The Car Thread

[charlesr]

Nor the tales of his 12-15mpg when he's doing anything other than driving like a granny.

Hmm. Is his somewhat more powerful than standard?
I get between 21 and 26. 26 is granny or motorway. 21 is hacking, although you run out of road so fast it's difficult to get any worse.
If you get a remap, you can choose 2 maps, economy or fierce (or just go for a happy medium). You press the rear windscreen heater button while on full chat
However, yeah, if you don't like the look, not much point.

[vanpeebles]

Current: Daihatsu Mira Classic 4WD Turbo, Rover 1.3i Mini Mayfair

Previous: Mk1 Fiesta 1.1 Poppy Plus, Daihatsu Charade Diesel Turbo, Austin Mini Clubman 1275

Dream car: Lincoln Continental Mark V

[Alastair]

Did something similar on another forum quite recently so most of this is copy pasted:

Renault 19 1.4 'J' reg - no power steering or anything but a fine enough first car. I was well into mountain bikes at the time and it happily fit two in the back when the seats were down, more of a van actually. Managed to get it backwards into a hedge before it was traded in.

Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec 'R' reg - this was a proper little beast to rag around in when you're 19/20. Small, light and handled well. Many many happy miles in that.

Renault 5 Monaco 1.7 'F' reg - was a hand me down, very posh though, leather seats, lots of electric stuff. As it was free to start with though I didn't look after it well and in the end it got traded in for a grand total of 50 quid!

Ford Ka '02' reg - what can you say about KA's. Handle well but not exactly nippy. Sold it to my sister.

Ford Puma 1.7 'W' reg - loved it, handled really well for a FF car and was pretty fast if you don't mind caning cars. Spent fortunes keeping it in good condition but unfortunately it wasn't the longest lasting as in was getting pretty tatty after 85k miles. Needed around 50% of it's value spending on it for wear and tear items to get it back into a decent state so traded it as I'd never have got that money back.

Mazda MX-5 1.8 Mk2 Special Equipment Ltd Ed 'V' reg- only had it 4 months or so. Handling is great, power isn't, needs another 40 bhp or so in my opinion. It's fast enough I guess but the chassis could clearly take so much more it just feels wasted. You can go round corners so fast that it feels like there's no acceleration out of them. Point to point it's pretty fast but I'd like a little more drama and a bigger shove in the back. If I'm honest I think MX-5's are a little overrated (apart from the handling).

In between that lot I've had a couple of motorbikes too but gave that up recently as I fancy staying alive for a good few more years yet and other drivers are idiots.

Realistic dream wise I like cars that handle well, have a bit of usability and a decent amount of power (nothing too excessive). My idea of what I really want changes all the time but I would like a Cayman S as a bit of a toy! Anything more would be wasted on me to be honest.

[Alastair]

Hey, my SEAT isn't like a shellsuit (Altea XL)

What sort of budget are you looking at ? The normal Altea comes in an FR version which is fairly rapid, and handles well. It's a bit bigger than the Golf etc, but still quite sporty looking

(Prepares to be shot down in flames for suggesting a 'family' car...)

The old guy across the road from me drives an Altea!!! The couple of Ibizas I tried before the MX5 were really shiney and cheap looking/feeling inside. Is that not so on the higher models?

Dunno about budget, not much more than I can trade in the '5 for though.

Hmm. Is his somewhat more powerful than standard?
I get between 21 and 26. 26 is granny or motorway. 21 is hacking, although you run out of road so fast it's difficult to get any worse.

It is modded for power (as well as suspension) yes but I glaze over when he tells me what, he's also got an Audi S4, I like that a lot more. The mpg may be his inability to control his right foot I guess.

[charlesr]

Noooo Audi S4s are terrible. Almost no feel what's going on. You turn the wheel and it goes there, but it's totally detached. Fast point to point, but no indication where the edge is. At least on the one I drove. Guy that owned it found the same thing and got rid, soon after it bit him. He knows what he's talking about (very talented unlike me).

[Geezer]

Previous car: 02 reg 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa
Current car: 55 reg 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa
Next car: 09 reg 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa

Dream car: Ferrari 355/430 or Gallardo.

[Garf]

The old guy across the road from me drives an Altea!!! The couple of Ibizas I tried before the MX5 were really shiney and cheap looking/feeling inside. Is that not so on the higher models?

