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Which front engine, rear-wheel drive car is more entertaining on a circuit? Is it this,
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the GT86, or is it a car that costs, in the spec we've got here, £260,000 rather than
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under 30,000 quid - and is the Ferrari F12? Does power and speed talk to you more
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than feedback, feel, and just good honest fun? Okay, so what is the GT86 like around
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Snetterton? Well, it's quite a quick circuit but the car does not feel underwhelmed on
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it. There are a couple of corners where you notice
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the relative paucity of power but by and large, because it's fairly skinny-tyred, they're
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not massively sticky tyres either. It's actually adjustable all the time; there's loads of
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communication through the steering and you get a very slight trace of understeer (I mean
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very, very slight) on the way in followed by just absolutely as much oversteer as you
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want. This car has a reputation for being a drift
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monkey. It really does flow with a just nice balance. You can just drive it on neutral
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steer if you want to, or have it on full-opposite lock too (it will be an arm full) if you really
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want to. God, that is pretty lovely; it all happens
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relatively modest, attainable, you take your hands off the wheel and chat to a camera sort
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of speed. Right then, a deep breath; 730bhp of Ferrari F12, which revs to eight and a
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half thousand revs with all the driving edge turned off. Fast, fast, fast, right. Break
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before the 300 yard marker on the first lap, I think. Just a little bit of sideways-ness
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on the exit. It just straightens it with the throttle because that's how much power this
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thing has. Just walk it out of there. When you get this
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thing straight it accepts loads of traction. It's only if it is mid-corner will it really
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unstick the rear. Once it's straight it will accept full power very well. The thing is
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there's so much oomph you can just sort of send it sideways anywhere in any gear. When
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they say it's adjustable they aren't kidding.
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Am I having ten times as much fun as GT86? No, I'm probably not, but this is more challenging to drive than a GT86, no question.
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The GT86 is just playful, playful, playful and do what you like.
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This is playful, but by the way, I have 730bhp. Which is the better driver's car. You know
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what? It really comes down to what you're after at the end of the day. They do both
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offer front engine rear drive, relatively predictable handling thrills. I would probably
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start my day in a GT86, and once I felt I got on top of it, I would finish my day in
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one of these. You don't need one or the other. You sort of need both.