How does the Ultima GTR handle?

[Z1_ZONLY]

We always hear about how fast the GTR is in a straight line, but I thought it'd be interesting to hear directly from the source - acutal owners - how the car handles. As you probably know, Jeremy Clarkson claims the car has a good bit of understeer. Agree or disagree? Why or why not?

THANK YOU!

[G Man]

Any mid engine car has a tendency to understeer, but an Ultima has a fully adjustable suspension so you can dial it out easily. I have found a balance that means my car is neutral in all daily road conditions, which is far faster that any other cars travel and the limit to my personnel bravery. This plus tyre that act like superglue means you will never find understeer unless you are just about to die

[Paul.B]

I think you'll find it was Tuff Noooodle who commented on the understeer? The Top Gear test was done in monsoon conditions with a set-up to suit and loads of rear wing. As G-man has said, the car can be set up as required. I never once had under-steer in 7.5k miles. Only a neutral balance leading to oversteeer if provocated, power induced or with a sudden lift off.


Paul.B

[andygtt]

I think tyres are a big key in the Ultima's handling on the road.
Mine were clearly too hard and never got enough temperature in them to work properly on the road. On track they worked extremelly well, with no understeer at all.

[uncle_git]

Just out of interest - I just had my first drive in the US spec elise and was most impressed with it's suspension and steering - amazingly talkative.

How's the GTR compare suspension / steering feel wise ?

Anyone driven both to compare ?

The Elise made my M3 feel like a dump truck

[davefiddes]

Can't compare with the Elise but the steering on an Ultima is razor sharp. You know exactly what the front wheels are doing and just how much grip they've got and what the road surfacce is like. There's not as much kickback when you hit bumps, potholes, etc as you might expect though it's no luxury saloon.

Handling wise when I get my act together I've been able to easily keep up with Elises driven by pretty good drivers round the twist parts of the Knockhill which is pretty twisty and narrow (think Road Atlanta shrunk to 1.3 miles and a bit more hilly). Of course come the straights or fast bends they're history!

I'm not good enough behind the wheel to go changing the setup significantly so there is a little bit of understeer in the dry. It pretty much goes away when you get the tyres up to the right temperature on track.

The brakes are like nothing else other than perhaps base jumping without a parachute.

[andygtt]

uncle_git said:

Just out of interest - I just had my first drive in the US spec elise and was most impressed with it's suspension and steering - amazingly talkative. How's the GTR compare suspension / steering feel wise ? Anyone driven both to compare ? The Elise made my M3 feel like a dump truck

I had a VX220 (basically a lotus elise as same chasis etc) straight after selling my Ultima and the steering feel etc was very similar..... both make our boxter and M3 seem very dull and lifeless.

The biggest difference between the Ultima and the VX/elise is the peformance... basically it feels like the latter didn't have any! therefore not the best car to have after an Ultima.

BTW the suspension on my Ultima was a bit more pliant and less harsh than the VX.

[kzrd]

Pwellsie,

Try these road test links for starters:

www.ultimasports.co.uk/gtr/features/features8.html
www.ultimasports.co.uk/gtr/features/features5.html
www.ultimasports.co.uk/gtr/features/features10.html
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=172629&f=20&h=0

[Allen-GTR]

I have driven the Elise, and they are similar in responsiveness and feel. Both ride like they are on rails, but the GTR makes the Elise feel...anemic. My wife has an Elise on order, and we recently test drove the demonstrator. The Elise is a fun little car actually... handles like a dream, but you have to get it above 5K rpm to get the cam kicked in. Feels like getting hit in the butt with a pillow when it does. The GTR is much more brute force and the power delivery much more linear.

So... from a driving feel perspective, they are quite comperable, but the Elise simply isn't in the same hemisphere when it comes to the grin : pucker factor ratio.

Allen

>> Edited by Allen-GTR on Friday 22 April 14:55