TLDR
New patio for you and the wife. Muppets
Neither of those cars needs more than 35bhp to do 70mph.
*to maintain a constant 70mph on a flat road. Is sitting on a motorway with your car near the red line for hours on end good for a) the engine b) the fuel economy (and therefore environment)
I have a Panda 1.2l dynamic with a mighty 60bhp. It's nowhere near the red line at legal motorway cruising speeds, on a hill or otherwise.
Nico – would your reaction change if Mrs OP took out a member of your family?
"Take out" in which sense?
I don't think I'd be particularly chuffed if anybody killed or injured a member of my family, or anybody else for that matter, yet it happens on the roads, though more at the hands of young men who think they are driving gods than tired women. The OP is probably in a witness protection scheme as we speak in reponse to the number of posters* ignoring his request for information on the Vauxhall Zafira and piling in to give him a good kicking for not implementing old school Saudi law in his part of Surrey.
* most of whom haven't driven a Zafira and seem to think it went out of production ten years ago.
My missus is pretty much at the opposite end of the driving spectrum, the general aggression and ****ery on the roads has caused her to drive less and less in recent years, to the point where I think the's maybe driven once in the last six months...
She has always had a healthy respect for a cars potential to kill or injure, unfortunately that has now developed into an almost complete refusal to use one.
She's aware of the issue and has recently been talking about booking refresher lessons, to rebuild her confidence, and getting a second smaller car just for her to use, as she doen't like driving the big stupid family MPV we currently own (neither do I TBH). I'm not sure it's going to do the trick because it's as much an issue of the general environment she's got to drive in as her own cautious nature...
The thing is she's right, Cars bring out the worst in many people and powerful motors coupled with the wrong temperament are increasingly dangerous on the roads and it's not really being challenged, it's now the norm IMO/IME.
I don't want her to drive everywhere all the time, but by the same token I don't want to be driving her places when she could drive herself simply because she's been intimidated off the roads by dangerous drivers like the OP's missus.
So either look at how to adjust her attitude/behaviours, or get her off the road for everyone else's sake, if not your bank balance...
Can’t believe no one’s suggested this yet.....
What are you on about, AJW? Whether a car is 230 or 170bhp it still only needs 35bhp to do 70bhp and neither will anywhere near the red line. As for the fuel economy, it's small tubocharged engines with fairly low maximum outputs that get the best economy amongst ICE cars. I drive an EV so all that is irrelevant.
How does your wife drive with you in the car, OP? Madame's driving is smooth and reassuring so I generally fall asleep.
Get someone to hit her from behind and see how she likes it. You could even watch if you wanted to
*to maintain a constant 70mph on a flat road. Is sitting on a motorway with your car near the red line for hours on end good for a) the engine b) the fuel economy (and therefore environment)
Well if someone is worried about the environment they are hardly likley to be driving around in a car are they.....
TurnerGuy
The 16 seemed too divorced from the road and therefore not as easy to drive slow,
For the love of god, this is probably the stupidest thing I've read on here for a long time. Less right pedal, more middle pedal. Nothing to do with the size of your alloys.
I love the bollocks spouted on car threads on this forum.
ok, so let's draw a comparison to mtbs...
have you never heard someone saying how much faster they can ride on a 29er compared to a 26, how it flattens everything out?
Well that's what I was saying with the tyre size, the less rubber, the more you feel the road and the more feedback you get from it. So the more feel you get, the slower you are likely to drive.
And if you are looking for bollocks posts, just look back at your posting history...
You're on the wrong forum and on the wrong thread for your petrolhead nonsense, Turnerguy. Look at the post directly above your last one from dashed, it's not just me who finds your petrolhead contributions unhelpful.
Put your rally jacket on and find some pub at an X-pack meet with a load of Clarkson fans propping up the bar, you'll fit right in.
The OP's wife needs advice on driving safely and courteously rather than bla bla about alloy wheel sizes which frankly won't change how she drives. (this may not be entirely true, a lowered BMW "M" with stif Bilsteins on low profile run flat's might slow her down and keep her awake due to the shaking and banging - you see I can post bollocks but only for a laugh)
TurnerGuy earlier today, about to drive down to Lidl for some nice pastries
You’re on the wrong forum and on the wrong thread for your petrolhead nonsense, Turnerguy.
