It’s time to get fully tracked when you go tank driving in Hampshire! This half day experience near Winchester includes lots of tanks and other classic military hardware for you to get to grips with as you spend several hours at the venue test driving some of the best war zone paraphernalia out there.
You will have the run of this huge private estate so there’s plenty of room to go rumbling around in a variety of genuine military equipment mashing up the mud with those huge caterpillar tracks. Many of the instructors at this centre are former serving soldiers so have first hand experience of these tanks and military vehicles in combat and conflict settings and will show how to get the best out of these special pieces of kit.
Your half day starts with registration and a full safety briefing. All drivers are divided into groups (usually five to one instructor) and rotate around the following activities with approximately 40 minutes spent on each activity. Over the morning or afternoon session you will drive three heavyweight vehicles and a quad bike ATV.
Chieftain Tank: The seminal British Army Main Battle Tank (MBT) that weighs in at a hefty 55tons and boasts high performance and firing power with 750bhp and a 195mm front turret gun.
Abbott SPG: This Self Propelled Gun is a fully tracked field artillery tank with a fully rotating 105mm turret. The crew of four (commander gunner loader and driver) can race across enemy lines at speeds of up to 29mph thanks to the Rolls Royce powerplant.
FV432 APC: The Armoured Personnel Carrier is essential for safely moving troops and gear around. Also known as the Trojan 3000 of these models were built until the early 1970s. A crew of two can transport up to 10 infantry and all their equipment at speeds of up to 32mp – and this APC is amphibious too!
Alvis Stormer Missile Launcher: It might look like a tank but this is actually a mobile platform for the Star Streak High Velocity Missile (HVM) system. You won’t be firing any today but you will be driving this 13.5 tonne hulk – and it’s got seven gears!
When you’re not driving on this half day tank driving experience in Hampshire you will most often be a passenger on the specially built viewing platforms on the tanks – so there’s plenty of time to take video footage and photos of these impressive machines. Your experience ends with a presentation of certificates and a look back on the day you got to realise these childhood tank driving dreams in Winchester!
