Are todays sports cars just too good??
Discussion
Over my coffee and danish this morning I read a couple of articles in this months new Top Gear Magazine. And again they got me thinking about a pet bug bear of mine, the direction of the modern super car.
First there was a review of the new Lambo Aventador by James May. And what he seemed to conclude was that the Lambo was a great motorway GT but too compromised to be much fun over a twisty A or B road. He also mentioned that the car was civilised and refined. The quest to hit the big numbers has actually made the car less of a driver’s car.
I then read the article about Dario Franchitti, the triple Indy car champion. This guy is a real gear head which is surprisingly rare in racing drivers. Describing why he chopped in his new Ferrari 458 after only two weeks and 700 miles he said "To be honest, I didn’t like the noise it made" and "Its a wee bit artificial, especially after that" pointing to his F40.
With cars like the 458 and the McLaren MP4-12C are we now seeing the car equivalent of the Stepford Wives, superficially perfect but fundamentally flawed?
With the constant push to out do each other and the march of legislation are we sleep walking into an era of how can I say this "Boring" super cars?
Even lower down the ranks the next generation of BMW M Cars will all be turbo's with DSG gearboxes, doing away with the NA engines and manual gearboxes that marked these cars out as greats.
Much as I am not a fan of 911's if I had the spare cash now I would be putting in an order for the run out 4.00-litre 911 GT3RS. I think it could be one of the last great analogue cars.
Discuss…
First there was a review of the new Lambo Aventador by James May. And what he seemed to conclude was that the Lambo was a great motorway GT but too compromised to be much fun over a twisty A or B road. He also mentioned that the car was civilised and refined. The quest to hit the big numbers has actually made the car less of a driver’s car.
I then read the article about Dario Franchitti, the triple Indy car champion. This guy is a real gear head which is surprisingly rare in racing drivers. Describing why he chopped in his new Ferrari 458 after only two weeks and 700 miles he said "To be honest, I didn’t like the noise it made" and "Its a wee bit artificial, especially after that" pointing to his F40.
With cars like the 458 and the McLaren MP4-12C are we now seeing the car equivalent of the Stepford Wives, superficially perfect but fundamentally flawed?
With the constant push to out do each other and the march of legislation are we sleep walking into an era of how can I say this "Boring" super cars?
Even lower down the ranks the next generation of BMW M Cars will all be turbo's with DSG gearboxes, doing away with the NA engines and manual gearboxes that marked these cars out as greats.
Much as I am not a fan of 911's if I had the spare cash now I would be putting in an order for the run out 4.00-litre 911 GT3RS. I think it could be one of the last great analogue cars.
Discuss…
greeneggsnsam said:
There will always be a market for a proper driver's car. Aeriel, Noble, TVR, Caterham, Lotus, etc etc will all continue to make their specialist cars (and with Lotus now trying to compete with the like of Aston Martin, another driver's car co., there will surely be some brilliant driver's supercars).
I hope that is true and that Brussels does not legislate them out of existence. Let’s not forget that even Lotus is trying to go more upmarket and moving away from their core customer base. To do that successfully their product will have to be similar or so different so as to offer a real alternative for the 911 buyer which is a very risky move to take in these times.
Pork said:
Yes.
I've thought it for a while, but simple motoring can be far more enjoyable. I've driven/owned all sorts from all sorts of manufacturers - Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, M-Power cars...all sorts....and yet, some of the best smiles I have had have been in things like a 1987 Golf GTi which cost £600. Ah, how I miss that little golf...
Me too. One of my all time great drives was an early morning blast on some empty Surrey B roads in a Lotus Elan with about 100bhp. I had a smile on my face that lasted a week I've thought it for a while, but simple motoring can be far more enjoyable. I've driven/owned all sorts from all sorts of manufacturers - Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, M-Power cars...all sorts....and yet, some of the best smiles I have had have been in things like a 1987 Golf GTi which cost £600. Ah, how I miss that little golf...
marcosgt said:
On the other hand, whilst Dario might be able to get the most out of an F40, I suspect that same 99.9999% would be faster A-B in a 458.
Yeah! but would they be having as much fun, or would the guy in his Elise stuck to his bumper have the bigger smileEdited by marcosgt on Thursday 19th May 11:54
zakelwe said:
Do people really read top gear magazine?
Andy
To be honest it was the only new magazine that I had not already read and I love to read over my early morning coffee. Andy
But my statements were not just based on something I read but also on my own experiences of driving a number of the modern super cars including the 458. Great car that it is I have been critical of how detached the driver is because of the huge computing power that is employed to keep the thing on the road and out of the nearest hedge.
ROOODBOY said:
I would agree with the thread title.
I have done quite a lot of the 'driving experience' days, as birthday and Xmas presents for the last several years, so I've had breif drives of quite a few high end cars now.
My most recent was a Nissan GT-R.
It was an amazing machine technically, I admire Nissan's acheivment with it, the performance was amazing. But I still don't want one.
As I shifted up and down the gearbox, or powered out of a corner in it, I kind of felt like I was cheating, like the car was doing all the work, it just didn't make me feel like I'd DRIVEN it.
Give me a 1980's 911 any day!
I had the same experience with a the 458I have done quite a lot of the 'driving experience' days, as birthday and Xmas presents for the last several years, so I've had breif drives of quite a few high end cars now.
My most recent was a Nissan GT-R.
It was an amazing machine technically, I admire Nissan's acheivment with it, the performance was amazing. But I still don't want one.
As I shifted up and down the gearbox, or powered out of a corner in it, I kind of felt like I was cheating, like the car was doing all the work, it just didn't make me feel like I'd DRIVEN it.
Give me a 1980's 911 any day!
In this weeks AutoCar Steve Sutcliffe has written an artical about his blueprint for the perfect drivers car and as ever its a good read from Steve.
Some of the hightlights are:
Price £35k
1000kg
VW V6 Turbo diesel (not sure about that)
6 speed DSG gearbox (not sure about that either)
Mid engine
245 BHP
0-60 4.5 sec
0-100 10 sec
147mph top speed
352 ft lb
Double wishbone suspension all round
Even the rendering looks interesting
Some of the hightlights are:
Price £35k
1000kg
VW V6 Turbo diesel (not sure about that)
6 speed DSG gearbox (not sure about that either)
Mid engine
245 BHP
0-60 4.5 sec
0-100 10 sec
147mph top speed
352 ft lb
Double wishbone suspension all round
Even the rendering looks interesting
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