π
2014-04-30 01:01
in Cars, Ncars
The last 2 times I did this, I had a great time, but like the other participants, it was difficult to appreciate the cars on the same footing and compare them when you drove them on totally different pieces of road. However, Ruch nicely agreed to do a long drive for us where we drove all 6 cars on the fun and twisty portion of the route.
This made the whole drive a bit over twice as long (and of course raised the price which is fair), and it was sooo worth it.
I think the only minus we had was being tired at the end of the day. If that's the worst that happened, it was a great day :)
drivers meeting
And here are the cars I drove in sequence:
Lotus Elise
Ok, I had driven the lotus the 2 other times already, it's not a bad car, but just not my favourite. I think my worry is that if there is a patch of water around a turn, or something unexpected, the car has no means to help you (stability control). That's fine on a track where you control the environment and can't hit a tree or a bike, but on the road, I'm not a fan.
I then switched to the Aston Martin. It's a great touring car, but it's obviously not super nimble when thrown in turns, and what's up with the RPM gauge turning backwards?
The F430 was nothing new for me, but I still loved it. The sound is great, and it did great with braking and turns:
After 3 cars, it as time for lunch and a bit of rest :)
And I was up for the Mercedes SLS. I expected it to be a heavy pig with a lot of grunt, but I was pleasantly surprised. It actually felt as nimble as the F430, and had more power. I actually liked it quite a bit:
Next, I got to try the Viper. Shifting on it is a workaround, and it scares me a bit because it has a lot of power and I don't trust the car to do much or anything to keep me on the road. The torque and grunt were just amazing, and so was the noise. It will put a smile on you while taking you to your death :)
And I finished with the 2013 GTR. It's definitely fast, does well around turns, and basically works no matter how badly you drive it :) It sure goes fast, but that kind of feels like cheating a bit..
While last year I was a bit disppointed by the shorter loop compared to my first time, this drive was awesome. We were all beat by the end of the day, and we got a real chance to try each car on an equal footing. It was well worth the time and money. Thanks Ruch for setting up this special drive for us. |
