Hapkin
Emira Fan
Gentleman and ladies. @Next Decade and I truly had a unique experience. We're going to collaborate offline and put it all together. Then post it publicly. We have to be very careful given that we saw so much that we can't disclose and I want to be respectful of the company, especially given that there is some emerging collaboration at a higher level with us.
For now, I will give my impressions on a very high level and then we'll drill down into the details together later. We have extraordinary details that I have not read on the forums yet.
First off, having now driven the car hard at Hethel in a late stage sports suspension manual V6 first edition prototype I can say without a doubt that it drives significantly differently than the Evora GT. The front end is both more planted as well as responsive and stable at the limit, it is tuned brilliantly and more smoothly driving than Evora GT. The engine feels very similarly powerful to the Evora GT, but you run out of revs a little faster and I did find myself bouncing off the red line at least two or three times on the main straight. Annoying.
Suspension in sport does not feel overly stiff, but the body itself is extremely stiff as far as torsional rigidity is concerned. There is a slight amount of body roll but for the most part it is very flat in transitional stability and steady state cornering. You do feel a slight bit of weight transfer that as people have said before is more communicative rather than destabilizing and contributes to confident driving not unconfidence.
Transitional stability in the chicane is extremely impressive. Car wants to rotate nicely and you can be very aggressive with initial turn in and then again applying throttle leaning on the LSD to rocket out. I consistently turned in too early until I adjusted to how fast the rack is and how willing the nose wants to turn. You can trail brake to get the rear to come around easily and predictably. The back end is always totally planted. Neutral to slight understeer at corner exit depending on how exuberant you are. Not really set up as oversteer type of car compared to my M2CS.
Hard threshold breaking in a straight line is a non-issue. Totally undramatic and very stable without any fade whatsoever though with a very familiar smell of hot brake pads by the end of the session. Excellent brake feel and modulation. Not soft and squishy on mine.
The shifter is very short, shifting, positive, notchy and while not by any means, perfect is better than the Evora GT in my opinion. I did mis-shift at least twice in part because I'm used to left hand drive cars and this was a right hand drive one. However, it was into third from 4th which has been a pain point for some people.
Steering is glorious. So much better than any EPAS system that I have driven yet still responsive and quick ratio. Not super sticky on center, totally predictable and not like progressive ratio systems that I don't trust and are hard to predict.
Interior is night and day better. Kef audio is at the level of a better Bose system on cursory use but not Mark Levinson, Bang and Olufsen level.
Paint quality and the production versions are excellent, fit and finish, panel gaps, the thunk of doors closing is significantly improved on production versions compared to the prototypes on the track. Very much a noticeable difference for all of the above.
I will post seperately about GT4 and Evija which we also so being flogged though I can't share pics. Inspiring.
For now, I will give my impressions on a very high level and then we'll drill down into the details together later. We have extraordinary details that I have not read on the forums yet.
First off, having now driven the car hard at Hethel in a late stage sports suspension manual V6 first edition prototype I can say without a doubt that it drives significantly differently than the Evora GT. The front end is both more planted as well as responsive and stable at the limit, it is tuned brilliantly and more smoothly driving than Evora GT. The engine feels very similarly powerful to the Evora GT, but you run out of revs a little faster and I did find myself bouncing off the red line at least two or three times on the main straight. Annoying.
Suspension in sport does not feel overly stiff, but the body itself is extremely stiff as far as torsional rigidity is concerned. There is a slight amount of body roll but for the most part it is very flat in transitional stability and steady state cornering. You do feel a slight bit of weight transfer that as people have said before is more communicative rather than destabilizing and contributes to confident driving not unconfidence.
Transitional stability in the chicane is extremely impressive. Car wants to rotate nicely and you can be very aggressive with initial turn in and then again applying throttle leaning on the LSD to rocket out. I consistently turned in too early until I adjusted to how fast the rack is and how willing the nose wants to turn. You can trail brake to get the rear to come around easily and predictably. The back end is always totally planted. Neutral to slight understeer at corner exit depending on how exuberant you are. Not really set up as oversteer type of car compared to my M2CS.
Hard threshold breaking in a straight line is a non-issue. Totally undramatic and very stable without any fade whatsoever though with a very familiar smell of hot brake pads by the end of the session. Excellent brake feel and modulation. Not soft and squishy on mine.
The shifter is very short, shifting, positive, notchy and while not by any means, perfect is better than the Evora GT in my opinion. I did mis-shift at least twice in part because I'm used to left hand drive cars and this was a right hand drive one. However, it was into third from 4th which has been a pain point for some people.
Steering is glorious. So much better than any EPAS system that I have driven yet still responsive and quick ratio. Not super sticky on center, totally predictable and not like progressive ratio systems that I don't trust and are hard to predict.
Interior is night and day better. Kef audio is at the level of a better Bose system on cursory use but not Mark Levinson, Bang and Olufsen level.
Paint quality and the production versions are excellent, fit and finish, panel gaps, the thunk of doors closing is significantly improved on production versions compared to the prototypes on the track. Very much a noticeable difference for all of the above.
I will post seperately about GT4 and Evija which we also so being flogged though I can't share pics. Inspiring.
