The cars and bikes thread!

[gnuyork]

I'm probably going to be given a diesel company car sometime soon, which will be dull.

No offence to diesel owners. Like Scott.

You'll be surprised at the torque. But yeah, otherwise, pretty dull.

[geoffbot]

I don't know how one feels torque, as opposed to general power. I test drove a 220d and it just felt kinda slow. But if it's free...

I'd like to drive an electric car - see how they feel. They're the future of company cars.

[scottjc]

I don't know how one feels torque, as opposed to general power. I test drove a 220d and it just felt kinda slow. But if it's free...

I'd like to drive an electric car - see how they feel. They're the future of company cars.

You'll feel the torque in 2nd, 3rd and 4th gears as opposed to raw power from standing.
The best diesel I ever had was the Saab twin turbo that was chipped to 200bhp with over 400N/m of torque. Once rolling it would take most things through the mid range.

[scottjc]

I'm probably going to be given a diesel company car sometime soon, which will be dull.

No offence to diesel owners. Like Scott.

None taken mate, I also only drive diesel because they're company cars.

[mlcor]

I don't know how one feels torque, as opposed to general power. I test drove a 220d and it just felt kinda slow. But if it's free...

I'd like to drive an electric car - see how they feel. They're the future of company cars.

I've driven both a Tesla Roadster and a Tesla Model S. They are an absolute hoot..up to 60 mph or so, then they start to lose ground to a fast, conventional car. The acceleration from a standstill is instantaneous, like throwing a light switch. Whee! Plus, it's eerie because there is no noise, other than wind and tire noise (or for you, tyre noise). I can't say anything about the handling of the Model S, as I didn't get to test that (it was a colleague's car, and she was in the passenger seat, didn't want to freak her out). I drove the Roadster back-to-back with my Elise, which has an aftermarket supercharger on it, and it would beat the Elise to 60, then the Elise would pull away. Handling-wise, the Elise was the clear winner--unsurprising with the Roadster have 400 pounds of batteries in the back.

[geoffbot]

Hmm. My colleague just changed from an Aston v8 to an i8 and loves it.

[gnuyork]

Hmm. My colleague just changed from an Aston v8 to an i8 and loves it.

The i8 is quite unique in that it can do both gas/electric individually or at the same time (if I recall). The only thing I would miss in these types of cars is shifting. Not sure how it handle though, but like mlcor said above...nothing beats the Elise in my eyes, especially with Ohlins.

[mlcor]

The i8 is quite unique in that it can do both gas/electric individually or at the same time (if I recall). The only thing I would miss in these types of cars is shifting. Not sure how it handle though, but like mlcor said above...nothing beats the Elise in my eyes, especially with Ohlins.

Although cars with manuals are getting much harder to find in the US, even in high level sports cars. My Panamera has the PDK, and I can tell you quite honestly that there's no way I could shift faster or better than the computer does in that car. But if you are on the track, nothing beats the challenge and control of a manual.

[gnuyork]

Although cars with manuals are getting much harder to find in the US, even in high level sports cars. My Panamera has the PDK, and I can tell you quite honestly that there's no way I could shift faster or better than the computer does in that car. But if you are on the track, nothing beats the challenge and control of a manual.

Yeah, I don't care that it's faster. I just like to do it.

[mlcor]

Yeah, I don't care that it's faster. I just like to do it.