JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

I did all the wiring in St Mawes Castle for the power point in the field, and saw a very nice bride in her sexy knickers when I had to go fix the hot water in the bungalow they rent out to the bride/groom etc, happy days. It took a while to fix the hot water that was for sure she was stunning!

That is definitely a very good road, I like to road Launceston - Bideford early on a saturday morning, can rally push it!

Matteeboy

I've done two triathlons in St Mawes with that long bend being near the end of the final run - so it's always a welcome sight!

I have a speed warning bonger set to mid 90 leptons that was constantly going off last night… Honestly the best drive I've had maybe ever.

zip106

Didn't realise there were two St Justs in Cornwall.
I didn't particularly like the place, and Boscastle was just downright weird and creepy .

Must be all the witches that live there.

Sennen cove was quite nice though.

JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

Are you local then? I dont live far away and spend alot of time in truro working/st austell etc, the scooby lives down in St Austell alot getting work done on the suspension/set up side of things

Matteeboy

I grew up in this area (Polzeath) then did Bristol for eight years. Moved back and lived in Malpas for six years, now been in Polzeath for two.

So I know the roads around Truro/The Roseland pretty well!

I went to St Austell 6th form when I was a young un too.

Matteeboy

The missus lived in Boscastle until she was 5!

Sennen is very nice; it connects to a beach called Gwenvor at low tide which is even nicer.

hodgy0_2

Tbh St Just in Roseland, and the Roseland peninsula in general, is in a different league to most parts of Cornwall

And I am a big fan of Cornwall and due to various reasons go mainly to Rock/Polzeath now

But the Roseland is stunning

Matteeboy

We're arranging another meet but I just can't think of a better road than that one to St Mawes; very fast but challenging, good road surface, rozzer and speed camera free.

Being "chased" by an equally fast (the same!) car meant I drove the absolute wheels off my car: I'll remember it for a long time!

hodgy0_2

I remember driving in a Peugeot 205 1.6 GTI on the A82 - past Loch Lomond, at 3 in the morning, racing to get to Oban for the Oban - Tiree ferry (with 3 people in and 3 windsurfers on the car) for a weeks surfing as part of a large group of mates

the A82 is an astounding piece of road and at that time of the night, in the pitch black - awesome

looking back, miles down the road we could see headlights in the distance, carving there way through the landscape

all of us in the car were captivated - "**** the fvcker is gaining on us" - this was the era where a well driven 205 GTI was just about the quickest car point to point in the world

anyway these fvcking lights just kept getting closer - and boy we where shifting, pitch black, empty roads, ironing out the bends, flooring it along the straights

but still they came closer - "what the fvck is that car we kept shouting to each other"

finally it came up behind us, flashing its lights, it was some other mates on the surf trip
driving a 1.9 205 GTI

ScottishRayman

Brilliant cars, loved my 1.9 with the half leather interior - that and my R5GTturbo

Matteeboy

Imagine six people getting together with the same car then doing a synchronized start and rev up (won't post it as there are reg plates on it). These pesky AWD upstarts might think they are the bees knees but they don't hold a candle to six cold started M135is for noise pleasantness.




With all the nonsense spouted about Haldex AWD, I have now taken to racing everything in our 2.8 tonne 4Motion camper. Hey, it might only have just over 60bhp/tonne but seeing as AWD is apparently magic, it beats ANYTHING in the wet

john banks

The real Matteeboy would never make such a concession to AWD superiority. What have you done with him?

bustaMOVEs

iTrader: (31)

It's all about the T3 torsen NOT the fwd Haldex.

Matteeboy

It should be but sadly it's not.

john banks

You and others may be amused that I have completely confused myself about AWD.

Driving a rear biased GTR for five years has ended up with me driving it like I used to drive my M3, carefully considering the surface for available traction and carefully unwinding the steering on corner exit perhaps only up to 1/3 to 1/2 throttle in the wet to avoid too much tail movement. Initially it was obvious I had to look after the rear end even with stability control still on but reduced intervention, but I got used to it and to some degree it has kept interest in the car and I rationalised it as being due to it having a lot of torque and rear bias.

Fast forward to driving fast VAG products with similar power, torque and rubber but 40-60 typical front rear distribution (rather than typical 20 or 30 - 80 or 70 front rear in the GTR in a low gear) and it brought back all the memories of what I loved about AWD initially and made the GTR feel unstable and very poor for damp traction. Having thought I had fallen out of love with rear torque distribution I then tried the GTR again today in the damp. Sometimes it felt like it was slow and unstable, but other times when the balance was right felt challenging and epic, with a depth missing from a fast Audi.

Thinking on my feet, I do wonder how the DCCD would fare as an all rounder as I never owned a Subaru with it. The centre diff in the GTR could use a similar controller and because my GTR only has about 600lbft, the front diff and prop should manage the full 300lbft more often in road use, so I'm tempted to fit a controller to try it. I really want to find out if an effective 50-50 in low gears out of corners hooks up or just understeers.

Saxo Boy

This is the problem with all products; there are compromises and trade-off's to be made. I agree completely that a car such as the GTR should ship from the factory with adjustable power distribution, however, the reality is that very few owners would crave the control or even understand it.

