Originally Posted by MOG 615
Originally Posted by RobCol


The Plus 8 which wasn't available for test drives doesn't seem to have suffered the same problem.


My understanding is that Aero +8 also suffered a larger number of write-offs than is the case with trads, but perhaps they were not quite so public?

Again it is outside my area of expertise but i was informed this was due to the very short rear overhang (compared to the other Aero 8 variants) which made the tail end VERY tricky to catch when on the limit. All I know was that when I drove a demo car (the white one with a Union flag on the bonnet) I was really surprised when the VANOS system suddenly "dumped" a whole load of extra torque to the rear wheels at about 4.000 rpm. Luckily I was going up hill on a straight road at the time, otherwise it would have been a very different story to tell.

Strangely I had the opposite experience. On a factory demo day I drove an Aero Supersports, the roads were a little greasy, and it started to go sideways when I applied power. I had to be very careful. I then went out in an Aero +8 and it was altogether much more predictable and stable.
But with any (especially rear wheel drive) car with this sort of power a great deal of respect is required isn't it. I'm pretty sure a young person driving my Series one Roadster would get into trouble very quickly (or very quickly get into trouble). I think my age group were lucky. When we were young drivers the cars just weren't powerful enough so when I lost the MG Midget on a bend there was plenty of time to catch it and correct it. Thus we were eased into more powerful cars as time went on.
Nick