Feedback is back: Tell Me I'm Wrong

After the performance arms race comes realisation there can be more to life than outright speed

Roads don't get any wider. Speed limits don't get any higher. Even circuits become more restricted, be that in noise limits or simply space to let modern performance cars properly off the leash.

And yet cars get faster still. It'd be a brave manufacturer to launch a supermini-based hot hatch with less than 200hp or a mid-sized one without 300hp, adaptive dampers, fancy locking diffs, driver configurable technology and a 'ring lap record. Remember when 500hp sounded extraordinary even in a supercar? You can now have it on a £70K family estate car, while entry to the serious performance league demands 700hp a minimum.

Faster than ever but fun at normal speeds too

The threshold at which all this extra ability can actually be appreciated has suddenly shot up too, way faster than the capacity of roads or tracks to accommodate it, let alone the abilities of even a half-talented driver to do it justice.

Hope in the dark
It all sounds a bit gloomy really, and helps to explain the growing fixation with the best examples of cars from a generation or two back. The owner of a new 991 GT3 RS would rightly be happy to own the newest, latest and most badass Rennsport Porsche. But their equivalent with a 997 GT3 RS 3.8 or 4.0 is probably enjoying the hype-driven upward trajectory of values - not to mention their car - rather more.

I see hope though. And it would be the realisation in some quarters that reliance on technology to deliver impressive numbers isn't necessarily the answer.

Now, motoring journos get a little fixated about things like steering feel, control weights, pedal placing and chassis balance when many owners are probably more interested in residuals, bragging rights, gizmo count and snazziness of infotainment system. The latter seems to have rather taken over the mindsets of some manufacturers too, the reality being quite a significant number of people who both build and buy sports cars aren't actually that interested in how they drive, so long as the numbers look good and, by reflected glory, so do they.

A bit much for the road perhaps?

But there is another way. And the folk to navigate us out of this cul-de-sac are the car nuts. People like you and me, who just happen to run car companies and still care about how a car actually feels to drive. McLaren is a good example. On the recent 570S launch I was struck by conversation with top brass like CEO Mike Flewitt, project manager Andy Palmer, R&D chief Mark Vinnels and test driver Chris Goodwin. The conclusion being they all really, really love cars. You'd be surprised how rare this is.

Flewitt races an old Elan with his wife (also, seemingly, his most bitter rival!), Palmer has a thing for Porsches his colleagues rib him for mercilessly, Vinnels is on the hunt for an old Excel to relive his formative years as a Lotus engineer and Goodwin runs and races the M1B Can-Am car he bought with his dad. And I've been to an employee car day at Woking that'd shame a Sunday Service in the quality and diversity of metal owned and loved by the folk that work there.

And in the real world...
Goodwin will tell you his benchmark for brake pedal feel is his Can-Am racer, undisclosed 'old' cars are gathered to compare steering feel and feedback and you get the sense - for all the relentless focus on technology - when it comes to set-up these guys are using their old cars as reference.

This all shows when you drive a McLaren, even something as potent as a 675LT. When I drove one across Wales in the pouring rain the thing that most surprised me was not its relentless speed. OK, that was pretty extraordinary. But really what was most impressive was how enjoyable it was at what I'd describe as fast road pace. One with deference to the concept of continued employment and respect for fellow road users.

Fastest Lotus ever, but it still has familiar appeal

For all the incredible talent Ferrari displays in its recent output I don't get the same sense of passion for the cars from the people that work there. And I think that's reflected in the way they drive. McLaren steering has springiness and weight to it reminiscent of an unassisted wheel and enjoyable at any speed. A 458 or 488 GTB feels computer game light and hyperactive in comparison, meaning you only really get a sense of how fast you're going when the scenery gets really blurry.

Engage and entertain
Porsches can be a mixed bag on this front. Much of the range is over-wheeled, over-geared and over-talented for the way most can be enjoyed. Andreas Preuninger and his GT department seem to get it though, the Cayman GT4 I think a cautious toe in the water for Porsche to see if the market is ready for cars that might be 'less good' than their equivalents by pure numbers. But more enriching and fun to drive. You'd have to hope the reaction to that car encourages that mindset to spread across the range, the GT3 RS being another pleasant surprise in its ability to engage, entertain or even scare a little at a fraction of the speeds it's capable of when fully lit. Honourable mentions also to Jaguar's sense of 'sod lap times, let's just do skids' fun and Lotus's ongoing expertise in calibrating feel and feedback even the most hamfisted can appreciate.

Not purely about speed and the better for it

Back in the real world Renaultsport, Ford and Honda are among those to realise that sensation matters as much - if not more than - out and out performance. Furthermore, you can't ignore the likes of the Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ in this conversation either. Not the MX-5? Not out of the box I'd argue, its feel and feedback feeling a little caricatured as it leaves the line and the Toyobaru's dedication to things like seating position, visibility, control harmonisation and the like indicative of a car built by people who just love driving for driving's sake.

How do we strengthen the arm of folk like this? I think we need to make more noise about what we actually want out of our cars. You might be aggrieved you didn't get that GT4. But take heart that the fuss surrounding it may be reflected in Porsches you don't need to be on first name terms with your local OPC to buy. That philosophy applied to everything from hot hatches to supercars and we may yet prevail!

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SturdyHSV

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