I test drove
this car today at Giallo. It’s done just over 31k miles, had a new clutch at 27+k, and felt like a tight, well maintained, car. The interior is also much nicer in the flesh than I thought it was going to be from the pictures.
Driving impressions were:
- Much smaller than my Granturismo (and feels it when sat in the drivers seat)
- The sport seats are “sportier”, with bigger side bolsters, and feels like a tighter fit (in a good way). They are also much firmer and feel lower. It’s a slightly harder car to get into and out of.
- The driving position felt good, and very clear view of the dials. I also really like the funny shape wheel and the carbon top half with the stripe to show you straight on.
- The ride is definitely a lot firmer, although we only really drove on a decent A road and a couple of decent quality main roads. Due to the timing and the weather, there wasnt much opportunity to really test the handling, but I did get a little twitch when accelerating off a roundabout
- the gear box would take me some time to get used to. It wasn’t at all bad, but just felt different, and the couple of times I tried to change gear without lifting slightly off the accelerator it was slightly jerky and a bit of a lag. However, it was smoother than I was expecting when going up the gears (e.g. 4th to 3rd).
- Exhaust note was quieter than my GTS, especially when not in Sport mode, but there was enough there to know you were driving a V8. It also got much better when in Sport mode.
- Road noise and amount of shudder from the road was also more noticeable
- Performance felt quick - maybe because it’s a little smaller, but it felt just as fast as my GTS
- Little things like air conditioning controls, petrol cap release, stereo, etc, all felt older and slightly retro / vintage.
Overall, I enjoyed the drive, and I now have a decision to make!