BMW 330d :)
After all the good things Ive been hearing about the 197 in the press I decided to go to my local dealership and see if I could get a test drive in one.To my suprise the guy said that wouldnt be a problem, asked what car I had at the moment (172 cup) and asked if I wanted him to give me figures for my car against a new 197 which I said would be fine.
So away he went to have a look round my car which he said was spotless and then attempted to offer me £6000 for it. This wasnt anywhere near the figure I had in mind so I politely refused. He went on to say I should have no problem getting £7500 private for it which kind of cheered me up. He said that it was a mint example and had obviously been very well cared for. (I made sure I washed it and valeted it before I went to the dealers....
)However I had to laugh when the salesman gave the on the road price of £15995 with no options for the 197 and he didnt want to shift on price.... He also said I would have to wait until october if I ordered my own spec now! No chance!
I got to have a look at the new 197 which was sitting in the showroom, most of the optional extras included, xenons, cornering lights, metallic etc and I must admit it did look nice in the metal. It was finished in the nimbus blue and after seeing the red one I defintitely prefered the blue. The interior is what really impressed me the most on the car, much better fit, finish and quality of materials used. Nice driving postion, chunky wheel and six speed gearbox. The seats were also really supportive, reanultsport stitched into the headrests, white stitching round the edges and metallic trim in the seat fabric weave. Different class to my current 172 cup interior. The seats were so good in fact I probably wouldnt go for the buckets which I think look a bit weird...
They had to move two cars out the way in the showroom to get the 197 out and they started it up in the showroom. It had a nice noise but was very similar on the outside to my car. I followed the car out and the salesman got in it with me to explain the smart keyless go which just had to be in your pocket to start the car with the start/stop button. (Which I thought was nice).
He told me to take it easy as it had just been delivered to the dealership and had a grand total of 18 miles on it. So i pulled off gingerly, gradually increasing the pressure on the right foot. It didnt have the same immediate responses as my cup but that was probably due to it being very tight, and having a bit more weight to pull about.
I was allowed out for around 20 mins, getting a mixture of town and motorway driving, to allow me to get a feel for the car. I was impressed by the gearbox initially, as it seemed to have a much shorter and more positive feel than my car. However it was very stiff as the car was brand new. The brakes were also nice and sharp, which I was expecting. I got a chance to start to increase the speed and was very impressed by the body control of the car, almost no body roll and massive grip from the 215 tyres. This was one major improvement I found over my car.
Another was the sound from inside the car, which was deep and gruff, sounding sportier than my 172 cup ever did. The salesman even commented on this as I gave the car some right foot action. I continued onto the motorway and found the gearing very close, especially 4th and 5th, which hardly altered the revs I was pulling when I changed up. The kick was still there at 5k rpm but not as pronounced and it seemed to take longer to build up, (most of which was probably due to its tightness). The car was also getting loads of looks, one guy at a set of lights pulling alongside and stopping by the car, leaving a 50 mtr gap to the car in front of him just so he could gawp.....
I got the car back to the dealership and was very impressed. It didnt seem to have the same outright punch as my car, but it handled very well, was much better built, looked aggressive, sounded good and was very refined at motorway speeds and over bumps, (where I would have lost my fillings in my cup! ) But until the price comes down and a cup version appears I wont be buying!
Here are some pics I took of the car, one in the showroom and two outside after my drive. I apologise for the pics but the salesman thought I was a real muppet taking loads of photos of a car!
Instead of a 197 it could be a used 350Z, elise or mk2 v6....
Let me know what you think....
Cheers
Fraser
So away he went to have a look round my car which he said was spotless and then attempted to offer me £6000 for it. This wasnt anywhere near the figure I had in mind so I politely refused. He went on to say I should have no problem getting £7500 private for it which kind of cheered me up. He said that it was a mint example and had obviously been very well cared for. (I made sure I washed it and valeted it before I went to the dealers....
)However I had to laugh when the salesman gave the on the road price of £15995 with no options for the 197 and he didnt want to shift on price.... He also said I would have to wait until october if I ordered my own spec now! No chance!I got to have a look at the new 197 which was sitting in the showroom, most of the optional extras included, xenons, cornering lights, metallic etc and I must admit it did look nice in the metal. It was finished in the nimbus blue and after seeing the red one I defintitely prefered the blue. The interior is what really impressed me the most on the car, much better fit, finish and quality of materials used. Nice driving postion, chunky wheel and six speed gearbox. The seats were also really supportive, reanultsport stitched into the headrests, white stitching round the edges and metallic trim in the seat fabric weave. Different class to my current 172 cup interior. The seats were so good in fact I probably wouldnt go for the buckets which I think look a bit weird...
They had to move two cars out the way in the showroom to get the 197 out and they started it up in the showroom. It had a nice noise but was very similar on the outside to my car. I followed the car out and the salesman got in it with me to explain the smart keyless go which just had to be in your pocket to start the car with the start/stop button. (Which I thought was nice).
He told me to take it easy as it had just been delivered to the dealership and had a grand total of 18 miles on it. So i pulled off gingerly, gradually increasing the pressure on the right foot. It didnt have the same immediate responses as my cup but that was probably due to it being very tight, and having a bit more weight to pull about.
I was allowed out for around 20 mins, getting a mixture of town and motorway driving, to allow me to get a feel for the car. I was impressed by the gearbox initially, as it seemed to have a much shorter and more positive feel than my car. However it was very stiff as the car was brand new. The brakes were also nice and sharp, which I was expecting. I got a chance to start to increase the speed and was very impressed by the body control of the car, almost no body roll and massive grip from the 215 tyres. This was one major improvement I found over my car.
Another was the sound from inside the car, which was deep and gruff, sounding sportier than my 172 cup ever did. The salesman even commented on this as I gave the car some right foot action.
I continued onto the motorway and found the gearing very close, especially 4th and 5th, which hardly altered the revs I was pulling when I changed up. The kick was still there at 5k rpm but not as pronounced and it seemed to take longer to build up, (most of which was probably due to its tightness). The car was also getting loads of looks, one guy at a set of lights pulling alongside and stopping by the car, leaving a 50 mtr gap to the car in front of him just so he could gawp..... I got the car back to the dealership and was very impressed. It didnt seem to have the same outright punch as my car, but it handled very well, was much better built, looked aggressive, sounded good and was very refined at motorway speeds and over bumps, (where I would have lost my fillings in my cup!
) But until the price comes down and a cup version appears I wont be buying! Here are some pics I took of the car, one in the showroom and two outside after my drive. I apologise for the pics but the salesman thought I was a real muppet taking loads of photos of a car!
Instead of a 197 it could be a used 350Z, elise or mk2 v6....
Let me know what you think....
Cheers
Fraser
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