..and I ended up with some rubbish Toyota or something 
That was literally all they had. Nobody wanted it because it was too 'sporty' and uncomfortable.
First impressions - very low car and you sit extremely low. Lower than my old Z3 Coupe. Everything is about low CoG. Probably why they put a boxer engine in it
Extremely notchy gearbox and took a while to change gear smoothly.
Good points
Bad points
I originally planned to do Flensburg - Hannover - Flensburg but ended up doing Flensburg - Brussels - Flensburg in 24 hours. Totalling just under 1,000 miles.
Unfortunately I couldn't really test the driving dynamics as I'm not the most skilled driver in the world and I had my gf next to me who I suspect wanted to keep her breakfast down.
Although it only had 200bhp, it seemed like more at times, but the lack of torque is very noticable. The eco tyres lack grip in the wet and the car isn't particularly stable at high speed. Having 2 packing boxes full of books on the return leg made it much more planted at 120mph+
One thing I didn't understand was why the car bounced around so much on what I thought was smooth autobahn. I was bouncing up and down like mad at sensible speeds but was more compliant at high speed. The suspension seemed to be much harder than on my Z3 as I never had the same problems on the same route before.
I reached an indicated 255km/h at one point, even though the official top speed is 225km/h. It must have been downhill, and the speedo was extremely optimistic - it overread by around 10km/h when I used an app on my phone.
I think the biggest issue with the car, for me, is that it isn't German.
The satnav is slow, the automatic aircon is appalling. The OBC is missing vital functions and it lacks refinement. Look at that clock! Straight out of the 1980s!
I sold my Z3 the other month and I'm seriously considering a GT85. After the 1000 miles in 24 hours it really began to grow on me. The car's got bucketloads of character and while it's not as refined or as perfect as a German, it's still a cracking car. Especially when you see the price.
I'm not just sure I could live with one due to the aircon. It really is a clumsy thing. I hate the fact that 'auto' blows the air out of the vents into your face. I've got a stinking cold but I really shouldn't have had it blowing cold air at me for 24 hours
It also struggles to maintain a constant temperature. When I nailed it on the motorway, the air would get hot, then when I slowed down for traffic, it'd blow ice cold again.
The lack of stability at very high speed is also a let down. As reviews have said, I'm sure bigger wheels and better tyres would solve it.
But the suspension is too hard as well. My Z3 wasn't a wafty cruiser but it never suffered from the 'bucking bronco effect' that I had with this thing. I just don't get it. The damping is awful.
Still seriously considering one as my local bank is offering 2.7% interest on car loans for cars 24months or newer. But I'm not sure I could live with the niggles.
My commute is 10 minutes stop-go town and 10 minutes motorway but I'll be doing vmax motorway trips through Germany now and again and ideally I'd like to stick 2 snowboards in the back.
I really don't know what I'm going to buy but the GT86 makes a strong case for itself.
Apologies for the lack of structure and waywardness of this post, but here are some awful pictures for your viewing mispleasure
and next to THE BEAST aka the reason why I rented a car in the first place
That was literally all they had. Nobody wanted it because it was too 'sporty' and uncomfortable.
First impressions - very low car and you sit extremely low. Lower than my old Z3 Coupe. Everything is about low CoG. Probably why they put a boxer engine in it
Extremely notchy gearbox and took a while to change gear smoothly.
Good points
- When you get up to 7500rpm there's a change gear light
- The noise at 5000rpm+ is addictive but it is rather thrasy
- 28MPG even though I was going flat-out most of the time
- Feels quicker than it is
- Aircon dials look like little nuts. That's a nice touch.
- Nice big rev counter and digital speedo, ala Porsche.
- Good spec - satnav, bluetooth music/phone, cruise, etc. No heated leather seats though
Bad points
- The noise. I wouldn't call the GT86 refined. Engine noise, road noise, wind noise.. It's a noisy place to be.
- The bonnet lifts and flexes over 120mph
- The fuel filler cap likes to swing shut by itself
- 4th gear is tricky to get into from 5th. Very odd. It's a notchy, close ratio box and maybe it just takes getting used to
- No fuel remaining details on the OBC
- No average speed details on the OBC
- Significant lack of torque, meaning you have to drive like a nutter to make progress. But I guess that's the point, isn't it?
- Worst of all, the aircon. Auto settings means it blows out the vents right into your face. I have a stinking cold because of it!
- When you nail it on the motorway, the aircon blows hot air. When you back off, it gets cold again.
- Interior is a bit plastic fantastic if I'm honest. Japanese cars have come a long way but it's still not German, is it?
- The ride is not particularly compliant. It's rather uncomfortable on the motorway and bounces around like a bucking bronco even on the autobahn.
- Michelin HP Primacy tyres leave a lot to be desired, but again, that's the point isn't it?
- Doesn't inspire massive confidence at 120MPH+ like my Z3 did.
- The satnav screen is too small and is too slow to react to juntions. I ended up over-shooting motorway turn-offs because it couldn't keep up with multiple junctions.
I originally planned to do Flensburg - Hannover - Flensburg but ended up doing Flensburg - Brussels - Flensburg in 24 hours. Totalling just under 1,000 miles.
Unfortunately I couldn't really test the driving dynamics as I'm not the most skilled driver in the world and I had my gf next to me who I suspect wanted to keep her breakfast down.
Although it only had 200bhp, it seemed like more at times, but the lack of torque is very noticable. The eco tyres lack grip in the wet and the car isn't particularly stable at high speed. Having 2 packing boxes full of books on the return leg made it much more planted at 120mph+
One thing I didn't understand was why the car bounced around so much on what I thought was smooth autobahn. I was bouncing up and down like mad at sensible speeds but was more compliant at high speed. The suspension seemed to be much harder than on my Z3 as I never had the same problems on the same route before.
I reached an indicated 255km/h at one point, even though the official top speed is 225km/h. It must have been downhill, and the speedo was extremely optimistic - it overread by around 10km/h when I used an app on my phone.
I think the biggest issue with the car, for me, is that it isn't German.
The satnav is slow, the automatic aircon is appalling. The OBC is missing vital functions and it lacks refinement. Look at that clock! Straight out of the 1980s!
I sold my Z3 the other month and I'm seriously considering a GT85. After the 1000 miles in 24 hours it really began to grow on me. The car's got bucketloads of character and while it's not as refined or as perfect as a German, it's still a cracking car. Especially when you see the price.
I'm not just sure I could live with one due to the aircon. It really is a clumsy thing. I hate the fact that 'auto' blows the air out of the vents into your face. I've got a stinking cold but I really shouldn't have had it blowing cold air at me for 24 hours
It also struggles to maintain a constant temperature. When I nailed it on the motorway, the air would get hot, then when I slowed down for traffic, it'd blow ice cold again.
The lack of stability at very high speed is also a let down. As reviews have said, I'm sure bigger wheels and better tyres would solve it.
But the suspension is too hard as well. My Z3 wasn't a wafty cruiser but it never suffered from the 'bucking bronco effect' that I had with this thing. I just don't get it. The damping is awful.
Still seriously considering one as my local bank is offering 2.7% interest on car loans for cars 24months or newer. But I'm not sure I could live with the niggles.
My commute is 10 minutes stop-go town and 10 minutes motorway but I'll be doing vmax motorway trips through Germany now and again and ideally I'd like to stick 2 snowboards in the back.
I really don't know what I'm going to buy but the GT86 makes a strong case for itself.
Apologies for the lack of structure and waywardness of this post, but here are some awful pictures for your viewing mispleasure
and next to THE BEAST aka the reason why I rented a car in the first place
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