I was giving advice on what I find makes a car easier to drive at slower speeds, that addresses the subject matter of this post. What's your problem?
My ex had a bog standard clio - she used to drive round regularly approaching 40, whereas I'm driving around under 30 in towns without having to think about it, I can concentrate on looking out for hazards instead of having to concentrate on keeping my speed down.
Not sure what is petrolhead about that.
How about a Dacia Logan MCV? Nobody with a ounce of self respect would dare to go out and be seen in one of those. Thus she stops driving. Problem solved.
Turnerguy - that works for those of us that are concentrating on what the car is doing and are driving it hard for fun. A 2CV is fun at lower speeds than a porsche simply because the fun comes when you reach its limits. But a 2cv is less safe for the same road speed as the posrche because of its crap skinny tyres
It doesn't work for those who treat a car as a thing to take you places and do not concentrate
Nothing to do with the size of your alloys.
LOLZ.
It doesn’t work for those who treat a car as a thing to take you places and do not concentrate
yes it does, that's why I am saying it - the point is to not concentrate on what the car is doing as you don't need to, you can concentrate on other things.
I fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Key West, luckily managed to control the car and get it back up onto the road before spinning round multiple times in the central partition.
Since then I am keenly aware of keeping my concentration in the car - there's a can a Monster if I really need it and I am now on my 4th Alfa since then precisely because I want the car to be more involving to keep me attentive.
Had to by an older Giulietta to get a manual box as that increases the interaction with the car, and I wouldn't buy a diesel also because the interaction is less than with a petrol engine.
I can concentrate on looking out for hazards instead of having to concentrate on keeping my speed down.
I fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Key West, luckily managed to control the car and get it back up onto the road before spinning round multiple times in the central partition.
Since then I am keenly aware of keeping my concentration in the car – there’s a can a Monster if I really need it
difficult to tell if this is a piss take or not......
I am now on my 4th Alfa since then precisely because I want the car to be more involving to keep me attentive. Had to by an older Giulietta to get a manual box as that increases the interaction with the car
I think the OP troll is now being trolled by TG.
Please tell me you never venture north of Birmingham. I really don't want to drive or ride on any roads with you on them.
I wouldn’t buy a diesel also because the interaction is less than with a petrol engine
never mind...
The person that wrote that has obviously never driven a Landy or an old van. Lots of interaction on those diesels, mainly fixing them.
Has the op been run over on his drive by the wife?
Latest page is turning in to some classic stw, keep it going!
Oh and fwiw I'd rather walk than drive round in a car with 35 brake.
I fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Key West
16" wheels?
I am now on my 4th Alfa
Uh-oh. Don't tell me, tired and cavalier?
We just call them "killer wheels" around here
Has the op been run over on his drive by the wife?
Essentially this means we’re going to have to buy an old Vauxhall Zafira. Need the space and extra seats for when grandparents come to stay.
Can you sleep easily in a Zafira?!
I fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Key West16″ wheels?
A mitsubishi eclipe coupe I think - horrible wallowy suspension - tipped into a snaking motion real easily as I found out when the guy next to me wanted to come into my lane on the freeway.
It was late coming back and the radio wasn't working, ex was asleep in the back seat, and the road back from key west is sooo long and straight and boring - you are advised to put your headlights on even in daylight.
Luckily the side of the road had changed to a gravelly/rocky surface and that woke me up, and then the car started snaking badly and skidding as I had hit the brakes, but luckily I managed to keep it out of the trees and got it back on to road. I knew that I wasn't meant to die yet but had to stay around so I could come and spout sh1t on this forum and annoy you lot...
We had just done a corporate day out quad biking and drifting these dune-buggy things round a gravelly track, if I hadn't have done I wouldn't have been able to counter the skid as I am not a petrolhead 🙂
Did a skid pan course when I got back.
35bhp
Says the man with 148...
