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THE TEST DRIVE:
The
subject of our second BUY2BUILD profile is the DJ Sportscars Dax Tojeiro. If
you are considering buying a Dax, Peter Coxhead will tell you all you need to
know. And if you are planning to buy another Cobra, or even another kitcar
altogether; BUY2BUILD gives you a benchmark against which you can
compare.
We drove the latest Dax Tojeiro demonstration car on a warm,
dry and sunny day - who said this job doesn't have its compensations (Just my
bank manager - MF)?
With almost 400bhp available from the 350cu in Chevy
V8, there was so much grunt that neck-snapping acceleration was available in
almost any gear. And the power went down very smoothly and without wind-up of
the independent Jaguar rear axle. The Tojeiro dispenses with the conventional
Jag radius arms and in their place are a pair of diagonally placed tie rods
that effectively lengthen the lower wishbone base, so the back end is very
solid and reliable.
By any standards, the Tojeiro is a big car and for a
two-seat sportscar, it's relatively heavy at around 1100 kilos. It's a bit
intimidating too. A fairly heavy clutch and steering mean you have to work
quite hard when pushing on, but good weight distribution and excellent
suspension give the car a remarkable ability to change direction quickly, so
that cross-country driving is surprisingly pleasurable. It's not as nimble as
the Rush, but if you take a firm hand to it, the Tojeiro can be hustled along
at a very respectable pace on the curvy bits.
Point its nose along a
straight stretch, give it its head and there's not much on the road that can
live with it. Of course, that amount of power needs treating with respect, and
careless application of throttle could give you some interesting moments. But
the car is quite user-friendly once you've got used to the weighty controls.
The gear change is slick, the brakes very, very good and the steering, if not
light, is positive and accurate. It doesn't much matter what gear you're in,
once it's rolling it will pull away and accelerate effortlessly.
As far
as creature comforts are concerned, the cockpit is roomy with plenty of space
for big people. The windscreen is well raked and quite deep so that with the
hood down, most of the breeze is whistled over the top. That's not to say that
your hairstyle won't be disturbed - there's still quite a bit of buffeting at
speed - but that's open-top motoring for you. A reasonably sized boot gives
stowage space for luggage and golf clubs but you'd be hard put to fit in the
weekly shop.
Another aspect of comfort that seems unimportant on a trip
to the local, but which assumes huge significance on a journey of any length,
is the ride. Taut handling all too often means a bone-jarring ride that can be
very tiring after a while. The guys at Dax have achieved a very good compromise
between comfort and performance, and although the downside is a little roll,
it's unnoticeable at road speeds, whereas the compliant ride is a most welcome
attribute of this all-round sportscar.
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If you like the shape of the
Cobra 427, you like muscle cars and everything that brings. Driving this car is
not a dainty, two-fingers-on-the-wheel, sort of business. You've got to drive
the thing as if you mean it. Do that and you will be rewarded with the ride of
a lifetime that will make a journey in your everyday car seem as exciting as a
trip in a lift.
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