Avid readers will remember we travelled all the way to Millbrook earlier in the year to test out a range of vehicles, followed by my admiration and trepidation for some of those cars gifted to us. Given the chance to do the very same closer to home, well it was a no brainer. To clarify, North is seemingly Wetherby Racecourse near Leeds. Ignoring that missnomer for those of us up here, it’s an easy drive there and back.
Reading through the list of cars, you’d have been forgiven for thinking North was somewhere around Norway. Diesels and hybrids galore. This made it somewhat easier to pick out the cars we wanted to test though. The day itself was a lot less well attended by journalists than Millbrook, which also helped in the selection process. Everything we asked for, we got. I could get used to a life like that.
The test routes were all road based this time round. Thankfully our local lad, William G, had half an idea of the more interesting pieces of tarmac to try. Considering the advised route included a butt clenching 1.5 car wide road with oncoming carefree locals, it was light relief. Mind those kerbs!!
9am, fresh as a daisy and full of a head cold we started with the sensible option on the list to break us in gently.
McLaren 650S Spider
As the one that got away on our last visit, and the most attractive proposition on the list, the 650S (not a 12C obviously!) was what we came here for. Straight in the door and book in at the McLaren desk, “Sure thing, we have a slot right now if you’d like to head out?” A lesser mortal would have thought this through a little more. Memories of the heritage NSX from last time came flooding back. It’ll be stone cold. Everyone will be watching. The police might be out for an early scalp. What if I bend it and ruin the day for everyone else? Why am I stifling an idiotic grin? Balls to that, let’s go.
We’re handed a couple of McLaren baseball caps and ushered to the car for a quick run down of the controls. Thank the sun gods it’s dry. Would look a bit silly with the roof up wearing these. The instructions are suitably concise ; here’s the dash, here’s the seat controls, here’s the tc settings and here’s how to drop the rear window while the roof is up. The last one, I’ll come back to.
The 650S starts with a raucous bark from cold. Whirring and chuntering in a manner that is almost reminiscent of the other V8 twin turbo supercar from 30 years ago. The interior is very ergonomic, everything to hand and nicely weighted from the gearbox controls to the scissor door action. I’ll be honest, that little touch still gets me after all these years. Absolute theatre. Ingenious. Bucket seats are snug and comfy, the steering wheel sized to perfection and visibility forwards pleasantly uncluttered. Roof down, leccy parking brake off and we’re ready to roll.
The engine settles to a calm thrum and I can’t help but notice the volume in the cabin. It’s not intrusive but it’s very fitting. The McLaren pootles through the course carpark, as smooth as you could hope for in such a powerful machine, and onto the open road. Couple of miles to get everything up to temperature, make yourself feel at home, phone your lawyer and check in with a few deities. Just to be on the safe side. Let’s see what this thing can do.
650PS (641bhp) / 500 ftlb torque Twin Turbo V8, 7 speed flappy paddle dual clutch auto box, RWD only, 1,350kgs, ÂŁ195,250 and me.
The acceleration feels like a banned substance. It pins you to the back of the seat in a bdsm masterclass that only a forced induction big capacity engine can. You drive a normal V8 with the sense of knowing how much of the engine’s powerband you can use. Throw a couple of hairdryers on there and you start to feel the power plant is the one calling the shots more than the skin and bones with a flexible right foot behind the wheel. It borders on dangerous and it really gets you going. Should you be so inclined, the 650s will do 0-100mph in 5.9secs and on to over 200mph. We tried neither of those on the road, your honour.
The carbon ceramic brakes are more than up to the job, hauling you back from the dizzying heights of 70mph and setting the car up nicely to turn in for each bend. The sizeable blip on downshifts produces a very polished and composed character. You can be as dim witted as they come, manhandling the chassis all the way and it simply soaks it up. It’s most flattering. The electronically adjustable suspension is another lesson in setting up a car correctly. Even under heavy acceleration the car doesn’t squat or squirm. It’s best described as an electronic butler, employed to deal with your every whim and keep your public relations in tip top condition. It’s quite the achievement.
As you’re sat there immersed in the motoring equivalent of a university physics lecture, patting yourself on the back for understanding key words and taking mental notes, something dawns on you, just how did i get here? Not M74, M6 then take a left, but hurtling down an a-road at a rate of knots, marvelling at the speed with which corners arrive and are dispatched, flicking through gears like pages of an Irvine Welsh novel, am I really the one doing all this? I’d love to claim it was me but I fear, for a large part, it was not. The engine note on the move all but disappears and you are left with a hole in your soul that should be filled to bursting point. It’s an interaction that is a sign of the times, no doubt about it and IÂ missed it dearly. I’m no fan of turbos, from the lag to the sound muffling I wish manufacturers would spend the time and money developing superchargers instead. McLaren, you know you want to.
The 650S is a fine, fine piece of engineering. The engine is delicously potent under acceleration and leaves one lingering question…what on earth is a P1 like to drive? The mind boggles.
Tesla Model S P85
As we progress into the future, with workarounds and hoops to jump through, manufacturers have to look at new and innovative ways to make motoring fun. Some have taken the approach of updating existing technologies, some rip up the book and start again. The Model S is poised to take on the latter role. Does it achieve it’s aim in life?
The operating instructions for the Tesla were a lot more in depth. The car’s main functionality being controlled through the tablet on the dash, everything from suspension set ups to radio stations to web browsing and a reversing camera. It will even tell you if you have been getting too much salt in your diet. Probably. The self extending door handles that operate as you approach with the key in your pocket are a slick touch. There’s 2 pedals for your feet, a steering wheel and a dash that gives your speed in digital format. It’s a very, very clean design and if you have a co pilot to operate the holodeck while you steer, you’re all set.
