nij1983 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Good review. I was considering the GT86 as a company car, but its pretty expensive on a monthly for what you get. I'd love a boxter but I think its the C Coupe for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph 7 Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 really enjoyed reading that, thank you! "Poke the Porker-shaped key (gay as hell) into the dash and give it a twist" That will be the contribution from the company I work for then! Not our UK facility though. We have a photo of it that has been in our boardroom for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Does the 981 still have silly long gearing? Given that it hasn't changed from the 987, and that that didn't have silly long gearing at all, then no 1st is good for about 35, 2nd takes you past 70mph, and then 3rd is nibbling at a speed that you wouldn't ever want to do on the road for fear of having a licence whipped away pretty sharpish. I kinda get what you're saying, as swapping cogs is fun so if you don't get a chance to do it often then it can feel a bit lacking, but I've never found that at all in anything I've driven. 6th could do with being a bit longer really, as I was sitting at 3K rpm at 74mph, which is a little high. I'm just so used to having a 7th gear though now, so the 981 isn't any worse than the Zed in that regard. The 458, although it matches revs etc, it seems to just slide into the next gear - no clonk on the head from the headrest. Yes you get the noise, you get the sudden acceleration/deceleration, but it seems a bit more "artificial". That's a huge shame, but I wonder if that's something that may get put back in for the 458 Stradale/Scuderia-style car? Maybe not, I don't know. 'Tis a shame though. 70 in second is silly long to me. Also as you pointed out I never saw they point of making all the gears silly long and 6th pretty much the same as 5th. I personally found with the boxster that I was always in the wrong gear. e.g. my zed on a b road is usually in 3rd to 4th and I know it has the torque but it also has short gears. 2nd and 3rd if Im really pushing. In my 172 2nd,3rd and 4th all get a look in. In the boxster its like 2nd should be 3rd. 2nd is too long but at the same time too low for just blatting around and 3rd to high and long. I kinda like the bark it has high up the rev range but the gearbox (at road speeds) doesnt really let you get there. Did this boxster have that electronic brake diff that pivots on the wheel that is braking? Bad explanation I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 PSM (Porsche Torque Vectoring, they love their acronyms!) is what you're thinking of, which applies the brakes to the inside wheel under cornering. It is an option on the car, but this one didn't have it which also meant that it didn't have a rear diff either. It's no real loss, as the car doesn't remotely need a locking diff and PTV can give excessive brake wear if the car is used on track: Some of the Turbo/S guys are complaining that it's completely destroyed their rear discs on the PCCB setup, and when a disc is about £5000 you can see why they're a tad upset! I think we'll have to disagree about the gearing on the Boxster. Certainly I found myself with plenty of grunt at low speed in second, and the gearing really isn't that different from a Zed and you can drive it in exactly the same way. It's much different from a buzzy little hot hatch like the 172, but then this is designed for long cruises at a relaxed pace if required, whereas the 172 requires you to drive it balls to the wall everywhere! Not a bad thing and I have a huge soft spot for the 182, but it's a completely different market and isn't really comparable. Certainly the top speeds are miles apart. I'd consider something like the Z06 C6 Corvette to have very long gearing, 90mph in 2nd is awesomely long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Great write up And pleased with your conclusions. My farther ordered a white with tan 3.2 (4) auto last week, with a few odds and sodds due in sept/ oct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I think I may go and have a mooch round the merc garage at this new SLK.......that PCP deal that was discussed in the 'epic SLK PCP thread' is looking rather attractive. Plus merc can't try and mug me off on the part ex value for my car. One thing I've always wondered though..........can you part ex on a PCP plan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyBoy Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 I think I may go and have a mooch round the merc garage at this new SLK.......that PCP deal that was discussed in the 'epic SLK PCP thread' is looking rather attractive. Plus merc can't try and mug me off on the part ex value for my car. One thing I've always wondered though..........can you part ex on a PCP plan? As a rule, yes. It just gets used as/contributes towards the deposit value. The only potential problem could be if the PCP Ts&Cs