Evo magazine - exTrophy owner's opinion

marrow · Jul 6, 2019

In this months EVO (just arrived) it was interesting to read what an ex-Trophy owner (from Switzerland) thought about his 6 months of ownership experience.

His letter is on p40 in the INBOX section.

For those that don't get EVO, he was generally underwhelmed with the whole experience being critical of:

Seats - looked good but set too high to feel sporty
Steering wheel - horrible to hold
Gearlever - not particularly direct or nice to use
Dynamics - (a) car couldn't brake in a straight line when 2 degrees of steering lock applied, (b) no weight in the rear meant the tail was always trying to switch places under braking.
Engine - decent power but dull sound when revved

He did and still owns a 911 (997) GT3 - but wonders if his expectations were set too high?

I have to agree with all of his 5 points! It's made me think why us owners and the press rate the Trophy so highly.... food for thought, perhaps?

hoolio · Jul 6, 2019

Underwhelmed, ah well.

B7LUF · Jul 6, 2019

Hmmm... I've had my trophy only a few days. I bought it without much forethought. It has massively exceeded my expectations. I had assumed the suspension was mostly hype. I could not have been more wrong,, I've had a large number of cars, and odd tho it may sound, in terms of suspension the trohpy reminds me a lot of a 997 turbo i had years back - it's like witchcraft. Aside from that, the engine is so sweet, responsive and free revving, the g/box is pure joy, the (uprated) cutch is spot on. The grip is immense and i've taken corners at ridiculous speeds, not so far short of a GTR i had and other quick 4wd cars. Seating postion I find ok. S/wheel is nasty and i'll order the Ktec leather replacement. In short, the car is awesome and it's crazy to think it's a £5/6k car.

The only meaningful issue with my car is the brakes, or lack of them. The car has new discs and poss pads too - past cople owners did a lot of work on the car to get it spot on, but it has barely been driven in 2yrs or so. I'll have the brakes looked at next week, but thinking of Tarox S2000 discs and Strada pads. It's poss the calipers may been a refurb. If anyone has any suggestiosn on brake set-up and pads etc etc i'd love to hear about them.

Cheers
Nick

frayz · Jul 6, 2019

Brembo HC plain discs, proper pads, braided hoses and good quality fluid.
Pad choice is personal, personally I hate DS2500s as I think they’re awful.
I like Pagids RS range or maybe the 01s from Performance Friction.

B7LUF · Jul 7, 2019

That's helpful, thanks. Ktec and couple others i spoke to recommend 2500's but in simlar vien to you, no-one i know particularly likes them. I've never hd a problem with Pagid. I drove my mate's modded 200 and liked his set-up of Tarox/Strada combo. I want pads that bite and perform well on road but are quiet and operate at low temps.

frayz · Jul 7, 2019

In that case a PF-01 is not what you want, mega bite but not quiet.
The best person I know for pad compounds is Alyn @ AS Performance, what he doesn’t know about this sort of thing you can write on the back of a postage stamp in felt tip!

asperformance.com

B7LUF · Jul 8, 2019

Great - will give him a call. Thanks very much.

SharkyUK · Jul 8, 2019

Interesting... maybe if said Swiss owner had tried it on a broken British B-road...!

I think the Trophy is absolutely superb, even given the fact it is some 15 years old now. Still as much fun to hustle along your favourite back roads as they ever were. I can't ever recall issues with braking under slight steering angle or the back end being too light. Sure, it can be playful but that's part of the fun/charm I think.

I don't think you can compare it to a GT3; they are truly worlds apart. There are definitely roads I'd prefer driving in the Trophy as opposed to a well-sorted sports car. Of course, there are also many roads I would prefer the said well-sorted sports car.

glenn · Jul 9, 2019

Another toff has read reviews and bought a little French rattle box and it doesn't compare to his GT3 ?

Well when porsche make 14 hatch let's see how that drives?

Cue · Jul 9, 2019

having just put the new front dampers on, I've fallen for little tommy again - I think the Swiss owner's shock could be the issue as braking in mine has always been spot on until the shocks started to fail.

Re the tail happy way, got to say that under heavy braking, most cars rear ends become light except 911's due to the tail end weight distribution being greater than any other car. If he's used to a 911, then it's like comparing a 911 to a Landrover and saying your disappointed with it's pulling power...

glenn · Jul 9, 2019

14k I was supposed to put.

frayz · Jul 10, 2019

Ever heard the expression
“Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep”?
Haha

I too have driven many a GT3, and they too have their flaws, and that’s coming from a total Porsche fanboy who’s holy grail is a GT3. Reading Mr Haegelis letter it sounds as though there was something wrong with his car as my 182 doesn’t exhibit any of those flaws other than the driving position which is common knowledge.
Yes it sounds like a 4 cylinder, because guess what... it is. Comparing it to Porsche’s finest Mezger is never going to go well is it?

There’s a reason that Jethro Bovingdon and Harry Metcalfe own a 182 Trophy and Henry Catchpole drives a Cup chassis 182 daily. These are 3 of the most highly respected motoring journalists our country has to offer.

So Mr Cyril GT3, you owned a Trophy and didn’t like it...

and what exactly?

Next!

Siddleg · Jul 14, 2019

frayz said:
Ever heard the expression
“Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of sheep”?
Haha

I too have driven many a GT3, and they too have their flaws, and that’s coming from a total Porsche fanboy who’s holy grail is a GT3. Reading Mr Haegelis letter it sounds as though there was something wrong with his car as my 182 doesn’t exhibit any of those flaws other than the driving position which is common knowledge.
Yes it sounds like a 4 cylinder, because guess what... it is. Comparing it to Porsche’s finest Mezger is never going to go well is it?

There’s a reason that Jethro Bovingdon and Harry Metcalfe own a 182 Trophy and Henry Catchpole drives a Cup chassis 182 daily. These are 3 of the most highly respected motoring journalists our country has to offer.

So Mr Cyril GT3, you owned a Trophy and didn’t like it...

and what exactly?

Next!

Siddleg · Jul 14, 2019

You beat me to it frayz. Must be something wrong with that Clio in the suspension or tyres.
The Clio trophy won best daily drive hero in modern classics January 2018 ( John- Joe Vallans) Editor and Jethro bovingdon also wrote in evo magazine September 2005 pitting it against the mini or civic type R seemed almost unworthy.

So he didn't and pitted it against a BMW M6 with 500bhp. Towards the end of the article he wrote. Trophy reaffirms our belief that a beautifully sorted hot hatch can be a match for the most powerful and exotic cars in the world. Then who can forget Harry Metcalfe YouTube clip which is the reason I bought my trophy.

My point is all these fantastic journalists can't be wrong.