Class Cabriolet, Porsche 911 Carrera, and the BMW Z4) to persons who agree to become the members of it's club. Some of the salient features are:

- Membership fee - Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh
- Registation fee Rs 1.5 lakhs
- 3 levels of membership
- Track days, factory visits, etc could be organized for members.
- More supercars to be added to the club in the future

More info at .. Club Torque ..

Time to stop the payment for that budget hatchback and log on !
 

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350Z

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Fantastic news, I’d love to take even a short stint in Z on Buddh International Circuit. Is it one time membership fee? Still expensive for a common man though.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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Is it one time membership fee? Still expensive for a common man though.
Still expensive !! You are putting it very lightly Vibhor. This is way to expensive and in India most of us (not all) would think, let me buy a good car in 15 lakhs rather take a membership and drive these super cars. I think, Mercs decision to offer AMG classes at Budh circuit is better and relevantly cheaper. I think, it is 75k if one does not own a Merc and 50k for person owning one.
 
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Is it one time membership fee?

Drive Safe,
350Z
Nope Vibhor. It's annual. But then, what sounds better - " I have Rs 6.5 lakhs in my bank" or "Listen, grandson, today I will tell you the story about a day in 2012, when I drove a Ferrari F430" ?
 
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It is a very novel initiative, although may not be for general public like us mere mortals. But there is a lot of junta out there which can spend something like this to drive multitude of super cars for certain days of an year. Owning a supercar has enormous costs which sometimes are not justified in a country like ours. But still there are many who have many, that is a different point altogether.

In terms of automobiles my dream is to drive a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari one day. I dont see myself owning one anytime [cry] So this provides a dream to dream about.

Anyway I have heard that membership is only through referral only. Is that the case?
 
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Though a good initiative it's still a bit costly! Compared to buying a super car this fee is relatively cheap but still spending 15Lakhs to drive a super car , i am not super excited about this!
 
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Its a no for me guys,15 lacs(or even 5.5 lacs) is too much for driving a supercar for some days per year.
And about those company visits etc,even they may also having some condition apply *'s placed on the name of them.
Well,my way is simple,instead of spending some 15-20 lacs(15 lacs+5 lacs expenses) per year for driving one supercar,I'd like to book 3 flats out of them and will make about 25-30 lacs at then end of the year,then again will circulate this money in the market for 4-5 years and then buy a second hand super car like a Porsche 911 or BMW Z4 for me for about 25-30 lacs.Till,then I'd be more happy to prepare to tell my grandsons(If I live till then)that I have 3-4 crores in my account instead of saying I'd have had so much money if I'd have now burnt 15 lacs in 2012 for driving a Porsche.My Laura TSI is more than a Lambo for me because it is mine....
 
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Though good initiative, this idea works better in case of charter planes than super cars. And rather than spending 15L+ as rent to drive these cars, why not buy a nice 15L car itself ??

And if someone is hell bound to drive these cars, go to Germany, Italy & try out all these cars at fraction of the cost.

@sam,

Forget grandsons, & if one wants to tell the story, why not drive on Buddh circuit the Merc AMG for 75k ? Best bang for buck + you get trained from professional drivers too. So, it is win-win situation here.
 
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Membership fee - Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh
- Registation fee Rs 1.5 lakhs
This is quite a lot.
In Italy you can actually drive Ferrari by paying some amount for Laps or for hours, which in my opinion is affordable. There should be something like this.
 
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Not at all a plan for India...the Enthusiast membership level is also way too expensive !! 6 Lakhs for 20 days of driving, I am sure there are going to be very less buyers for that.

Only the people with big bucks around here(which they do not have any idea on how to spend) would do that.
I have heard there are already 4 members of this club and all have opted for the Elite membership which costs a whooping 15 Lakhs with 80 days of driving per yr.

There's a lot those people could do with that money though, won't go into the details !! Just my opinion...
 
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i agree with everyone..its waaay very expensive but well maybe its good for upper middle class also who have money but cant afford to own and maintain supercar. merc driving academy will give only merc to drive on track for some hours but this club will give you different super cars!
 
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Someone who has lots (and i mean LOTS) of disposable income won't bother about shelling out a million or so every year for the charisma that comes after having driven a Ferrari. The people who would pay up for this privilege would not be the ones who wish to invest Rs 15 lakhs in a piece of land and then plan out to invest the piecemeal earnings derived out if it in various other investments to accumulate the returns and buy something else after 10 or 20 years. The targeted members are the ones would rather see this as a chance to join a privileged club in order to rub in it's associated snob value and improve their networking with other similarly super rich people in the country, while getting an opportunity to do something that is considered extremely glamorous in the rich man's world - driving a supercar.

Its high time we came out of discussing the value-for-money aspect of this venture. It's definitely not value for money but then, it was never meant to be that either.
 
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Audi R8 over rest ?

Just wanted to ask fellow TAIans, how many of you would pick Audi R8 over Lambo, Porsche 911 or Ferrari ? The design concept of R8 is radically different & its reviews on circuit is also good. And since Audi purchased Lambo, many good things from Lambo were incorporated in R8.
 
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Re: Audi R8 over rest ?

Just wanted to ask fellow TAIans, how many of you would pick Audi R8 over Lambo, Porsche 911 or Ferrari ? The design concept of R8 is radically different & its reviews on circuit is also good. And since Audi purchased Lambo, many good things from Lambo were incorporated in R8.
Well first i must say 15 lk one would want some performance they would pick up a Cruz.Or go abroad & rent a car for a drive instead.
Well as for the R8 one guy who i am not really close to has one,i did not like that V8, atleast the way it sounds,as for the Lambo the V10 is amazing ( gallardo in my area) so i would pick a "V10 Audi R8" its 90 odd lakhs cheaper than lp560 & have the GT kit installed you should have 560 ps from your R8,besides the v10Audi has very nice interiors in comparison to the Lambo,if it was my money would pick the R8 v10 but in any other colour than silver(it looks bland) so a blue or the white ones.
 
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Would you hire a Supercar?

I've been lately seeing a lot of Supercars around in Mumbai and I am just thinking whether these are bought or available on rent?

Also is it possible to do that?
 

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