Had a nimbus grey 197 out yesterday as my cup was in for a service and this is my verdict after living with the 197 for around 6hrs,
INTERIOR
The driving position is vastly improved with the fully height and fore/aft adjustable steering wheel,the wheel its self is gorgeous to grasp and a nice size.The seats (non recaro) are superb also and very grippy yet comfortable but the dash looked uber plasticy and the wiper/indicator stalks felt as if they would snap at any time.
PERFORMANCE/RUNNING GEAR
The gearbox felt sweet with very close ratios with around 500rpm drops between gears so it was still as buzzy at speed as the 1*2's,the brakes were a bit underwhelming considering the 4pots at the front! they were nowhere near as good as my cup with brembo HC discs & greenstuff pads which really did surprise me! the handling tho was great with very little body roll and a very tight yet compliant ride which rode the roughish ground with ease whereas my cup would be bump steering like a mofo, it felt really planted at speed also but at lower speeds the turn in was crap and the steering was waaaaay too light. The engine felt really underpowered for the weight of the car and didn't pull at all until nigh on 4k revs there was also a flat spot between 2-3k, once you get it singing it wasn't too bad and you could certainly tell that there was a lot more grip to be had with the 215 tyres but still felt a good bit slower than the cup.......
all in all I was a little dissapointed with my 197 experience and was glad to get back into my cup which instantly felt so much more eager and direct.
cheers.
INTERIOR
The driving position is vastly improved with the fully height and fore/aft adjustable steering wheel,the wheel its self is gorgeous to grasp and a nice size.The seats (non recaro) are superb also and very grippy yet comfortable but the dash looked uber plasticy and the wiper/indicator stalks felt as if they would snap at any time.
PERFORMANCE/RUNNING GEAR
The gearbox felt sweet with very close ratios with around 500rpm drops between gears so it was still as buzzy at speed as the 1*2's,the brakes were a bit underwhelming considering the 4pots at the front! they were nowhere near as good as my cup with brembo HC discs & greenstuff pads which really did surprise me! the handling tho was great with very little body roll and a very tight yet compliant ride which rode the roughish ground with ease whereas my cup would be bump steering like a mofo, it felt really planted at speed also but at lower speeds the turn in was crap and the steering was waaaaay too light. The engine felt really underpowered for the weight of the car and didn't pull at all until nigh on 4k revs there was also a flat spot between 2-3k, once you get it singing it wasn't too bad and you could certainly tell that there was a lot more grip to be had with the 215 tyres but still felt a good bit slower than the cup.......
all in all I was a little dissapointed with my 197 experience and was glad to get back into my cup which instantly felt so much more eager and direct.
cheers.
