Well, out of curiosity I walked into my local Mercedes dealership yesterday. They had both a Yellow and Denim Blue A35 AMG, and both with the full Aero packs.
Annoyingly, the Denim Blue car looked pretty damn good I have to say. Sat inside and It certainly looks and feels better in the flesh that what it does in the pictures.
Steering wheel. Still far to many buttons on the wheel, and unless you know where everything is without looking, it could very easily become dangerous if you take your eyes off the road for too long while trying to figure out which button to press. Overall size feel of the wheel felt pretty good, and looked / felt quite sporty. Impressed.
Flappy paddles. This for me is the biggest `tick` over Audi. Where Audi's are small, and too far round the back, the AMG's were a good size and in very easy finger reach. I could see using the paddles in the AMG `could` be a daily proposition. Where in any Audi I have left them alone, I could see myself using these, which is the whole point. Still no substitute for a good manual gearbox. Overall though? Impressed.
Seats. They look more supporting than they feel. Would have preferred to feel a bit more cocooned, but certainly still a nice seat. No difference to the SS Seats in the S3. Though I'd need to drive the car to see how they fell. Overall? OK.
Dashboard and Ipads. Both cars have the optional `large` screens. I was impressed with the amount of options, graphics, and Sat Nav display. Way above what Audi have in the A3. The materials and finish of the dash left me impressed. No scratchy plastics, and again once seeing in the flesh, the Ipads don't look quite so `after thought` as the pictures seam to show. Still stuck on though. The options for how the speedo, rev counter etc can be, was ok. I can see the appeal, but once changed to your preferred option, you'd never change it again. So maybe standard analogue dials and an entertainment screen would have been better? For me at least. The steering wheel does block out some of the screen, so you have to bend your neck to see, and I had to raise the steering wheel about my preferred position otherwise it chopped the top of the display off. But I didn't really play about with the seating / steering wheel positions too much. I was pleased that the silly glow lights can be turned right down or off. Which is far better than being sat in a `Blue` glow (or which every colour is your choice. Overall? Surprisingly impressed, but not wholly convinced.
They have a demo car which is at another dealer. But when they get it back they are going to arrange a test drive for me. It'll be interesting to see what it's like on the road, and how the gearbox feels compared to Audi's very flawed DSG box.
The hatch in Denim looked very appealing. They had the new A-Class saloon in, but not in A35 trim obviously. But I'd be nice to compare both Hatch and Saloon together. Like the S3, I think the A35 Saloon will look a bit classier, and less `Boy racer`.
Pleased I called in, and saw one in the flesh. More impressed than I ever thought I would be. Would I seriously consider buying one? Actually, I would add it to my list of possibilities.
But the biggest problem yesterday was also calling in to the Porsche dealership to initially drool over the Guards Red GT3 they had. I spotted a Blue Cayman GT4. Perfect spec for me. Bucket seats, carbon interior, and some other sought after options. Black wheels, which I don't like, but can be changed I suppose. A nice chat to the salesman saw me sat looking at finance options.
Affordable? Yes (with a big gulp). Is the `want` strong? Hell yes. Can I justify tying up so much money in a weekend toy, that will sit in the garage most of it's life? Hmm, there's the dilemma. But my thoughts are long term. The GT4 seams to hit the sweet spot between being quick enough for what anyone would need, without being too quick to use to the full. Manual box, 918 carbon backed bucket seats, and a car that has been classed as one of Porsches finest GT cars. Could be a future classic with prices to match. Only dread, it Porsches consumables prices. Cup 2 tyres won't last long, and discs and pad run into the thousands for a full set.
Hmm.