Quote:
Originally Posted by LOLS2K
Oh yeah, the Miata build is definitely my favorite so far. I was rather surprised to read that you went the Camaro route after Exige and the hot hatch Abarth and Fiesta. However, the Camaro is such a potent vehicle. Thanks for the link. History tells me that you won't be keeping the Camaro long, so I will enjoy your progress while you still have it.   |
Thank you very much.
If someone came up to me a handful of years ago and said "You'll be driving a Camaro and loving it", I would probably looked at them as if they had 3 heads. It just wouldn't have made any sense in my head.
That is until I drove the regular 2016 Camaro SS before buying the Fiesta ST. The SS was quite good, much better than I expected, but lacked the visceral sizzle the chuckability the FiST has. Neverthless it transformed my opinion of American muscle, that it can be a balanced, if imperfect, experience.
Speaking of perfectly imperfect, I have to say the Exige S is still my favorite drivers car of all time. It's just so damn sexy from every angle, and the "handling" (see, I'm keeping it topical!) is telepathic with every input to every nerve ending in your body. Honestly it's
too much for some people. I had a friend drive it, who incidentally now owns an FR-S, and he was so overwhelmed by the sensory overload that he was driving through my neighborhood at 10 under. Everything you feel and sense is just turned up to 11, because it's one more than 10. Selling it was the right decision at the time. Since then I've gotten into motorcycling, I currently have a Triumph Daytona crotch rocket, so I have no issues getting that same level of visceral sensation that the Lotus provided in spades. Of course all that sensory input really makes driving something merely average an absolute bore.
So, that's what makes the 1LE all the more special to me. I can drive to and from the track with the car in Touring mode, and it's incredibly comfortable. When I get there, I can turn on the PDR, switch everything into Track mode, dial in my PTM settings, and crank out laps that are on-pace with what I was doing in Exige S on Hoosiers. The amazing part is on track I'm not missing any information; the steering is precise, the chassis is communicative and intuitive, and the electronics feel like they're reading your mind, not fighting against you. The only thing I'm missing is wear earplugs, because the interior isn't resonating like an aluminum can like the Lotus did. When it's done, put it all back to Touring mode and serenely cruise back home. The 1LE is two cars in one, it's witchcraft. Ok it's not witchcraft, but it's really impressive.
I don't want to sound like a fan boy, because I'm definitely not. My first car was a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird and it was such a piece of junk that it put a 2+ decade long loathing towards all things GM for me. However, the technical side of me has to put credit where it's due; Chevy has honestly turned it around with their performance offerings.
Just don't go drive a Malibu, those are still garbage.
