RE: Life in the hot SEAT: PH Blog
Discussion
NJH said:
OTOH I believe that you never get bored of the wonderful sound of 6 or more cylinder engines, or screaming NA engines, a chassis that moves underneath you and real feelsome controls. I know I am not alone in this assessment hence the cynicism often expressed on this forum towards this genre of cars.
Bulls
t you don't! Like any car, be it, 4,6,8,10 or 12 cylinders you get used to the performance and noise, used learn to get the most out of the chassis and suspension underneath you. Once this happens, you either chop it in for something different/faster/more comfort (if you like that sort of thing) etc then you go through it all again, or you upgrade what you have, or you live with it putting a grin on your face every time or live with the boredom.
It matters not what you are driving, you can get bored with it.
Yeah, the cynicism towards such cars on this forum is based purely on ignorance most of the time. This forum is full of people who simply think the formula for a great driving experience is RWD + N cylinders where N > 5. It's fine to dislike a car because of the image or the stereotype attached to it but i can't stand when people form an opinion on the dynamics of a car they've never driven.
I have one. It's great, especially for the money.
The ST estate part adds another dimension. Suddenly it doesn't compete with hot hatches anymore, but with fast Audi's of similar luggage space. Because of the low weight, it's just as fast as the similarly sized S6 V10 Avant straight ahead. Of course the noise isn't the same, but neither is the handling, for the better. Or running costs.
Coming back to sound, it's quieter than the hatches. Turn of the (sometimes irritating) fake sound actuator, there is no exhaust noise. At all. At first it annoyed me, but now I like it, gives the car a very unsuspected effortlessness in its performance and it will never sound glorious anyway. This means that one of those driving modes previously discussed, keeping good pace with unsuspecting passengers, works very well. Which as the head of family, is quite often the reality when doing a long drive on a good road. The most fascinating thing is the Jekyl and Hyde theme with it. It works like an unintrusive, agreeable estate off-boost, and can turn instantly into a beast on back roads where it will keep up with almost anything.
As for modifications: well Dale runs it up and down the ring and is so very close to keeping up with the fastest runners, of course it is tempting to improve performance a bit. Me too have done a few bits. Bottom engine mount insert to kill the worst axle tramp that happens sometimes, some 18" Ultraleggeras that are 4-5 kg lighter than the stock items and just fit over the huge Brembo's with PS4's, a little mod to shorten the throw of the long clutch. Will probably do a minor remap with a sports cat with a relatively conservative 350hp, just because I can. Takes it up to E60 M5 Touring territory in straight performance once rolling (1410kg (manual) vs 1980kg (full tank no driver) does that for you...)
Oh, and my other car is (was) a modded GT86. Much better drivers car those 5% of the time on that perfect road and a much greater sense of occasion. But that same occasion can be a bit tyring as the daily car and obviously no the best choice as a family car - even if you can do more with it than a 'practical' sportscar like a 911...
Loving the spread of talents of the ST Cupra. And where I live, I can have two for the price of one RS3. Not trying to slate any other choices, just sharing my findings. Cheers.
The ST estate part adds another dimension. Suddenly it doesn't compete with hot hatches anymore, but with fast Audi's of similar luggage space. Because of the low weight, it's just as fast as the similarly sized S6 V10 Avant straight ahead. Of course the noise isn't the same, but neither is the handling, for the better. Or running costs.
Coming back to sound, it's quieter than the hatches. Turn of the (sometimes irritating) fake sound actuator, there is no exhaust noise. At all. At first it annoyed me, but now I like it, gives the car a very unsuspected effortlessness in its performance and it will never sound glorious anyway. This means that one of those driving modes previously discussed, keeping good pace with unsuspecting passengers, works very well. Which as the head of family, is quite often the reality when doing a long drive on a good road. The most fascinating thing is the Jekyl and Hyde theme with it. It works like an unintrusive, agreeable estate off-boost, and can turn instantly into a beast on back roads where it will keep up with almost anything.
As for modifications: well Dale runs it up and down the ring and is so very close to keeping up with the fastest runners, of course it is tempting to improve performance a bit. Me too have done a few bits. Bottom engine mount insert to kill the worst axle tramp that happens sometimes, some 18" Ultraleggeras that are 4-5 kg lighter than the stock items and just fit over the huge Brembo's with PS4's, a little mod to shorten the throw of the long clutch. Will probably do a minor remap with a sports cat with a relatively conservative 350hp, just because I can. Takes it up to E60 M5 Touring territory in straight performance once rolling (1410kg (manual) vs 1980kg (full tank no driver) does that for you...)
Oh, and my other car is (was) a modded GT86. Much better drivers car those 5% of the time on that perfect road and a much greater sense of occasion. But that same occasion can be a bit tyring as the daily car and obviously no the best choice as a family car - even if you can do more with it than a 'practical' sportscar like a 911...
Loving the spread of talents of the ST Cupra. And where I live, I can have two for the price of one RS3. Not trying to slate any other choices, just sharing my findings. Cheers.
Edited by Onehp on Wednesday 24th August 15:49
Edited by Onehp on Thursday 25th August 05:30
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