Exotic Car Tour

I admit I may never be able to buy a modern supercar.

I've got a couple of Ferraris' worth of money yet to spend on education. A couple more exotics will go into paying for my house. And being close to 40, I still haven't invented the next revolutionary super profitable product for the world to rejoice with so at this point we have to consider the possibility of it never happening.

What's the next best thing? Why, renting one, of course. But if you value variety then why not rent a bunch? Too expensive? Not if you only drive about half an hour each. And if it's on curvy, twisty, fun stretches of road, then all the more attractive.

This is exactly what Club Sportiva offers. For close to $900 you can spend your day driving on some amazing roads taking turns to drive 6 fast automobiles. While their selection tends to vary each week, this was our lineup for the day (in the order I drove them):

• Nissan GT-R
• Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible
• Maserati Gran Turismo Convertible
• Audi R8
• Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder
• Lotus Elise

Interesting selection. Each has its own character. Three were convertibles and three fixed (or semi-fixed) roof, and there were manual transmissions (2), single-clutch automanuals (1), traditional automatics (2), and dual-clutch transmissions (1). Four were naturally aspirated and two were turbocharged. With respect to cylinders and their arrangement: one inline-4, one V6, one flat 6, two V8s and one V10. Driven wheels: 4 were 4WD and 2 were RWD. Engine placement: FE (2), ME(3), RE(1). Ok, enough with the stupid stats, I promise. We'll recount the events of the day and you can scroll all the way to the bottom for some stills and videos from the day (no driving videos, sorry... I had no hands-free recording apparatus).

Here's how the day works: You are greeted with breakfast and a briefing session which includes going around the parking lot in what would later be the pace car, a Toytota GT86 Scion FR-S, the purpose of which is to check that you're able to  operate a manual transmission. Lol. No one would be able to pass each other or the pace car (driven by club's staff), and we would stop at predefined points along the route to change cars. The initial distribution was at random and then at each switch point everyone would move back one car in the line. Simple enough.

I'll go next into describing my experience with each of the cars. Bear in mind that the opinion will be highly influenced by the type of road that I happened to drive each one on, and even the sequence in which I drove them, just like two similar flavors are easily distinguished when tasting them one right after the other. Lastly, even though I'm pretty enthusiastic about cars, I have almost no track experience so my perceptions about each car's characteristics could be wrong and I only slightly approached some of the limits... more some than in others.

Anyway, here it goes.

GT-R

I drove this car first, and that meant normal city streets and highway, apart from the initial twisties portion. The Nissan is pretty easy to live with. The DCT is a little unrefined off the line when going slowly but then again most are. I don't care. I loved every minute of the DSG transmission I had on my GTI back in 2009. The interior is fine and seat support is good. The steering wheel felt good but the paddle shifters were pretty worn. A small detail when you consider the performance this thing delivers for its price. One thing that surprised me was how progressive the power delivery is. There seem to be an early boost mode where you get some oomph low in the rev band, the effect of which was very little lag. Impressive considering the turbos need to boost this relatively small engine (3.8l V6) to the 500 hp range. I like having some useful torque available at low RPM, so that you can have at least a little bit of fun without scaring the neighbors and attracting grumpy police officers which don't appreciate you waking them up. While accelerating the thing down the highway at moderate speeds, it felt like it didn't have much more power than my car. And it made almost the same sound as mine when building boost (I don't think my 94 300zx would share any bits of the engine with this one, but still I found the sound similarity remarkable). The sound is a bit droney, evidently the effect of two turbos obstructing the flow and sound coming from the exhaust manifold. At the higher ends of the rev band it gets significantly better, though.

In theory my car's ~400hp are not that far from the GT-R's, but that sense of similarity quickly vanished when we got into a bit of road where I was able to floor it. That felt a lot quicker than the old Z! Many people have said this but it's really true: it feels quite effortless.

All that electronic wizardry maybe takes away some involvement, but not the fun when casually driving fast a bit of twisty road you're not familiar with. So I quite enjoyed it without the fear of ending up hugging a tree. Last bits of info: steering weight felt pretty good. Sadly I didn't have time to play with those awesome data displays. I know this is a heavy car, but I didn't drive it hard enough that I would be able to feel its real effect on handling.

