I did indeed take Noel's Aprilia for a run when I visited him last week, having driven there in Andrew's.
The first thing to say is how generous and trusting the Australian Lancia owners are! I have now done several hundred miles in Aprilias on this visit, including Castlemaine where there was the usual fabulous turn-out of Lancias, especially Lambdas as well as the aforementioned Aprilias.
Comparing the two cars is tricky as Andrews is still in "shake-down" mode after many years off the road and I only drove Noel's briefly. Both have the familiar Aprilia feel of handling precision and sure-footedness. The initial harshness over bumps in Stainless Steven was improved quite a bit by reducing the tyre pressures from 33 down to 26. Arguably this may still be on the high side as the handbook talks about 21psi! I run my own car at 26 (with 165x400 Mich. X's) as the steering gets heavy for low speed maneuvering at any less than this.
On Noels car the steering,although precise, was heavier than expected and we diagnosed excessive toe-in so it will be interesting to see if it responds to being reset.
On SS there is some vibration at speed that is hard to pin-point with one of the rear wheel bearings being a possible suspect.
Overall both cars perform well but the bigger carb on Noels does give it a distinct advantage.
Finally thanks again to Andrew and Noel for letting me drive their cars and thanks and congratulations to the Castlemaine organisers for another brilliant rally
