Cars

welshkev

Angus Young wrote:

pinarello001 wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

Quite simple - if you've spent any time driving a Ford, then get another one. Otherwise, once you've got over the euphoria of the snobby badge, you're going to wonder why you bothered going for a so called 'premium' brand.

That's subjective. I don't drive a merc for the badge and i'll always get decent part x value on it.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't having a go at Mercs. They're nice cars, but Fords drive better. Even the AMG derivatives I've driven have been nothing to write home about.

my dad has a brand new fiesta of some variety (maybe a zetec s?) it drives like a bag of shit and I much prefer my Octavia vrs.

rockmonkeysc

I must admit my 2009 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi is great to drive. Handles far better than a rep car should and goes pretty well but I'm bored of it now.

Angus Young

welshkev wrote:

my dad has a brand new fiesta of some variety (maybe a zetec s?) it drives like a bag of shoot and I much prefer my Octavia vrs.

If you think the new Fiesta Zetec S drives like sh!t then you don't know much about what makes a good drive. The fiesta is a really fun drive when you give it stick, the Zetec is a little keener (the 'S' is just the Zetec with a slightly tarted body) and the ST is brilliant when you drive it hard.

I fully expect a load of people to turn up saying Fords are sh!t. Trouble is, lots of people can't see the car behind the badge. I mean, who wants to say "I drive a Ford." when they could be saying "I drive a Merc/BMW/Audi."

thekickingmule

Angus Young wrote:

I mean, who wants to say "I drive a Ford." when they could be saying "I drive a Merc/BMW/Audi."

And for that reason, I'm out.

rockmonkeysc

thekickingmule wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

I mean, who wants to say "I drive a Ford." when they could be saying "I drive a Merc/BMW/Audi."

And for that reason, I'm out.

I believe he also has a Mercedes CL63 AMG Black series and is a big fan of BMW.
Audis are only driven by estate agents and accountants.

welshkev

Angus Young wrote:

welshkev wrote:

my dad has a brand new fiesta of some variety (maybe a zetec s?) it drives like a bag of shoot and I much prefer my Octavia vrs.

If you think the new Fiesta Zetec S drives like sh!t then you don't know much about what makes a good drive. The fiesta is a really fun drive when you give it stick, the Zetec is a little keener (the 'S' is just the Zetec with a slightly tarted body) and the ST is brilliant when you drive it hard.

."

I'm guessing you're young. the fiesta is a bag of crap. it might be great if you "give it stick" but it's suspension is hard as hell, it bounces all over the road and it rattles like feck. it's so uncomfortable that I'd rather drive myself than have my dad take me anywhere

oh yeah, plus my skoda is faster!

Angus Young

welshkev wrote:

I'm guessing you're young.

You're guessing wrong.

welshkev

Angus Young wrote:

welshkev wrote:

I'm guessing you're young.

You're guessing wrong.

then I can't see how you can say a fiesta zetec s is a nice car to drive?!?!

VWsurfbum

I like my little fiesta "van", great road holding and power to weight ratio.
That said its not in the class of my own cars. just better than they were, and better than the shizzle the french turn out!

welshkev

VWsurfbum wrote:

I like my little fiesta "van", great road holding and power to weight ratio.
That said its not in the class of my own cars. just better than they were, and better than the shizzle the french turn out!

perhaps I'm judging it too much on the type of driving I do. i.e long motorway drives.

I couldn't sit in my dads fiesta for long periods I'd have no teeth left

VWsurfbum

LOL defiantly not a motorway car, but great round the lanes.

Keep looking to change my car, so suggestions on a sporty estate cabriolet with 4 seats and a bike rack?

pinno

VWsurfbum wrote:

LOL defiantly not a motorway car, but great round the lanes.

Keep looking to change my car, so suggestions on a sporty estate cabriolet with 4 seats and a bike rack?

I found the very thing:

The Northern Monkey

When we finally buy a house and I get a garage, I'll be getting a 306 rallye to play with.

I'm not keen on modern sports saloons, too much of them are based on electronic brains! I've driven a few new BMWs and theyre quick but fracking dull.

The best car I've ever driven was a mk1 Fiesta, 957cc 40bhp beast!
Didnt need to go fast, just get it into 3rd and try and keep momentum so that it didn't slow down!

thekickingmule

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Didnt need to go fast, just get it into 3rd and try and keep momentum so that it didn't slow down!

Seriously, you should consider my Astra!!

VWsurfbum

pinarello001 wrote:

VWsurfbum wrote:

LOL defiantly not a motorway car, but great round the lanes.

Keep looking to change my car, so suggestions on a sporty estate cabriolet with 4 seats and a bike rack?

I found the very thing:

Good shout, do they do them new anymore?

Angus Young

You need one of these...



All bases covered.

rockmonkeysc

The Northern Monkey wrote:

When we finally buy a house and I get a garage, I'll be getting a 306 rallye to play with.

I had one. It was rubbish, very poorly built, didn't handle well and not particularly fun to drive. It just felt a bit gutless because it didn't really have any torque.
If you want a fun hot hatch Fords are great. They torque steer unpredictably, they understeer and at high speed they feel a bit vague but it's all hilarious. The most fun Ford hot hatch I had was an RS turbo but they are stupid money now, the XR3i zetec 130 I had after that was very nearly as good but a lot cheaper.
The Renault 5 turbo is the one to have if you can find a good one though.

