As previously posted, I enjoyed a fabulous day out meeting Porsche friends Paul and Loraine Barlow with their 981 Boxster GTS at the Goodbrand and Ross cafe by the A939 Lecht - Tomintoul route. It was my first opportunity to test the A110 on one of the finest driver's roads in the UK. With the summer season tourists long gone, the route was traffic free and the weather thankfully glorious.
For the very first time I engaged Sport mode, just to see its effect upon the character of the car. I chose manual shifting first of all, mindful of my self-imposed rev limit while running-in. The Getrag 7-speed DSG gearbox in the A110 has short, close ratios, which are ideally suited to the light mass of the car. The gear changes are lightning quick in manual mode with a satisfying "pop" on upshift engagement. Downshifts have a generous throttle blip action which sounds good with the sports exhaust automatically activated. The A110's 4-inline turbo engine sounds completely different compared to the boxer flat-4 in the 718 Cayman. From inside the cabin the engine sounds more harmonious than the Porsche Flat-4, lacking the off-beat drone of the 718. In Sport auto mode the upshifts on a light throttle are more leisurely and occur sooner. A more aggressive throttle action changes the upshifts to rapid-fire with the "pop" on engagement. Thus far, the Getrag DSG gearbox compares very favourably with the Porsche 718 PDK. The larger gear shift paddles are also superb.
Two things came to light during my trip on the A939. Windscreen reflections from the dash scuttle and carbon instrument binnacle are very obtrusive. It's especially noticeable when heading into the sun. You do get used to it after a while, but it is very disconcerting at first. The reflections are as strong as a head-up display in certain lighting conditions. The dash scuttle below the windscreen glass has a black crackle finish which does not absorb sunlight, it reflects it. The shiny black carbon instrument binnacle also reflects the sunlight onto the windscreen directly in front of the driver. Under certain sunlight occasions I found myself consciously raising my sight line above the reflection on the screen. On the A939 you have to be aware of free roaming sheep on the road, and signs are placed by the roadside warning drivers to take care. It was under these conditions that the screen reflections became especially obtrusive.
The second thing I noticed was the ride quality of the A110 on the bumpy sections of the road. The 2021 Legende GT has stiffer ant-roll bars, springs, and dampers. This gives the car a busy, fidgety, ride compared to the 718 PASM suspension when set on normal. From my experience I would compare the ride quality of this A110 model to be on a par with the 718 Cayman GTS -20mm sports suspension set on Sport mode. It's also firmer than the ride on a Cayman R. When the A110 encounters bumpy sections of road, the whole body deflects in reaction to the bumps. Being a light car this is more pronounced than on the much heavier Cayman. When hustling the A110 along a twisty B road such as the A939, you have to be ready for the body deflections when encountering bumpy corners for example. The feedback from the steering is so good that the driver always feels in control of the car, and any sideways jolts from bumps are easily and intuitively dealt with from the helm.
I'll post a few photos from my day out at the Lecht. My grateful thanks to Paul and Loraine Barlow for their high quality photos, and also their patience with taking the action shots on the road.
Brian
