you are just buying the wrong cars.
Buying?
get out of here 
I've not bought a car since 1991
Chat Forum
Cars are ace. Discuss
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Posted 9 months ago #
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there is hardly a modern car surely that is anywhere near the limit on most A roads at 60 mph
Even my lowly C-Max is so drearily within its limits at 60 in a national, have to agree.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Cruising along country roads in an open top or a classic on a nice day
+1, I couldn't believe the fun or the speed in my old Spitfire, 40mph felt like warp factor 7 on a country lane.
2nd most funnest drive was a Range Rover on an offroad course.
If you want speed and fun, go on a track day. You think you can drive quickly, let a pro show you how to drive.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I used to be really into cars. Had a fair few quick machines culminating in a really really powerful very light Westfield that I used for track days.
I just realised on day that it was just not doing it for me anymore. Now I would rather have something comfy thats fast enough to make progress.
After a few years off motorbike I am back into that now and I love it. I find myself drawn to lots of bikes I want to ride in a way I don't with cars anymore.
I am off to do a 10day motorcycle tour in France in a couple of weeks taking in the Millau sky bridge then off up to the Alps. I am more excited about this than I have been about anything in a number of years
Posted 9 months ago # -
Cars are ace - yes.
Early morning summer drive through Snowdonia in a good car is bliss.
You can have a lot of fun in one of these too...
Posted 9 months ago # -
Some car's are fun.
My midget, doespite it's 101 faults that need fixing (which would make it better, but posibly not as characterfull) is ace.
My sensible boring Ford Focus on the other hand is about as fun as gray paint!
Modern car's are stifled by a mixture of a need to weigh 2 tones to get an NCAP 5 star rating and appeal to mums, a headline BHP figure only achievable for about 3rpm before the redline to apeal to Dads and a mpg figure (thats basicly a lie) that stifles theengine the rest of the time.
As a result the midget actualy does more MPG on the motorway! And there's plenty of 200+bhp MG's getting 40+/50+mpg with modern engines.
Bring on cars made of composites that weigh the right side of a ton, do a reasnoble MPG and are fun to drive.
Posted 9 months ago # -
That said, some utter swine has posted details of his Mk2 Golf 16v in the for sale section...
...for less than the price of a brand new Marin.
I could so easily do it, plus I could probably maintain most of it myself but the missus would kill me.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I love driving, be it my old 4x4 (slow, yet strangely relaxing) or my wife's Golf (fast, yet poor handling). I still miss my old Mk.2 GTi (fast, excellent handling) and my ex-police Omega (very fast, very comfortable) though, purely for driving fun.
Mind you, the Passat I have now is ok. Mixes fast with economical and comfortable very well.
Posted 9 months ago # -
You don't need to have a fast car to enjoy driving. I'm loving the whole ownership experience of this:
It's free to tax, £100 to insure, 50mph in it feels like 100mph in the mustang did and I get to fiddle with it's workings and you can still get every single part of it either new or repro.
You feel like a proper man after rebuilding an engine or the suspension. Proper boys toys Posted 9 months ago # -
I love cars (got a big 4x4) and yes, I do just go for a drive sometimes (after years and years of not doing it, in order to save the planet, I finally realised that my input is going to make c*ck all difference when set against the China's immediately projected car production/use). I love driving, and I especially love towing my caravan somewhere nice, with my dog and all my bikes so I can have a lovely time walking her and riding them.
When I see massive transporters, wide loads, huge cranes etc I always wish I could have a go.
Love cars too - wish I could have a Supra... or an Evo VI..
or maybe an old Mustang, maybe early 60s.. or a chevy with big fins..
oh well
Posted 9 months ago # -
I'd be inclined to agree on the line
"driving / cars are too good to be fun these days"
and that is without the safety, traffic and law enforcement considerations...
However, there are still cars around that allow you to have an absolute ball at legal(ish) speeds.
mrs rkk01 has an Abarth 500 and it is an absolute hoot. Reminds me of the old 205 / 309 GTi - small, rorty, similar bhp, noisy and getting uncomfortable at top end speeds, but fantastic on normal roads.
Really puts a grin into everyday motoring.
What hot hatchery used to be about, before everyone tried cramming 250 bhp plus motors to try and make the "ultimate hot hatch"
Stuff like the Golf GTi is so pollished these days - very quick and accomplished, but not a lot of fun.
Posted 9 months ago # -
What motor's that got Tim? I had a 1500 O/drive bucket of fun.
Posted 9 months ago # -
about as fun as gray paint!
grey paint not fun....! How dare thee
That there above IS fun grey paint.
Although mrs rkk gets annoyed with "aircraft primer grey" comments. Apparently the primer grey is "traditional" Abarth race colours - based on the abundance of cheap aircraft primer in the post war years
Posted 9 months ago # -
In the same way that riding a commuter bike around town is never going to be as much fun as ragging a mtb down the side of a mountain, it's all about driving the right car on the right road.
I've recently got myself an MR2 Turbo (sorry, had to get that in there!) and my Sundays now usually involve putting the bike on the car, driving down some windy country road until i get somewhere good to ride, ride the bike for a few hours, then back in the car for some more fun. Always a fun day!
Posted 9 months ago # -
I occasionally enjoy it, but mostly I'm worrying about who or what I'm going to crash into next, and if they've got my number plate.
There is a rutted byway opposite where I live that I'm quite tempted to take my little non 4x4 panda down, which would be stupid but probably great fun assuming it doesn't get stuck and the front bumper doesn't fall off.Posted 9 months ago # -
What motor's that got Tim? I had a 1500 O/drive bucket of fun.
It's a '72 with the last of the 1300's. Apparently it's the worst of all the engines as it has the smaller capacity of the 1300 with a larger crank, so it's not as revvy as the small crank 1300 or as torquey as the 1500. It's still a hoot though and once the engine needs a full re-build those issues can be addressed.
O/D would be nice, but I just avoid motorways where possible, so you get a nicer drive (even though it takes ages to get there...)
Posted 9 months ago # -
Love driving. Even my modest Fiesta can flow through the corners at a decent pace. King Valley to Mansfield in Victoria last year was a highlight.
Even driving to work over Tunnel Hill instead of the highway is a pleasure on a monday when I usually get a clean run through the tight, right-left-right, under the underpass.
Have to take the bosses Sprinter into town tomorrow, this should be fun.Posted 9 months ago # -
turner guy - a classic or a modern one? Remember a road limit is 60 mph. there is hardly a modern car surely that is anywhere near the limit on most A roads at 60 mph
modern.
the car doesn't have to be near the limit, just provide enough feedback from the road to make carving round corners, etc fun.
It is a bit like skis, you can carve down the piste having loads of fun if you have the right skis, but for others you would need to be hurtling down doing GS turns to get the same kicks.
I knew a civil engineer who got a 156 as a company car. Instead of cruising up and down the country on the motorways he would search the map for interesting A roads to get him around.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Bring on cars made of composites that weigh the right side of a ton, do a reasnoble MPG and are fun to drive.
Lotus Elise
Nice Spitty Tim, on the look out for one myself for a year.. I want a second fun car I can bond with over a head rebuild, but need to hide it from mrs b somewhere
Is that a Mk IV?EDIT: Just read your post - I don't think there's one in the range that doesn't have it's own idiosyncracies - 1500s seem least bother but free tax.. mmmmmmmm
Posted 9 months ago # -
ah well - for me the whole fun of fast driving is getting it to the limit. feeling the tyres scrabbling for grip etc.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Nice Spitty Tim, on the look out for one myself for a year.. I want a second fun car I can bond with over a head rebuild, but need to hide it from mrs b somewhere
Is that a Mk IV?It is. We picked up a Mk3 for my lad to restore last year, he's 14 in a few days time so has three years in order to finish it. I got bored waiting for him to make decent progress so went looking for one of my own. This one isn't a colour I really wanted, but it was too good an example to let go and it was local. They do need to be garaged though
Posted 9 months ago # -
ah well - for me the whole fun of fast driving is getting it to the limit. feeling the tyres scrabbling for grip etc
every morning for me.