The Northern Monkey

Pffttt understeer... gice me lift off oversteer on a pug anyday
Not surprised you didnt like thr 306!

I do like a blue oval though, considered a fiesta xr3i but they're getting pricey if you want one without tin worm!

Angus Young

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Pffttt understeer... gice me lift off oversteer on a pug anyday
Not surprised you didnt like thr 306!

I've driven the 306 GT6 at the track on a number of occasions and it's got very snappy handling at the limit when you're going full pelt. Not nice at all. Get it wrong and it's all over in a flash.

pinno

I had a 1.6s F reg Ford Fiesta. The day I scrapped it, I took it for a thrashing around the quiet country roads (never above 30mph of course and no cyclists were injured in the making of this post). It was sad to let the thing go when all the moving bits were A1. I believe that some Fiestas between '86 and '94 were made in Spain and suffered from metalworm.
I like small cars with grunt but I hate small cars with no grunt.

Angus Young

Angus Young wrote:

The Northern Monkey wrote:

Pffttt understeer... gice me lift off oversteer on a pug anyday
Not surprised you didnt like thr 306!

I've driven the 306 GT6 at the track on a number of occasions and it's got very snappy handling at the limit when you're going full pelt. Not nice at all. Get it wrong and it's all over in a flash.

Ignore that last post of mine, it was complete boIIocks! I wrote it just before I went to bed and as I was falling asleep it came to me but I wasn't going to get out of bed to correct my post. It was the Renault Clio (some racing variation, can't remember which) that was horribly snappy at the limit while the GT6 had, as you say, really nice oversteer and was absolutely fab around Silverstone. Ignore me, I'm old and confused.

russyh

I have had a 306gti6 a Clio 172 and 182. Clio was a beautiful handling little car. Did my favourite under steer, lift throttle into fwd over steer. But it went exactly where you wanted it, lovely induction noise too. It reminded me of my teens and my 205gti. I was lucky enough to be leant a Clio v6 which was frankly amazing, no need for a stereo with that lump behind your head! I found the 306 gti6 a big lump, it suffered from under steer mainly due to poor weight distribution. Not particularly quick either. Peugeot should of stuck the mi16 engine in it. What a great lump that was! The best 306 in the range by a long way was the dturbo.

Angus Young

Russyh wrote:

I found the 306 gti6 a big lump, it suffered from under steer mainly due to poor weight distribution. Not particularly quick either.

You should tell Silverstone, then - that's what they used to use at their race school.

rockmonkeysc

Angus Young wrote:

Russyh wrote:

I found the 306 gti6 a big lump, it suffered from under steer mainly due to poor weight distribution. Not particularly quick either.

You should tell Silverstone, then - that's what they used to use at their race school.

Most probably a sponsorship deal from Peugeot giving them a huge discount on cars.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Angus Young wrote:

Russyh wrote:

I found the 306 gti6 a big lump, it suffered from under steer mainly due to poor weight distribution. Not particularly quick either.

You should tell Silverstone, then - that's what they used to use at their race school.

Most probably a sponsorship deal from Peugeot giving them a huge discount on cars.

Yes, because Silverstone are so strapped for cash that they would put their reputation on the line for the sake of a discount on a dozen not very expensive cars which all other manufactures would also give them a discount on anyway.

rockmonkeysc

They may not be strapped for cash but like all businesses it's sole aim is to make money. It's hardly going to ruin their reputation using a slightly ropey hot hatch for their race school.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It's hardly going to ruin their reputation using a slightly ropey hot hatch for their race school.

That's exactly what it would do. Would you want to book into a race school known for running a fleet of slow, understeery, poorly balanced cars? How's that going to help them make money? And, as noted, there's not a car company in the land who wouldn't give Silverstone a discount to have their cars in the paddock at one of the world's premier race tracks, so I doubt that discount was the deciding factor.

russyh

Silverstone wouldnt buy the best handling cars for their business would they. They would buy whatever they got the best deal on. its a business. Teaching people to drive quickly in a car that handles (IMO) questionably improves technique. Also when they jump into something faster later on in the day. tehy feel like a driving god. Walking away from their driving experience day telling all their friends how brilliant the Silverstone experience is.

Anyway IIRC, those white GTi6 where not owned by Silverstone i believe they came back through the Peugeot used car network. i cant remember exactly as its a long time since i worked in the Peugeot network, but i seem to remember some hoohar over it. This is not unique to peugeot, a number of manufacturers resell track cars as ex-press within the network.

rockmonkeysc

Angus Young wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

It's hardly going to ruin their reputation using a slightly ropey hot hatch for their race school.

That's exactly what it would do. Would you want to book into a race school known for running a fleet of slow, understeery, poorly balanced cars? How's that going to help them make money? And, as noted, there's not a car company in the land who wouldn't give Silverstone a discount to have their cars in the paddock at one of the world's premier race tracks, so I doubt that discount was the deciding factor.

Some will offer greater discounts than others, I suspect BMW would offer very little.
You don't need the best cars for a race school. I forget which track it was but one had Honda CB500's in their bike racing school in the late 90's and they were horrible wallowy things designed for commuting. Good for wheelies though, very low balance point.

Angus Young

Russyh wrote:

Teaching people to drive quickly in a car that handles (IMO) questionably improves technique. Also when they jump into something faster later on in the day. tehy feel like a driving god. Walking away from their driving experience day telling all their friends how brilliant the Silverstone experience is.

Actually, I'd have been telling people we spent half the day in really shite cars and asking for my money back.