R36 Driving Impressions

[Cro]

they're trying to slug me another $2K before delivery.

Keep it mind it only costs them under $100 to put all that crap on.. That will give you an idea how much it's really worth.
I.e. nothing

[Lance B]

Top write up Cro.
I'm collecting my Biscay Blue R36 sedan on Sunday. Can't wait.
Does anyone recommend the Paint & Interior Protection offered by the dealership? I'm sceptical of their Lifetime Warranty claim + they're trying to slug me another $2K before delivery.

I say forget it.

I had it on a black Liberty of mine and I think it made it *harder* to keep clean and swirl free.

My suggestion is to keep it washed and get a good detailer to detail it and put a coating of Zano on it every year. A good detailer will only cost about $200 to do a new car, so you can get 5 years worth for $1,000.

[VolksFlagon]

What happended here Cro?

Looks like the 4Motion lost its traction

Nice pics!

[Ewok]

Thanks for the writeup.

...before I picked up the car I wasn’t happy about the fact that it changes gears up when it reaches the redline. I now realise that it just does not matter with a DSG, as the change is seamless and doesn’t unbalance the car in anyway.

Wow, I didn't know this. As someone about to buy one of these that is a real concern. Does anyone know if this can this be changed via reflash?

You mentioned track. Do you have any lap times?

[Steve]

Thanks for the writeup.



Wow, I didn't know this. As someone about to buy one of these that is a real concern. Does anyone know if this can this be changed via reflash?

You mentioned track. Do you have any lap times?

It doesn't change as soon as it hits, it changes a few hundred RPM in to the red. Stops muppets from blowing up their engines...!

[Ewok]

It doesn't change as soon as it hits, it changes a few hundred RPM in to the red. Stops muppets from blowing up their engines...!

Ahh OK. That's not so bad. Thanks.

[Cro]

[IMG]
What happended here Cro?

Looks like the 4Motion lost its traction

Nice pics!

I went off road, mud + snow + road tyres don't mix

You mentioned track. Do you have any lap times?

Unofficial ones only as it was just a speed off the street untimed event.
I went more so to learn about the cars abilities, and learn how to drive a performance car again.
Having said that, it beat my old XR6 Turbo's time by 2 seconds

[Cro]

I’ve now got a touch over 6000kms after another overnight drive, this time up to North East NSW.
The route on the first day took me up Putty Road, through Singleton over to Dungog, Stroud, via The Buckets Way, Thunderbolts Way, Gloucestor, Walcha via Oxley Hwy, Wauchope, Kempsey, Bellingen and my overnight accommodation in Dorrigo via Waterfall Way. The next day I went up to Grafton via Tyringham and down to Dorrigo via Ulong then back down The Waterfall way, south on Macksville Road and Pacific Hwy to Port Macquarie. I was meant to go home at this point, but I couldn’t resist a 1.5 hour detour up and down the Oxley Hwy again. Once back on the Pacific Hwy the only fun I had on the looong boring drive home was through the Old Pacific Hwy Buladelah bypass.

I have to say that I’ve never had this much fun ever, Putty road was a good warm up for what would be some of the best cornering roads I’ve ever been on. The only downfall was that some of the roads (till Walcha) seemed to have been sealed over 10 years ago and every pothole since was just a patch job. This made the ride a bit rough, and every un-patched pothole I hit caused a very loud bang type noise from the suspension. No doubt the sound of it hitting the bump stops. I’m amazed at how composed and strong the car is on these sorts of roads. A good way to gauge how good your wheel balance is to keep an eye on your passenger seat vibrating on smooth hwy roads(with no passenger in it). When I picked up the car it was vibrating all over the place, and once I got the Michelin PS2’s + a Balance it didn’t vibrate anymore. After hitting at least 50 potholes, and running 150kms on dirt/gravel roads it still doesn’t vibrate. This is one solid car, wheels and all

The Buckets Way and Thunderbolts Way is a great cornering road, with a lot of 55km/h+ corners and long open straights towards Walcha. It would be a great road if it was re-sealed. Oxley Hwy down to Port Macquarie has to be my favourite road I’ve ever been on, so much so I did it 3 times in two days!! It is a perfectly sealed road, with very few imperfections and two marked lanes all the way down. I didn’t measure how long the twisty part was, but there was a 45km twisty sign, followed by a 20km twisty sign half way down. This road has never ending low speed corners, 45 45 45 45 45 55 55 35 35 35 25 35 25 45 45 55 it just keeps going on and on and on. Hands down the most fun you can have with your pants down The Waterfall way to Dorrigo is just the same, just not as long.
The road from Dorrigo to Grafton via Tyringham is a bit bumpier and is only 1.5 lanes with no centre line but isn’t littered with patch jobs. This road provides from memory 75km of very tight and twisty corners mostly consisting of 25, 35, 45, 55 corners. The road back down to Dorrigo via Ulong is great for the first 50kms, very similar to the previous road but becomes a dirt road for 25kms. It is very unfortunate as it would be probably the best road ever if it was sealed. The same can be said for the road from Bellingen to Macsville, 50% sealed 50% gravel..Such a shame.

I’ve noticed that this car prefers going uphill, it is just so much easier to throw it into a corner with confidence when most of the weight is shifted to the rear. It means that you have to take it just that tiny bit easier going downhill than you would when going uphill, very similar to most other cars out there.

The other thing, in this sort of country it is very rare to find 98 RON fuel.. I have filled up with 5 tanks of 95 RON fuel now, and have not noticed any different noises or noticeable (seat of pants) power loss. So don’t freak out if you can’t find any 98 RON fuel.

Anyway, I don’t have as many pics as last time but here they are.
Near Dungog
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
At Stroud
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
Near Gloucestor on The Buckets Way
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
Heaven (Oxley Hwy)
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
Didn’t these use to mean Unlimited a few decades ago? Lots of them around here
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
Macksville
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
Bit too close for comfort
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...mg?action=page
All the others are here:
http://doncro.dyndns.org/pics/events...-%20July%2008/

[Lance B]

Thanks for another great write up.

[Macka]

Cro, Thanks for the great overview. I have just ordered a wagon in black. Thanks for the info on tyres. I am actually putting aftermarket 19" rims on it.

Link is here:

http://www.lwtwheels.com/wheelzoom/octanezoom.htm

What do you think? Given the PCD is 5/112 with 44mm offset there are not many rims to choose from.

Macka