Friday, November 30, 2007

Cars: BMW 335i M Sport (convertible) Test Drive

I am thinking of the Saloon rather than the convertible, but this was the only demo car they had that was similar. They were only able to give it to me for one night, so have driven it 38 miles in the dark (and slightly dank conditions)

First impressions are overall good, with the biggest problem being the seat ! The wrap round padding for the sides is great and makes you feel really dialed in to the car, but found the padding under the top of the thighs a little uncomfortable and slightly disconcerting. I didn't really get time to fiddle with the seating position to see if it could be improved, but made me wonder if I could live with it or not.

The performance seemed to be pretty good and the car felt stuck to the road. I hadn't got used to the dimensions of the car, but did feel fairly confident in placing the car in the road.

Compared to the other cars, it did seem quite compact and low slung. There was plenty of room for the front passengers but no way would you get anyone behind me in the back and the boot was pathetic (but these would only be an issue with the Cabro)

The only other criticism was the heavy steering at low speeds... I don't see the missus being able to manoeuvre the car unless she takes up weight lifting ! (that might be a good thing :-) )

Overall, a good car with a couple of niggles. In all honesty I am prejudice against BMWs (for no rational reason) and this car is not good enough to overcome these feelings.... so will it be the VXR8 or the Elise ?

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