My thoughts on the test drive now I have been able to compare it to my R8....
Today I spent about 45 minutes driving the car on different road types. That isn't enough time to get any deep levels of insight, but it does allow me to start to form an opinion of the car and if I like it or not. Test drives have changed for these sorts of cars as today I was accompanied and there was a camera fitted inside the car, which was an insurance demand so one has to be sensible. I totally understand why and if it were my stock I would do the same as I know how driving skill varies and frankly I would not want to sit next to people I don't know in these sorts of cars as you take your life in your hands. It is getting less common these days to simply be given the keys and told to bring it back in a few hours, though to be fair that is what happened with the new R8 I drove.
From taking the drivers seat I felt the driving position was about perfect. Low enough with good vision, really good vision out the front of the car and all round. It is an easy car to position on the road and feels smaller than its dimensions suggest. It felt different to my R8 straight away as the steering had an odd feel to it first off. I would say it is very accurate and has a tendency to react to the road surface and camber, which I like, but it does have a programmed feel to it. I've been spoilt having had a 6 GT3 and driven a Noble M400 so know what great feels like. There is zero question in my mind that modern systems, programmed do not provide the same level of feel of older systems and though very accurate that is a shame. It's is in no way bad, in fact it is very good, just different.
Brakes were just like my GT3. Little servo so you need to go find them but that is great once use to it. Pedal sits down the centre line so is a little different to many cars but once I got my feet sorted it felt really good. I would need a lot more time to properly play myself into the braking, today didn't allow me to do that at all really. Same with the steering as well, that I am sure I would like and do like, it just felt different to my R8, not better, not worse, just different, lighter.
Power deliver is immense and it revs high. Flat plane V8 with 2 big turbos deliver massive go in any gear and when you open the taps it really gets up and goes. I of course didn't go over the speed limit anywhere, but had I done so then I would have found it really quick, immensely so and quicker than the R8. It seemed to put the power down really well, but again I would need more time to explore that. It has many many settings for dampers, gearbox, engine maps etc and I had not real time to explore these, they just take too much time and my focus was on power, turning and braking. The damping is really good, better than my R8 but then that is a fixed set up, this has clever dampers but it rides really nicely in the soft mode and in the track mode is too stiff for road really in most places, but on track would be superb I suspect.
The issue (not a game stopper I hasten to add) for me and tonights drive back clearly showed me is the engine. It is a bit of a charisma vacuum, it is fast, so fast and it really pushes the car along well and goes as you would want it to go, but even with a full sports exhaust inside it sounds meh and outside louder, much louder but still meh. V10 kills it, destroys it as an event, the McLaren is maybe a 6 the R8 a V10 out of 10. 570S is quicker though, but having followed my mates 12C for 100's of miles, a car with even more horses the difference in real terms is not significant as it may feel on driving them apart. Turbo v NA engines always do that. Today collecting my car and pulling down a slip road I got a bigger smile at full throttle than my 45 minutes today the McLaren, which is interesting.
However having said all this it is a more dynamic and special car I suspect. Today did not allow me to feel that, but I am happy to take at face value all the road tests and friends who have them that they really are a very special car. Think I want it, now I need to work out if throwing 60K away in 3 years is something I am happy to do as that is a hell of a lot of money and could go to many a better use....but cars are a very important thing for me now my mojo is back so it's much more than a spreadsheet decision. It is a "does it make all the hard work worth it" and that is something only I can answer.
If you get the chance drive one, they are fantastic and as said I would without question take one over the new R8 V10+ on anything but price. Now to work that quandary out....
. I always wanted to get an R8 V8 but think it needs the V10 in a car like that
