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-   -   Club Torque : Drive a Super Car in India *without* owning one (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super-cars-imports-india/115492-club-torque-drive-super-car-india-without-owning-one-3.html)

Excellent initiative. Challenge will be to make sure the cars are maintained in top-notch condition and not abused (like most rentals are).

This is a very investment heavy business, do they have plans on purchasing used (but in excellent condition) cars to rent out? Some excellent deals around.

All said and done, being who I am, if I was able to comfortably allocate 15L a year I wouldn't take up the elite membership. I'd just save/invest for 5-6 years and purchase my own sports car (even if it is an entry level kind). As a true petrol head, I find half the fun of owning a car in maintaining it myself :)

The guys seem to be reasonable and have done their homework. I'm pretty sure they'll come up with a solution that keeps the member happy in this situation. Remember, experience is everything and you want your customers to renew their membership every year.

They are aware that they cannot control what grade of petrol a customer fills in the Porsche 911 (for instance). However, they are greatly relying on the community aspect and that members take care of the cars for other members (and thus, themselves).

To answer your question, if there isn't a choice (say, on the highway), I guess regular petrol. Club Torque should probably experiment with octane boosters.

Nope. They cannot.

P.S. : ARE YOU KIDDING!! I'd be worried about points lasting beyond 2 - 3 months for me, and not whether I have a backlog to carry forward :)

There is a legal term for that = Misrepresentation rl:

Ah, I remember those roads from an official test drive. Boy, they are a petrolhead's dream.

That's a great suggestion, if they have a hotel or two in the business group. The scheme is called EPCG and we do have a dedicated thread on it (LINK)

Most (if not all) of the cars you see here have been bought used. The Ferrari F430, for example, was bought from a gentleman who only drove it for 500 kms.

Or add a diesel to the fleet :D (Seriously though, 640d, or something from the new //M diesel line-up).


A related thread :
Octane Boosters - Do they really work?

cya
R

Think what will be the impression when someone tells her that "oh that car is a rented one" :uncontrol

Oh yes i know the concept, but forgot the word "EPCG" :)

but won't that be illegal?
if you have imported a car in EPCG scheme for your hotel or resort - then it is strictly for that usage only. the cars are also registered under taxi quota - which means that the driver needs to have a professional licence and needs to be in uniform.

or am i misinformed?

Excellent report and fantastic video.

Just wish they had a by-the-hour or by-the-day scheme and we would not have to pay so much.

What was the maximum speed you reached while driving and in which car ?

Great write up GTO. Amazing concept and the right timing to launch in India. Supercars are difficult to enjoy on our roads and the Club should have included more details on track events in India and abroad. An association with Buddh Circuit like AMG's academy is needed. I'm sure, they would had several more people signing up for such a program.

I strongly believe as an auto enthusiast, these cars need to be enjoyed on the track and should not be used as a piece of "show" on our congested roads.

Now since we have an international standard racetrack n India, sport car manufacturers should start their driver programs like AMG's. God! Its just getting better for us auto enthusiasts in India.

I told about this scheme to a friend of mine & he said contradicted to the schemes. this what is said:


Elite - 10000points and 80 days...
Sports - 5000points and 40days..

Comes to 125points/day

Which leaves you to take Z4 or Merc and that too just on weekdays..

Which defeats the points that:
1. Member will either be able to enjoy Allotted days with these 2cars..

2. Merc becomes one of the TWO options and maybe that is why it is a hit option amongst existing member (and maybe not bcoz it is so awesome)

Members will run out of points before they run out of days and that is something a member will have to be constantly aware of.

The chances are that most people would want to enjoy them on weekends and the pricing conveniently brings the days figure to half that way.

Time Share has always been a matter of regret. Does everyone agree with this analysis?

This is my dream come true. Now to work hard, save up more cash and drive the R8 and the 911 Turbo.

- Did you have some kind of head-mounted camera? How did you get the inside cabin video?

- Keeping the camera outside the car, facing backwards was a good idea. When the Ferrari accelerated from standstill, the autos/cars behind you became a speck within 3 or 4 seconds. You probably hit 100 kph by then!

I always used to wonder what the acceleration fuss was all about - Laura 1.8 TSi hits 100kph in 8 seconds and these supercars hit that mark in 4 seconds. Well, now I know!

- How is the steering feel/feedback from the Audi & Porsche? The steering is supposed to inspire confidence at 300 kph. So how do they feel at 30 kph? Does it feel heavy at low speeds?

- Was there a "uh oh!" moment? Did you scrape the bottom or the bumper anywhere?

This is superb. In Chicago I know there is a club which offered driving experience to people for like 150$ or so (through coupons) on this nearby race track. I drove a f430 as part of this offer. It was truly an amazing experience . The cars that we drove were their old lot as I think they were upgrading their fleet.But still driving a ferrari on a track was an amazing experience. I hope even in India such clubs open and maybe one day they have such events. All the best to Club Torque

I got sold out on two things in this thread-

1. The concept and the cars - the financials and the tax benefit will grab the attention of many. They have to be very very strict about who they give membership to. A screening and personal "interview" procedure should be in place. I won't be surprised if they check previous history of the potential customer (as a driver)

2. And the video shoot *drool* - I am sure a "How we shot the Club Torque Video" thread should be in place

Wow, that was a very well-edited video with awesome natural sound effects!
Surely the Ferrari was the hero of the show with the Porsche doing a close sidekick. Rest of them was more like guest appearances :)

Great concept indeed. Any team-bhpians in the member list so far?

Yes, the vehicle under the excise/customs rebate policy (EPCG) for tourism purposes has to have a taxi registration (yellow with black lettering) and has to have a licensed driver (taxi license). Proof of this is when you see any five/four/three star hotel cars (they have their logo on the doors) are all in taxi registration.

A fellow tbhpian i think has a hotel :D and its very famous for its food, you could try asking him he's V-16 (that's his nick).

Any and sundry driver cannot drive it, Honestly i'd really hate to see a yellow number plate and number on the sides on a ferrari. :Shockked:

Brilliant concept ! I always wondered why no body had started this in India already. If not for the love of cars, there are several who would simply join for the bragging rights in our status conscious society. However on the downside as this gets popular those kind of members would get filtered out as if they ever would land up buying a supercar people would still think its rented :p