When Exocet owner Geoff learned he had the opportunity to have his hard work featured on The Smoking Tire he went well out of his way to make sure it happened. After a long four hour trip, he graciously tossed the keys over to Matt Farah, and they went on their way, winding, and shooting through the mountain pass. At this point in the game, Matt has seen it all, and has even discussed being a little jaded in previous articles. But we’re glad to hear he had some positive things to say about this hand built, 1.8l turbo Exocet Sport, and had some fun along the way!
As he pulls off the side of the road, Geoff in tow, the turbo begins to spool, “I love every sound that comes out of this…This is like, one of the best sounding engines I’ve ever heard.” With the wind ripping through the cockpit of the Sport model chassis, adrenaline begins to flow,”My heart is going like, a zillion miles an hour right now. So many sensations!” Coming through the corners, he really gets a feel for how light the Exocet truly is, as it digs in, and rushes through the bends of the road, “When you have something this light, none of the componentry feels stressed.” Upon discussing the internals with owner, Geoff, Matt reveled in the idea of such abundant, and affordable operating costs, “Your consumables cost has to be so low. I’m pretty sure that you can’t get a better driving experience than this, for less money.” Of course the comparison of the Atom is to be made, but as many others have said before Matt agrees that, “This is a lot of the same exhilaration of the atom, but it genuinely feels quite a bit more forgiving…Because it’s front engine, rear drive, it’s not as twitchy as an Atom…This is a lot of the same exhilaration of the atom, but it genuinely feels quite a bit more forgiving.” And of course, it wouldn’t be the Matt we all love if he didn’t drop some “colorful” commentary, “Oh my god, what a f***ing awesome little thing! I don’t want to give this back.”
All in all, we would have to say it sounds like Matt enjoyed his stay in the drivers’ seat, but we’ll let him sum it up, “Okay, expectations vs reality; because it is quote, a cheaper Atom or whatever, you expect it to be kind of worse than an Atom, except here’s the truth. It’s kind of better. Like, Atoms, they’re crazy, but they’re twitchy, and this is the exact same sensations as that, but less twitchy and more forgiving. And I think the finer details are the difference, but what you’re looking for out of this is an experience, and sensations, and this is all that.”
We may be a little biased here, Matt, but we certainly have to agree.