[M1500Z]

Update
I did end up trading in my '18 for a '21 competition. Same build, just with orange stitching. Got it, drove 1100 miles in a week to get the first service taken care of and get acquainted with it. I'll reiterate a lot of the same things others who have owned both cars say:

Positives

• The steering feels better (my old car had the same steering coded)
• Stock, the suspension is oddly more composed
• The S55 is more responsive and has longer legs

Negatives

• Can't say the seats are any better—they may actually be slightly worse for my personal ergonomics
• For some reason I had it in my head the S55 was more fuel-efficient—false
• The larger brakes aren't as easy to modulate on the street

From inside the car, I have started to prefer the exhaust note. It's a bit more exotic and raw—I'll leave it at that as it's so, so subjective. Same for the front bumper/grille aesthetics.

After completing the first service, I had the Öhlins R&T kit and GC camber plates from my old car installed, along with a track alignment, Goodyear Supercar 3 tires in stock sizes, and Pagid RSL29 pads.

It's impossible to compare lap times as I had objectively bad tires on the old car (3y/o Continental Contisport3 or something to that name). But the cars drive very similar on track as you'd expect. Some takeaways

• The steering/braking feedback is better on track
• S55 is very happy on track, it really is a fantastic engine—I was about 7-8mph faster on the back straight of COTA (again, traction plays a role here, and the old car was missing that)
• The brakes felt like they are better suited to tracking as well, but hard to say at this point as ambient temps were significantly lower than my last weekend

All in all, I'm not disappointed I made the switch. This is a lot of words that just confirm what so many have said—it's an individual choice and people have different preferences and priorities. I still am very fond of my old car and wouldn't hesitate to point someone toward an N55 car.

[David.m]

Originally Posted by M1500Z

Update
I did end up trading in my '18 for a '21 competition. Same build, just with orange stitching. Got it, drove 1100 miles in a week to get the first service taken care of and get acquainted with it. I'll reiterate a lot of the same things others who have owned both cars say:

Positives

• The steering feels better (my old car had the same steering coded)
• Stock, the suspension is oddly more composed
• The S55 is more responsive and has longer legs

Negatives[LIST][*]Can't say the seats are any better—they may actually be slightly worse for my personal ergonomics[*]For some reason I had it in my head the S55 was more fuel-efficient—false[*]The larger brakes aren't as easy to modulate on the street

I'm reasonably certain the front bracing is behind the steering improvement. I have a July 17 build LCI with Dec 18 iStep update, after installing the alloy/carbon strut bracing it was noticeable how more responsive the car was to small steering inputs, even gave a sense of being lighter. Car is also more stable under heavy load, one corner on the track I attend there is hard braking from 180+kp/h down to around 60 for a hairpin and the car would wander slightly, now with the bracing it stays on line.

Some others who've installed the bracing say they noticed a more compliant ride, I already had Ohlins R&T in (which had made a huge improvement) and can't say with any confidence I noticed further ride improvement.