GTR Test drive [Now with pics on page 8]

[Jonny777 0]

Then my reply is do it yer big girl! :tongue:

 

Not jealous at all, honest.

[Dr Forinor 0]

Hit 1000miles tonight :D

 

And lost your license by the following morning? ;)

 

Well, erm, I already have an ASBO on it.... :censored:

[BadMeatPies 0]

Please tell me they included the model/RC car with the real thing?

 

hugely jealous, well done.

[Dr Forinor 0]

Nah, they didnt include the model with it, that was a friend's and he brought it along for the "photoshoot".

 

The pictures were taken by a friend and he gave me them.

 

Once I give it a proper clean, then will take more pictures myself and spend longer taking pictures.

[Dr Forinor 0]

I wish I had extensive experience with other supercars. Anything I say about this car is all in comparison to lesser cars and effectively doesnt do it any justice.

 

The only other proper supercar I have driven is a 996 Turbo, which is definitely up there but that was a while ago and it more of a short drive, didn't spend any real time with it to be able to compare properly.

 

This car in Comfort mode (I know all the magazine reviews say its too stiff) but for me it seems fine. It seems to soak up the roughness just fine and still has very precise body control.

 

The gear shifting in Race mode is something to be experienced, WHACK and you're there! In Normal mode it does take its time sometimes, but in Race mode it seems to be more obedient.

 

The Traction control, well I've left that in Normal, not got a big enough sack to play daring games with it just yet :lol:

[Dr Forinor 0]

Oh, in case any of you are wondering, I seem to be getting around 200-220miles per full tank, and a full tank is 71 litres... :shock: :lol:

[dukest 0]

wow, a whole 14mpg! :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

wow, a whole 14mpg! :D

 

The trip computer says 16mpg, so yeh, sounds about right hahaha :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah but what an enjoyable 14mpg :D To get 500 horse, you gotta burn the requisite amounts motion potion :wink:

 

I bet you must be really restraining yourself from unleashing the full beans?!

 

Car is looking fantastic mate, a superb collection of pics :salute:

[-Neil- 0]

did u by any chance drive mear meadowhall near the viaduct at M1 about 2 weeks ago?

[Dr Forinor 0]

-Neil-: Wasn't me mate, I'm up in Scotland.

 

Yeah but what an enjoyable 14mpg :D To get 500 horse, you gotta burn the requisite amounts motion potion :wink:

 

I bet you must be really restraining yourself from unleashing the full beans?!

 

Car is looking fantastic mate, a superb collection of pics :salute:

 

Waahey Kev, how ya doing mate? Long time no speak! You must be busy?

 

Hehe, there was a day (when the roads were, "fair moist" lets say) and I couldnt take it any longer, so I thought, right 2nd gear, let's have a wee play. Foot went down (still not fully mind you) and woohoo the back end can be easily provoked, hahaha :D :lol: :lol: Boy what an adrenaline rush that was!!!

 

I have the "optimisation service" this Saturday, a 2.5hr service where they check the car to make sure everything has bedded in, the bushes, check the alignment, the oils etc etc and readjust the car. And after this Saturday, I can give it the beans!! 8)

 

The car really is amazing! I get into my sister's 06 plate Audi A3 after getting out of the GTR and think "Ya know, the quality could be better", thats gotta say something!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah I agree mate, the difference in perceived quality as you slide into and out of different cars these days is shrinking. I say 'perceived' because let's face it, the only difference between a Golf and an A3 is thicker sound insulation :wink: Audi are good at perceiving their cars to be so much better made than anything else, but they're not. It's just clever use of materials.

 

Anyway, I digress....as I usually do :D Apart from the tailpipes, there really isn't anything about the GTR I can fault. I've yet to go out in one, but if it's as good in the flesh as it is on paper, then it appears to be the perfect car!

 

Sounds like the software for the gearshifting could do with a tweak if normal mode is a little slow? Have you been in a DSG equipped VAG? That system is absolutely spot on :D I think Ricardo did the GTR's gearbox? Same peeps who made the Veyron's. British expertise 8)

[Dr Forinor 0]

I havent been in a DSG VAG car but I do want to experience it, to see the difference.

 

In Race mode the gearshift is fine, in "Normal" mode its a little slow, but the whole point of the Normal mode is pootering around toown, no urgent need to shift instantly so I think from that angle it's doing a good job. The British really are geniuses when they put their minds to it!

 

But when you do put it into R mode, and use the paddles, its such a joy to use. I was a bit apprehensive about the paddles as I've never used them before and wasn't sure how I'd get on with them. But it really did not take long at all to get extremely comfortable with them.

 

The only thing I haven't been able to do that I've been wanting to do is put the suspension in R mode, until the Optimisation Service the suspension settings has to stay in Comfort mode. So it'll be interesting to see what that's like and how much more chuckable the car becomes.

 

Hehe, yeh I remember you saying you dont like the exhausts, funnily enough I do. But now I can't tell if I'm being biased anymore or not :tongue:

 

There are many things that can be easily improved, from little things to big things. The brakes can be improved, they are good "enough" as standard, but definitely room for improvement, thats probably the first thing that can make a difference to the car in terms of improving in the "supercar" respect. And WOW they get hot after a few hard braking sessions! :D

 

Other things such as LED sidelights as opposed to sh!tty low light sidelights next to the bright headlights, a little silly, and improvements in the lighting around the doors, boot etc etc, better speakers blah blah, again none that really improve the "supercar-ness" of it, just nitpicking really.

