Your fleet running reports

[Mito Man]

That is amazing. Love it.

That is 7 series perfection.

Dave!

Glorious, isn't it. The 1st BMW I ever made love to was a 740i in that colour

Steady on.

[Carlos]

My daughters had her GT86 a month and loving it, I've driven it a couple of times and can't get a comfortable position for my 6ft1 fat frame. The steering wheel doesn't tilt very high despite the seat sitting low so that's it for me except for emergencies lol

It feels a bit old school with the flat 4 and sounds rough and noisy when cold but has a great thrum when warm and putting some rpm on like our old Bugeye.

It's got plenty of performance but does need working, I have no idea why people say it's lacking power!

She ran over a massive piece of slag today tearing a hole in both the front and rear passenger tyres. Gutted for the bank of dad as that's a pair of brand new tyres in the bin with less than a 1200 miles in them, the front wheel may need a repair as well!

On a plus whilst the car is under warranty with Toyota they provide AA Prestige cover which takes you and the car anywhere of your choice and will provide a car/hotel if needed. The same service that McLaren/Porsche etc get. One of her Engineering Lecturers with a McLaren is on first name terms with him

Posh looking silver van with no AA livery so not to embarrass the discerning clientele

[Matty]

Up GTi clocked up 50k miles this week - 45k of them in my ownership. Also had it serviced at Midland VW, £200 inc. brake fluid change and continues to exceptionally cheap, reliable and a brilliant little car.

It's also incredibly practicaly. Yes you can fit a 55" TV in it.

vw_up_does_it_all.jpg (138.35 KiB) Viewed 1134 times

[GG.]

911 is in to have the remaining non-illuminating sill replaced (plus the leather seen to and a quote for the alloys).

In the meantime I've been given this as a courtesy car - £75,000 worth of specc'd to the eyeballs demonstrator Macan S.





When I jumped in it a hadn't even seen the badge on the back - the engine noise sounded GTR-esque (though much quieter) so I was guessing it was a V6 but second guessing myself in case it was piped in noise.

Apparently 380bhp with a 169mph top speed. In the correct gear and on boost it is stupidly rapid for a car of this type. That said, it has a LOT of turbo lag and feels very old school boosted which seems suprising given 380bhp out of basically 3 litres.

Having driven it for a couple of days I have enough of a feel to summarise a list of good and bad:

Good:
- Impressive power;
- Reasonably supple suspension with the dampers set in normal (not sure why you'd ever have then in firm);
- Good boot space;
- Handsome from the front/side (not as good from the back);
- Impressive interior quality and nice contrast stitched full leather;
- Much improved NAV system from the prior generations (e.g. 991) - especially the pigeon eye view cameras. Basic Porsche sound system significantly better than BOSE in the 991;
- Good NVH - particularly from the petrol ICE;

Bad:
- 75k for not even a GTS version (i.e. has absolutely no spec on it as standard). Seems silly money for what it is but then again I guess a basic 911 is 90k these days;
- Impressive sheer grunt aside, the engine is a VAG unit rather than anything you'd associate with Porsche and with no PSE it sounds very muted;
- Safety systems have become silly with modern cars where it automatically applies the handbrake if you open the door to help with parallel parking;
- 20 odd mpg is simply not enough and perhaps worse on the whole than my 911. Downsizing is a con...
- Doesn't have a manual mode on the main gear selector - using the paddles switches to M but then back into D after a short while. A deal breaker for me in combination with the turbo lag;
- Rear legroom distinctly average and not a true 3 seater in the back despite seeming being as wide as the Range Rover...
- The £2,000 21in wheels make it as painful to park as a sports car which seems to defeat the object of a practical car;
- Headrest are ludicrously hard and you sit "on" rather than "in" the seats (14 way adjustable incidentally).

So all in all would I buy one? Not an S I don't think - for this type of car the base model judiciously spec'd is probably the way to go (*cough* @Jobbo) as the enjoyment you'd get from using the extra power is limited given the average noise, turbo lag and lack of full manual box.

It is an interesting exercise given I'm half considering a current shape Cayenne to replace the RR. It does have me thinking I'd want a V8 which then means any possibility of it being a sensible financial choice is out the window. When I already have a 911, a RR seems a much better counterpoint so I think I may be sucking up the insurance cost. We'll see.

Anyway - just need to ensure this one isn't nicked or damaged before I hand it back

[Jobbo]

I believe it stays in manual mode if you have sport chrono and switch to sport/sports plus. But I haven’t tried that.

£75k doesn’t sound that bad still when the S is virtually as quick as the GTS and if you compare to other premium SUVs. The 2.0 isn’t that much more economical.

They are fairly compact inside if you want a family car though. I’d also spec the 18-way seats now if it were my car; the 14-way ones are fine and have less pronounced bolsters for getting in and out but I like the sportier ones. My wife is quite happy with her 14-ways though.

[Jobbo]

I like to take a photo of my car from above when the opportunity arises; you get an angle you don’t normally see:

[Mito Man]

I’m surprised it only does 20mpg, that’s terrible. My dad is looking at another car as he’s gone off electric (although will keep the Model 3 as a city runabout as it’s pretty worthless now). Seems pointless going for anything but diesel if you’re doing 25,000 miles per year and want something with some decent grunt. But then all the manufacturers gave up on making decent diesel engines a few years ago so you’re just stuck with petrols which do high teens mpg…

[Rich B]

I like to take a photo of my car from above when the opportunity arises; you get an angle you don’t normally see:

insert short joke here….

