GR 86 Test drive.

Today I test drove a GR86, whilst I wasn't surprised by road noise on some surfaces, engine (augmented) sound, what I was surprised was that I found it very difficult to set off smoothly and also have a smooth 1st to 2nd gear, I don't think its me as I have absolutely no problem in my Caterham, which was the car I actually drove to the test.

Anybody else experienced this?

Cheers!

PS thoroughly enjoyed it and probably will buy, although only 27 mpg was a tad hard to see.

Yes the clutch is is like an on and off switch, the first time I test drove one I kangarooed up the road.  You get used it and I quite like the fact you have to concentrate to drive smoothly when pulling away & it is rewarding when you get it right . Mine is a second car so quite like the fact that it takes a bit of skill to drive it well and smoothly.

Huh, that's not an issue I noticed anyone mention in reviews - Do they come with paddle clutches or something?

Looks like I'll have plenty of time to get used to the clutch, pick up a silver one on 1st June 🙂

No GR86 experience but I can say that the clutch in my GT86 is definitely more like an on off switch. 
For comparison the clutch in my GR Yaris is much more progressive. 
 

On 5/10/2024 at 3:37 PM, yanto63 said:

what I was surprised was that I found it very difficult to set off smoothly and also have a smooth 1st to 2nd gear,

Yes, this is the case. It's not you. It's not so much the clutch as it is the throttle response. At standstill and low speeds it has a response delay meaning the usual throttle blipping you may do at take off doesn't actually result in the engine response you'd expect. Instead it does nothing and you effectively try to pull away at idle. It's one of my key peeves about this car (and most modern fly-by-wire cars). Your brain will eventually learn to compensate for it. And it's not there once you are on the move.  

The other part that makes smooth shifting harder is the heavy flywheel. Again, this is most evident at lower speeds. It also means you need to be careful when downshifting at corner entry as you can easily upset the rear end if you are a bit off on the revs.

On 5/10/2024 at 3:37 PM, yanto63 said:

engine (augmented) sound

Just speak to the dealer to have it switched off. It's only really audible above 4000 rpm but then it gets louder and actually becomes tiring if you have a spirited session or on track. The engine naturally sounds OK and is audible enough without any help.

On 5/10/2024 at 3:37 PM, yanto63 said:

thoroughly enjoyed it and probably will buy, although only 27 mpg was a tad hard to see.

Coming from a Caterham I think you are in the right spot to appreciate the 86. It is much more of a sports car than what most people expect nowadays. It's no Audi TT. It doesn't cuddle and cosset you, but begs to be driven. Be aware, your Caterham is probably easier to handle on the limit.

My average fuel consumption since new sits at 24 mpg. But on longer drives at 70 mph I've averaged 40 mpg. I'm sure you can get around 45 if you (for some reason) wanted to.

On 5/13/2024 at 3:52 PM, yanto63 said:

Looks like I'll have plenty of time to get used to the clutch, pick up a silver one on 1st June 🙂

And...? Any update? It's 5th June 🙂

2 minutes ago, APS said:

And...? Any update? It's 5th June 🙂

Yes, picked up, had an extended drive home covering 250 miles, I became accustomed to clutch/accelerator quite quickly, during that drive it passed 1k miles so opened it up a little bit crossing the Cotswolds, where again I experienced the augmented sound. First impressions, yes it's noisy on some road surfaces, terrible on concrete (M25), it's reasonably nippy but I found the engine quite tractable from 1500rpm. I have already disabled the engine sound, getting some sound deadening and Focal Speakers, oh and some mudflaps as I live in a rural area and have a section of track from house to nearest road. Because I was taking it steady coming home the display showed 42 mpg, it was higher until I opened it up a bit 😁, but can try much much harder to reduce that.

5 minutes ago, yanto63 said:

quite tractable from 1500rpm

Agreed - it is very flexible and you have an incredible range of speeds in any gear. Between 3500 and 7000 it is very linear only dropping off somewhat between 7000 and the limiter at 7500.

9 minutes ago, yanto63 said:

I have already disabled the engine sound

Did you do that yourself?

10 minutes ago, yanto63 said:

taking it steady coming home the display showed 42 mpg

Wow! 

12 minutes ago, yanto63 said:

but can try much much harder to reduce that.

Once you get familiar with it, the car does beg to be enjoyed.

Yes I disabled the sound module, I managed to squeeze a long thin screwdriver into a small hole at the top left of the opened glove box to depress the connector's lock tab, then gently pulled the cable down with a finger and out it slipped. The connector is all sealed and ziptied to a hole in the plastic surround where the access panel is.

Ah, got it, the speed signal.

Because I had heard that the crutch was like an on-off switch, I was a bit anxious before first getting into my GR and the dealer parked it so that I had a 100yd clear run, but from the first time that I operated the clutch, I have always, ALWAYS experienced a very smooth operation of the clutch!  Early on I may have stalled it, literally a couple of times, but not now.

Road noise is generally really bad on concrete, new tarmac is heaven!

Can’t remember my initial mpg when doing less than 3000 revs, but now I get 33/34 mpg, but that is mostly motorway and much of that is average speed checked!!!