Hi all,
Just to let you know that I went to a UK invitation only "launch" yesterday and wanted to report back my findings.
Going to bullet point it because it's easier.
These were the main headings:
Despite being in first 100 with deposit in place since august 2014, my build slot is october 2017 with delivery in december.
UK cars cannot get the nicest Y spoke wheels, we only had option of uglier wheels in three finishes, painted, machined or polished.
Early cars have no choice but carbon rotors £8400 option inc all taxes. Caliper colour choice doesn't affect price.
All UK cars come with 9 speaker system, but nav is an option that includes parking sensors.
I intended to order the pearl white but it looks very silver - went with 160R which was far nicer.
The metallic red is by far the most preferred colour among the confirmed deposit holders.
UK cars do not present the door handle as you walk up to the car.
We do not have orange indicators or the repeaters in the rear wings.
Carbon roof is standard on all UK cars - no idea why - seems like an expensive standard option to me.
Mats are £1000!!!
Apparently only 500 cars heading for the UK over the entire lifetime of the car.
Car only being released in 5 countries - US, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy (where's Japan?)
They said 1000 cars per year to the states, am sure all the reviews said factory capacity was 800 in total?????
Only one dealership in whole of UK responsible for sales and servicing. (5 miles from me!!)
Free servicing included with car for 3 years, including collection and delivery from anywhere in UK on a flatbed.
best part:
Free bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal 2007, in nice box handed out at end to each deposit holder. £150 worth!
The car on display was the same car from Geneva, now 2.5 years old. Felt a little flimsy but they said it's not really production ready. Very shiny plastic on the inside door handles, felt a little cheap in places. Glove box didn't work.
Did get to start the engine on several occasions which was fun and interesting. The tft display is excellent!
Nav system wasn't functional but was visually correct.
Starter button was still in centre of shuttle dial - much prefer that - shame.
UK car is being type approved in june - we'll get info on official 0-60 - fuel consumption and CO2 emissions which affects UK tax. Provisional number for this was 226g CO2/KM - surprisingly high for a hybrid that has a full electric mode, usually they can use that to artificially reduce the drive cycle emissions massively.
Anyway, main point I wanted to get across is this:
This car is not a MEH car to look at. In the flesh it is STUNNING. I was not taken by its looks in the pictures or reviews previously. In the flesh it is a completely different matter. It is very much R8 in proportion, it's lack of overhangs and width to length ratio, not to mention the height of the nose make it look very muscular and purposeful. It's striking and very much a headturner, especially in that it looks nothing like anything else I've seen. The R8 is utterly dull and pedestrian next to it.
I would also stress that while I went in considering the pearl white but then probably black, black would not do justice to the contours of this car, you need a highly reflective colour that reveals all possible shadows to accentuate the lines. It will be breathtaking, rather than acceptable if you choose the right combination.
I've gone for solid white with black full leather electric seats. I believ they are memory seats. No mention of folding mirrors.
I was disappointed at the lack of adaptive cruise control. There's not a lot of additional tech available, but keyless go and rear camera were standard.
Just to let you know that I went to a UK invitation only "launch" yesterday and wanted to report back my findings.
Going to bullet point it because it's easier.
These were the main headings:
Despite being in first 100 with deposit in place since august 2014, my build slot is october 2017 with delivery in december.
UK cars cannot get the nicest Y spoke wheels, we only had option of uglier wheels in three finishes, painted, machined or polished.
Early cars have no choice but carbon rotors £8400 option inc all taxes. Caliper colour choice doesn't affect price.
All UK cars come with 9 speaker system, but nav is an option that includes parking sensors.
I intended to order the pearl white but it looks very silver - went with 160R which was far nicer.
The metallic red is by far the most preferred colour among the confirmed deposit holders.
UK cars do not present the door handle as you walk up to the car.
We do not have orange indicators or the repeaters in the rear wings.
Carbon roof is standard on all UK cars - no idea why - seems like an expensive standard option to me.
Mats are £1000!!!
Apparently only 500 cars heading for the UK over the entire lifetime of the car.
Car only being released in 5 countries - US, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Italy (where's Japan?)
They said 1000 cars per year to the states, am sure all the reviews said factory capacity was 800 in total?????
Only one dealership in whole of UK responsible for sales and servicing. (5 miles from me!!)
Free servicing included with car for 3 years, including collection and delivery from anywhere in UK on a flatbed.
best part:
Free bottle of Louis Roederer Cristal 2007, in nice box handed out at end to each deposit holder. £150 worth!
The car on display was the same car from Geneva, now 2.5 years old. Felt a little flimsy but they said it's not really production ready. Very shiny plastic on the inside door handles, felt a little cheap in places. Glove box didn't work.
Did get to start the engine on several occasions which was fun and interesting. The tft display is excellent!
Nav system wasn't functional but was visually correct.
Starter button was still in centre of shuttle dial - much prefer that - shame.
UK car is being type approved in june - we'll get info on official 0-60 - fuel consumption and CO2 emissions which affects UK tax. Provisional number for this was 226g CO2/KM - surprisingly high for a hybrid that has a full electric mode, usually they can use that to artificially reduce the drive cycle emissions massively.
Anyway, main point I wanted to get across is this:
This car is not a MEH car to look at. In the flesh it is STUNNING. I was not taken by its looks in the pictures or reviews previously. In the flesh it is a completely different matter. It is very much R8 in proportion, it's lack of overhangs and width to length ratio, not to mention the height of the nose make it look very muscular and purposeful. It's striking and very much a headturner, especially in that it looks nothing like anything else I've seen. The R8 is utterly dull and pedestrian next to it.
I would also stress that while I went in considering the pearl white but then probably black, black would not do justice to the contours of this car, you need a highly reflective colour that reveals all possible shadows to accentuate the lines. It will be breathtaking, rather than acceptable if you choose the right combination.
I've gone for solid white with black full leather electric seats. I believ they are memory seats. No mention of folding mirrors.
I was disappointed at the lack of adaptive cruise control. There's not a lot of additional tech available, but keyless go and rear camera were standard.
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