Overall impression: despite not feeling very luxurious in the interior and the engine sound being nothing to write home about, it's a fun car, very fast, and quite an engineering achievement.
Would I buy one? Maybe when I was younger. Right now I would look for a different character if I were on the hunt for a supercar. Naturally aspirated and a little more "exotic-ness" probably. Still, I think it's a great car.

911 Turbo

Ok. I'm going to say some negative things about this car. Despite how it will sound, I love the 911. Just not this one.

I think I wouldn't get the 911 in convertible form. I think the coupe actually looks better. Just like the Cayenne I had, the steering wheel had very little padding. Some people like thick, soft steering wheels (like BMW's). I'm not that picky so it didn't bother me. Also like the Cayenne, this thing has an automatic gearbox with tiptronic controls on the steering wheels. I thoroughly despise this arrangement. First, having both up and down functions on both sides is redundant and unnecessary unless you want to hold your phone or makeup mirror with one hand while shifting up and down with the other one. The buttons also don't hold any prominent position so it's easy to miss them or click some other button when you want to shift. Acceptable on a sporty SUV, definitely not on a sports car. All this is only compounded by the fact that it's a torque-converted auto, and shifts took forever, which in the end caused me to stay pretty much in third all the way. I hated the whole experience because I felt that transmission was preventing me from getting to know the car better.

Moving on, engine sound was also muted in this car by the turbos. When in full boost it does sound loud, but kind of dull. With respect to handling, it's interesting how the weight distribution can be felt, even without taking it to its limits. There was actually some understeer when first accelerating out of a corner. And rear traction is incredible. The car feels well planted and even light (although I don't know how much it actually weighs). Unlike many people I didn't feel as it was trying to kill me but that was probably because I didn't feel very connected to it enough to start to find confidence in pushing it harder.

Overall impression: I love the 911 for its history, I like its shape and the flat 6 sound. Porsches are dependable and easy to live with. But I definitely didn't care for the convertible variant nor for the effect that turbocharging the engine has on it. The auto box was one of the worst I've seen. All in all when getting out of the car I didn't feel like I gained any familiarity with it. I've driven several other 911s and this is the one I've liked the least.
Would I buy one? No. I'd go for a manual, coupe Carrera 2S. If I had more money, even a GT3 but sans the big wing. I don't like wings. Ideally it would bolt on when I wanted to track it. An older, air-cooled 911 is also something that crosses my mind from time to time. A Singer (can I borrow $400k?). P.S.: Happy 50th anniversary, 911!

Maserati Gran Turismo

Somehow I had low expectations for this one. I've always thought of modern Maseratis as pure cruising cars. This one is certainly no all-out sports car, but I was pleasantly surprised by how it handled. I think it's a good compromise, if you're willing to accept compromises in your exotic.

The engine sound was absolutely fantastic in its own right. As is the case with others of this kind, the Gran Turismo seems to have some sort of valve in the exhaust that opens up when you get serious. And this one unleashed a great Ferrari soundtrack. Well the engine is sourced from them after all, and it shows. From what I hear, it's derived from the F430's V8 but in this application displaces 4.7 liters. Suits the car well in my opinion. Power delivery was nice and linear and you are rewarded for working your way up the rev band. The most fun is had at 6-7k. As luck would have it, the bits of road I got to drive this car on included some long stretches where you could easily hit 200km/h. I'm not confirming nor denying I did it. Oh, and more on the exhaust: it had a nice 'brap' throaty sound when you let go of the gas, that kept me repeating the procedure just to hear it over and over again.

The transmission is a traditional automatic with paddle shifters. While I don't care for autos, at least this one didn't get in your way. I don't think I'd have it with a manual. Perhaps in these days a DCT would be the ideal option for the car. Again, it sound like it would be the best compromise.

The interior was arguably the best of the lot, with tan leather and wood accents everywhere. It also has usable rear seats (even with ISOFIX) which only add to the car's versatility. I'd say the styling is also the best when compared to the rest of our selection.  The side or rear three-quarters view are especially sexy. Like Clarkson says, the Italians always get it right.

