slightly earlier than the manual model and with the Sport
Chrono box also ticked, it’s much quicker. While numbers
aren’t everything, 100km/h appears eight percent quicker in
this car than in the stick-equipped version. Compared to the
911, the 718’s cabin feels – and is – from a prior generation;
button-heavy and lacking the commitment to materials quality.
Nevertheless, it’s a wonderfully easy thing to tune into and feel
as if you’re doing a serviceable job of exploiting.
It’s difficult to tell quite how effectively you’re exploiting
the Lotus Exige 410 Sport. That’s largely because you’re
cackling like a loon after the first corner, just waiting for that
4500rpm threshold when the supercharged V6 erupts into an
ear-splitting crescendo. Of course, this payoff comes at a price
and that is posting yourself through a mailbox to get in and
out of the car, being alternately frozen or roasted (there seems
to be no in between) and putting up with more twitters and
chirps than the merch queue at a K-pop concert.
While the feral powerplant is something others can replicate,
the way the unassisted steering guides you seamlessly down
the first sniff of a camber, setting you perfectly into the first
phase of corner entry, is the result of more than seven decades
of Lotus expertise. There’s really nothing like it and it’s this
polished transition into a corner that sets the tone as you pick
up the throttle and drive out. The Nitron springs, three-way
manually adjustable dampers, plus Eibach anti-roll bars, all
add a veneer of compliance missing from the angrier Cup 430,
but switching the car into Sport mode lets you realise just how
much the traction control system is tapering away the excesses
of your right clog. On the dragstrip it was like elevating the
Exige onto four office chair castors.
With 420Nm to call upon between 3000 and 7000rpm,
the Sport 410 has the flattest torque curve of any Exige.
Essentially a slightly detuned version of the Cup 430, it gets a
revised engine map, a new water-to-air chargecooler, an extra
front radiator and a water-to-oil oil cooler in the engine bay.
You get a fairly good view of that lump from the driver’s seat,
too. Or at least of the supercharger andthrottlecable.Reverse
parking is an experience best avoided.
None of these four cars are unconvincingintheirrespective
roles, each offering something differenttothe 911 Carrera’s
excellence. The Jaguar is the more extrovertthing,andI don’t
think it’s any slur to say that it feels likeanextrapolationofa
’90s TVR trajectory. Loud, brutish, beautifulandunexpectedly
talented once you mould to its demands,a typicalSVRowner
would doubtless find the 911 somewhatsoulless.
The Lotus is the most exciting thingherebya massive
margin and is the only car on test thatpossessesdynamic
elements beyond the Carrera. At $159,990,it’sa significant
investment for such a pared-back thing,butit doesn’tpretend
to be any decathlete. Its focus is its beautyandweshould
celebrate the fact that such analogue carsstillexist.
The Mercedes-AMG represents a genuinealternativetoa
911, if you need a little more practicalityandsomethingthat
can be an undemanding daily driver whenyouneedit tobe.It
retains an element of extremity expressedbya powerdelivery
that can feel genuinely unhinged and acabinthatdialssense
of occasion up to the max.
The opposite is true of the 718 Cayman.Attimescertain
elements of its makeup can feel slightlydour.Thecabin
isn’t showy and the engine’s soundtrackwon’thavepeople
flocking to the pitwall at a trackday. Butif youcan’truntoa
911 Carrera, it makes all kinds of senseasa half-pricehero.
It’s purposeful, rewarding, dynamicallyexcellentandgetsus
genuinely juiced about the forthcomingGT4version.
The 911 swats everything aside withanimperiouseasethat
is genuinely shocking. If you want the bestsub-supercar,it’s
so far ahead of the chasing pack that anydirectcomparison
would be churlish. But such is its sheerinsouciance,some
may not warm to it. The Achilles heel ofthe 992 mightbea
certain narcissistic self-regard. Should youdemanda divergent
attraction with some flintier edges, wecanthinkoffour
excellent claims on your attention.Active rear spoiler
provides community
service by alerting Plod
you’re having a crack@wheelsaustralia 99