A section or road will open in a few days, so we decided to give its twists and turns a trial run. There is a local "exotic cars" company. There was another one, but it closed before I could test their cars. So, 4 of us stopped by this place. Not an Italian, German, or American car to be found. So much for exotic. Anyway, we picked from their consolation selection, signed up for the "no questions asked" insurance, and set off to test the cars out.
After all the speeches and other ceremonies, the chamber fed us, and turned us loose with the rental cars. Supposedly, these were high-performance cars. The lineup included a newer s2000, a miata, an older supra turbo, and a 350z. The cars have cameras and visual/auditory indicators for when you're getting optimal performance, I guess.
We started off running all out, but the brakes started warping and fading. We crossed them up in the turns, and hit the limiter a lot. The handling was not sorted out, and we flat-spotted the tires. There were these annoying beeping noises almost constantly, when you launch, brake, turn, etc. The performance was underwhelming, but we tried everything we didn't want to try on our own vehicles. Someone speed-limited the cars to 120MPH. Regardless, we got airborne a few times, but the cars didn't seem to appreciate this. After one of them suffered a collapse of the front suspension, we figured this was unsafe, so we moved on.
We had what fun we could. These cars may not have been good examples, because they seemed rather fragile. Something broke in the transmission on the supra turbo, and then the engine siezed. The mazda started losing fluids, and caught fire. I don't know what happened to the 350Z, but he had to get a ride, also. He says the motor was running, but the car wouldn't go. The s2000 is on the wheels, and the underside suffered some road rash. It was smoking and leaking fluids. I think the tires are completely gone.
This stretch of road is less than 20 miles long, and all 4 had to be flat-bedded back, meaning that we had to wait in the heat. On the positive side, insurance will pay for repair/replacement.
Those beeping performance indicators are annoying. It would seem that anyone could tell when the car was being pushed, but I really didn't appreciate the beeping while I was cornering. If the point is to indicate limits, they missed by a mile, because it doesn't take much to set it off. Just a mild launch makes it beep. They should make it beep just before you break traction. Braking doesn't require much to make it beep, either, although I experienced some wheel hop.
I'm convinced that the supra has no sway bars.