[GG.]

I believe it stays in manual mode if you have sport chrono and switch to sport/sports plus. But I haven’t tried that.

£75k doesn’t sound that bad still when the S is virtually as quick as the GTS and if you compare to other premium SUVs. The 2.0 isn’t that much more economical.

They are fairly compact inside if you want a family car though. I’d also spec the 18-way seats now if it were my car; the 14-way ones are fine and have less pronounced bolsters for getting in and out but I like the sportier ones. My wife is quite happy with her 14-ways though.

This one does have sport Chrono and I thought it still went back to D after a while even in sport plus but it does sound implausible so I will try again!

Don’t get me wrong - I thought the car was extremely impressive overall. I think the prices of new cars just still surprise me. Opting for the top versions of the Macan with healthy options will end up with a six figure bill and there’s just no way you can justify that in my mind. Keeping the spec sensible is the way to go.

Re the seats - I think much of that can be attributed to being a 6ft 105kg front row…. I’m sure for most people they are perfect.

[Beany]

Up GTi clocked up 50k miles this week - 45k of them in my ownership. Also had it serviced at Midland VW, £200 inc. brake fluid change and continues to exceptionally cheap, reliable and a brilliant little car.

It's also incredibly practicaly. Yes you can fit a 55" TV in it.

Probably a bit high as an armrest, but I approve, having done similar with flat packs in the Puma

[Swervin_Mervin]

I like to take a photo of my car from above when the opportunity arises; you get an angle you don’t normally see:

insert short joke here….

Can I insert a taxi to the kerb joke instead?

[Mito Man]

[ quote=Jobbo post_id=190570 time=1694986226 user_id=58]
I like to take a photo of my car from above when the opportunity arises; you get an angle you don’t normally see:

insert short joke here….

Can I insert a taxi to the kerb joke instead?
[/quote]

A 200IQ person would combine the kerb and short joke together.
The distance to the kerb is one small step for man, one giant leap for Jobbo
I’ll get my coat

[Jobbo]

I was well within the white line the other side

[Beany]

I was well within the white line the other side

That line on the other side of the road is yellow, Jobson

[Jobbo]

Stopped for an ice cream in the same place. I had to take a photo of this parking:


No, the dog didn’t park it. Yes, this is how the chap left it before getting out and walking off.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Stopped for an ice cream in the same place. I had to take a photo of this parking:


No, the dog didn’t park it. Yes, this is how the chap left it before getting out and walking off.

[GG.]

More from Porsche Guildford.

Dropped off on Saturday and they give me the loan car but expected time of return of mine is "no idea". Get a text today saying "car is done can you collect today". That was at 4pm and they shut at 6 - "can you be there by 5:45".

No price for having the wheels refurbished - another message that seemingly has got lost. Then to add further inconvenience "we only have the loan car booked until tomorrow" can we drop yours off. Well, I'm at work so no, not easily.

So potentially having to work from home tomorrow morning to facilitate their disorganisation but I have a lunch with a client in central London so need to be gone by 11am... Going to be an early start from Guildford to ensure they get there on time... I mean why wouldn't you say we only have the loan car booked until Wednesday when you hand it over? Idiots.

ETA: relevant bod has disappeared now so is unaware that I'm in London and not in the vicinity of Guildford. He is now not contactable till the morning (oh to have a job where you are uncontactable from 6! Fucking brilliant!).

[IanF]

@GG. think you’re going to have to review your recommendation for Porsche Guildford!

Seriously, there does seem to be a certain level of incompetence as well as arrogance with Porsche dealers.. like they’re doing you a favour selling you a car or providing you with a service. Maybe try West London or Mayfair next?.. oh, and then Reading; it’ll save me.. ahem, us lots of hassle in the future.

[Sundayjumper]

He is now not contactable till the morning (oh to have a job where you are uncontactable from 6! Fucking brilliant!).

I imagine he gets paid slightly less than you do

[Sundayjumper]

Electrical weirdness from the 360 yesterday. Parents visited on Saturday, I took my Dad for a spin, all working well*. Car parked up until yesterday evening when I needed to run a quick errand to the other side of Sandhurst - 10 mins each way. Started & ran OK but just before the destination the traction warning came on in the display & the ABS light came on. When I got there and came to a halt the display faded, the dash illumination started randomly going on & off, battery light flashed a few times, it put itself in neutral and wouldn't shift back into gear ! Slightly embarrassing as there was another car right behind me waiting. It felt like ages but was probably <10s and then it went back into gear. Drove off. Same thing happened all over again the first time the traffic came to a halt. A bit further down the road and it had all cleared itself and was fine the rest of the way home.

It reeks of a dodgy battery, maybe a bit of damp too as we'd had some heavy rain Sunday night. Near 25yo supercar** doesn't like living outdoors non-shocker.



* Dad was impressed. He's very much enjoying the Maserati, same power but half a tonne heavier, it makes quite a difference.

** Is it a supercar ? Internet seems to suggest it is but I don't see myself as "a supercar owner"