Ekona

You don't think the CGT looks elegant, and the SLR bland? I love the P1, and as a current car it's stunning to look at. It's just got too many odd lines that will date quickly. The LF isn't as pretty now, but it'll hold up better across the years.

Seems to be the general consensus from other owners, too. I reckon you'd get maybe 23mpg on a run in low power mode, but could you resist gunning it given the chance? The more I think about this car, the more it has me completely split. I adore that engine, and the style of it ticks boxes, and from a pure heart perspective I crave it. From a more sensible viewpoint, could I really live with such a short range and with something that needs to be driven at silly speed to really enjoy? I genuinely do not know.

In 20 years the P1 will look massively dated. The 918 will still look fresh. Look at the McMerc and the CGT. One still looks great, one now needs go faster bits stuck on to modernise it. Nobody wants a 4C because they've got a dull engine that drones and, by all journo accounts, are a bit rubbish to drive.

The salesman did proudly state that this car is in the lower tax bracket, to which I pointed out the difference was about two tanks of fuel or 400 miles

Yeah, black on black looks awful. Silver lip helps though, I'm not sure an all-black car would be quite the same. I ran black Rays on my old Zed, but that was Azure so not quite as solid.

If it's a split bump, you should always put one side of the car directly over the bump, suspension is designed to go up and down, if you straddle them they push your struts outwards which will ruin your alignment and ultimately start damaging things. It's a cumulative effect. I think that's what you're saying anyway Pallett, I tend to alternate wheels over the bumps round our way as there's enough room to do so

Warranty is pretty good on used Bee-Ems, about £100pcm and it covers bumper to bumper. There's various different levels of cover too, so you can pay less for less if you want. I think it's quite handsome, in a unique way. 911 and 350 are definitely prettier though, no argument here.

Also, *tyre.

Megs gel if I can be arsed, AG tyre spray stuff if I can't. Both as good as each other.

They are awful, aren't they? And that's coming from a fan of black wheels, as a rule. Definitely standard ones for me. If I go that route, of course.

You sure the car isn't already lowered? No way should it be catching as standard.

Handling was much better than I expected. Put it this way, on some very narrow roads I was able to get the nose tucked in with ease, and that's assuming it's on a very basic geo setup: Who knows how good it could be if you tinkered with it? Much like the Zed is a bit understeery from OEM, but you can get it perfect. On a flowing track I doubt it would see which way the 911 went, but then it's never going to see a track so I'm not convinced it would matter. It's not floaty like I expected, but neither is the suspension too harsh. It carried the weight well, and I've no doubt on slightly more open roads with a few more miles under my belt I'd feel happy using the power to get the back end to rotate. Top wordage! You're right, of course, there's no doubt the 911 is more desirable and tbh it does everything the M6 does, but with more panache. What it doesn't have is that engine, and as good as the DFI flat six is, it's not quite at the same peak as the V10.

