(I'll start with my the FTOs)
FTO GPX (Tiptronic) vs FTO GPX (manual)
Even though I love the tip gearbox, and the smoothness of the changes, it is totally obvious after driving Bernard's (manual), that the tip gearbox takes a lot of the power from the engine. Bernard pointed out, and I agree even though I never noticed till I drove his, that when you change down and floor it, it seems to rev before the actually picking up speed, obviously this is where the power is lost, with the manual you get the immediate pick up. We also found out that in the manual when you press the accelerator in 4th and 5th, there is a much more obvious pick up in power than the tip. I still think the tip box is fantastic, and I couldn't fault it, its great for driving and you really get a feel for sports mode when you get used to it, personally I never drive it in auto mode, and love the gear selection and the ease of it. But I reckon you lose maybe 20hp through the transmission, don't know if this would be a correct assumption but it feels close to that anyway.
S2000
Gearbox is absolutely unreal, really quick short shifter, great location of the gear stick and handbrake, gives a real sporty feel to the driving of it. Cockpit is snug and surprisingly has no wind noise, which I was expecting out of it cause of the soft top. The note from the engine is unreal, especially as the engine is right next to you, (close enough anyway). Going into turns the car is stuck to the road, feels like you could power straight into them at whatever speed you want and she'll take them. Unfortunately we got stuck behind some back markers while it was my turn to drive so I didnt get the full experience from it but still got enough to enjoy it immensely.
Integra DC5 Type R
For a car thats 220bhp, it feels a lot more once V-Tec kicks in at 6200rpm, the only little thing is that you dont get to enjoy vtec as it kicks in so late, compared to mivec which is 5500rpm. But when it does kick, it really kicks, feels like there is something huge pushing you from behind when you hit it, and has a great noise to it, unlike the civic type r's from the mid 90's where vtec sounds like the engine wants to die, (thats my personal opinion so sorry if I insult anyone).
Overall, mine was obviously the slowest out of the 4, largely down to the tip transmission, but I did like looking in my rear view mirror and seeing it behind me, nice to see what your own car looks like on the road. Thanks to Bernard, Tom, and Grace for swopping cars with everyone and giving a feel for what each car feels like.
Few photos;
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very nice. Love dragonhearts tune on the fto