state a maximum deposit (which some do, so you have to pay them more interest over the term) which is smaller than the value of the car. DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 Again if you need anything Merc let me know still have a lot of friends at the Leeds branch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 That's true enough. It was probably made for autobahn and track. It's just when you get it on a good road it "feels" home. The boxster does 74-76 PTV sounds ok if it was free but to charge for a non mechanical diff So 2 years time. You fancy a change of car. Would you put a deposit on the boxster? PSM (Porsche Torque Vectoring, they love their acronyms!) is what you're thinking of, which applies the brakes to the inside wheel under cornering. It is an option on the car, but this one didn't have it which also meant that it didn't have a rear diff either. It's no real loss, as the car doesn't remotely need a locking diff and PTV can give excessive brake wear if the car is used on track: Some of the Turbo/S guys are complaining that it's completely destroyed their rear discs on the PCCB setup, and when a disc is about £5000 you can see why they're a tad upset! I think we'll have to disagree about the gearing on the Boxster. Certainly I found myself with plenty of grunt at low speed in second, and the gearing really isn't that different from a Zed and you can drive it in exactly the same way. It's much different from a buzzy little hot hatch like the 172, but then this is designed for long cruises at a relaxed pace if required, whereas the 172 requires you to drive it balls to the wall everywhere! Not a bad thing and I have a huge soft spot for the 182, but it's a completely different market and isn't really comparable. Certainly the top speeds are miles apart. I'd consider something like the Z06 C6 Corvette to have very long gearing, 90mph in 2nd is awesomely long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 PTV sounds ok if it was free but to charge for a non mechanical diff So 2 years time. You fancy a change of car. Would you put a deposit on the boxster? Sorry, I think that's my bad description: If you order the PTV, you do get a mechanical locking diff. This car had neither PTV nor the diff. They don't charge extra for not having the locking diff. As to the change question, I honestly don't know. Ignoring any change in circumstance, then I wouldn't hesitate. It's a car that could happily replace the 911 and give me something different. However, I've got a few other itches that I would like to scratch at some point, and whilst I would be very happy in another Porker I would like to experience other cars as well. I'm thinking something Italian, even if they are more flawed in many ways, it would be nice to say I've done it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 The GT86 should be a great used buy when most of the depreciation is gone, I doubt it'll take long. I'd guess that in 6 years they'll be well under £10K which would be attractrive for an honest rear driver. It sounds like suspension/power upgrades will be popular too. Do you think the oversteer was more comfortable than the 350/370Z Ekona - I'm guessing it's lighter? Perhaps it's hard to compare given the more accessible power/speed of the Zeds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 The GT86 should be a great used buy when most of the depreciation is gone, I doubt it'll take long. I'd guess that in 6 years they'll be well under £10K which would be attractrive for an honest rear driver. It sounds like suspension/power upgrades will be popular too. Do you think the oversteer was more comfortable than the 350/370Z Ekona - I'm guessing it's lighter? Perhaps it's hard to compare given the more accessible power/speed of the Zeds? Both the 350z and 370z are usually understeering when pushing on through corners. This is what makes them a very easy car to drive pretty enthusiastically. The only way it oversteers is if you boot it far too early through the exit of a corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 The GT86 should be a great used buy when most of the depreciation is gone, I doubt it'll take long. I'd guess that in 6 years they'll be well under £10K which would be attractrive for an honest rear driver. It sounds like suspension/power upgrades will be popular too. Do you think the oversteer was more comfortable than the 350/370Z Ekona - I'm guessing it's lighter? Perhaps it's hard to compare given the more accessible power/speed of the Zeds? Both the 350z and 370z are usually understeering when pushing on through corners. This is what makes them a very easy car to drive pretty enthusiastically. The only way it oversteers is if you boot it far too early through the exit of a corner. True enough, it's just that the engine mass needs to be managed more in the braking zone with the Zed. When I first got mine I had a big understeer 'moment' on the early part of a corner, I didn't do that again You just set it