Ok, finally got a lot of seat time today. For the first time in what might be ever, I drove my car aimlessly. I met up with a buddy of mine who to put it mildly is auto obsessed. He currently drives a 2013 911S and a 2013 M5, with a huge resumé of previous sportscars. I find it informing to both drive and be a passenger so this afforded that opportunity. Before I bore you with details, in a nutshell, this car is a properly sorted bullseye. For its intended purpose this baby checks every box and then some. So how does it do that?
Might as well start with the weakest link, which happens to prove how far the engineers went with this car, the tranny. Slush box torque converter, yes. Brilliantly programmed, yes. My friend was much more instructive in this regard coming from dual clutch cars. For example, he pointed out quickly that this system will take two quick downshifts and skip the middle gear. I would never have thought to do that. The car performs this exercise well. If you are thinking of doing three, it won't do that, it will hit one gear between. The shifts are appropriately abrupt under throttle, and certainly not too lazy on light throttle. I had read something about it sniffing for gears, no way. This thing holds gears all day long. We have a 135M and this car puts that system to complete shame. Now I have rode in the 911 and felt the punch in the small of the back that is the .00001 second dual clutch shift. It ain't that. But it is appropriately crisp, and twists the chassis just the right amount to give it authority.
Might as well move on to the strongest link. The suspension. My god the suspension. Skyhook schmeyehook, a manual solid state shock can blow the electronic stuff out of the water and set a new standard for street suspension. It is incredible. It has feel, incredible small bump and imperfection compliance, along with feedback. It is so incredibly composed, and at this point I am including chassis parts too, that the package overall has become greater than the sum of its parts. I took off camber, rutty, bumpy, notorious sweepers that have upset every car I have dared point in their direction. This car laughed. It is unflappable and nonchalant. What is so great about that? This car doesn't just give confidence. It inspires it. I don't know how to explain it, but the car feels natural. The tires do not hurt this equation, their level of grip is a mystery and where it ends nobody knows.
Steering. Yes, it is good. Really good. For me it is very close to our former 330zhp. Not quite go kart, but on the way. My friend appreciated that it was precise. There is no slop in this steering column. I personally like the steering weight set to heavy and I find that a good balance with getting feedback from the tires. The other thing I noticed, the stronger you turn the sharper it gets. I like this, a lot. This is a combination of a bunch of things obviously, but the totally cool thing is that sharpness does not get upset with chunkier, it acts just like you were taking a left turn on a green arrow. It is seriously uncanny.
The engine. My friends immediate comment, "This engine provides you a lot of special noises to remind you that you are driving something unique." The induction noise is a symphony. The rush of air seems to match your rush of adrenaline. For me the torque and throttle response are right on. It never feels artificial. Part of that is the exhaust. You can't fake it because the exhaust won't let you. Your civic might make a racket on neutral throttle with a fart cannon, but this thing doesn't even begin to sing until you provide just a little bit of angry permission. The power is smooth and progressive provided you are using the sport maps (speaking of which, that is all we drove it in, and that is all I will drive it in. Ever.) It has a well balanced torque curve and does not have obvious dead spots or tail off. I also especially like that it is not peak-y like a lot of turbos have, it has a nice build that puts you in a zone where you can grab gears and, actually, forget about the turbo. Something I keep coming back to, I find the power level appropriate. Appropriate seems like an odd comment but what I believe it informs is the overall balance and harmony of the various systems. Quite a setup, love modern technology.
I've spoken of the exhaust. It is perfection. The quiet stuff is really cool, I drive a Volvo so I do not shame my love of incognito. The sport note as I mentioned is like I said. Not artificial, it only speaks of purpose. Extremely well done.
And after that I was already sold but the interior of this car is very well thought out. Obviously I mentioned the seats. My friend immediately said they reminded him of the 911 and that is a VERY high compliment because those bits are a work of art. Without my instigating, he also noted the beauty of the steering wheel with the leather outer and nubuck interior to my great pleasure, it provides such a great tactile feel. Something odd, but very noteworthy, is the upper door trim provides a perfect resting spot for your elbow. He actually mentioned he has never had a car that felt so good resting his arm on because there is a nice concave depression in that trim. And although a lot of cars have it, a telescoping steering wheel is a great thing to bring the drivers position into a real sporting race position for steering. No hard plastics here, even the bits that are not natural have a refined softness to them.
The brakes you think are easy. Well, I have six pots on our BMW and honestly I've never liked them and still don't due to some latency issues that no amount of bleeding can seem to resolve. These are perfect. Super linear with excellent feel both going on and off them. Gobs and gobs of power. They are an afterthought until you start to actually think about them.
So we were at the end of our drive. My friend was very impressed and summed it up quickly, "very enjoyable." That is this car. No nonsense, no fakery, an honest and enjoyable ride that is more than capable. I thought I was getting something special and I have come to find that what I received was something that isn't derivative or even iterative, it is a singular experience that perfectly attains a well thought out goal. Mission accomplished. Did I mention the stereo kicks ass?