Overall impression: I totally get this car. You feel very special while driving it, it's nice to look at and to look outside from, makes a great noise and behaves very well on real world roads. You can have a lot of fun, just not in the track I guess. And you can share the joy because it has enough space. For what it is, I think it's an exceptional car.
Would I buy one? Absolutely. Although I would probably have to have enough money left over for buying a more focused car, for compensating on what this one lacks. Not very likely.

Audi R8

I had been waiting to drive one of these. I got tired of reading enthusiastic reviews the car got when it came out. Despite coming from a Company that does high quality but somewhat restrained interiors, and pretty sober exterior designs, the R8 mixes the exciting mid-engine mandated design (low hood line, cockpit placed forward, even some showcasing of the longitudinally mounted 4.2l V8) with standard Audi cues and even some original touches (the love it or hate it carbon fiber vertical piece behind the door, for instance).

What I found was that it's pretty easy to gain confidence with this car. It's like you learn very quickly what it's capable of. I was getting the traction control to intervene within seconds, but never in a "I saved you from crashing" way... maybe more of a "here, I sensed some understeer coming, fixed that for ya"). The car feels very composed and being 4WD, you can be pretty aggressive when coming out of corners.
The manual transmission with gated shifter is what you always dreamed of as a kid when looking at those Countaches and Ferrari 348s, and it felt great in this application. That mechanical sound is very sarisfying. The fly-by-wire accelerator pedal didn't feel that great but that only mattered when starting off the line. The rest of the time it wasn't an issue.
The engine pulls nicely although only when you work the revs. I found myself early shifting a bit just to get on the next gear just before the top of the torque curve... felt nice. The sound was a little bit too muted from the cabin; I'm sure it could be made to sound a little bit louder without being annoying.

One thing that caught my attention is that the belt line felt really high from inside... you cannot rest your elbow on the door :) Front and rear visibility is pretty good, though. All the controls are well placed and feels well put together (just not very exciting). It's an Audi, so that really goes without saying.

Overall impression: Very well rounded car, easy to drive fast, and it does go fast. Sure the V10 will sound nicer and go faster, but this is one of those cars that performs better than what its numbers would suggest. I liked it!
Would I buy one? I think I would. This would compete, in my mind, with the (theoretical) slot in my garage reserved for the 911 Carrera 2S. Different cars, but somehow I tend to look at them as direct competition.

Gallardo

Lamborghinis are meant to be loud, flashy, and exhuberant. The grey colour of our car toned it down considerably but there's no denying it is a worthy member of the Lambo family (actually, and oddly, all the cars in our lineup were grey... well at least they attract less attention from those that could have ruined our day I guess).

First things first. The engine is magnificent. Its sound is intoxicating and, in sport setting, even the throttle blip when downshifting is enough to wake your entire neighborhood up. Cool stuff.

But this thing is BIG. Feels a bit too wide and it's definitely too low. I couldn't see out the front because of the winsdhield top edge, even in the seat's lowest setting. And I'm only 185cm tall. Also it tended to scuttle and shake a bit or I imagined it. Still, couldn't help but notice it. I didn't get to really test it fast because it is the first of the column and the pace car is ever present in front, and we got a lot of slow SUVs and trucks on that segment unfortunately. Still I managed to let a little space build up by slowing down, and then I floored it a couple times. Dear Lord. That growl is simply amazing.

Only bit of a letdown was the transmission. It's a single clutch automanual and when upshifting you are propelled forward for what it seems like a long time, and then get a substantial kick in the butt when in gear again. It's actually not fun. But you can overcome it by doing two things: using the sport mode which makes the changes quicker, and letting go a bit of the gas pedal when shifting up. That doesn't eliminate the jerk forward, but since your brain is expecting it, it feels totally different. Not much else to say, except I guess that this thing felt the most exotic of the bunch.

