Like the post mentioned, Demuro is generally a pretty cool customer when it comes to exotics, but he can't hide his enthusiasm here... This is one of my favorite one he's done in a long time.

 

I've only see these in person a couple of times, and I didn't remember noticing how small the engine bay is. It really seems like they should have tightened up the package after they realized a V12 was not in the cards anymore. But I guess that would have cost too much as well. This is such a cool car, but also a missed opportunity.

 

Such a beautiful, terrible design. Looks gorgeous, totally awful packaging.

 

Having driven a 220 several times I can attest to the turbo lag thing. It's quite pronounced. Nothing....nothing....nothing....then suddenly you've entered hyper-space!

Demuro doesn't really give justice to the 220's acceleration. I presume he never really gave it the boot....out of his own discretion or by request of the owner. It's not something you'd want to do without paying attention to what you're doing

Like many other super exotics the 220 isn't exactly a pleasure cruise to drive. Fast and thrilling yes. But these types of cars are obviously meant for very fast driving on a clear road. The outward visibility in the 220 is poor....and worsens your paranoia about banging up the wide body. Windshield-dashboard reflections can totally obscure your vision at times. As mentioned the steering is heavy and the brakes require an almighty shove. Entry-exit is a pain. The engine sound is horrid.

All petty issues in context of super exotics, of course.

The 220 is cool and a piece of automotive history but it'll never be one of my favorites. Not because of any real or perceived shortcomings relative to its peers but simply because I'm more of a "Gentleman's GT" type of person than a super exotic type of person.

Cheers
DD

 

The bit at the end makes it clear that Doug had a passenger, almost certainly a shop representative. Doug seldom really gives the cars he tests the boot, partially as some of them are muy expensive, and partially as he's doing these on public roads. But he's definitely got someone with him to make sure he's a good boy with the shop's expensive toy.

Interesting remarks on the driving experience. I would, however, suggest that engine sound is a little more than a petty issue when it comes to supercars.

 

I had a Ferrari Dino 246 with a 60 degree V-6. It sounds incredible, and the more you wind it up, the better it sounds. Something about 90 degree V-6 engines makes them sound kind of agricultural. I've only heard the xj220 engine for 2 minutes at idle, as we haven't changed the 25 year old cambelts yet, but maybe it sounds better when you wind it up? I wonder if even a Borla exhaust will help.

Is there anything to be done about the turbo lag short of swapping to new turbos?

 

I had a 246 in my care a few years ago. Yes, fantastic sound, and SO much fun to drive. Only 190 horsepower but more enjoyable than many cars with 3 times the power. Total gas to drive. Nimble,responsive. Felt vaguely like a 911.

The 220 does sounds sorta raunchy, and not in a good way. I don't know enough about them to comment on alternate exhausts, etc.

Cheers
DD

 

FYI, that's not turbo lag. It's very common to make that mistake, so for the benefit of others, that's called boost threshold. Most of the 90's turbo cars have a high boost threshold, around 3000 rpm, and you don't want to solve that because that's what makes it a 90's turbo. Those cars have very little turbo lag, which was the great improvement for turbos in the 90's like the Porsche 911, the Lotus Esprit, and XJ220. Once you are over the boost threshold, the power is almost instant on those cars as you press the gas pedal more, hence very little turbo lag.

 

Ahhhh!

I learned something new today and it isn't even noon

Here's a tidbit more

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...oost-threshold

Cheers
DD

 

You're welcome. I am here to serve.

 

Thanks. I learned something new today too. So I assume the good old widowmaker Porsche Turbo 930s had both high boost threshold and a lot of lag? And as turbo development increased lag got lower (they started spooling up faster), but thresholds came down slowly? I remember F1 in the turbo 80's when drivers were left foot braking to keep the revs up and have boost coming out of the corner.

I plan on tracking this car. I've already been through the wonderful Porsche Turbo Lag Experience, and I'd rather not go through that again. Getting all the gravel out of the belly pans is humiliating. Maybe a swap to twin scroll turbos? I don't think this can be fixed with software.

 

Sounds like more of a driver technique issue. You just have to be in the right gear so you don't go below the boost threshold. It makes street driving difficult in traffic with every modern car jumping off the line at stop lights while you're trying to move a big car with about 50hp until the revs get over 3000rpm, but not too many stop lights on a track. Out of the pits, you just slip the clutch.

The 930's were a victim of what are now Mustang drivers that have zero talent and plow into crowds leaving Coffee and Car events.