Externally you can’t argue that it’s a good looking car for its sector. Not normally a fan of the modern white look, with the silver and the dark wheels, this really seems to work. The interior is also encouragingly well finished and due to the lack of gearstick, handbrake and everything being centrally dash mounted, it’s cavernous in there. Two in the front and three full size seats in the rear, a boot, a frunk and no engine to be seen means that you really could use this every day as an only car.
The car pulls away in eerie silence. I say eerie because the Model S weighs in at a portly 2.1 tonnes! Half due to the batteries in the base of the chassis and half due to the overall size of the thing. It is what it is though and we have to remember what it will be compared against. The suspension has five settings, two of which are stiffness, three of which are height. you can have any combination of the five and the car will even remember your favourite settings if you visit the same stretch of road often enough with some clever GPS logging. You will get 265miles to a charge and with a supercharging point that only takes 30 minutes, planning your trip via these charge stations again is all possible through the on board computer (remember when that was an LED dash that showed you the time and your mile-ometer?). Feeling impressed with the technology available and just how far it has come it was driving the car that was to bring the biggest surprise.
Had I boned up on the Tesla I might have noticed the headline figures. 416bhp, instant torque from zero revs and a 0-62mph of 4.2 seconds. And 2.1 tonnes. Just let that sink in for a second. It doesn’t make sense in my head either. Out on the road it feels every inch as quick as the numbers suggest. Cruising along at 40mph in abject silence, pin the throttle and watch as the numbers on the dash grow at an unbelievable pace. Bonkers. Due to the electric engine there is no let up. You simply choose a speed, right foot down and then whoosh, you’re there. Coming out of corners with too much steering angle and all that torque on tap is tremendous fun. No lag, no calculations, just a heavy foot and you in control of your rear tyre’s destiny.
Driven in the manner to which we are accustomed, the range on a full charge will drop considerably but show me a performance variant engine which doesn’t do the same? Under a mixture of driving, 200miles to a 30min charge sounds like a half decent future to me. The ÂŁ85,000 price tag is less appealing but comparing this to an M5, it won’t take too long to claw back the difference in petrol v electric fueling costs.
As a gauge of the direction in which cars are progressing, the Tesla certainly delivers. Can we have a Roadster to play with Tesla? Please?
Maserati Quattroporte
Lining up alongside the Tesla we have the Italian take on an uber barge. In black, naturally, it looks like it means business. Adorned with the same 8 speed semi auto found in the MC Stradale which we tested at Millbrook, I was slightly wary of how this would translate to wafting. With a different gearbox map they have nailed it though. Bravo Maserati.
Power in the S comes from the 3.0L V6 twin turbo putting out 410bhp and 550nm of torque. More than enough to chase down those who may owe you a favour yet seem unwilling to repay. The QP (pet names now too) has the kind of interior finish you come to expect from Modena, it’s a lovely place to sit. Chassis feels capable yet soft enough to make continent crossing an option. It’s not what you would call sporty but it certainly feels polished.
The exhaust gives a nice burble externally on the over run if you really push it, but inside the cabin, with double glazed windows, it may as well be the car behind you that you are listening out for. Horses for courses. Or chopping the heads off and tuck them up in bed if you so wish.
Jaguar F-Type Coupe V6
The antithesis to all this technology on show. Big N/A engine, rwd, noisy exhaust and a chassis that begs you to be a hooligan. As we pointed out the last time, it’s an approach which will garner more smiles than lap time records and it makes no apologies for it. The 8 speed ZF auto box is peerless. The V6 still feels as if the dramatics are well rehearsed with the 4 equal pops/crackles on every single over-run, but you can’t take away from the overall effect. You are going to love this car.
The day will come when you pull up at the lights next to a V8R and you are left feeling somewhat inadequate but the feelings will soon pass. Just get out and look at the thing…
We’re already starting to notice a few F Types on the road and long may that continue. I’ll have mine in grey with the bigger engine please.
Volvo V40 T5
The name jumped out at us on the list, almost as much as the Polestar+ did last time. BTCC memories run deep and I was excited to get out and see if they could pull off the same trick with the V40 as they did with the V60. I really like the looks of the V40, it’s proportions sit well on the road and it holds some nice touches especially at the rear. Hints of AMG A45 at the front do it no harm at all.
Yet another auto box to play with here. No flappy paddles, full auto or gear stick mounted selection only. Not normally an issue but when you push forward to go up a gear and pull back to go down it’s counter intuitive, leaving your brain confused and your mouth blue. We left it in auto and pushed on to see what the rest of the package holds. Lacking in an LSD and with a 4 pot turbo to pull us around you can’t help feel the magic of the Polestar+ has not been sprinkled in the T5’s direction. It’s by no means a bad car but with such a prolific big brother, those shoes look rather ungainly.
Look out for the V60 Polestar+ review when we get our hands on it again in the next few months.
Kia Pro C’eed GT
Another sign of the future, the Kia is the only manual car we tested all day. Looks wise you have to hand it to Kia, they have done surprisingly well with their first attempt at a hot hatch and with a 7 year warranty there will be many a young lad or lass that will justifiably lust after their own.
The interior is classic hot hatch black with red piping and details. The reclining bucket seats only being let down by the soft bolsters that allow more lateral movement than you would really like.
Sure it could do with an extra 40 horses, 150 less kgs and a LSD but maybe that will come with time. Should they ever develop a specialist sports department they have a top base to work with. 10 points to Kia for this one.
Car of the day has to be the McLaren 650S. Although there is a level of interaction missing it does everything else so well you can’t help but get out and feel over-awed. That is one hell of a quick car, may it push the competition on even further.
So that was SMMT day North. Many thanks to everyone involved, it was another excellent day with lots learned and much to mull over for the future.
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