Hi there
I've had my test drive this afternoon in a brand new FQ360, it was so new that it only had 17 miles on the clock so the dealership told me not to thrash the hell out of and be gentle on the brakes.
So I was short changing up at 6000rpm, redline is 7000 so was getting a good idea of the power delivery etc. etc. The brakes look identical to what I have on the Stang.
First of all the dealer demonstrated the acceleration and levels of grip the car provides. Then it was my turn.
So let me start of with looks and interior. Looks wise its not really my thing but it sure does look a rather menacing and aggressive car with clean lines. Interior was very basic, even more so over the Mustang but the seats were comfy and extremely supportive. It did not feel cheap but was basic, no toys or anything you get whats required, but the car did have aircon.
Steering was far better than I expected, for a 4WD drive car it certainly felt weighty and there was some communication from the road and the steering was quick and precise so it gets a thumbs up there as its practically as good as the Mustang.
Power delivery is pretty good, there is a little bit of lag below 2000-2500rpm but the power comes in smoothly after this and gets rather ferocious beyond 3500-4000rpm making the car feel far quicker than it actually is. Infact it felt practically as quick as the Mustang when the turbo was at full song, but upon looking at the speedo it was not going round in the same kind of fashion as the Mustang would. I did some in-gear acceleration watching the speedo/road and the speedo went round quite a bit slower than that of the Mustangs but it felt as quick, thats turbo rush/surge for you. Obviously as this car gets more miles on the clock it will loosen up some more and no doubt become a little quicker, plus there was an extra 1500rpm or so that I was not using.
Brakes had fantastic initial bite but did not seem to get any stronger but I did not want to push into the brakes to harsh as they were not bed-in yet so I am guessing they would be as good as those in the Mustang once bedded in.
Handling well this felt fantastic, the car changed direction very quickly and within 10 minutes of driving I was turning into a hooligan. This car makes you stop respecting the laws of physics. I drove it on my normal route to work and back and I was doing some crazy things on roundabouts that you would not dream of doing in a RWD motor. I feel a car like this would definetely win a race to the pub because it is very quick over short distances, roundabouts etc. etc. You could literally throw this car into roundabouts and just keep your foot in it and steer, I was becoming a hooligan and had only been driving the car for about 15 minutes or so.
I've never got into a car and been able to drive it smoothly, fast literally within a minute of getting into it. There was no getting used to the clutch, gearbox it was a case of just get in and drive like a loon. The EVO certainly flatters the driver because I was going very quickly but not really having to try and do so.
So yeah if you want to race around town, do silly speeds around roundabouts then in my view nothing will touch one, not even in the dry. The sales guy was saying that if it had been raining I could still have driven it just as hard without issue, I was amazed by this.
So for me I don't particulary like the looks, the interior is basic but fine to live with and its obviously seems to lack performance/acceleration past around the 80-90mph mark.
The good points are its power delivery is rather ferocious which make it feel stupidly quick, it feels a lot quicker than an M5 and practically as quick as the Stang, but the speedo tells a different story.
The handling is fantastic and the steering is good however this could also be said to be bad because the car lets you get away with murder and as such the challenges of driving fast dissapear in the EVO and as such the fun element of car control disspears which is also bad.
Even though the suspension is stiff, its fine for commuting I found and the seats are fantastic. The car sounds fantastic on boost, makes a real aggressive woooooshhhhhhhh noise and very loud too, exhaust looked non standard but it was a stock car.
The price of an FQ360 is 35k new, which I think is too much money for this type of car but the sales guy was telling me that the difference between an FQ340 and FQ360 on the road is not noticable but the price difference is huge. He is gonna get back to me with some FQ340 pricing.
For me the FQ360 felt quicker than the Z4M Coupe I drove but from the way the speedo went round they seemed similar. The suspension setup and harshness was similar on both and the Coupe had slightly better steering feel and was more fun due to RWD but I think on a roundabout and quite possibly on a track the EVO would probably be quicker especially in the hands of someone who is not a driving god. In comparison to the STANDARD M3's I've driven the FQ360 seems a better handling package and would imagine the EVO to be a lot quicker on the track, however a CSL M3 I'd expect to be quicker again.
The hooligan side of me is saying go for an EVO, I can get one well below my budget and on the road could no doubt get from A-B quicker than I would in any other car but at the same time it would be taking me little effort to do so.
My heart and brain is saying go with something more unique and something truly faster like a Z06 or something RWD so I can still have some fun like the Z06 again or an M3 CSL or Z4 M Coupe.
I can definetely recommend an EVO to anybody, it was a fantastic car. Also the fact you can get a 2005 EVO 260 for £14,000 which is essentially the same car but can easily be tuned to well over 300BHP seems in my view to make them absolute bargains.
Next up is the RS4, 911's and a CSL.
