Talking to a colleague who doesn't know me well today while we were walking back from a little soiree. He said 'You like performance cars, fast bikes and stuff don't you?' He then asked about how fast i'd been on the road, what my current car would do, what the bike would do etc (he's broadly aware of my bike and the S)

Got me thinking, for me it's not about top end at all, that's an easy number though i suppose for guys like him. For me it's about accelleration, that's how you beat traffic, get places, have fun, well that and cornering which is also hard to quantify. I always feel if you go much above 100, on a private track, you're in danger as people dont expect it and generally drive with their brains disengaged so mad flat out is not for me.

So it's very difficult to describe, to a none petrolhead, performance. He was asking about the bike and how fast it was compared to my car. I said well it's about twice as quick to 100mph and i think it's supposed to do 160 ish but i've never done that. He was surprised by the top end figure but the accell didn't mean anything. He then said "well how fast is it compared to a Ferrari?" I said well it depends which Ferrari, I think some of the stradale's etc are ballpark bike quick but when I said 0-100 in sub 7 he didnt bat an eyelid, the numbers meant nothing.

so in the end i just said it feels like you need to concentrate to keep the front wheel on the ground, you need to look where you're going because you'll be there very shortly, i said i've had a porsche try to keep up with me going from rolling onto a DC and he was literally nowhere near. in short it's very exciting. i love accelleration. he just laughed and i thought 'you dont get it'

and kicked him in the nvts

 

I had a great 420 mile blast round N Wales yesterday
It confirmed to me it is about acceleration (in gear) and handling.
Forget all this V max and 0-60
It also confirmed to me I'd be mad to change the S

 

I wanna be like Mike

 

When I got the S I thought it needed about half again.

Then I modded it, got the 50% more and thought it needed about half again.

Never too much power, only not enough traction.

 

Maybe you should have quoted my favourite maxim: "any c unt can go fast in a straight line".

But then, there are a few rare occasions I wish I'd gone FI...

 

I did think of you!

 

A vehicle needs to be faster than you to be fast enough.

At the ring hiring a few cars, in the wet 190bhp Alfa 75 was fast enough

In the dry a Clio 197 Cup wasn't fast enough
A megane R26.R was fast enough to be fun but only when balls out through the faster corners
The CSL was fast enough.

Unless it's capable of scaring me at least a little, it's not fast enough.

And this is why a Spitfire feels fast when it isn't.

And why an S4 feels slow when it isn't.

 

All depends what you

 

Performance is one thing. But i like get the car on the edge and pushing ther grip levels where i can. Thats what makes driving fun for me. Not massive speed, thats just crazy on the road.

In fact i tend to slow on the straights so i can speed up for corners.

I guess it take a certain amount of performance to get the car on the edge. Also composure of the car help to encourage the driver.

Thats what i like about the S. It not fast compared with a lot of more modern cars but it give me that buzz to push on and control the car. Powering out of corners, feeling the LSD pushing the backend round. Hearing the engine sing along at 6-9k, absolutely love it.



The more power the car has the more chance the car will win the fight with grip and so use less WOT. Thats my excuse anyhow. Its all torque anyhow.

How EVO rate the SLK over an S i dont know. Ive never seen one eatting beans.

 

all down to the road conditions at the time

on empty roads, no great power is required

I only keep the M5 because the roads are rarely empty

and obstructive feckwits abound

in such circumstances, 400bhp is adequate