It's a lots less wallowy than I expected. When cruising on the motorway it's a little wooly, which would suggest the lower control arm bushes might need replacing, but as soon as you load it up in a corner it's really tight and direct. If your passengers don't mind a little bit of roll then it carries decent speed through corners, but mine vetoed that after a few corners and one roundabout. The grip for the size of car is really astonishing, but I think what won it for me in the "handling" stakes was the level of comfort it provided the whole time. It doesn't get unsettled like the MX5 does, it doesn't get squirrely over crests, and you don't have to worry about the ABS kicking in if one wheel skips over a bump under braking. The amount of suspension travel also feels revolutionary.
I think I only used all the throttle a couple of times as it's not even needed most of the time. On the A303 I overtook in 2nd gear and I barely had time to register what was happening before I had to change up to 3rd. Needless to say, it's fucking fast. It accelerated well, great induction and turbo noise above 3,000 rpm and 50% throttle. Loads of torque so no shifting down required, just prod the accelerator and you're away. On boost it's quicker than my dad's 996 C2, you twitch your toe and you've jumped 10mph.
Honestly, if you're the kind of guy that wished BMW made an E39 M5 estate, it'd probably be cheaper to build a car like Dammit's 850. If I wasn't bothered about going on track at all, I'd have it in a heartbeart. Practical, comfortable, surprisingly economical, fast, well-handling, and all round nice place to be in.
It's a lots less wallowy than I expected. When cruising on the motorway it's a little wooly, which would suggest the lower control arm bushes might need replacing, but as soon as you load it up in a corner it's really tight and direct. If your passengers don't mind a little bit of roll then it carries decent speed through corners, but mine vetoed that after a few corners and one roundabout. The grip for the size of car is really astonishing, but I think what won it for me in the "handling" stakes was the level of comfort it provided the whole time. It doesn't get unsettled like the MX5 does, it doesn't get squirrely over crests, and you don't have to worry about the ABS kicking in if one wheel skips over a bump under braking. The amount of suspension travel also feels revolutionary.
I think I only used all the throttle a couple of times as it's not even needed most of the time. On the A303 I overtook in 2nd gear and I barely had time to register what was happening before I had to change up to 3rd. Needless to say, it's fucking fast. It accelerated well, great induction and turbo noise above 3,000 rpm and 50% throttle. Loads of torque so no shifting down required, just prod the accelerator and you're away. On boost it's quicker than my dad's 996 C2, you twitch your toe and you've jumped 10mph.
Honestly, if you're the kind of guy that wished BMW made an E39 M5 estate, it'd probably be cheaper to build a car like Dammit's 850. If I wasn't bothered about going on track at all, I'd have it in a heartbeart. Practical, comfortable, surprisingly economical, fast, well-handling, and all round nice place to be in.