Overall impressions: It's everything it needs to be: loud, fast, obnoxious, and properly italian (except for the bits borrowed from VW, those feel dull in contrast). I think I needed to drive one of these machines at least once. Its defining characteristic is definitely the V10. Everything else is a side dish.
Would I buy one? No way. I'm perfectly fine renting one every now and then, but I prefer lower profile types of cars. And if it's gonna be that fast, it better be a fixed roof and a bit smaller, or smaller-feeling at least.

Lotus Elise

I loved this car. It accomplishes so much with so little, you gotta thank Chapman for following his principles and present day Lotus for still honouring him with this car. This is that type of car that makes you justify putting up with its quirks and impracticality in ways that sound totally irrational to the outside world. "Yeah, I could totally get used to bending myself like a gymnast when getting in an out of it", or "who needs sound deadening or electric windows, or power stering". Anyway, the car feel is great. I won't go on repeating what everyone says about its simpleness and connection with the driver, because it's true and you can go an read any review. But I will say what it felt to me: it felt like driving an old car where you know you're on your own both when driving and when figuring out what's wrong when something breaks. Does this thing have a throttle cable? (instead of drive-by-wire like everything else these days)... it felt like it, and it's very welcome. The level of control you had over the engine was amazing. The lack of power steering also contributes. I personally don't mind the (lack of) interior; I even thought it looks good in its own way. The gear lever feels solid, precise and makes a great mechanical noise when operating it. Overall it's an easy car to drive and didn't feel too harsh a ride. See? I'm justifying everything... but it's true, I really think I could live with it.

Sadly this was the last car I drove and I didn't have many interesting bits of road to test it, or should I say some easy, error-forgiving bits of road to test it. I was very aware of the lack of traction control and being unfamiliar with the road, I never got to take any bend really fast. I basically chickened out, I know. But I would love, love, love to try this thing on the track. Proformance racing gives you one track day + instruction on it for around $1,200. A bit steep. Anyway, brilliant car. On our way back to return the cars, I cranked up the A/C and cruised on the freeway with no real annoyances. The driving position, although not very adjustable, felt very comfortable. You have to work the gears though, because in sixth you have no passing power whatsoever. But with that VVT, high revving engine and flawless transmission, why wouldn't you?

One final word: the brakes were horrible. I know most people say they are the Elise's weakest point, but I really think there was something wrong with these ones. Another reason I didn't feel compelled to take any sort of risk. The pedals, the transmission, the engine, and the vehicle's personality begged for constant heel-and-toe even if just for fun, but I found it impossible because the brake pedal had to be pressed so far forward, the accelerator pedal was miles away.

Overall impression: I want one. Best toy ever.
Would I buy one? Already did. No, just kidding, but I want one. Loved the little thing and would love to learn The Ways of The Track (tm) in it.

Overall impression of the whole day: you should do it if you like cars. Totally worth it. Go and book it now.

One last exciting bit: while on our way back, on the freeway, somehow a big white painter's bucket got loose and was bouncing all over the place. I missed it in front of me in the Lotus by about half a car length (by luck, not my exceptional driving skills I must admit). The guys on the pace car in front were sure I had hit it and had to look closely at the car to be convinced. Good thing I missed it, 'cause anything even if it's not your fault, is on you, and if you use your insurance, forget about your rates on the next period (which defeats part of the purpose, really except if you total a car).

Now look at the following pictures and watch my very informative videos linked below.

I initially got this one as my first drive, but switched with another guy that got the GT-R but already owned one. Lol.

So I moved on to the GTR. These are the cars lined up before starting.

The back portion of the initial lineup.

The parking lot, the Maserati in the background waiting for us.

The pace car... nice little thing. I would even have liked to drive it as part of the tour.

If you found this post boring, that's because you're not me. You see, the main utility of this whole thing is that when the memories start to fade away, oh who am I kidding, it is already fading away, then at least I have a recount of some details and how I felt about the experience.

A parting thought. Back in 2008, when I was invited to an iteration of Porsche's World Roadshow day, I remember getting back into my FWD 180hp Golf GTI and thinking "WTF is wrong with this car, it's so slow and unresponsive". This time around, the feeling was not so overwhelming. The Z felt surprisingly comparable, at least comparable, to the distinguished selection I had the fortune to sample.