The_Dark_Side said:
i was just about to post exactly the same thing.
exactly what is a "distinctly american driving experience"?
unreliable and overweight with suspension that has either the characteristics of wine gums or concrete?
oooo where do i sign? NOT.
I guess it depends what American car you buy as there are many that still do have suspension setups that have the handling characteristics of wine gums or concrete, hehe.
However I own a Saleen S281. Which is a Ford Mustang GT which has had different shock absorbers, springs, anti-roll bars, polyurethene bushes all fited in place of the standard suspension setup along with 20" wheels, 10" wide at the rear and 9" wide at the front along with engine power increased along with other styling, interior and performance improvements.
Though I have to admit it was one of my worse fears when buying a Mustang was how it would handle. The original UK owner (1st owner, I am 2nd owner) had it from new and when I asked him how it handled he said as good as the wifes new M3 Cab and I instantly thought he was having me on. So he took me out, now this guy could drive, put it this way he races Ford Capri's with some serious modifications to engine power so he knows what he's doing with a RWD beast. I was amazed at how quick this could could get round tight twisty country lanes. Even Pistonheads and several other magazines who have reviews the STD Ford Mustang have commented on its handling been as good as other JAP/Euro sports cars in a similar price region. So ideally the Saleen varient should be a damn good handling car, you can see this from viewing these video's:-
http://www.saleen.com/downloads.htm
Now my findings are yes it does handle well, it certainly corners precisely and the steering is the most responsive and best feeling of a car I have driven yet. The difference with a car like this is that just jabbing the throttle could get you into trouble if the road conditions are not ideal but if your smooth with planting the throttle you can power round corners even in not the best weather/road conditions, but its not advisable. However in the dry it such a fun car to drive, you can either please yourself by just listening to the V8 rumble, even now after owning the car for a few months I still have not had the radio on loud and always have my windows down, the sound is so addictive of the engine. Or you can just drive it like a loon making people look in shock when they see what looks like a 2000kg+ (actual weight is about 1550kg) American Muscle car screaming round corners and actually going round them.
The straight line acceleration is just awsome and stupidly addictive and its getting quicker by the day which I am putting down to the engine loosening up as she has now done 1600 miles, so not many at all. Whats also great is this is a car that yes has a fine tuned race suspension but I could quite happily drive the Mustang from one end of the country to the other end as its such a nice place to be and the ride is comfortable. The brakes are great at sub 3 figure speeds but from higher speeds I feel as if they could be better but the stopping power is good, but thats no doubt mainly down to the rubber putting the car in contact with the tarmec, I feel a Saleen 14" brake conversion would be a good upgrade choice.
I was naughty today on the way home as I took the scenic route and noticed a very nice Mini Cooper S over-taking vehicles behind me as we were on the A34 a very wide stretch of country road with some nice long sweeping but bumpy corners. Anyway I decided I was not gonna have a mini overtaking me so easily so as he came charging up my rear with corner approaching and he was positioning to over-take round the corner as you can see round it I dropped down to 3rd and booted it, held onto the corner and as exiting the sweeping bend buried the accelerator to the max, upped it to 4th took a look in my rears and poor old Mini was gonna, looked down at my speedo as noticed I was at warp speed and quickly approaching traffic so I slowed down to normal speeds. Mini driver catches back up, looking shocked anyway this guy was obviously a nutter as he next decided to overtake about 4-5 cars down the centre of the road with oncoming traffic and so I took notice to see what he had which was when I saw the Cooper S and something written on the other side in smaller writing but could not make it out. Anyway for an American car in the hands of somebody who is just a novice driver I surprised the driver of one of the UK's/Germans finest handling hot hatches/cars, obviously his straight line speed was just no match and surprised him on the twisty bit.
Though I've never quite understood why some people will just over-take irrelevant of the risk, though the guy looked happy and was enjoying himself.
Though I must admit I just love cruising around in my Mustang I normally don't entertain racing with other cars at all and to be honest nobody even tries to race me everybody just looks smiles and the amount of thumbs up and head light flashing from other cars is great. Pulling up in the Mustang makes people very happy and they just wanna know what it is and admire it for been so very different, especially here on UK roads. Afterall seeing a Mustang in the UK is rare, but seeing a Saleen Mustang which is different in so many ways to a normal Mustang people just don't have a clue what it is and are eager to know. I must admit I do get the temptation to leave a set of elevens up the road sometimes and in the wet its fun making the back-end slide around when there is the room and safety to do so.
