Are cars getting too fast?

[Nasher]

I'd rather an inexperienced driver in a Tesla rather than say a Ferrari, particular a modern one.
Having driven Tesla's and most the Ferrari range, the Tesla is a point and shoot car, extremely quick in the 20-60mph range based on having a Model 3 Performance for a day but not remotely close to a supercar once beyond 80mph, but the Tesla takes no skill to drive quick, it has huge grip (AWD) and instant torque so anyone can pilot one quickly and easily, now of course anyone trying to bend the laws of physics will crash but you need to drive one very hard to bend one or be a total plonker.

Anyone jumping into say a Ferrari 488, 296 or 812 and tried to drive in the same manner would probably end in a crash pretty quick. Big power RWD cars which command respect, well driven they are very quick and if your somewhere with no speed limits a Tesla won't see where any modern Ferrari went due to the 100-200mph performance, only a Plaid is keeping up.

A to B I could drive a Model 3 Performance as long as speeds are kept under 100mph quicker than I could say drive an 812 Superfast, but the Tesla for me was boring, it is very much a one trick pony, no pun intended towards the Stallion whereas the 812 is just a proper car, driving one at 30mph is more fun, more engaging than driving a Tesla at 100mph.

Also I will always advocate that faster never means better, my E30 325i Sport is way more fun to drive than any Tesla, ok the old BMW is embarrassingly slow compared to modern stuff but if your a true driver and enjoy what makes driving a sports car so good you will totally get it.

I feel EV's are great as city / short commute cars and if you can always charge at home / work to get cheaper electrons.
But as a fun car, a drivers car to enjoy on the road, sorry but I find them boring, as just performance is only one part of the equation of a fun car, can still have fun in a slow car, MX5 been a prime example or a low powered Caterham.

For me biggest issue with modern cars is the weight, not the performance.
Weight is the enemy and a new M5 weighs more than 2.5 tonnes, it is getting somewhat absurd, a fun road car should ideally be around 1500kg or less, track car under 1000kg.

Yep weight makes everything just feel sloppy. It's something no amount of power or computerized nonsense is going to hide. Sub 1 ton cars feel so much more alive. Everything is better.

 

[Simon]

Yep weight makes everything just feel sloppy. It's something no amount of power or computerized nonsense is going to hide. Sub 1 ton cars feel so much more alive. Everything is better.

Not sure everything is better. Comfort and safety certainly isn’t !

 

[Nasher]

Not sure everything is better. Comfort and safety certainly isn’t !

Not always. The C4 Cactus isn't much over a ton and that's one of the most comfortable rides I've seen, especially the current one. Less weight (and unsprung weight) to crash over potholes.

 

[Gibbo]

Not always. The C4 Cactus isn't much over a ton and that's one of the most comfortable rides I've seen, especially the current one. Less weight (and unsprung weight) to crash over potholes.

Think I'd rather drive the Tesla though!

First EV I am looking forward too is the Alpine A290 and not because it is a power house but just to see if a FWD sub 1500kg EV can be fun to drive?
I drove a Cupra R Born, the 320+ PS model and was not impressed, it felt heavier than what my E60 M5 did even though it was lighter......

 

[Simon]

You’ve seen ??

 

[Simon]

Think I'd rather drive the Tesla though!

First EV I am looking forward too is the Alpine A290 and not because it is a power house but just to see if a FWD sub 1500kg EV can be fun to drive?
I drove a Cupra R Born, the 320+ PS model and was not impressed, it felt heavier than what my E60 M5 did even though it was lighter......

When did you drive that ? Born VZ I assume ? Impressive you even compare to a v10 super saloon really

M5 is 1.9 tons. CUPRA VZ saying 1.95-1.99 tons. But they were only launched two weeks ago for orders for deliveries from
November so assume it was some special test drive? But of an odd comment again to compare uncomparible cars and there is no way a fwd EV is ever Going to be fun imo

My 58kwh born is 1.8 tons and doesn’t feel heavy to me and obviously I have my e92 M3 as reference.

 

[Gibbo]

When did you drive that ? Born VZ I assume ? Impressive you even compare to a v10 super saloon really

M5 is 1.9 tons. CUPRA VZ saying 1.95-1.99 tons. But they only were launch two weeks ago for deliveries from
November so assume it was some special test drive? But of an odd comment again to compare uncomparible cars.

My 58kwh born is 1.8 tons and doesn’t feel heavy to me and obviously I have my e92 M3 as reference.

Was a year ago at Crewe and it was Cupra born sorry with about 200PS, sales guy mentioned a more powerful one was coming, that will be VZ, not driven that yet, to be honest I was not looking just got an invite so thought why not. Not much can be revealed from an accompanied test drive but I left not wanting one, maybe more seat time? How you finding yours?

 

[Simon]

Was a year ago at Crewe and it was Cupra born sorry with about 200PS, sales guy mentioned a more powerful one was coming, that will be VZ, not driven that yet, to be honest I was not looking just got an invite so thought why not. Not much can be revealed from an accompanied test drive but I left not wanting one, maybe more seat time? How you finding yours?

Love it. Does everything well and the ideal commuter and is quiet and masks a lot of noise which I notice in other EV and much better than the Tesla’s in terms of back lanes as the steering is very precise and it’s well damped. But it needed the tyres to loose a lot of tread and more pressure. From day one it wasn’t as good and you definitely grow into it. Driven a few fwd EV and the steering is just too corrupted. But let’s see with alpine. They did a good job on the meganes

The faster one back then would have been the e boost 230ps, just running the motor harder. The new 320 ones are on the AP550 motors which are 550Nm rather than 310Nm and imagine will turn them into proper hot hatches rather than warm and not need mega speed to enjoy

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Was a year ago at Crewe and it was Cupra born sorry with about 200PS, sales guy mentioned a more powerful one was coming, that will be VZ, not driven that yet, to be honest I was not looking just got an invite so thought why not. Not much can be revealed from an accompanied test drive but I left not wanting one, maybe more seat time? How you finding yours?

Wow good job the fact checking

The alpine will be cute and nice but I fear it’s a sheep in wolf’s clothes. Bit like the 500 abarth thing.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Not always. The C4 Cactus isn't much over a ton and that's one of the most comfortable rides I've seen, especially the current one. Less weight (and unsprung weight) to crash over potholes.

My insight is better, it’s lighter.