I've had my test drive this afternoon in a brand new FQ360, it was so new that it only had 17 miles on the clock so the dealership told me not to thrash the hell out of and be gentle on the brakes.
So I was short changing up at 6000rpm, redline is 7000 so was getting a good idea of the power delivery etc. etc. The brakes look identical to what I have on the Stang.
First of all the dealer demonstrated the acceleration and levels of grip the car provides. Then it was my turn.
So let me start of with looks and interior. Looks wise its not really my thing but it sure does look a rather menacing and aggressive car with clean lines. Interior was very basic, even more so over the Mustang but the seats were comfy and extremely supportive. It did not feel cheap but was basic, no toys or anything you get whats required, but the car did have aircon.
Steering was far better than I expected, for a 4WD drive car it certainly felt weighty and there was some communication from the road and the steering was quick and precise so it gets a thumbs up there as its practically as good as the Mustang.
Power delivery is pretty good, there is a little bit of lag below 2000-2500rpm but the power comes in smoothly after this and gets rather ferocious beyond 3500-4000rpm making the car feel far quicker than it actually is. Infact it felt practically as quick as the Mustang when the turbo was at full song, but upon looking at the speedo it was not going round in the same kind of fashion as the Mustang would. I did some in-gear acceleration watching the speedo/road and the speedo went round quite a bit slower than that of the Mustangs but it felt as quick, thats turbo rush/surge for you. Obviously as this car gets more miles on the clock it will loosen up some more and no doubt become a little quicker, plus there was an extra 1500rpm or so that I was not using.
Brakes had fantastic initial bite but did not seem to get any stronger but I did not want to push into the brakes to harsh as they were not bed-in yet so I am guessing they would be as good as those in the Mustang once bedded in.
Handling well this felt fantastic, the car changed direction very quickly and within 10 minutes of driving I was turning into a hooligan. This car makes you stop respecting the laws of physics. I drove it on my normal route to work and back and I was doing some crazy things on roundabouts that you would not dream of doing in a RWD motor. I feel a car like this would definetely win a race to the pub because it is very quick over short distances, roundabouts etc. etc. You could literally throw this car into roundabouts and just keep your foot in it and steer, I was becoming a hooligan and had only been driving the car for about 15 minutes or so.
I've never got into a car and been able to drive it smoothly, fast literally within a minute of getting into it. There was no getting used to the clutch, gearbox it was a case of just get in and drive like a loon. The EVO certainly flatters the driver because I was going very quickly but not really having to try and do so.
So yeah if you want to race around town, do silly speeds around roundabouts then in my view nothing will touch one, not even in the dry. The sales guy was saying that if it had been raining I could still have driven it just as hard without issue, I was amazed by this.
So for me I don't particulary like the looks, the interior is basic but fine to live with and its obviously seems to lack performance/acceleration past around the 80-90mph mark.
The good points are its power delivery is rather ferocious which make it feel stupidly quick, it feels a lot quicker than an M5 and practically as quick as the Stang, but the speedo tells a different story.
The handling is fantastic and the steering is good however this could also be said to be bad because the car lets you get away with murder and as such the challenges of driving fast dissapear in the EVO and as such the fun element of car control disspears which is also bad.
Even though the suspension is stiff, its fine for commuting I found and the seats are fantastic. The car sounds fantastic on boost, makes a real aggressive woooooshhhhhhhh noise and very loud too, exhaust looked non standard but it was a stock car.
The price of an FQ360 is 35k new, which I think is too much money for this type of car but the sales guy was telling me that the difference between an FQ340 and FQ360 on the road is not noticable but the price difference is huge. He is gonna get back to me with some FQ340 pricing.
For me the FQ360 felt quicker than the Z4M Coupe I drove but from the way the speedo went round they seemed similar. The suspension setup and harshness was similar on both and the Coupe had slightly better steering feel and was more fun due to RWD but I think on a roundabout and quite possibly on a track the EVO would probably be quicker especially in the hands of someone who is not a driving god. In comparison to the STANDARD M3's I've driven the FQ360 seems a better handling package and would imagine the EVO to be a lot quicker on the track, however a CSL M3 I'd expect to be quicker again.
The hooligan side of me is saying go for an EVO, I can get one well below my budget and on the road could no doubt get from A-B quicker than I would in any other car but at the same time it would be taking me little effort to do so.
My heart and brain is saying go with something more unique and something truly faster like a Z06 or something RWD so I can still have some fun like the Z06 again or an M3 CSL or Z4 M Coupe.
I can definetely recommend an EVO to anybody, it was a fantastic car. Also the fact you can get a 2005 EVO 260 for £14,000 which is essentially the same car but can easily be tuned to well over 300BHP seems in my view to make them absolute bargains.
Next up is the RS4, 911's and a CSL.
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