Simon,

4WD: You found the Skyline to be uninvolving, but that car gives you the best traction/handling advantage in the corners.

The skyline usually puts most of it's power down at the rear axle (RWD) and will transfer drive to include the front axle (AWD) when it senses impending loss of traction on the rear. This system gives you RWD style turn-in at the corner start and AWD traction to attack the rest of the bend.

I suspect that if you had the right technical backup you could reprogram the way the car behaves to your liking!

Another point... AWD can be setup and used to greatly enhance the vehicles braking power, helping to control torque, lockup and transfer of braking effort. This extra braking power control would be quite helpful in competition racing, I would guess!

I look forward to hearing your report on driving your first (well setup) Delfino Feroce around MIRA!

Moray

 

Jamie

Does Amanda know you refer to the Integra as your car as well as the M? Good of you to let her drive it from time to time!!

You're right about BMW dealers - Cooper Reading sold the M coupe I was due to test drive, left my details to drive either another coupe or an M roadster. Heard nothing for 2 months. Drove past the other day and there was an M roadster on the forecourt. This time I did drive it, after I contacted them. Now selling my scoob, as you know.

Most BMW salesmen are merely order takers at the moment. Almost akin to estate agents, but that's another story....

 

Evenin' All

Hi Moray
Delfino - Really hope so!!

OK.. Here's the deal with the skyline..
You're dead right about the cleverness of the skyline making it as close as they could to the best of all worlds.

It is extremely quick round MIRA and I would guess any point to point journey. I guess you mentioned to the RWD style turn in because I have been commenting on RWD being more fun etc. Well it's not the turn in that make RWD more fun. Turn in is better in terms of competence in RWD than AWD (generally) but it is also much less challenging. It is the point just after turn in and to the point when you are heading off down the next straight that is challenging in RWD. In AWD, it is this period which is a doddle. AWD is far more challenging to set up at turn in but easy peasy once you get past this point.

For me, the challenge is the fun. In AWD I revel in the split second of the turn in set up of the car. I enjoy the ride through the bend also, but all the work has been done in those last few yards before the bend.

In RWD, the turn in is still exciting but not quite as challenging as you can sort almost any slight error out mid bend without serious loss of time / changing of line etc. But once this is over and I'm mid bend.. wow, I just love to command the back end and relish the experience of delicate throttle movements to hold the car on the very limit.

What the skyline has acheived is the competence of RWD for turn in, and the competence of AWD for mid bend (as you said). This is great but it's also taken away my favorite bits and replaced them with the easier, less demanding ones.

On top of this, once you're sideways, it seems to switch to some kind of auto-pilot thing. It corrects the slide for you. Now anyone who knows me will tell you, this makes for a **** off bloke . What you have to do is throw it in so hard and so sideways that ANY other car AWD, RWD or FWD would simply swap ends, the cars gadget cut in to try to correct it which ends up holding it sideways. All you have to do then is floor it and steer. Turn in for more sideways, turn out for less sideways. It's like a video game.

Incredibly designed car, but. If you were an enthusiastic unskilled driver and had one of these for a year. ou would end up thinking your king of the road. When you finally decide to get a man's car and buy a scooby, you stand one serious chance of falling off the road.

I admire the technology but hate the experience.

Personal preference maybe?

Kind regards

Simon

 

Andy,

The Integra/M Coupe is both our cars - I'm sure Amanda wouldn't mind me saying they're "mine".

The only one that *is* really mine is the MGB - it won't even start for her...