 

The screen and everything that uses the screen (ie SatNav etc etc, i-Drive style) is a joy to use. You have all the toys that you could possibly want in a supercar. A friend jumped in and started asking "has it got this, has it got that" and I felt like saying, "mate, you're looking for the S Class".

 

Cant wait till after the Optimisation Service! :norty:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah, one car can't satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time :D

 

I see your point with the gearshift but for me personally, I'm not a fan of switchable things. To my mind, the best setting is how the car is normally, and the lesser ones are just everything diluted down to make the best setting seem more impressive than it really is, LOL! :D Although in your case, the GTR is bloody impressive which ever way you look at it!

 

It's like the M5's "M" button. I can't for the life of me think of a reason why anyone would want to turn a 500hp super responsive sports car into a 400hp soggy barge by turning it off? Why not just buy a BMW that has 400hp and softer suspension as standard? :shrug: Sorry, that's just my Clarksonesque simplistic view on things I'm afraid :D

 

Interesting about the brakes. They look pretty high spec to me? I remember David Yu commenting in Evo about how poorly the Ferodo DS2500 pads performed on his GTR, so don't what ever you do get those if you're thinking of upgrading!

 

Pagid RS15 are extremely entertaining pads, if you don't mind a lot of dust a wee bit of squeal occasionally. They really are the most powerful pads - and then some - that I've experienced to date.

 

What is it you're looking to improve? Initial bite, overall power, or just a bit more pedal feel? The RS15 is top of it's class on all counts :D

 

Looking forward to reading your opinions of it after the service!

[Dr Forinor 0]

Brembo 15inch discs front and back, 6pot fronts, 4pot back, so not weedy by any means, but hauling down a car that weighs in excess of 1800kg...

 

Haha, funny you ask how I want to improve the pedal 'cos it's all of those things, initial bite (although I think I may be being a bit picky here) but definitely more pedal feel would be very welcomed. Overall power, yes, would like improvements.

 

The first thing everyone on the GTR forum seem to do when upgrading brakes is go for either the AP Racing discs or Alcon discs (obviously a lot more expensive than AP), so that will be on the cards soon enough... :D

[Kevin Bacon 5]

380mm discs, blimey! :D

 

Yeah, ditto with Evo owners mate, AP Racing discs is the first mod they do. Well, the keener owners shall we say. Their iron quality is second to none imo.

 

Are your standard discs plain? You don't get a huge amount of feedback from them, but AP Grooved discs + Pagid RS15 = tonnes of feel and immense power 8)

 

As you say, Alcon do some nice "Fish hook" surfaced discs too. There isn't anything in it between AP and Alcon quality wise, but AP have way more experience :salute:

[Dr Forinor 0]

Standard discs are drilled, which dont seem to take too long to develop the legendary cracks around the holes from what i read about other people's experiences.

 

Yeh many people seem to love the "J-hook" (as they call them there) Alcon discs.

 

I think I will be going to AP discs to start with, will certainly keep the Pagid pads in mind and have a looksee what others are using with their AP discs and the success they are having :D

[VR6 0]

Yeah, ditto with Evo owners mate, AP Racing discs is the first mod they do.

 

I went for a different route when modding my brakes :grin: Squeal piggy squeal!!!! AP's will definitely be on the wishlist but the standard Brembo's aren't too shabby even if the calipers munch through pads and discs!

 

Car looks stunning Doc ... extremely jealous indeed especially now you can plant the loud pedal properly!!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

yeah my ears are still ringing from that, LOL!

 

Yeah the calipers are fine, it's just that Mitsubishi choose to fit poverty spec plain discs to it, which warp rather quickly :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

Cheers VR6 :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

With the Optimisation Service now all done, I was able to put the foot down! :D :D

 

The "problem" with the car is the power delivery is linear. Now I have "problem" in inverted commmas, 'cos obviously it's not a problem but you dont get the classic "oo ya f@cker" turbo hit when it boosts, but really, its not a problem cos its "put the foot down and WOOHOO!!!"

 

Shift light on the rev counter, nice touch, you can even set your shift light to start flashing at a chosen rpm anywhere between 3k and 6k.

 

The one thing I wasnt able to try but wanted to before the optimisation was the suspension in Race mode. From Comfort to Race, there is a fair bit of diference. The whole car is so much tighter, the brakes feel slightly more responsive, the car gives you more confidence in Race than in Comfort.

 

Still learning so will keep updating :)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Nice!

 

I like that "Ooooh ya fecker" about turbo engines. Not sure I would want one that was all linear and "sensible" :D They probably mapped it that way deliberately though so that your Grandma doesn't get a fright and spits her false teeth onto the dash. Won't be long before people start playing with them and getting them setup exactly how they want, well, the Americans already have and there's a few 700+hp examples around now. :D

[Dr Forinor 0]

Yeh from that point of view, it's very close to a N/A engine, but its so quick that "meh", dont really care haha :lol:

 

Well a Cobb AccessPort and a Y pipe will give the best bang for buck power gains and everyone says it's the perfect starter pack for tuning the car. So yeh, already have a wee list of stuff I want :cuckoo:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Absolutely your car is quick, but I just like the character of old school turbo engines too much :lol:

 

Yeah some of the tuning mods for the GTR are surprisingly cheap actually, and effective from what I've read!

[Dr Forinor 0]

You'll know Kev, best way to get rid of brake dust from the drilled holes in the brakes?