Got the car back from my detailer today and it looks superb. I've taken a few photographs on the iPhone but will take some proper photographs when I take the cars out on a longer drive. Someone messaged me for a photograph of the back seats hence the slightly random inclusion.
The CSS has been in and out of London this week and with the good weather, the front end is splattered with 180 miles of suicidal insects and is rather dirty so it's not quite fair to photograph it next to the freshly detailed TCR so don't judge me for that!
Having driven the two cars back to back and on a 15 mile stretch of my own 'EVO triangle', I'm really pleased with handling and performance. It has a lot in common with the CSS and I drove it as I would the CSS. It's every bit as confidence inspiring. I didn't undertake a comparison with any amount of scientific endeavour, simply ran it in race mode with the DSG set to manual on a route I use as a benchmark. I figured that if I didn't get on with the most aggressive configuration, I would dial it back or make adjustments to individual settings. The route has a combination of fast, open sections, lots of technical corners, adverse camber, some hairpins, a switch back and some rough, pitted surfacing. It's an excellent test of a car's dynamics.
I was reminded of my complaint with (most) road cars equipped with paddles and that's the fact that they're not fixed to the steering column and on a couple of stretches where I know the exact gears I wanted, I found myself scrabbling around the wheel (exiting corners) for the shifter and the car was slightly unsettled as a result. It was actually easier to use the gearstick. Don't start me on +/- direction of shift! The DSG is much the same as on the 7.5PP/R and not having driven them recently, am going on memory. Perhaps there are nuances in the mapping which more seat time will reveal. The DSG box was keen to push me into a higher gear. In fairness, I was watching my revs given the car has done less than 30 miles but there were a couple of stretches where I drove 'normally'. I think I need to get used to driving a semi-automatic box again. It's not as good as Porsche's PDK-S where I actually trust the car to select the right gears.
I think the damping on the car is superb and I only ran in race mode which is intolerable in the CSS. I'm used to firm cars and I am probably not the last word in judging pliancy but there is a notable difference between the two cars. I leave the CSS in individual with everything set to race except the dampers which are on comfort and it's perfect. I think I'd probably spend more time changing modes in the TCR based on what I was doing than with the CSS. For fun, I suspect I'd be in Sport with no adjustments. I think the adjustability, particularly given my wife and I want entirely different things from the TCR make it a perfect shared car. I was expecting to need to swap the car to 18" wheels but I don't think it needs it. I've not tried comfort mode yet!
The car feels quick, much like the CSS, quicker than the 0-60 time on paper. The brakes are superb and similar to the CSS but they feel slightly over servoed - the pads are not bedded in and everything is new so it's probably too early to pass judgement. Braking has more linearity on the CSS I feel.
Anyway, better get on with the run in process! Those of you waiting for cars, you're not going to be disappointed.