Well, my big daft V8 went bye bye yesterday, and with nothing to replace it at the moment, and still having some errands to run, Toby (EH 370) kindly lobbed me the keys of their Demonstrator and said have fun (red rag.....bull.....some to mind).
MY11
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Toby's first words were to apologise for the pi** poor valet the washerboy had given it. And I gotta say I was underwhelmed by the colour initially.
I dropped myself into the drivers seat, and set about making myself comfortable.
Im 6ft 2", so like with most cars, getting comfortable means putting the seat ALL the way back. And the 370 is no different. However I did discover that it doesnt go back quite as far as I'd like. Extra few inches would have been perfect, but alas they werent available.
As I write this, please bare in mind that I have been out of a Zed for 14 months, and driving an Aussie Behamoth. So getting into the 370, and sitting so low to the ground was somewhat of a shock. Though it quickly rekindled my memories of the 350.
Love having the start button. Not so keen on the lack of sound to let you know that the engine has started. Just like the 350, the car is too quiet in OEM guise. But, I can see why that would appeal to the mass market.
Off I went for a short dual carriageway hop to the local DVLA centre. Top down, sun shining, and generally feeling smug.
After getting to the DVLA I had discovered another point I don't like....or do I? Its hard to decide. The accelerator. It's hinged at the bottom, and it did take some getting used to. And I admit, after a few hours, and some spirited driving, I did like it. What I dont like is that chunk of plastic on the floor at its base. My converse kepy slipping off it! This resulted in some jerky acceleration fora while. I did learn to drive around it, but I still came a cropper of it at times.
This car had no matts fitted, do matts cover this plastic? I hope so.
I took some of my favourite back roads home from the DVLA, and was able to open up the car.
Crikey. Its 110bhp down on my HSV, but weighs a chunk less, and it shows. Acceleration, whilst not brutal like the HSV, is deffinately rapid and fun. I can see why Chris'I liked the uprev remap to give the car WOT in the lower gears, as I thought the car suffered from this like my 350 did.
During this drive, I discovered the car was fitted with synchro-Rev. I hadnt been paying much attention on the intially part of the drive earlier, but now on twisty B roads, it proved to be quite a tool. Some would see it takes away the prowess of being able to hell and toe. But I dont care. Love it.
Next complaint about the car is about the pedal positions. They feel like they are offset just a little too much to the right. And there isnt enough space to comfortably place your foot onto the foot rest from the clutch. I have wide feet, and rapidly doscovered that I would quickly wear through the carpet against the centre consol as I had to scrape my foot down it each time.
Connect Premium - undecided. I liked it at time. But I thought the functionalitly with my iphone4 severly limited. I'd have to play around more with it to decide.
So. Would I have one?
No. I couldnt live with a rag-top.
BUT I would certainly buy a coupe should I have the cash available.
Anyways....pics....
I cleaned off a small section, and applied some Purple Haze to see how it came up....