Thank you @strop at Armada Motors for letting us play with this car! <3
Anyways…Let’s end today’s testing with a sports car from Armada Motors. The Ultima Turbo! They said it’s a sports car that’s meant to be accessible to peasants like me. It’s supposed to hold 388 turbo’d ponies. Question now is…is their marketing material speaking the truth, a civilized and accessible sports car, or should we report them to the police for false advertising?
Their marketing material can be found HERE.
Lap #1 (02:13.144)
So it’s another turbo car. However, this one isn’t scary. It has some electronic dark magic in there to keep it on the road. Now this thing is fast. It has a paddle shifter which makes shifting easy (OOC: or so I think since I don’t hear gears grinding when I shift without the clutch + it only shifts into 1st with the H shifter). And damn is this thing predictable handling wise. No weird spastic behavior. This car is actually sober and doesn’t have mental issues.
Lap #2 (02:09.592)
It hasn’t even spun out of control yet. And it’s incredibly inviting to push it to the limits. All the microchip magic reassures you that it will be fine. The car basically pats your head and says “shh, enjoy the ride, let me handle traction stuffs”. But it also screams at you like a menstruating woman. “DRIVE ME! DRIVE ME LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. HARDER! FASTER! DON’T YOU DARE USE THE BRAKES”. But… Do not dare setting the traction control to sport since this thing gets extremely floaty over 90-100mp/h in normal mode. You will die without the traction control.
Lap #3 (02:07.166)
It has a very pleasant learning curve. It’s not too hard but also rewarding when you pull of insane stuff. The gearing is very nice. Rarely have to go lower then second gear. Takes medium corners like a champ at 65-70mp/h. Can even do sharp corners, depending on how well I nail it, between 25-40mp/h.
Best lap: 02:07.166 (Lap #3).
Positives:
- Very tame thanks to microchip voodoo magic.
- Great gearbox.
- Superb cornering abilities. Sharp corners in 35-40mp/h are possible even for yokels like me.
- Goes in a straight line and listens to my commands.
- You can actually floor it and not die.
Negatives:
- Gets dangerously floaty over 90-100mp/h. Traction control works overtime to keep it on the road.
- There’s nothing much to make fun of with this thing
Final verdict: The marketing material didn’t lie. The manufacturer didn’t lie in their electronic letter to us. It’s an accessible sports car. It is easy to learn. It’s rewarding to learn it. It corners like a champ. Electro magic keeps you safe. It won’t kill you, however, be careful over 90-100mp/h and DO NOT TURN OFF STABILITY CONTROL. A very very driveable car. APDT Approved!