Clarkson in Sunday Timesj

[ajmoir36]

Funny how Clarkson cant get the auto brake working.  I don't recall any delays when I was on the test drive... 

I do it caused me to stall the manual.

[monkeyhanger]

I didn't exactly follow his logic.  He says it makes no difference to lap times but how much difference should it make?  Isn't the point more about the feel of the car?  He goes on to say comfort mode feels great, so then does he like DCC or not?

DCC is all about the firmness of the ride. I think they expect "Sport" to mean more power when it means a firmer ride, heavier steering and better throttle resonse but no more output (just less throttle pressing to get the same effect). They're all getting a bit old now, with dodgy spines, so "comfort" is what they'll prefer - for me on my Scirocco "Comfort" is something to activate in pothole season to lessen the blow if you hit one.

I suppose on a really sh!tty road, Comfort might actually provide a negligible amount of extra grip between the tyres and the road in much the same way as a slightly deflated tyre provides more grip on a snowy/icy road. If the wheel isn't bouncing all over the place because it's heavily dampened in comfort mode then it should be in a better content for longer. When it takes 0.1s off a laptime it's not exactly critical.

If he prefers comfort then i'd say he's a fan of DCC as standard set-up is more representative of DCC setting "Sport".

[monkeyhanger]

Funny how Clarkson cant get the auto brake working.  I don't recall any delays when I was on the test drive... 

I do it caused me to stall the manual.

When hill-hold came in for my 2nd Scirocco, I did stall it a few times - you definitely need more initial throttle to get the hill hold/auto handbrake to disengage and move off. Much harder to do a smooth set-off on a crawl in near-static traffic now.

[DevonK]

Clarkson et al also raved about the Fiesta ST last week, I wonder which he'd choose. Probably the GTI for the DD, and the ST for the track.

If the next R is significantly better than the new GTI it should be amazing (and maybe finally worth what they charge for it).

[Lagerlout]

The good thing about the chassis control is being able to select sport for everything except the suspension and save this as your preference. That way you get the extra responsive throttle with the ride quality we unfortunately need in this country. Great party trick compared to the competition.

[Bill_the_Bear]

Clarkson et al also raved about the Fiesta ST last week, I wonder which he'd choose. Probably the GTI for the DD, and the ST for the track.

If the next R is significantly better than the new GTI it should be amazing (and maybe finally worth what they charge for it).

Honestly, the Fiesta ST probably does a LOT of what the GTI does for vastly less money.

The GTI gives you more room, and its a more expensive interior.  But driving wise the Fiesta is almost as fast and I suspect would actually be a bit more fun on twisty roads.  Its also a little easier around town regarding parking.  If anything the Fiesta is too good, seems to diminish the argument for a Focus ST...

Don't get me wrong, the GTI is better in (almost) every way, but you pay +50% for it.

[Snoopy]

Clarkson said more or less exactly the same  about the mk5 and mk6 but he never sold his amg mercs to buy one and I would be suprised if he did for the mk7 either but I wait and see.

[am1w]

Clarkson said more or less exactly the same  about the mk5 and mk6 but he never sold his amg mercs to buy one and I would be suprised if he did for the mk7 either but I wait and see.

Clarkson would never buy a car that one does not notice.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? 

[Running Man]

Clarkson said more or less exactly the same  about the mk5 and mk6 but he never sold his amg mercs to buy one and I would be suprised if he did for the mk7 either but I wait and see.

Clarkson would never buy a car that one does not notice.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Well that rules him out buying a bmw 330D then, so that's a good thing.

[am1w]

Clarkson said more or less exactly the same  about the mk5 and mk6 but he never sold his amg mercs to buy one and I would be suprised if he did for the mk7 either but I wait and see.

Clarkson would never buy a car that one does not notice.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Well that rules him out buying a bmw 330D then, so that's a good thing.

And the GTI. So that's a good thing too.