Which (refined) GT/Coupe please?
Discussion
I was all set on the 4.2 S5 a couple of years ago - and then with great anticipation I drove one.
Lovely looking car, nice interior, very competent and also pretty fast. Sadly it was also surprisingly dull to drive. No real sense of occasion despite the 4.2 V8. I'd previously owned the old 2.7 Bi_turbo S4 (tuned in fairness) and it was a great mix of classy refinement (for the day) and quite serious pace. I suspect the quite big torque from the remapped Bi-turbo engine helped. It was no sports car though but as a cruiser with effortless overtaking ability I liked a lot more than the 4.2 S5. Maybe the 4.2 N/A engine needed to be worked harder than I worked it.
Anyway the S5 just did not feel that "alive" but I think my mistake was thinking that it was going to be a sports car - it ain't. The AWD system is handy though.
I have the newer supercharged 5l version of the XKR now. That is a whole different story (and probably budget - at least for another few years). Big car though. Multistory parking is quite tense because it has a very long nose and the rear is a bit wider than the front. No embarrassing moments yet, apart from inadvertently spinning up the rears from standstill on a regular basis, oh and the exhaust heat shield coming lose and dragging along the road in the centre of Glasgow much to many people's amusement.
BMW 650i is a good shout for the money I suspect - apart from the execrable cup holder!
Always had a slight thing for the CL 500 too.
Probably no help at all but never mind.
TD
Lovely looking car, nice interior, very competent and also pretty fast. Sadly it was also surprisingly dull to drive. No real sense of occasion despite the 4.2 V8. I'd previously owned the old 2.7 Bi_turbo S4 (tuned in fairness) and it was a great mix of classy refinement (for the day) and quite serious pace. I suspect the quite big torque from the remapped Bi-turbo engine helped. It was no sports car though but as a cruiser with effortless overtaking ability I liked a lot more than the 4.2 S5. Maybe the 4.2 N/A engine needed to be worked harder than I worked it.
Anyway the S5 just did not feel that "alive" but I think my mistake was thinking that it was going to be a sports car - it ain't. The AWD system is handy though.
I have the newer supercharged 5l version of the XKR now. That is a whole different story (and probably budget - at least for another few years). Big car though. Multistory parking is quite tense because it has a very long nose and the rear is a bit wider than the front. No embarrassing moments yet, apart from inadvertently spinning up the rears from standstill on a regular basis, oh and the exhaust heat shield coming lose and dragging along the road in the centre of Glasgow much to many people's amusement.
BMW 650i is a good shout for the money I suspect - apart from the execrable cup holder!
Always had a slight thing for the CL 500 too.
Probably no help at all but never mind.
TD
TorqueDirty said:
I was all set on the 4.2 S5 a couple of years ago - and then with great anticipation I drove one.
Lovely looking car, nice interior, very competent and also pretty fast. Sadly it was also surprisingly dull to drive. No real sense of occasion despite the 4.2 V8. I'd previously owned the old 2.7 Bi_turbo S4 (tuned in fairness) and it was a great mix of classy refinement (for the day) and quite serious pace. I suspect the quite big torque from the remapped Bi-turbo engine helped. It was no sports car though but as a cruiser with effortless overtaking ability I liked a lot more than the 4.2 S5. Maybe the 4.2 N/A engine needed to be worked harder than I worked it.
Anyway the S5 just did not feel that "alive" but I think my mistake was thinking that it was going to be a sports car - it ain't. The AWD system is handy though.
I have the newer supercharged 5l version of the XKR now. That is a whole different story (and probably budget - at least for another few years). Big car though. Multistory parking is quite tense because it has a very long nose and the rear is a bit wider than the front. No embarrassing moments yet, apart from inadvertently spinning up the rears from standstill on a regular basis, oh and the exhaust heat shield coming lose and dragging along the road in the centre of Glasgow much to many people's amusement.
BMW 650i is a good shout for the money I suspect - apart from the execrable cup holder!
Always had a slight thing for the CL 500 too.
Probably no help at all but never mind.
TD
Thanks very much for your reply; interesting stuff.Lovely looking car, nice interior, very competent and also pretty fast. Sadly it was also surprisingly dull to drive. No real sense of occasion despite the 4.2 V8. I'd previously owned the old 2.7 Bi_turbo S4 (tuned in fairness) and it was a great mix of classy refinement (for the day) and quite serious pace. I suspect the quite big torque from the remapped Bi-turbo engine helped. It was no sports car though but as a cruiser with effortless overtaking ability I liked a lot more than the 4.2 S5. Maybe the 4.2 N/A engine needed to be worked harder than I worked it.
Anyway the S5 just did not feel that "alive" but I think my mistake was thinking that it was going to be a sports car - it ain't. The AWD system is handy though.
I have the newer supercharged 5l version of the XKR now. That is a whole different story (and probably budget - at least for another few years). Big car though. Multistory parking is quite tense because it has a very long nose and the rear is a bit wider than the front. No embarrassing moments yet, apart from inadvertently spinning up the rears from standstill on a regular basis, oh and the exhaust heat shield coming lose and dragging along the road in the centre of Glasgow much to many people's amusement.
BMW 650i is a good shout for the money I suspect - apart from the execrable cup holder!
Always had a slight thing for the CL 500 too.
Probably no help at all but never mind.
TD
Cheers
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff