The car thread 2.

[speedlolita]

Oh I liked Vanpeebles car. Matches his video game taste!

[vanpeebles]

I like oily and rusty games?

[Colin]

Retro and full of bugs that need killing?

[speedlolita]

Yes to both of those.

[vanpeebles]

Retro and full of bugs that need killing?

No bugs! The oil vapors see to that

[EvilBoris]

Vans car is stealthy though Speedy, check it out -

What is it with car photos and rank tone mapped "HDR: Photos?

[NW2013]

I have my fan car - Ferrari 458 italia

Post pix plz.

[MartyG]

I ultimately became very bored with the 911. It's not that it isn't a good car, it quite clearly is, but for me personally I couldn't form any kind of an attachment to it. They're incredibly capable, yet completely without any personality. I've owned a reasonable amount of 'proper' sports cars at various price ranges, the Porsche has been my least favourite. After selling the 911 I test drove a few other models (Boxster, Cayman), and just took the same impression from all of them. Not for me.

That sounds like me with the Type-R compared to the MX-5. I do like the Type-R, but the MX-5 just had so much more character making it a delight to drive. The Type-R is incredibly quick, performs overtakes better, grips better, works in the cold better, doesn't get icicles inside the cabin - but it's those things that made the MX-5 fun

[charlesr]

Bloody LED patterns in light clusters. Just go away. Make the cars look better instead. At the airport there was a huge car ad. No idea what car because the light cluster LEDs were actually lit up and all the focus was on the damn lights.

[charlesr]

Sorry, that was a bit downbeat. I'm driving a Seat Ibiza at the moment. I can't believe how amazingly refined it is, almost to the point where I can't feel ANYTHING that's going on The clutch... smooth as butter. No idea where the biting point is - it doesn't seem to matter. If I tried that in my Impreza, the gearbox would flip out of the car The steering is incredibly vague, but seems to respond to changes in direction quickly - but I have no idea how far to turn the wheel - absolutely zero feedback - it could be drive by wire for all I know.

I have no idea how much grip it has. In a straight line under braking (which are pretty good) it seems to have lots, but it's giving me no confidence in the corners in the wet. Left hand drive lol.... I keep driving off the road a bit.

I'm guessing loads of modern cars are like this? I've not owned anything newer than 2006. I'm used to cars that you feel every little bump in the road.

[charlesr]

Impreza BRZ advert:


Sat in one of these a couple of weeks ago. Felt very cool. Still preferred the seat position in the STi though

[CMcK]

Sorry, that was a bit downbeat. I'm driving a Seat Ibiza at the moment. I can't believe how amazingly refined it is, almost to the point where I can't feel ANYTHING that's going on The clutch... smooth as butter. No idea where the biting point is - it doesn't seem to matter. If I tried that in my Impreza, the gearbox would flip out of the car The steering is incredibly vague, but seems to respond to changes in direction quickly - but I have no idea how far to turn the wheel - absolutely zero feedback - it could be drive by wire for all I know.

I have no idea how much grip it has. In a straight line under braking (which are pretty good) it seems to have lots, but it's giving me no confidence in the corners in the wet. Left hand drive lol.... I keep driving off the road a bit.

I'm guessing loads of modern cars are like this? I've not owned anything newer than 2006. I'm used to cars that you feel every little bump in the road.

That's about right. Electric power steering, fly by wire throttle and other fuel saving gizmos are taking the feel out of driving. But seeing as the vast majority of car owners use their motor as a jacket they don't care. Marketing decides what cars are like these days not engineers.
Ironically your comment about feeling every bump in the road could be taken as a dig as the trend for skinny tyres on huge rims combined with so called sports suspension is ruining the ride quality. Time for better use of elastokinematics and sensible amounts of unsprung weight at each corner. The standard fit 17" wheels on my vRS are too big and running around on 15" steel wheels in the winter shows just how much better my car would ride on smaller wheels.

Your comment about the clutch on the Ibiza is probably due to it having a dual mass flywheel. These are good for smoothing out gear changes for all the clods that just cannot match revs to save themselves.

[charlesr]

My old Legacy had a dual mass, but it had much more feel - maybe that difference is due to the engine size compared to the Ibiza i.e. much bigger clutch.

The "feeling every bump" was more about feeling what's going on through the steering wheel rather than feeling it through the chair. My Impreza is understandably a bit firmly sprung, but has lightweight 16" wheels so ride is fine for a few hours of comfort. The Legacy had 17" but managed to remain entirely comfortable for a 6 hour drive and still give loads of feedback through the wheel, even though it had 4WD.

I was surprised to learn that the Ibiza is around 1000-1100kg. I assumed based on the drive that it was heavier than that. The Impreza is 1280kg and feels like a ballet dancer in comparison. I'm rather out of touch with modern cars

[QualityChimp]

So... I'm in the market for a new car.

It needs to be a 5-door, reliable, about ?5K and great mpg.

Gizmos and gadgets are a bonus, but I'll mainly be crawling to work in traffic so fuel economy is my main concern.

Focus is a good choice, but it's so bland!

I like the look of the Toyota Corolla (not an Initial D).

Over the years I've had a Peugeot 306, Vauxhall Astra, Hyundai i30 and a Seat Altea.

Any good offers on of late or good second-hand suggestions?

Thanks team!

[charlesr]

Civic? http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...07lw?logcode=p

Impreza? No, wait... you said great mpg, not great mph. But ?30k isn't bad for a 13 year old car. That's more than it cost new.