What are you on about, AJW? Whether a car is 230 or 170bhp it still only needs 35bhp to do 70bhp and neither will anywhere near the red line.
sorry, I misunderstood - I thought you were advocating buying a hugely under-powered car as anything above is not necessary for a motorway cruise.
As it seems Mrs OP is crashing through inattention rather than powersliding off a roundabout, I agree with you that the percentage of available power used to cruise on the motorway is irrelevant.
I fear that the OP and his wife are trapped in a ditch after another session of spirited driving
Impressive work, STW, keep it up.
Maybe OPs wife should get an MX5. They're cheap, they're refreshing (roof down) they're involving to drive and you'd feel vulnerable in it so you'd keep your eyes peeled
Can you sleep easily in a Zafira?!
Dunno, never spent enough time in one as a passenger. I did start to drop off in a long w/b Transit once, but that was after a very long day, and it scared me shitless!
As a passenger, I used to regularly drop off in the back of the team car, stretched across the two back seats of a 7-seat Kia, then its replacement, a Grand Picasso. Never could sat upright though. I can barely get into the two rearmost seats of a Zaffie, they’re basically for a couple of small kids.
Anyway, the issue appears to be less to do with the car’s performance, than it is the performance of the individual driving it.
As the OP needs a family car, a diesel Zaffie looks like the best, most cost-effective option, as there are loads about, and, in my opinion, having driven many hundreds of miles in loads of them, they’re really comfy.
Having got that out of the way, the most important issue needs to be addressed, and that’s the shonky driving of the individual who keeps trashing cars, and getting her put onto a driving refresher course would seem to be the best way to go about it - having a professional assess her driving, highlight her faults and flaws, and get them sorted out, for her safety, and that of other road users!
God knows I’m no ‘Driving God’™ © ®, I leave that to the Surfmatts of this world, but the nature of my work over the last three years has required me to be a safe and competent driver, I’m driving other people’s cars, often worth a lot of money, and need to behave accordingly, and in this case, it’s entirely down to the behaviour of the driver where the problem lies, nothing to do with whatever she’s driving, that’s very much a red herring.
As well as refresher lessons etc, next car she gets, fit a taxi type dashcam that records a front view and the inside of the car then you can review what happens in any accidents or near misses and what she's doing at the time - if she's doing stuff like messing around on a phone or drifting off due to tiredness you'll be able to see. If it is things like using a phone then hopefully the fact the cam will be recording her will put her off doing this, or any other distracting habits
I think she needs a Googlecar active 360' roof mounted camera so she can prove to the insurance co ( and husband/ all of STW ) that she is an actual car magnet and gets harpooned by random vehicles as she drives sedately down the road at below the speed limit.
OP,
Sorry, but she needs to get some driver training. Fark - had too many injuries caused by sh1t drivers.
I don't cycle on roads any more... after 30 years of road. MTB is far safer smashing down hills...
MG Midget? When it works she'll be pretty attentive with the weather coming in everywhere and that everything is within 2 inches and threatening.
Cheap, Safe and Electric.
yesss , Low emission EV . Zero car tax, No congestion charge , whats not to like?
Real bumpers that wont crack when ' touch parking' . No pesky A pillars to create blind spots .
Superb find.
This one has room in the back for the grandparents
PS OP - you are lucky..
My 'dodgy builder' neighbour (he's not a real qualified builder) has a wife that smashes up any car they have - usually Zaffiras... they look 'smashing' for a week, then are 'smashed'...
They have finally bought a Toyota Verso that works, and seams to 'magically' avoid obstacles at present..
His missus is a nightmare - drives the kids two roads down to drop them off... less than 1/4 mile...
@mikewsmith - those things are unsafe in the wrong hands. 2 tonnes of batteries and box section steel make them a very slow but robust battering ram
Guy I knew 'back in the day' was working as a Unigate milkman and got a bit overconfident driving the floats - managed to tip one over with a full load trying to drift it round a corner (no, me neither - I think it was icy). They gave him a three wheeler one as punishment as they were even slower and really horrible to drive.