Under the auspices of the MMC test drive weekend two of arranged to do a back to back test drive of the Plus Four auto and manual at Krazy Horse today.
Things did not go to plan at all. The weather wet and cold , the traffic from SE London was horrific but to cap it all on the previous weekend two of their demo cars had been crashed during test drives, including the new Plus Four manual car (the other was a Roadster)
Unfortunately no-one phoned to warn us, and to make matters worse we arrived Dan was going to be busy for quite a some time, while he talked with a couple picking up their brand new car. KH tried to make amends with a free lunch, and the rest of the staff tried to keep us happy , but they were obviously still smarting from the loss of two cars in quick succession and it did put a dampener on the proceedings.
We were both able to try the auto boxed Plus Four , but this was obviously no day for heroics, they had lost enough metal for one week. One of us hated the autobox and found it sluggish, I could see the advantages but overall would prefer the manual I had previously tried (but I must admit I am not very familiar with fly-by-wire autos so perhaps it was not a totally fair comparison). I found the box would only respond when the throttle was really prodded, and not a progressive movement, but then it would drop a couple of ratios and as the turbo spooled up the horizon started to get much closer very quickly. I could see how this might be disconcerting for an inexperienced driver. The brakes on this car were not as good as the manual I tried , more travel and very squeaky/squealy coming to rest. The lack of a clutch pedal did give good space for my left leg, but I still found myself trying to use it when coming to a halt. Changing gears with paddles was also a new experience, but felt a trifle strange, I could only change down one gear at a time, when the autobox would drop a couple when left to its own devices. As I came back over a couple of roundabouts I noticed that the digital speedo readout had been replaced with a CS inside a cogged wheel. Dan told me he was impressed that I had been driving enthusiastically as this was a warning of excessive sideways movement (yaw) , in a fully kitted out Beamer this sensor would trigger the cars dynamic stability system, but of course this is not fitted to the Morgan, so the warning light has to be extinguished by cycling the ignition.
Whatever our opinions were , KH say they are selling the auto over the manual by about 10:1, I assume this means that it is appealing to a new breed of Morgan drivers? For me it still have to be the manual, yes I would miss the 50NM extra torque, but I feel I would get a more rewarding drive.
Just to keep me busy while John was testing the Plus Four they let me loose in a Caterham 420R on track day rubber. Now if you think keeping the Plus Four on the black stuff was difficult enough just try this machine. With 400 bhp/tonne , super sensitive very direct steering, a competition spec clutch, it was challenging just to keep it pointing straight as the throttle is applied. Suffice it to say, I was very glad to bring it back in one piece.
Thanks to the folk at KH for their time, and I hope that they don't suffer too many weekends like the last one.
