A lesson I learned in my Ford Capri way back in the early 80s; fortunately I didn’t hit anything else as my car did a perfect 540 pirouette on a roundabout. Torville and Dean would have been envious…
Air cooled 911 > 997 for low speed, tactile enjoyment.
I love using up some of their plentiful time.
I know my Triumph dealer and Suzuki Yamaha dealers are all too happy to test ride bikes providing it's dry. There's a lot of new Triumphs I want a go of so will make a day of it. Cars are another story. Some dealers flat out refuse. Not that I would want one but Ford for example flat out refuse to do test drives on the ST models. "They sell themselves, there's no need" and I've had that more than once as years ago, well before the 86, I wanted a replacement for the vRS which I ended up ekeing out and keeping a bit too long to get the 86. Wanted to have the Focus ST Edition to compare to the Golf R (boring), i30n (actually very good, better DSG box than VW's) and the M140i (utter dogI love using up some of their plentiful time.
I used to regularly visit different motorcycle showrooms in Scotland and take out their latest models for athrasherm, I mean gentle run. Admittedly it did make it easier being a bit more mature in years and turning up on a (then £15k) new Ducati Diavel; I never even had to leave a deposit when I took out a brand new Hayabusa; "you look like a responsible fella" he said as the key was dropped in my hand, "it's got a full tank of fuel, just go and enjoy it" ... two hours later it was back on their forecourt, exhausts pinging like mad, the tank on 'R' and having clocked 167mph along the A91. Noice..
. Wheels didn't feel connected)
Drove the FK2 and FK8 in the Cardigan dealer unaccompanied. The FK8 in particular was deceptively fast. Chained some corners I know well to find the speedo in a very illegal range. I came so close to buying it but the factory moved and I moved home to save for a house. FK8/FL5 are on my radar as a 2nd car one day. With the GR86 I'd have the best of FWD and RWD. Only need a GR Yaris to complete the set.I hear a lot more positive test drive stories about bikes. There's a fella that I used to work with who said he regularly went out for a test on some of the new crazy stuff that came out. It probably helps arriving on a big bike fully leathered up with a matching beard.
I turned up to have a look at / test drive a gt86 when they first came out at the ripe old age of 24. They refused to let me test drive it, citing that certain people weren't in and I couldn't book one until he was back bla bla bla. I'm fairly certain they didn't want me driving it because of my age, despite the fact I'd turned up in a 350Z. Given I've since bought a GR86 it's quite likely I would have put my name down for one. but nevermind, their loss. They've since gone out of business too
My favorite test drive was in the FK8 type R. The sales guy was very excitable. around 30 years old and VERY keen to get me to buy one. We we're on a fast sweeping A-road which I know well and he kept telling me to go faster. I don't need much encouragement, but given we we're right at the top of 5th gear at one point I had to politely decline to keep my foot in it, purely for reasons of license preservation. I ended up buying one, which shows that a thrilling test drive of a great car is a great sales tactic. He phoned me up about 6 months into ownership to check that I was still enjoying the car, let me know he was leaving to be a tree-surgeon, and tell me its still the fastest he's ever been.
I have to admit, I understand why some places are a bit cagey about letting people drive performance cars. The GR86 is a perfect example as it's not super fast, but it requires a certain amount of skill to pedal it near its limits without crashing. Especially if the driver hasn't driven anything RWD before.