with the added excitement of suicidal sheep and ponies.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I like the colour myself - I'd have that or the one that should be called Singular Swift Blue
Posted 9 months ago # -
END OF THREAD
Posted 9 months ago # -
there is hardly a modern car surely that is anywhere near the limit on most A roads at 60 mph
MOST roads, but by no means all. I would have thought all of us on here live somewhere near an A road where you can get a brown-trouser moment going at 60mph or less. The A5004 between Buxton and Whaley Bridge has some corners that would spit the average driver off if they were going 60. Ditto the Cat and Fiddle road. The roads are out there, and they're not always busy
Posted 9 months ago # -
We picked up a Mk3 for my lad to restore last year,
Now THAT'S a birthday present! I keep encouraging Grandad to do the same for my boys as he's got more time and way more mechanical/electrical nous than me.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Stilltortoise - cat and fiddle is 50 mph limit nowadays for most of it - and few corners that slow - used to be my stomping ground back in the day.
Posted 9 months ago # -
I've recently got myself an MR2 Turbo (sorry, had to get that in there!)
Awesome cars. I really don't think there's a better "play" car for the money, and yet they're still supremely useable day to day.
I had a MR2 Turbo with uprated turbo, intercooler, decat & Blitz Nur Spec R, Tein suspension, Volk wheels, in black (the fastest colour). Never have I had so much fun in a car, and I could get 2 bikes on the back and/or 1 in the passenger seat, plus there was boot space enough for me and the missus to take suitcases for a 2 week holiday. 30+mpg too if I wasn't in a spirited driving mood.
Posted 9 months ago # -
and few corners that slow
But not none!
Granted their will be some driving Gods on this thread who will demolish these roads, but I've had plenty of fun in my (ex) Elise throughout the Peak District and without having to drive like it was stolen. Granted doing 60mph in an Elise over a bumpy B road is considerably more exciting than doing the same in a modern car with all the safety bells and whistles.
Posted 9 months ago # -
However these days - roads too crowded, too many speed cameras
Given you live in Edinburgh then I'd have to say that is bollocks. There are loads of great fun and empty roads with no speed cameras to the south of Edinburgh.
Posted 9 months ago # -
@ The Flying Ox
That sounds nice! Mines a completely standard white t-bar rev 4 just imported from Japan. Had it 3 months now and love it! I've got a roof rack which goes on in about 2 minutes and carries 2 bikes.
It's got to be one of the few 'bike friendly' mid-engined, rear wheel drive cars ever!
Posted 9 months ago # -
Standard rev4? Hehe. Get a grainger bleed valve, a 2 bar pressure gauge and some 5mm plastic hose. Fit the valve between the turbo actuator and the TVSV and plug the other hose that comes out of the TVSV, run the plastic hose from the manifold pressure sensor into the cabin and connect it up to the pressure gauge so you can keep an eye on the boost. Half an hour's job, if that. Turn the boost up to 1.1/1.2 bar and prepare to be amazed
Posted 9 months ago # -
Thanks, i've read a lot about all the things you can do to get more power out of them (up to 700bhp) but the plan for now at least is to leave at the standard 242bhp, which is plenty for me!
I think going down the modification route would just be a slippery slope into a money pit....
Posted 9 months ago # -
epicsteve - I guess our definition of fast driving is different.
Posted 9 months ago # -
epicsteve - I guess our definition of fast driving is different.
Give me your definition and I'll tell you.
Posted 9 months ago #
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