up properly as you go into the corner. Not all oversteer involves opposite lock though I'm guessing the GT86 is lighter generally with narrower tyres so less likely to 'snap' on you, hence the question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted August 10, 2012 Share Posted August 10, 2012 On a very rare excursion onto Pistonheads I noticed this article about a poverty spec 370Z press car to enable review shootouts at a similar pricepoint to the GT86. £30K for a 370Z vs £27K for a GT86 would seem a no brainer as a new buy, although as a few have said on here the GT86 will probably get some hefty discounts.http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=26151 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 10, 2012 Author Share Posted August 10, 2012 Personally, I never found the Zed a particularly easy car to slide around. That's probably more my driving style than any fault of the car itself, but it's a heavy old beast and it needed a good amount of provoking to hold it out. I just never felt comfortable doing it. On the other hand, I was sliding the GT86 around within 15 mins, and it was happy to do so. It's certainly more benign in that regard, but I'd much rather take the Zed out than an 86 if I wanted an involving drive. Better engine, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Thats interesting, obviously Ive got a bit of experience with these things but the Zed is one of the easiest Ive found to slide about - the low down torque makes it easy to throw out, the geo means its pretty lazy coming back and the diff locks like a good un. Im going to have to go drive on of these GT86 things, arent I?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Definitely worth a trip out, as a drifter you'd love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Hopefully test driving a derv SLK this afternoon..........the more my little brain thinks about it the more PCP seems to make sense to me (the financing option not the highly addictive psychodelic narcotic). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Nice, let us know what you think. Make sure you drive it in Sport though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share Posted August 11, 2012 Another bit of a write-up on the GT86 against some rivals (Clio 200, E30 M3, DC2) in EVO this month, they come to pretty much the same conclusion as me in that it's good but still not great. Good bit on drifting cars too, including the 350Z with the writer also saying that you need to be fully committed to hanging it out, especially compared with something like an MX-5. Nice to know it's not just me then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 This is the line from merc........all of the 250 dervs in the entire uk under the 'amazing pcp' deal are sold so they've push it to the 200 petrol. There were 4 soot chuckers that they could find in the uk......cheapest of which had 9k of extras pushing the monthly price upto 520. Luckily this was all academic as a drive in the 250 petrol (which sounded like a diesel to me.....swear the salesman got it wrong) was enough to convince me that this was one utterly shiiiiiite car. That gearbox is the most confused **** of a gearbox I've ever come across.....it simply does not know what gear to be in Seats I could imagine to be spine shattering over a long journey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Out of interest has anyone driven a derv Audi tt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted August 11, 2012 Share Posted August 11, 2012 Out of interest has anyone driven a derv Audi tt? Ricey I haven't driven the tdi TT but at the risk of my posts sounding like extracts from my CV I managed a local Audi dealership for 18 months so if there is anything specifically I can help with let me know T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leeroy Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Out of interest has anyone driven a derv Audi tt? Mate, you can't go from an AMG Merc to a diesel pretend sports car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricey Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Out of interest has anyone driven a derv Audi tt? Mate, you can't go from an AMG Merc to a diesel pretend sports car Yes I can.....because I have My merc isn't amg and to be quite honest its the biggest disappointment of a car I've ever experienced but hey ho we all live and learn. V8 or not......it sounded @*!# (when being driven.....exhaust sounded ok revving in neutral).....drove @*!#.......handled ok to be fair.......interior quality sort of oddly @*!# (creaking all over the place). Not what I was hoping for and totally my fault for buying blind and paying a dickhead to repair it (for £1500). Just swallowed a £3500 loss on it within a month.......that's just how @*!# it is. Derv Audi.........fecking brilliant compromise and leagues ahead of the derv slk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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