Test drove one today at Thames today...

We took quite a bumpy country lane and it took it all in its stride....
Engine was better than I imagined....boost came in smoothly and fairly early and it rev'ed very nicey esp in sport mode....normal mode felt very soft in comparison.

I thought the ride was very good...firm but not uncomfortable....Steering and handling was excellent considering it was very wet with lots of puddles.

Only the metal throttle/brake/clutch peddles took a bit of getting used to....they are very very close together!

Very very nice to drive......

I would have thought given your enthusiasim you would have manged to drive one by now!1;)

Well...................................................................all I can say is, it's ABSOLUTELY FAN BLOODY TASTIC  in standard set up   so what's the esse esse going to be like?

After a half hour drive this afternoon the difference between the A500 and the 500 1.4, which I've driven for a year now is massive, the biggest surprise, after the obvious increase in performance, is the ride quality which is spot on even on the 17's.

A great big 

Had a drive in John's Funk White 500 today. In summary, a great car on a lovely day in Plymouth (if there every was one).

I was surprised at how the torque comes in pretty early - no big turbo rush as older turbos I've owned used to do. John C said it is to do with a fairly small turbo that spins up pretty quickly, so loads of power from around 2000rpm without any need to prepare yourself (or the car) in advance.

If anyone's worried about the hard suspension, then don't. It's firm but really well dampened. I currently drive a Mini which is also firm. The A500 is just as good and that's a real compliment. We mainly drove over country roads (my choice) with loads of potholes (that's Devon for you!) and manhole/drain covers and the car was never crashey or tried to change direction. It gives loads of feedback and gives you confidence as you push on - sorry to John C as he was sitting in the back! Hope the headache gets better!

Personally I think that the red leather works well even though the back seats are black. It really lifts the business area of the inside. To be honest, it's pretty much a two seater although there is room in the back for two full size adults, but for shortish journeys only. It wouldn't be a problem with children though, but why buy an A500 if you have kids (except as a second car)?

The boost guage does look a little aftermarket, but having said that, it's in the right position if you want to keep an eye on it, although I did find myself keep switching focus between the main instrument cluster and the boost guage. I think it will take a little getting used to, but in my experience, once you know a car you don't need to look at the rev counter or boost guage much anyway, as you know where they are by the sound and feel of the engine. One small issue though is the siting of the sat nav port (not fitted on road test car) as it looks like the dashboard might become a little busy.

The 'Sport' button should be removed IMO. To be quite honest I didn't like the feel of the car with 'Sport' deactivated. The steering was way too light, the engine a little unresponsive and the 'Shift Up' light kept flashing at me. However, with 'Sport' engaged the steering is nicely responsive and everything feels more reactive - this is the much better option. It really feels as if they originally set the car up with the 'Sport' setting and then thought about adding as extra setting to make the car a bit more 'average'. Quite why anyone would want to drive for any considerable distance with 'Sport' deactivated, beats me. The only real advantage I could see was the lightness to the steering when parking, but this is quite light at parking speed in sport mode too.

The brakes were good. Not exceptional and not harsh. Probably just about right for the power. I would expect that the Esseesse would give a little more confidence, but the drilled disks are mainly for cooling and therefore longevity, not providing more braking power. To be honest though, I didn't really push the car or the brakes. How could you with only 42 miles on the clock?!!

We saw the range of colours that Vospers currently have: White, Funk White, Grey and Black. To be honest they all look great but the grey is not really for me. However, the red checkered roof really enhances it.
Vosper's also have a GPA in red so you can get a good idea of that colour too. In the flesh the red's a little too orange for me and the wife, so after insisting on the A500 having to be red, we're now going towards the Funk White. Not sure I can convince myself to pay so much for just a colour, though. It's sure to be wiped off by the time of resale.

Build quality was excellent. No creaks, rattles or bangs. All the driver controls felt well designed and had positive actions. Never had any missed gears or felt that there was any danger of doing so.

Anything negative?
Well yes. Without the turbo rush that you may be used to in some other cars, it feels like it runs out of puff as you get towards the red line. However, that's where the Esseesse kit comes in! I would expect the extra power from the reflash to really make a difference here.
And although it's pretty comfortable at motorway speeds with low rpm and general road noise, there is a bit of wind noise from somewhre around the back of the side windows. Maybe I should have left the windows open to hear that lovely exhaust note - loads of pops and bangs on the overrun too, but not intrusive. But in all fairness the wind noise is more of me being fussy, than something that's offensive.
The handbrake is fine, but rather unusually the drivers seat height adjustment is on the left of the seat and it's all too easy to grab this lever instead of the handbrake. There again, just something to get used to, rather than a problem.
And the worst thing about it was looking at the car when we got back - filthy! And then having to hand the keys back!

Oh well, there's only one solution to that!
Thanks to John and the team for looking after us - we'll be back.

Peter

Hi Peter, looks as though we drove the same car yesterday, and came to the same conclusions on the same type of roads, It's a perfect car for Devon

Visually it looks a stunning car in each of the colours , a spanner was thrown into the works when I saw the grey one but looking at the photo's in the brochure at home and seeing John's in the metal it definatley needs the checks on the roof, I'm sticking with the Bossa Nova with red stripes / mirrors as I want the skydome and feel the grey would look a bit, dare I say it .............dull.   I was really impressed with the look, quality and comfort of the red leather seats, as a number of others have said they aren't quite as  loud as they appear but are still a brighter red than the 500.  

This is the first metal roofed 500 I've driven, only driven fixed sky dome  ones before and found the wind noise was considerably less in the demo A500. I think the windows are still going to be open quite a bit though

Thanks to John and John, it was a great way to spend an hour or so on a Saturday afternoon  

Cheers
Paul

You need to be careful about calling the grey 'dull' , there's going to be a lot of them around 

Do admit it needs strips as a minimum (but I also think they all do), I'm personally not keen on the checks as I think it makes the car look a little busy.

That's beautiful  (need the :inlove: icon from Alfaowner for that)

Thanks guys,  I've had the old girl for 18 years now, used to be my daily years ago but she's a bit of a sun queen now, hibernates in the winter and only comes out in the spring / summer months