Have you ever wondered what it’s like to drive a Ferrari or Lamborghini? Not on the street, but where it’s most at home on a racetrack? If so, Toronto Motorsports Park’s (TMP) Exotic Dream Car Experience is your gateway to crossing this desire off your life’s bucket list.
Located 90 minutes southwest of downtown Toronto in a community called Cayuga, TMP is a multi-purpose racing facility that offers open car lapping, drag racing, single-seat Formula vehicle racing, open motorcycle lapping, and of course, the Exotic Dream Car Experience that we were invited to experience.
Participants get to choose from a small fleet of four vehicles: A Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo, Nissan GT-R, and a Porsche 911 Turbo with a manual transmission. The fleet is not shiny nor brand-new, but this helps make the experience an affordable, friendly, and accessible one for all car enthusiasts.
Anyone with a driver’s license in good standing (Canadian and International) can register, even if you only have a learner’s permit (G1) since there is an instructor sitting with you while driving. There is also no minimum age requirement.
And do not be intimidated. The event is well-organized, and you get to drive at your own pace with expert instruction along the way. You can purchase as many laps as you want within your time slot, and you can even have your driving experience recorded for you on a USB key as a memento for a nominal fee.
Regardless of which sports car you choose, the hair-raising roar of its engine climbing to its red line on the 1.8-km track is thrilling. Putting your chosen car through its paces and experiencing its steering, braking, and handling prowess firsthand are unforgettable, enlightening experiences.
If you have never driven on a track, you will be left breathless and amazed at how these cars have been engineered to remain stable and composed even when cornering hard and driven at their limits repeatedly.
We recommend buying at least 3 laps for the best experience. You can always buy more laps on-the-fly in addition to a “hot lap” experience where the track’s owner, former Canadian endurance racing champion Uli Bieri, will take you around the track at breakneck speed so you will know how a sports car is meant to be driven.
For those interested in buying an exotic car but have never driven one, the Exotic Dream Car Experience can help you evaluate whether such a class of vehicle is one you would truly like to invest in based on other important considerations seating comfort, visibility, ingress/egress, and how loud they are. For others, an experience like this can reinforce your love for cars and motivate you to work even harder so you can purchase the special cars you love and aspire to own someday.
