Car of the Week Reviews—Audi TT '03

Seeing as we're playing with TTs this week, I thought I'd take a bit of inspiration from Rob's OnlyFans R8 and create... an R18 TT!

As far as hairdressers' cars go, one would be hard pressed to find a car that fits the bill as well as an Audi TT. It's always struck me as a "poor man's R8"—a car for someone who wants an exotic badge to appear rich, but doesn't quite have R8 money. But, while other hairdressers' cars, such as a modern Mini or an MR-S at least have the looks to be a hairdressers' car, the TT I've always found to be a disproportionate, ugly, and way too shouty with nothing to really shout about. Add to that an AWD system and a 3.2L VR6 that was shoved in seemingly without much thought, and, really, what else could one reasonably expect from this 1,520kg (3,351lbs) car but chronic, neverending understeer?

That's what I thought prior to driving the car, anyway. Once in, however, the car I found is somehow, shockingly balanced, even with a V6 that displaces almost twice as much as the Inline 4 that used to be where it is. Said balance in conjunction with the short wheelbase of the car and a delightfully responsive steering made the TT a car that is surprisingly "chuckable" into a corner. In fact, because the suspension setup is really rather soft up front, the front end will lift into understeer heights if you ask too much too soon from the responsive, torquey NA VR6, which in turn means that you're best served compensating for that with a hint of a slip angle into the apex of a corner—something the car is more than delighted to do with the aforementioned soft setup breaking grip on the rear end under hard braking, with the quattro AWD system making sure you're never really in much danger of a wipeout that would result in a complete write off. And speaking of the brakes, the car stops really well especially when considering its soft setup and mass, not to mention the 6 speed DSG feels simply magical in how quickly and seamlessly it shifts, even for a modern car, let alone one that's nearing twenty years old at this point.

I'm very surprised to say that I really don't have any major complaints against the 3.2 TT at all, only nitpicks. The suspension setup is, again, a bit too soft for my liking, and the car's looks really haven't grown on me a single bit the entire week. The gearing is a little... odd. The final gear ratio is set delectably low to facilitate strong acceleration, but third feels completely lost in an ocean in between second and fourth, with upshifts into third and fourth dropping the engine just out of the meat of its powerband. It's a small annoyance in mid speed corner exits, but it will completely halt any attempts at a graceful powerslide out of a corner on dirt if you for some insane reason feel the urge to bring your quattro badged car rallying, which is all the more a shame given how immediate and "free" gear changes in this thing are.

At nearly 60k Credits and not even offering 250HP on tap for that, the TT does seem like awful value for money. The rational side of me even wants to say that enthusiasts are better catered to with a much more practical, powerful, and cheaper Evo and Impreza, but I really don't think the turbocharged four door rally cars can really offer that feeling of instant, abundant torque of a NA V6, the instant, magical gear changes, nor the TT's immaculate rotation into a corner thanks to its short wheelbase. It may never be a logical buy, but as a sports car, something that's inherently illogical, it's a pretty damn good one. One that carves out a sufficient niche for itself, and one that will properly surprise even petrolheads with how good it is. It even feels great on dirt! Even though the racing was slightly chaotic this week, I still had a lot of fun with it. A part of me still can't get over how pleasantly surprised I am by the TT this week, and I therefore reckon it's a sleeper!

Car of the Week Reviews—BMW Z8 '01

Man I'm exhausted from driving the 2001 BMW Z8 this week.

Having read the praise from other members of this thread, I was expecting some E46 M3 levels of finesse from the Z8, but instead what I wound up having to fight against was a softly sprung two door roadster that somehow weighs more than said E46. The car stops and turns just fine, but it's corner exits that is the tiring part to manage; the rear end will step out really quickly as though an American muscle car, and the soft front end lifts horrifically as though a FF hot hatch if you're even just about a third of the travel into the loud pedal, which can be taken as criticism against the suspension setup or praise for the immediacy of its 4.9L NA V8 engine and the gobs of torque it has through its mid range. Power application in this car then, needs to be administered with extreme care well past the apex of a turn, causing it to lag behind many other sports cars and the expectations that they may heap onto the Z8. Both the soft suspension and the torquey engine would make the Z8 a phenomenal drift car if the steering didn't feel so... random, in how it responds from one corner to the next, owing to all the pitch and roll the front end undergoes. I get that that's true for all cars, but it really is quite ridiculous on the Z8. It's all the more so disastrous here because of just how tail happy the Z8 is—get lightly tapped anywhere near the back end of the car, and you'll be countersteering and fishtailing for years to correct this yacht of a car.

