Ride Report - How it Drives...
It drives better than it looks...
After the being scared of the size while piloting down the local roads, the freeway experience was an easy arc in the learning curve...
Basically it is very quit... I noticed that immediately... Not what you might expect given its first appearance... Freeway wind sounds are no different than my Sprinter, and the cab construction of glass/balsa/glass is very quiet... You hear the tires but not something you stay focused on... The engine is quietly in the background, purring like a big cat... After driving it for a couple of days, I wonder why pay for an expensive vehicle, and not really listen to it...???...
The driving position is compact, very comfortable, up high above the road, and the controls and gauges are not distracting... It's a big step up to get in, but once you get seated, it is super easy to drive... The mirrors cover all the typical blind spots... It starts easy, shifts to gears smoothly... Like driving a Subaru with large volume tires and lifted... Compact turning radius too... It feels wide but really isn't...
Once rolling, you adjust past theories about driving... Something about the quality of the ride... Bentlyesque... It feels big but moves easily... Wind drag never came into mind, other than noticing that there was little, even with the hardware store hanging outside and on the roof... It felt at higher speeds, that the roof shape was pushing it down onto the road...???... Braking at first had a bit of a pull to one side, then self correcting... On the second day, it went away... On the freeway I was enjoying the ride so much, my goal for the commute into Seattle was to drive as fast as traffic and drive as if I had no brakes... Good game to play with a new car... Figure out how it handles neutrally...Parking in congested Kirkland was easy, despite the size of the rig... My sole focus point when parking is overhead clearance... I need to measure it...
The combination of tires, shocks, brakes, suspension and drivetrain finally installed was balanced and neutral... It just drives good... Nothing getting quirky, which does happen once you leave Stock... Everyone setting this up got it right...
So far it has been a lot of fun both to drive,and to share with anyone interested in seeing it...So far...
