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| Six cars, four hours, 2,303 hp |
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Even in our little sliver of car-world reality, things like this don't happen every day. As part of a program put on by World Class Driving, we spent the better part of a recent morning tooling around in $1.2 million worth of supercars. Hopping from one to the next and the next gave us a unique perspective on the supercar world, and just a vague glimmer of the painful choices made each morning by Jay Leno and the Sultan of Brunei. Poor bastards.
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster
This was a 2008 V8 roadster, and the WCD people had not only put the top down for us, but had assigned as copilot a perky PR girl who, only a matter of months before our drive, had been in a sorority. So the whole Aston Martin ownership experience was highly accurate, down to the 22-year-old co-driver with the perfect teeth.
We didn't get to wring it out much (the car, we're talking about, please), but we were able, in short stretches, to appreciate the mighty torque reserves and ominous, throaty howl of the V8. Where we had room, we stomped on the throttle and imagined its 0-to-60-mph time of 4.9 seconds.
Callaway Corvette Coupe
In place of the sorority sister, we had Reeves Callaway himself riding shotgun in this car. Reeves is always a pleasant and knowledgeable guy to have around, more so when he lets you into one of his cars. He just wasn't as cute. The car was the exact same one we'd just reviewed (AW, June 2) and still just as much fun to drive. A Callaway Corvette is a large, low beast with a huge engine sitting in front of you--that's the impression the car gave when we crawled into it. The traction control was in the "on" position but it allowed a surprising amount of oversteer; we got all of it leaving the roadside stopping place. This thing makes 616 hp! That was a lot more than the Aston and, with this rig's manual transmission, more accessible than the Aston's automatic allowed.
Ford GT
This was the best blend of supercar performance, everyday livability and reasonable price. The supercharged V8 had wide, beefy power and torque curves, the lightweight chassis felt easily tossable and there was head-, leg- and elbow room for even the biggest galoot. It was all wrapped in a classic body, the only drawback of which was those awkward, decapitator doors. The ultimate, easy-to-operate supercar.
Spyker C8 Spyder SWB
The heart of this Dutch supercar is a magnificent Audi V8, which roars with a delightful defiance each time you floor the throttle. From the outside, the car has a distinct look you will not find anywhere other than the Netherlands. But when we turned the wheel, stepped on the brakes or went through a corner, we noticed the car needed more development work. Suspension movement caused by bumps or dips resulted in a disconcerting change of direction for the car, which the strangely disconnected steering had to try desperately to overcorrect. It's not a reassuring setup for a car listed on the program at 400 hp. Still, you will be the only one on your block.
Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
Hey, here's a supercar! Coming from the Spyker, this thing felt downright well-engineered. You sit way up at the front, almost like you're over the front axle, which you're not, of course. The steering felt much better connected, and the powerful V10 behind you flat-out wails, squirreling the rear end through the paddle-shifted e-Gear. Here, finally, was a supercar that did not leave out the super. Response to all the controls was so much quicker than any of the cars we'd driven that morning that we thought surely this was the best.
We even found the sorority girl back in the passenger seat!
Ferrari F430
Forget everything we said about the Lamborghini. There is nothing that compares with the thoroughly sorted-out engineering basics of a Ferrari. Far and away the best-handling, most connected to the road of the six cars we drove that day. Ferrari is not riding on a reputation or hiding behind a crazy-fast-looking body. It has track creds no other car we drove could hope to match. The best steering in the fleet, the best throttle response, the best everything--except the ceramic brakes, which either were not heated up enough or were not working very well. But everything a car could and should be in this class, this car was. Mama mia! |
| Date : 2008-08-24 |
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