So first impressions after only 5 miles (pick up from Endeavour Gerrards Cross Buckinghamshire UK):
Fieldmaster
Petrol
M1
Donny Grey (obviously...)
1. It's somewhat bigger than I remember from the test drive... at first it feels like you are driving an armoured car. F**king huge!
2. After 4 miles it started to only feel large. I don't think I'll be drifting by the end of the weekend but I suspect it will feel much more modest. Maybe.
3. Only error messages (so far) appear on starting and disappear after 3 seconds or less. "Transmission failure" but it's clearly part of the start up test procedure (I hope) as two of my other cars (Volvo and VW) do exactly the same. My mother's Turbo R has had a transmission failure error warning for 30 years.
4. No bings and bongs after 5 second from starting.
5. Couple of people looking at it quizzically as I passed. But there is only one other locally in my town according to my dealer and 3 in a 10 mile radius so still very rare.
6. No obvious rubbing or vibrating heat shields or similar yet. Had a look underneath and seems all good. Haven't yet looked if there are any low hanging wires yet like someone noticed.
7. Rear wheel arch flap things are both the same (so clearly Pierre and Jean-Paul were in sync on that shift) - they are both "out" if you know what I mean. I.e. the tabs are not tucked behind the surround. Checked others on the dealer lot and they were the same.
8. I think I will need some sort of sun shade for the safari roof (like our African friend suggested) as even in England on a 26 degree day it pumps out a lot of heat through the glass.
9. AC works well.
10. Road / wind noise - noticeable but totally what I would expect.
11. Steering - yes somewhat more turns needed but got used to it after 4 miles. Compared to my 1977 Triumph, which is like a 1/4 turn lock to lock, its a little cumbersome but what do you expect!
12. My mates who have been teasing me for 2 years that I would never see a real one (aside from the mug and pint glasses they gave me) can now bow down.
13. My kids seem determined to hate it - I'm going to pick one up from school in a moment just to embarrass her. Time will tell whether it will grow on it when they see something other than the model on the shelf.
14. No side steps yet but apparently available end of the month.
15. Software update - apparently they are expecting it towards the end of the month/3 weeks. Couldn't tell me what it was intended to fix though. I'll probably try to get the steps and software at the same time (famous last words)
I'll report more after I take it to Cornwall and York later this month.
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