Well I just did! 20 miles on very empty, dry B roads, ending (the last two or three miles) with a stunning Aston Martin pulling right behind me. What followed was incredibly exciting - I drove the wheels off the M135i, he was definitely a decent driver. The BM pulled a little ahead on the bends (very twisty road), he clearly had a LOT of power. A flash of lights and a friendly toot (Astons even have lovely sounding horns!), showed it was "one of those drives."

So if that was you in a lovely black AM, with silver grille surround (I think it was a DB9 but not seen that paint effect before; too big for a Vantage), nice driving; that was fun!!

 

I drove over the snake pass at sunset a few weeks ago, now that's a stunning drive.
Wouldn't wanna be playing with a DB9, or anything for that matter, over there mind!

 

Racing on public roads, you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

No one was hurt… Except a few dozen insects…

Interestingly (to me anyway), the M135i is 2s quicker than the DB9 and Vanquish S around the Top Gear track. The DBS is 1.1s quicker than the M135i.

Not bad for a wee shopping hatch

 

A hairdresser's car is quicker than yours around the TG track.

But back on topic - I've had loads of those sort of drives in the last 3 years - great fun if you get a like minded driver.

 

Which one?

It looks like it was an N430 which is just a V8 special edition. 4.8s to 60. Autocar got 4.6s for the M135i


430bhp, 1610kgs.

 

I had one of those types of drives in Plymouth a few years ago when I was seeing a lass down there, had a play with a Bentley Continental GT SS with my first Impreza. Of course he could have just disappeared into the distance but he didn't. Just at a brisk pace, steadily overtaking each other when we could. When we approached my junction I gave him a flash of the lights and got a flash of his hazards. Nice bit of mutual respect and appreciation, definitely gave me a smile

 

Boxster

On a life affirming drive 0-60 means absolutely bugger all!

 

Oh yes, it does do well. It's a more focussed sports car though so it should do well. But what won TGs "sports car of the year 2012" over the Boxster? ;-)

f20.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=800235

Yep 0-60 doesn't mean a lot but it gives an idea. The car that really punches above it's 0-60 time is the Megane 265 which gets mad lap times.

 

Yes, but then the Megane would break down after one lap
I'm surprised the Exige S is so slow.

That's not the Boxster I was on about

 

Yep I know the Spyder is faster. Definitely keep it if you can; I can only see them going up in value.

Not sure what happened with the Exige S; I would expect it to be blindingly rapid on that track but it is known as a "power" lap that favours bhp/torque over sweet handling.

 

It's the Silver ones you need to look out for Matt

If it had lipstick it was probably a Vantage, N430 or could even have been a V12S.

 

True, the Exige would be better on shorter twisty tracks.

As it happens, I'm getting the Exige itch again! (in fact, I have another window open with a lovely black Exige S and I can't stop looking at it ...aargh)
Been offered decent money for the Spyder.

Test drove a 1M not long ago - really wanted to like it but I don't think turbo power does anything for me now.
Think I've been spoilt by the n/a F6 engine...

 

Fairly sure it was the N430 but not certain. Didn't see the grilles and vents of a V12 but I was concentrating rather hard on my own driving!

 

I think the N430 has different suspension set up to standard.
I don't think it's any faster than the non 'N' version.

Either way, it's a bit of a lard arsed car power/weight wise.

Bloody Hell - the V12V is a slow one!

 

The best one of these I ever had was about 12 years ago on my ZX6R with a TVR Cerbera on an empty (ahead of us) dual carriageway. I pulled up next to him at the roundabout at the start of the dual carriageway and when we exited the roundabout together onto the dual carriageway we both had the same thing in mind. It was ended with a nod and wave between us and both smiling at how each of our respective machines had performed. I then saw him get a slap off his Mrs who had been pinned back in the passenger seat

 

20kgs lighter ( ) and some suspension tweaks for the N430. TBH it's quite closely matched for power/weight and torque but weighs over 1600kgs.

Anononous -

 

A nice drive last year in Germany with a bright orange lotus Elise,overtaking each other hahaha.Got up to 120mph and then he didn't want to play anymore,so I put my foot down and said goodbye,was still a safe fun drive though while it lasted..

 

Tickled the scooby with a motorbike a while back, a ninja 600, guy thought he was going ot breeze past me and be gone, i let him past and hounded him all the way through the b road for about 10 miles until it opened up to dual carrigeway and then I showed him that not every subaru is just a loud exhaust and dump valve! Got the the end of the run and a thumbs up and a flash and we went our separate ways.

Drives like that are what make you fall in love with your car/bike all over again

 

Too risky for my liking engaging bikes, risks are way too high as some bikers will rapidly run out of skill as far as fast bends are concerned.

 

As long as you give it the respect it needs then I dont see its any more risky than playing with a car. You are doing something very silly, wether it be on 4 wheels or two.

 

You wait until one falls off in front of you...your sphincter will start break dancing and you will learn. One of my worse experiences in a car ever and I didn't even run him over

Many,. many years ago when I first picked up my wagon up, I drove back from the Isle of Wight and as I got back into sunny Essex I bumped into a proper GT40 and had a play down some country lanes...one of my friends was in the car shooting Super8 footage that's still not been developed

 

When I was a lad I hitch hiked quite a bit and once a DB4 stopped and gave me a ride. He could see me looking at the speedo so gave it some. Simply fantastic experience. He hit 140 but it was raining. This was along Winchester bypass and before speed limits. Those were the days

dl

 

Go to a track

 

What a cool car to get picked up in!

I had a blast with two fast bikes when I had the 335d - clearly they were a lot quicker on the straight but into the bends and pulling out of them, I was surprised how much the soot chucker gained. Again thumbs up when I had to pull off the road. Speeds got very high indeed.

I genuinely think the latest breed of hyper hatches can give almost anything a run for their money on the right roads.