RE: Bentley GT vs Ariel Nomad vs McLaren 570S

[dandare]

Ocellia said:

"wrong sort of tarmac"!!
Why, in the 21st century, do we STILL have to endure the rubbish surfaces on our roads?
And I don't mean the poor maintenance; just the actual road.
It IS possible to lay a quiet, endurable surface, but STILL we get the embedded grit stuff that passes for a surface.
Noisy...and, presumably VERY abrasive to tyres?
How much is this costing motorists each year? does anyone know whether tyres last longer-say - in Germany, where surfaces are quiet and smoother?
Sounds like there's a PH article or 3 here?

It depends on what you want from a surface.

The roads in Germany are much smoother, which makes them noticeably quieter and easier on the tyres, in my experience. They take noise pollution seriously there.
They simply have a different philosophy, or standards for road building. Not better, just different priorities.

The negative side is that they are terrible in the wet (dangerously so if you're not used to it, but that's driver error, I suppose). Also, try to find the white lines when it's raining... they seem to have invented paint that goes invisible when it rains (maybe that's not relevant though ).

I don't think it's possible to have your cake and eat it. Unless you know better.

So if you're worried about tyre wear, get some van radials, or a car with smaller, cheaper tyres. Take the bus more often. Move to Germany.

I personally prefer a rougher surface for safety, especially when riding a motorcycle. I don't care about tyre wear or noise, so much.

[Pothole]

smilo996 said:

The McLaren, a master calss in British engineering brilliance and a derivative of F1 allbeit a couple of steps removed. Some foreign finance coupled with ambition and excellence producing low volumes.

not really https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[anonymous-user]

Pothole said:

not really https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

You got much experience of owning and driving one ?

[SidewaysSi]

morgs_ said:

TheJimi said:

Would anyone else struggle to walk past the Nomad to get to one of there other two?

I'd have hard time not choosing the Nomad, regardless of price.

Very much so, just love the ethos of it. Went for an explore in Portugal earlier this year and came across a bunch of roads with varying surfaces (perfect tarmac through to gravel) and just thought what a perfect car it would be. The Clio hire car did a reasonably good job though

Yep I wouldn't consider the others. But to be honest neither the Mc or Bentley hold any appeal whatsoever.

[anonymous-user]

TheJimi said:

Ed Straker said:

Jimbo89 said:

The Nomad is one of my favourite cars about at the minute and if I lived in the nevada desert I'd have one in each colour. In ramblerland UK though going off-road in one is probably treason. I'd feel like I wasn't doing it justice driving down to the Co-op.
:

This
As someone who fought hard against the ramblers when all by-ways were converted to BOATs and nobody but the TRF gave a s**t, where DO Nomad drivers drive their cars?

On the road? I'm not being facetious

I've seen and heard of a LOT of Atom owners switching to the Nomad and saying that they wouldn't go back.

By many accounts, it's actually a better *road* car than the Atom.

Spent some time with a couple of guys in Nomads in the alps earlier this summer. They are great fun cars, and very capable on the road. Definitely want one.

[3yardy3]

Pothole said:

£205,000 is not "the equivalent of a small mortgage, it's considerably more

"There are 11.1 million mortgages in the UK. Based on this, the average mortgage debt amounts to £123,423. "

Think he was probably referring to buying a house from scratch... why would a remainder mortgage balance have any relevance to buying a car? it's more buy this car or buy a house... and from where i'm from a starter house is between 180-250k

[RacerMike]

I'd say it's better than some of his more recent stuff, but the language still tries too hard.

jakesmith said:

V8 FOU said:

I gave up reading 1/3 of the way through.
Shame, as it should have been an interesting read....... But Nick does it again with his verbose style. Can we have a simplified version? Just want some interesting observations in normal, everyday language.

What do you want it to say?
'The Mclaren accelerated very fast indeed, faster than the Bentley. The Bentley was the more comfortable of the vehicles' etc

Bloody fascinating that would be

No.....I think more like the following:

Article said:

Instead it drives in a way that could succinctly be called its own: one part determined waft, three parts latent thrust. Sure, there's a bit more too it than that - there's an additional element of expensively honed dynamism plumbed into proceedings should you want to go to the trouble of unpacking it - but it's far easier to leave it in drive mode 'B' (for Bentley, naturally) and Mr Toad your way over the horizon.

Could be edited to:

edit said:

Instead it drives in a way that's absolutely it's own: a beautiful balance of comfort and power. There's a bit more to it than that of course, with very well judged dynamic performance when you want it, but it's far easier to leave it in 'B' (for Bentley) and waft your way over the horizon.

I'm not even going to pretend I have the talents to be a motoring journalist, but in half the text with a third of the analogies, that edited paragraph gets the message across whilst retaining plenty of colour for the reader.

Edited by RacerMike on Wednesday 22 August 14:43

[Maldini35]

RacerMike said:

I'd say it's better than some of his more recent stuff, but the language still tries too hard.

jakesmith said:

V8 FOU said:

I gave up reading 1/3 of the way through.
Shame, as it should have been an interesting read....... But Nick does it again with his verbose style. Can we have a simplified version? Just want some interesting observations in normal, everyday language.

What do you want it to say?
'The Mclaren accelerated very fast indeed, faster than the Bentley. The Bentley was the more comfortable of the vehicles' etc

Bloody fascinating that would be

No.....I think more like the following:

Article said:

Instead it drives in a way that could succinctly be called its own: one part determined waft, three parts latent thrust. Sure, there's a bit more too it than that - there's an additional element of expensively honed dynamism plumbed into proceedings should you want to go to the trouble of unpacking it - but it's far easier to leave it in drive mode 'B' (for Bentley, naturally) and Mr Toad your way over the horizon.

Could be edited to:

edit said:

Instead it drives in a way that's absolutely it's own: a beautiful balance of comfort and power. There's a bit more to it than that of course, with very well judged dynamic performance when you want it, but it's far easier to leave it in 'B' (for Bentley) and waft your way over the horizon.

I'm not even going to pretend I have the talents to be a motoring journalist, but in half the text with a third of the analogies, that edited paragraph gets the message across whilst retaining plenty of colour for the reader.

Edited by RacerMike on Wednesday 22 August 14:43

A very brave post sir.

Without being too cruel I think you've shot yourself in the foot here. Nick's copy is so much more entertaining.

Sure, it takes a bit longer to read and maybe forces you to think but no harm in that. Why does car journalism have to be so reductionist?

What's the big hurry?