deadscoob Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Went to Bedford Autodrome yesterday and had the use of Westfields orange car whilst ours was being shown at the motorshow prior to completion. Has been interesting to drive - there are some very tangible differences between the the "2" and "4" 1st, engine noise. Good and bad - no way on earth will an XTR4 ever fail a drive by test. Outside on full chat it's barely audible - kinda sounds to me like the Civic from Fast and Furious - inside theres lots of turbo whistle, huffing, chuffing and general boost noises. Is a fairly entertaining noise. Doesn't compare to the Busa lump for entertainment/ear bleed value though - you don't get out the car buzzing quite as much but the flip side is you can definitely drive it for a lot longer than the 2. Performance. Tight bends, 2nd, 3rd gear, this will murder an XTR2. The torque is fantastic. For a turbo car, the throttle response is exceptionally good - it comes on boost very, very quickly. The intake and intercooler plumbing is a lot less restrictive and a lot shorter than std Audi setup (which is fairly lag free anyway) so pickup is great. Once an XTR2 is in it's stride though, it'd be similiar IMO - although the 4 has more shove above 100mph, but that's to be expected with another 50hp. 3rd gear is probable best - 2nd is over 2 quick, and 3rd really does give a good kick up the A***. It's impressive stuff Handling - you can feel the extra weight of the 4 over the 2 - well, over our 2 anyway but I guess it's representative of all 2s. It doesn't feel quite as "darty", you can feel the extra inertia - in a 2, put your foot down, you feel (up to 100mph at least) that the thing weighs as much as a fag packet - in the 4, put your foot down, you still know you're in a light car and the weight is disguised somewhat by the extra torque. The car felt a fair bit softer than our 2 but we didn't want to fiddle with the shocks and felt as we weren't really gonna be pushing, leave it nice and friendly. Still handled very very nicely, no understeer, very stable at high speed. The cars abilities are way outside ours at the moment - my shoulders are aching this morning so it was obviously gripping well! Neither of us were pushing it down the main straight at Bedford - certainly I was holding it at about 120ish - it got to that about half way down, and I guess if it was nailed for longer, it would've touched 140ish - very quick for bedford. We wanted to play more with the handling though rather than see how fast it went in a straghtline. Brakes and gearchange were not representative of a customer XTR4 so theres no point commenting. Overall 1st impressions are very good. Very easy to drive and just get in and drive fairly fast. Engine feels bullet proof, ran faultlessly all day. It's certainly an excellent (and more useable) alternative to an XTR2 although an XTR2 is (imo) a little more exciting, frenetic etc etc. I think it'll appeal to a different market tbh - it's almost got the feel of a ridiculously fast mass produced car - that's not a criticism, it's a compliment as to how it feels so solid and together. Think I speak for both of us by saying we were very impressed, we had a great time and we're very grateful and appreciative that Westfield trusted 2 monkeys like us. It's a great car (and we know ours is even better as this one was the devlopment hack), very impressive. Probably THE first "sportscar prototype" that is genuinely useable on the road. Excellent stuff and well done westfield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 Pack it in...I really want one now... When you getting the 'real' one? I think now you've wetted everyone's appetite, you should do a tour of all the area meets so we can all drool... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcoopers Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 How did you get on with all the 911's on the track? Last time I was at Bedford I blaged a ride in a 911 GT3RS, saw 165 down the main straight (full gt circuit), but there were upto 50 cars out on the circuit at any one time. Cars like the JP1 and the RS's were always being held up, not by bad driving, but by the volume of traffic. Did this affect you and the XTR4? I ask, as I am interested in one, but am a little concerned that it might be a little too fast for the track day. Also and I am not ashamed to admit it, it might be a bit too fast for me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadscoob Posted June 1, 2004 Author Share Posted June 1, 2004 We weren't pushing "that" hard tbh. The XTR4 is quicker than a GT3 RS from say 50-100, about the same 100-120, then the 911 pulls away. The XTR4 does handle better though of course. Being held up wasn't really a problem - as soon as there was a straight you could blast past anyway. Re being too fast for you, I'd have to say the handling was very friendly so I'm sure you'd be fine. Ours will be with us quite shortly fter the motorshow and we'll be getting in as many trackdays as possible, so pop along when we're on track and we'll take you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilux Posted June 1, 2004 Share Posted June 1, 2004 The torque is fantastic. Nuff said................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Gratton Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 heheheheh A victim being strapped in - and a brave one too in an open face lid - flies hurt at about 130mph down the back straight A friend is currently sorting out the bullet cam footage - watch this space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Override Posted June 2, 2004 Share Posted June 2, 2004 How well would it drive on the road? as the floor is so low. I only ask because if I ever got one (lotto win first) I'd want to drive it on the road as well as the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Gratton Posted June 3, 2004 Share Posted June 3, 2004 Its fine. I think I did the best part of 250 road miles on saturday and sunday prior to bedford. Coped perfectly in these situations: 1. Derby Town Center 2. Dual Carriage Ways (A38, A52) 3. M1 4. B roads near mansfield. 5. CostCo and Sainsburys carparking You obviously have to be a little selective about where you go still. The car is very low - especially the front splitter board. Speed bumps are a bit of a no no - did manage to get over one with the smallest of scrapes to the underside of the front splitterboard. With a regular car engine there are no issues with the likes of hill starts as the clutch is a dodle compared to the bike engines - and you can set off without 5K revs on the clock. I imagine there are places where you wouldn't take a normal westi - I think the '4 is no different in that respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.