summary:
My dad drove a Golf V GTi 200hp, 350Z Roadster 280hp & Boxster 2005 2.7 240hp
I drove a Audi TT coupe 1.8T 150hp, Alfa GT 3.2 250hp & last but certainly not least a 911 997 Cabrio 3.6 325hp
The full story:
Autosfeer is a car magazine for doctors.
14 days ago we (well actually my dad) were invited to a BMW-M weekend where we could have driven all BMW M models on track. But because of the examns, my mom wouldn't let me go. After this she started looking if there wasn't another occasion to do something like that.
So a couple of days ago she told me that we could go to some sort of Coupé-Cabrio day the 25 of june. When I got home and I saw the invitation, I couldn't believe my eyes how many nice cars there would be.
When we arrived today we where number 30 of the 40 groups (1 to 2 persons per group). There were 27 cars there (you can find the names on the invitation sheet) and only 2 of them you couldn't drive yourself (Viper SRT10 & Crossfire SRT6).
In total we managed to drive 6 cars, that's quite a lot and I don't think anybody managed more. That's partly because we didn't allways wait for the big toys (Cadillac XLR, C6, 911, ...) to become available. If we had done that we would only have driven about 3 cars.
The route we had to follow was 12.8km long and leaded us through some nice scenery & very swisty roads. A bit too twisty & overcrowded IMO, there were only about two stretches where you could redline in 3the gear (in the 911). And a very small piece of Autobahn (1.2km), which meant you could just floor it a few seconds on the left lane and then had to get back to the right lane. Still, I can't complain, I had lots of fun! And this was really a dream come true.
Now about the manufacturars. I must say Chrysler, Nissan and especially Porsche have done great effort for this event. There were 3 911's and 2 Boxsters, all brand new! Chrysler had brought the Viper, a Crossfire's coupe, a Crossfire's cabrio and a PT Cruiser GT cabrio. (Caddilac and Chevrolet aren't part of Chrysler are they?) Mercedes wasn't there but maybe that's just because they didn't want to compete with Chrysler. And BMW only brought it's lowest models (320Cd & Z4 2.0) but had folder of the 645Ci...
Now about the cars.
The first time we were one of the first to choose so we could have gotte a 911 or XLR then but we thought we would take it easy since none of us had driven a sportscar yet. So I got us the
VW Golf GTi, which should be an easy car to drive & to learn the road map for the first time. My dad got behind the wheel first but had some problems with the gearbox. He had never driven an automatic (neither have I). But the car was really good. As they say, you're allways going a lot faster then you think you're going because the performance is so easily attainable & the chassis soaks up the bumps. I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at the speedometer. Naturally this doesn't give a real sportscar experience because for that IMO your ass has to be just inches from the road. But still: a very practical & at the same time amazingly fast car. Certainly one I would consider later! We managed to keep up with a 911 S Cabrio btw
Next we took a
350Z cabrio round the course and my dad absolutly loved it. We were a bit more calmed down and didn't need to worry about the road so much so. This car has lots of power but the throttle respons isn't that vivid. The chassis feels a bit wobbly too, good for 99% of the time, but not when you're trashing it. We followed a Maserati 3200GT for a few miles btw (have it on video).
I had waited a bit till we knew the course but would have a go the third time. However, the line in from of the table with the cars keys had doubled
and even after waiting 20 min the best choice was the
Audi TT coupe. Nobody wanted to drive the little C3 Pluriel & everybody was waiting for a go in the porsche's or American muscle cars. They told me it was the 1.8T 150hp version, it felt quicker though IMO. Ok, I'm not really an expert since I drive a Yaris 1.0 in everyday life but still
The TT was a joy to drive to, ok the chassis felt a bit wooden but apart from that everything was really good (punchy engine, good stearing & gearshift, ...).
One of the cars I really wanted to drive was the
Alfa GT 1.9JTD. I wanted to have an idea what it feels like because I would like one when I start working. But since the 1.9JTD hadn't returned yet and to be honest the thought of a 150hp diesel sounded less appealing when I knew that the keys of the 3.2 were just in my grasp. And, so I reasoned the most important thing, namely the driving dynamics would be similar. When you fire up that Italian V6, the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Damn what a sound!!! And the throttle respons didn't let down either. Floor the throttle in any gear, at allmost any speed and the push of that 3.2 is amazing. It's like it's just waiting for you to give it some stig. It reponds faster then your new Pentium 7 25gighertz can caculate how much 1+1 is! Apart from the engine & the bilion dollar looks however, this car lets down :cry: I heard it from several sources before but reasoned that it couldn't be that bad and that a amateur like me wouldn't really notice the difference. Damn, was I ever wrong... And I do regret it because IMO it can stand next to any sportscar & still look spectacularly good. Why in heaven sakes has alfa made this look like a sportscar & handle like a sedan with hard springs. Let me get a bit more into detail. The pedals especially the clutch are horrid, the clutch is worse then in my moms Yaris. Furthermore the gearshift is terrible vague and it's very hard to throw the nose round really sharp bends. When you accelerate you have to correct the front wheels all the time and you steering wheel go to the left & right. First I thought it was me, but I never encountered such problems in the 911 or Audi TT. The brakes also made a ennoying sound and I never felt confident in the car to drive it hard. It allways felt like the front would suddenly pull to the right or left too much and we would crash into a tree. So overall a really really big dissapointment. And I think a Golf GTi would be far more appropriate as a future car for me.
Since there was only 1.5 hour left we decided we were going to wait for a Porsche this time, so we did. It turned out the be a
Boxster 2.7 240hp manual. There also was an S but that had a tiptronic and me & my dad prefer a manual. My dad surprised me by throwing the car fast round bends and never could resist to push the car. From my position, the car felt extremly composed and well balanced. The 2.7 ticked all the right boxes but clearly lacked some low down grunt. All in all, a superb car & I couldn't help wondering what a great car the Boxster S should be.
I had really put my mind onto driving one of those three 911's. But I wasn't alone of course. Time was ticking and I had only five minutes left before they terminated the event. And some (really hot) bitch said I was going in front of her, but in reality it was vica versa. My french sucks so I coudln't really defend myself. I had to wait half an hour before they gave me the keys to a magnificent black
997 3.6. First I thought: plz let me drive a Carrera S but they all were tiptronics so I settled for the 3.6 Manual. The following 13 km must have been the best of my life. I think for the first time of the day my dad was getting a bit scared. The 911 is one fantatic piece of machinery and that magnificent boxer engine allways pulls strong. The front end did indeed feel a bit floaty, but that wasn't going to be a problem because I didn't risk cornering speeds where that mattered.
The invitation:
http://img8.echo.cx/my.php?image=autosfeer5nj.jpg
The 911 Cabrio that I have driven:
Coupe-Cabrio testday from Autosfeer
Poor C3 Pluriel 
That allways happens on the forum. For some reason JW completly fucks up my knowledge of the english languish. Of course, it could also just be my fault because I'm too lazy to reread it 
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