Rather than it being a rudimentary twirly ****, it would be better if they configured slip angle settings into the menu structure. That way the driver can pre-select how wild he wants the car to be and the electronics balance the conditions against that desire. I'm pretty sure some modern Ferrari's have a similar system where you can basically drive like with the tail always hanging out a few degrees with the assurance of an electronic safety net.

P.S. It's good to hear the GTR is still capable of making you smile.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Only has 600lbft really?

john banks

To some degree the stability control has that, as with many BMWs, three settings. The centre diff action would be another dimension though as in the wet the GTR relies on its stability control too much because it says to the rear end, have 500lbft because John is an ape and doesn't know to be gentle. The rear end says 'f... you' and goes sideways. If you gave it 300lbft and put 300lbft to the fronts and it morphed to 500lbft to the rear and 100lbft to the front as you took lock off it would be epic.

I have emailed some contacts to consider a modification, you could just have an adjustment of the OEM controller which already accounts for loads of sensor data.

john banks

It is ultra conservative for a GTR even amongst the owners that post here it is relatively puny. That does make you tend to blame the torque for the skittish rear end, but I am sure it can do better for road use in the wet. The OEM settings seem to suit dry use on track more. Maybe I'm just soft.



Sorry to take the M135i thread off topic. I would like to drive one and feel its balance and how it gets out of wet bends.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

Yea i know that, but its still 600lbft on tap

Matteeboy

I also wondered about the mere 600lbs-ft!! That would tow a ship across dry land!

I wonder if there's an ideal split with AWD? I have no idea what the van is because finding any info is totally impossible. Needless to say it's more for light off roading than performance driving but it does come in handy in dire conditions on the road.

My experience of fairly extreme off road 4wd is better than that of performance 4wd TBH.

The M135i really shines in sport+ mode where stability control is switched off. It just seems to cling on that bit harder. Still needs respect though but it's fine for me. I've given it a fair spanking in the wet and you can feel power being wasted but I find that fun. Maybe I'm weird.

john banks

Unfortunately, it seems the torque is borderline for more torque going to the front to work as when tried the centre "clutch" slips, if uprated, then it damages the front props and diff. So the GTR will remain a challenge in the wet even with only mild mods. Maybe it is for the better, not sure.

Matteeboy

So do you prefer the VAG (tsk tsk) setup?
600lbs-ft is pretty extreme; I can't imagine any setup dealing with that effectively.

How about proper nutter RWD cars; 620R, the AC Cobra, the 911 GT2s? They must be rather terrifying in the wrong conditions.

Ours is definitely aimed at performance but with a decent dose of comfort thrown in; Germany and back certainly was comfortable. But it's not an out and out track car; some lap times are pretty impressive (especially the TG one) but cars like the new Cupra and Megane 265 really do post spectacular times; those FWD hatches really do blood some top end noses.

I think however fast your car is, it's whether you can truthfully drive it very hard with a big grin that matters. Be it a Panda 100 or that stunning GT3 that's just been bought. The M135i can be chucked about but it takes a bit of practise; I haven't heard of many crashed ones yet but I can imagine they will catch a few out,

Two police forces have one now!

john banks

I do prefer the VAG setup apart from the steering feel and turn in, but they aren't related to the AWD setup, more the steering, suspension and brief of the car to be comfortable first. In road use it has not understeered, but the rear diff does overdrive the outside rear and make the tail shimmy if provoked. It handles about 500 lbft much better than the GTR does if I turn the boost down on it to give similar output, you can overtake with confidence and pull out of junctions without fuss. But the GTR is more of a challenge, so its lack of competence in the wet is partly endearing because it is scary. The VAG stuff just isn't.

If the police haven't crashed the M135i, few others should

Matteeboy

Any pics of your new S8?
1100bhp+ on the driveway; yikes!!

john banks

Dealer photos, don't do the interior in particular justice.

1 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

6 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

5 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

4 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

3 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

2 by jcsbanks, on Flickr

Wouldn't have gone for the pimp tints especially since there are electric blinds in the back and rear sides, but it isn't too dark to reverse at night and the cameras help. Pretty loaded spec, not everyone's cup of tea, but subtle, deceptively quick (~3.6 to 60 and 8.5 to 100 standard before tuning by a few I think). Much easier to launch than the GTR. Makes much less of a fuss about things and is still luxurious like the A8. More subtle, and much cheaper lightly used than RS6 etc but nearly as quick, just 40 BHP down and similar weight, obviously softer suspension but still likes corners, I got £35k off list at year old and 7000 miles and it is like new, the discs and tyres were hardly worn. I've clearly dealt with that

Matteeboy

Nice!

Grey interiors really don't photograph well; our van has quite a nice layout and finish but try and show a photo of it and it looks like a mass of dull greyness.

john banks

It is black with carbon fibre. The carbon fibre is real, but magnesium backed for rigidity. Leather everywhere, all in the lower bits where it would normally be plastic, alcantara headlining. I'm really pleased and it is a relative if not an absolute bargain which pleases the adopted Scot in me no end. Better still, the trade in on the A8 was incredible.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/.../photo_14.html shows it a bit better.

Matteeboy

It sure is a beast - that carbon looks grey in the pics (but clearly isn't) - fire the photographer!!

zip106

The rear seats - 3 belts but only two seats?