I bite too easily sometimes

So with the prospect of moving the 911 onwards this year, my search for a new car starts with one of Munich's finest. The E63 M6. Yeah, awful pics! The ad itself is here, which is much better. Still, no-one wants to see pics of it really. What you really want to know is whether a fat, lardy-arsed barge with a stonking great lump up front could possibly replace the greatest sports car ever. No chance, surely? Initial impressions are quite positive. It's not that much bigger than the 911, certainly not in width but then the Porker does have that posterior which helps the girth comparisons. The M6 is bigger, of course it is, but the lines and possibly the deep black of this car help shrink it to the eye. It's very subtle too, with just the single labelled badge on the rear to accompany the two M logos on the side strakes by the repeaters. The biggest giveaway that this is something special is the trademark quad exhaust, the sure sign of an M-car. Considering this is a Bangle-era car, it really doesn't shout too loudly, and maybe my aging 34 years finds this to now be a plus point. The doors open with a solid movement, and clunk with that reassuringly expensive Germanic manner. Dropping into the seat is a cinch with the large door opening, and the seat itself is a curious combination of a sofa chair (big padded bolsters) and a race seat (a billion motors in those bolsters to lock you in place).It's comfy, sure, but it's also grippy. There's leather everywhere and it's held up well in this car, with only a smidge of wear on the door cards giving away the 50k miles this 2005 model has done. The steering wheel is like new, which is pleasing, unlike the scratchy centre console plastics. It's better than the Zed, but still disappointing. What isn't disappointing is the noise. Not of the interior, although the Logic 7 stereo is superb, but of the engine. It throbs into life with a smoothness to settle the slightly busy idle, but at this point it's still maintaining the subtlety of the outside. Click the SMG III lever across from neutral to drive, and off you go. It's a fully automated manual 'box, unlike my dual-clutch PDK in the 911, so there's no creep at all. I make a somewhat jerky move away, which is my fault rather than the car, but it's a pussycat. If you know all about this era M5/M6 you can skip this next part, but I'm a gadget freak so I love this stuff. The car starts up with only (!) 400bhp, with the SMG in slowest change mode, and the three-stage EDC dampers in soft. Like this, it's a lovely wafting bargemobile. It feels docile, but it's got more than enough shove to overtake with ease, and with plenty in reserve. You can then push the power button to give you the full fat 500 bhp, and then you can change the shift mode into a more aggressive change whilst adding manual changes with the paddles if you prefer, and then finally cranking up the damping level. I settle for P500S, SMG 5 and EDC 2. The S in the P500S stands for Sport, which is activated only by pushing the M button to recall your favourite settings. Basically, it's a sharper throttle response, and activates the HUD which shows gear, speed and rev counter so you no longer have to adjust focus when pressing on. And finally, after all that, you find a straight and you press the throttle to the carpet. And then you hold on. Make no mistake, my 911 is a quick car, but the M6 makes it feel like a diesel Fiesta. The rate at which it gathers speed is utterly immense, and it's done with a soundtrack that gives you a full aural eargasm. The V10 wants to rev, and when you really ring it out to 8500 RPM it's got that beautiful metallic tingle right at the top, a proper vee-ten shriek. It's not like some uber-barges where you don't know what speed you're doing: Every millisecond that goes by, you're acutely aware that this thing is shifting hard. I've never driven something so ferocious, yet had so much control because it's NA not the false shove you get with a turbo. Honestly, I could rant about it for days, but make no mistake that this is a very special powerplant. I've topped 175mph in the 911 which has a max speed of 186mph, but the grunt this thing has leaves me in no doubt that it'll hit 200mph. It's savage. Watching the rev counter climb higher and higher into those big numbers would never get tiresome, although keeping an eye out for blue lights might. And yet, it never feels out of control. The steering is perhaps lighter than I'm used to, but it's accurate and I had no troubles placing the the car on some very tigt twisty bends. It doesn't feel any bigger than the 911 either, which is good, so I know that when I chance upon the right road the M6 won't leave me hungry for Pork. The middle EDC setting seems well suited to the British B-road, and the nose settles very quickly allowing you to press on with confidence. The brakes are typical BMW sharp, and I suspect they'd wither on track, but on the road? They're solid, and stop the 1700kg+ with ease and more importantly with feel. So would I change? Well, my love for a Temper Orange HR 350 is still there, so I need to drive one of those to find out exactly where I want to go to next. It's not certain the 911 will even go, I'm just exploring options right now. The one issue I may have with the M6 is that it's too quick for the UK roads, which is a criticism I've laid at the door of the 911 in the past. That said, I've still found many occasions to enjoy the flat six to the full, so is it less of an issue now I have a dedicated track car? I'm not sure. What I do know is that I adore the M6 in a way I never did with my very brief flirtation with the V8 M3, and I'd be very happy with one in my garage. Although I need a bigger garage for that, as the M6 is 191.8" and my garage is only 192" long, and I'm not that good at parking

That'd work as a comeback if the VXR wasn't the hardcore stripped out VX

I could drive for ages in the VXR, seats and suspension were perfect. Easy as comfortable as the Zed, genuinely. Stereo and heater were gash though

My PC isn't good enough to run it

It's 1080/30 on the Xbone. Def gonna pick this up when I get my console back, looks ace

No wait, I meant they look f*cking horrendous. Easy mistake to make.

I think they look quite good

Because secretly, we all want a Vauxhall. Luton FTW!

It all depends on what you are trying to achieve. If it's simply a higher top speed, then you need lots of power and some aero tweeks. If it's 0-60, lose some weight and grab some sticky tyres. If it's point-to-point, then do the same as 0-60 but sort the suspension and brakes out too. Performance means different things to different people. Personally I'm tired of having cars with mega horsepower that you cannot get anywhere near the potential of on country roads, and so I'd rather have something slower I can actually use but that handles well. Big power is fun, no denying that, but there are times when I wish my 911 had 100bhp less and shorter gearing so I could rev that gorgeous engine some more instead.

Same colour combo as my wheels: I think that would suit yours nicely mate.

So when the MS system works, it's actually brilliant. Spoke to a nice Oirish fella this morning after being on hold for no more than 10 secs, who then talked me through everything that had happened and apologised profusely, and who basically agreed that the first two people I spoke to were completely incompetent. I called at about 10:40 this morning, and he said that the new console might be with me by Weds at the latest, due to probably missing Fri shipping. Fair enough I thought, seems reasonable. Checked my emails tonight and have found that he managed to get it out at 7pm tonight, for delivery before 12pm on Monday. Now that's how it should work!

I really like that, good choice of colours and style