Las Vegas

A very special afternoon trip, to Hoover dam and back, but driving four different “supercars”!

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Here is the Audi R8, Ferrari 458 Italia, Jaguar XK; soon after joined by a huge and hugely powerful Bentley.

The drive took us along I-15 and 215, down to Lake Mead, and over the Grand Canyon – then after some photos, back to Las Vegas! At intervals we stopped and swapped between the four cars – all the time lead and followed by pace cars, listening to radio directions and sometimes hilarious banter!

We started the drive in the Bentley, fabulously luxurious and totally huge! It’s size was very noticeable when cornering – and at one point almost failing to stop for sudden red lights. But when asked to “go”, the engine effortlessly went 60-90 in no time!

Next, we drove the Jaguar – top down and enjoying the unexpectedly warm weather in Lake Mead recreational area. After the Bentley, the Jaguar seemed to lack power, though cornering was improved. The Jaguar is the only sub-$100K car, so it’s surely going to lose any comparison.

The next drive was the Audi R8; I expected this to be an amazing drive, and I was somewhat disappointed!
The sequential transmission makes quite a mess of gear changes, not smooth and not instant. But worse was the steering, requiring so much input even to curve along the road, and so heavy! Even the V10 engine was lacking, it seemed – though I did find it much better when the revs were 5K and higher.

Finally, the Ferrari. I’ve always imagined Ferraris are overhyped, and while this car is stupidly expensive if you could even buy one, it was an absolute thrill in every way! It reacted to every tiny movement of hand on steering wheel or foot on pedal. It launched from slow to fast whenever asked, and stopped just as well. Thrilling on corners too.
But it’s not the car for me … No stereo system 😉

A wonderful afternoon, no question it was worth the $$$. I’d do it all again tomorrow!