Perhaps it's not meant to be an all out sports car, but it still strikes me as odd regardless because the Z8 is meant to be a sort of halo car for BMW at the time if I've done my research correctly, and yet the E46 M3 is much better set up for the track, offering a much more exhilarating, engaging, and rewarding driving experience, even if it doesn't have the power to compete with the Z8 on most tracks. It's so soft that it makes a Supra and GTO feel more predictable and planted through corners. If you're looking for a no compromise sports car experience, you're much better served in a Viper or an S2000. But, it does have to be said that the Z8 can be a fun car to drive in its own right if you aren't chasing competition in it. I think it's a fantastically balanced car, one that, when coupled with its soft, but cooperative nonetheless suspension setup, really makes you as the driver pay attention to the weight transfer both laterally and longitudinally at all times. It's the sort of car that makes the driver pay it more attention than anything else. It almost necessitates wearing earphones just because of how much it needs you to keep a keen ear out for each tyre's squeals through a corner, and I guess that's why PD modeled the car with its top off. Also, it's a NA V8 manual with an open top! How rare is that sort of thing twenty years ago, let alone today?

As a cult icon, looks are a big part of the car's appeal, and I will admit that the styling has really grown on me after I initially thought the front fascia is offensively ugly. Unfortunately however, unlike the Fiat 500 from just three weeks ago, the metallic piece in the dashboard of the Z8, which should have been the same body colour as the exterior, cannot be painted. Hell, it even stays as Titansilber Metallic even if you buy the car in other colours, which is such a shame, because what really sold me on the Z8's looks is the example featured in Harry Metcalfe's review of the Z8, which is finished in Topasblau Metallic with contrasting tan leather interior. The latter isn't present in this game, either.

I recognise that it has its merits, but none of it really translate well into the digital realm of GT Sport, and holy hell this car and I really don't see eye to eye. I personally find it more tiring to keep on the track than rewarding. The styling may have grown on me in the week that I've spent researching it, but I still can't get over just how offensively ugly the front end of the car is, and I cannot for the life of me find a setting from cockpit view that actually lets me see anything past the narrow A pillars and the long hood, and the gimmicky centred instrument cluster is just... tragic. Add to that the fact that this car somehow costs more than 20 grand more than a 911 GT3 of the same year, and well... I don't even know where to start making a case for this thing.

ACS110912: Exhaustion

I'm exhausted, mentally and emotionally.

It's not like much has been happening, but I happen to have a pea brain and am very emotionally volatile, so everything feels ten times more exaggerated than what they feel like they should be.

Maybe I should stop thinking so much about my problems, personally and professionally, and actually have a much needed rest. But then if I do that, nothing gets solved and I can't work or move on. It feels like a cycle. And then I worry too much, I get dreams of work almost every night, and I feel like shit every waking moment.

Am I a mess? It's so weird to see how bad I am at taking care of myself. I am such a child. Am I too intense at work? Do I put in too much in a short time? I don't know. It's of no use to compare myself to others. I'm different. Too different. Maybe I'm weak. Maybe I function differently. But everybody plays by the same rules.

I don't want to think. I don't much want to feel. But I love my car, and I love my job. At almost every stage of my life, everything and everyone outside of my family I've ever wanted or loved, I was told I could not have. It's too unrealistic. I'm insane. I'm naïve. I'm not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I was born in the wrong place. I'm not good enough. I have too many problems in my head. I'm too ugly. I'm not rich enough. I'm too boring a person.

For the first time in my life, I can have and keep something I love. I just have to work a little harder, to keep what I love with me. I can do it.

But I'm tired. My head hurts. As does my neck. And my shoulders. I don't sleep well. I don't eat well. I don't even play much any more.

I think I've been forced too much to take the low, "practical" road too often. So much so that I just now default to it at every fork in life. I don't want to think, I don't want to feel, I don't want to want for anything. I just want to be alive, simply for the sake of it, because dying is selfish and I don't have the balls. And so I default to being alive, yet having no desire for anything in life and being alive. I feel empty. I feel old. I feel dead. I feel tired. I feel pain.

And then I find myself in a cycle wherein I'm disinterested in everything, and I barely move. I barely work. I barely function. Nothing excites me anymore. Nothing scares me anymore. I don't have the mental capacity for such intense emotions anymore. I become stagnant. I don't become a better person. I feel like I'm falling just by being in the same place. It's competitive out there. Such a chaotic, unempathetic, senseless, cruel rush. I'm sick of it. Is it so wrong, so disgusting, to be content with what I have? Is it so politically incorrect to not want to fight? Is it so weird to not want to be in a rush?

Is being stagnant akin to being buried underground?