Dunno about budget, not much more than I can trade in the '5 for though.

Old guy.. I guess I am closer to 40 than I am 30, so technically, I am an old guy too

Here is the Evo review of the Altea FR - they seem to quite like it, despite a few faults.

Interior wise, mine is quite dark and understated (actually, may even be a bit plain), but everything lights up red in the dark, which my kids love..

SEAT is seen as the budget arm of VAG, so it might come across as a bit cheaper, but they seem to be upping their game a bit lately. For sure, it's not an Audi, but than again, it's a fair bit cheaper than one.

[Alastair]

Noooo Audi S4s are terrible. Almost no feel what's going on. You turn the wheel and it goes there, but it's totally detached. Fast point to point, but no indication where the edge is. At least on the one I drove. Guy that owned it found the same thing and got rid, soon after it bit him. He knows what he's talking about (very talented unlike me).

But he's got his Impreza for that and if you like being pummelled every second of every drive your a sadist

The S4 is BLODDY fast, very comfy and a really nice place to be and pass your commute in or a long drive for a holiday. I've done a couple of hundred miles in his Impreza and I really can't say any of those things about it. It was however insane around Brands Indy and outpaced pretty much every other road legal machine there. Yours may well be a totally different beast though Charles as his if fairly track focused and it is the only one I've spent any real amount of time in.

[Alastair]

Old guy.. I guess I am closer to 40 than I am 30, so technically, I am an old guy too

...

Interior wise, mine is quite dark and understated (actually, may even be a bit plain), but everything lights up red in the dark, which my kids love..

SEAT is seen as the budget arm of VAG, so it might come across as a bit cheaper, but they seem to be upping their game a bit lately. For sure, it's not an Audi, but than again, it's a fair bit cheaper than one.

40's not really old to me, the guy I refer to is nearer 60 hence the image association problem. His is certainly not an FR though.

Your interior sounds pretty similar to the Ibizas I tried. The seat fabric felt like it had no grip however, is yours like that? I too liked the red lights though.

I'm not discounting SEATs at all, they'll just need to be a really keen price for me to get one over a similar Audi/VW.

[Richard.John]

Some great lists!!! In other news, I have been playing GT5 Prologue today. **** me, if you turn off all assists, use MT and play in professional mode, the game rocks. A handy save off the internet unlocked all the goodies. The F12007 is insane....

[VR46]

My boss has a three litre Legacy, get to go out as a passenger in it at least once a month, lovely smooth comfy ride, and has ample power. He drives like a Impreza driver though (no offence Scooby owners), and drives everywhere at at least 4,000 revs and gets about 21 mpg.

[Richard.John]

Back to the dream cars. If I suddenly found several million pounds in my hands or bank account, I would buy a 599 GTB, most likely, or a Carrera Turbo. Head says German but heart says Italian.

[eASY aDDICT]

Bit difficult as I sell cars for a living so have had more than I have space for.....

Can do a potted history of My/Wifes Cars

Currently Driving:

58' new shape smart fortwo cabrio BRABUS
08' Golf 2.0 Diesel GT Sport 5 Door (Wife)

History:

55' Golf 2.0 Diesel GT 5 Door (Wife)
53' Mini Cooper S (Wife)
X' Golf 2.0 GTi (Wife)
03' Mercedes SLK 230 Kompressor (Me)
51' Smart Fortwo Cabrio Passion (Me)
Y' Mercedes C200 Saloon (Me)
Y' Mercedes C180 Sport Coupe (Me)
T' Subaru Imprezza Turbo 2000 (Me)
P' Golf GTi Mark3 5 Door (Me)
N' Fiat Cinquecento Sporting (Me)
B' Golf GTi Mark 2 2-Door (Me)
F' Seat Marbella!!!! (Me)
B' Mini City 998cc (Me)

[VR46]

N' Fiat Cinquecento Sporting (Me)

What was this like ? saw a tastily modified one with much larger alloys the other week, took off from the lights much quicker than I was expecting.

[eASY aDDICT]

What was this like ? saw a tastily modified one with much larger alloys the other week, took off from the lights much quicker than I was expecting.

Got it new in 1994, great little car, really loved it, not that quick but nippy round town etc.

Sold it to a mate who promptly wrote it off!!!