Well, having secured possibly the last ARP4 available a couple of months ago, it was delivered during the week by Chris from Krazy Horse. There was a bit of a delay, because they weren't initially happy with a small scratch on the bonnet, and sent it back to the factory to have this remedied, otherwise it would have been here mid way through February. Incidentally, I found dealing with Stuart in the showroom was a pleasure from start to finish, he was friendly but professional, and I would certainly go back to him again.
Apart from a short run up the road, today was the first day for a decent dry run of around 80 miles, so thought my first impressions would be of interest to those waiting for delivery and others who are just wondering what the differences are to a standard +4.
I won't go too much into the aesthetics, save to say that the amount of kit supplied as standard is really impressive, right down to passenger footrest and pump up lumbar supports, little things like the door keeps and leathered cowl and door latch covers and sidescreen liners.
As I had no choice, having to take a dealer pre-ordered car, it comes with Matte Meteor red paint, in reality it is more like red lead undercoat, a sort of brownish red. I still haven't really made up my mind if I love it or not, sometimes I look and it looks mean and different, other times, I'm thinking it is waiting to back to the paint shop for the top coat.
It also had electric steering, which is nicely weighted and not too light at speed, in fact if I didn't know, I don't think I would have noticed that it is powered, also red brake calipers, which are a waste of money, as is the removable steering wheel, because the hub just moves the wheel 2" closer to the driver, and it is already close enough as it is. It also came with the LED spot lamps, and although I haven't driven it at night yet, just shining them down my garden gives a very impressive amount of light. I cannot have enough light at night, so I am more than happy with the LED headlights, and the sidelights are quite bright enough to be used as a daytime driving light, which because of the dull colour is essential.
I also ordered a spare wheel and a rack, which appears to be specially designed for the ARP4, being easy to take off and put back on again. With the rack off, there is a loop of tubing at the back, which acts as a bit of a 'nerf' bar in the absence of any other kind of protection.
Right, how does it go and ride? Yes it is noisy but more than that, the ride is HARD. You don't just feel cats eyes, you get jolted around by them, and we all know what British roads are like at the tail end of winter, after an hour of driving you just want to stop for a bit of a rest. Frankly, I'm not sure I will be able to live with it, the adjustable shockers are already on fully soft, so I'll have to experiment with springs. It is track hard, although obviously not kitted out for the track, and in my opinion, MMC have dropped a clanger here, but I will be interested to see what others think. The 5 link back end feels OK, but because the springs are so hard, they aren't doing much work, just throwing the whole car around. At least the front end doesn't bottom out like my old 4 seater did, when hitting a pothole.
Brakes feel strong, although obviously I didn't give them much work, and whilst I limited the revs to 4000 for the first 100 miles, and then 4500 after that, I couldn't really tell what the power was like, but I can say that there isn't much below 3000. Just a lot of sucking and not much go. I can see why the factory decided it needed the 3.9 back axle. It did feel though, that once I can use all the revs it will go like a scalded cat. It's quite interesting to compare it directly with the 2.3 Cosworth Duratec which is very torquey, as well as having a ballistic top end. I kept thinking, what this engine needs is a supercharger to fill in the bottom end a bit. I found the exhaust quite noisy at 4000 revs, and I may very well get a longer silencer made, as there is enough room for one, and this shouldn't compromise the power. As it is, it could get very wearing on any sort of drive longer than an hour or so, and I know my wife will not stand it.
It cornered really flat, and although I couldn't be silly on the roads, it felt as if there was going to be plenty of grip, and with excellent steering which was very accurate.
Don't hesitate to get back with any questions or comments, [as if you all wouldn't?] and I'm really looking forward to hearing of other owners experiences and impressions. I could be wholly oversensitive and it may ride like a limo and be as quiet as the grave inside. I did have the hood up incidentally, which proved to be completely draft free, but at this stage I don't know what little leaks I might find when I get caught out in the rain.
