"It's quite nippy"
Discussion
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Somewhatfoolish said:
Have you ever heard this phrase used an about a car that was, in fact, anything other than slow?
Yes, it's what one of my colleagues said when he showed up to work in a new Nissan GT-R when I asked him what it was like. 
Slowboathome said:
Small light cars feel nippy to me - ability to accelerate into a gap when joining a roundabout. Maybe it's just a subjective feeling.
Mrs Foolish has a 2010 Kia Picanto. I promise you - light and small as it is - it doesn't have the ability to accelerate, other than in a theoretical physics sense. I have had it up to 3 figures in very favourable conditions. Was noisy
SAS Tom said:
No, it’s usually someone who’s not got the sporty version of something but they try and convince you it’s as good.
Like a 1.0 fiesta instead of an ST.
lol, weirdly we have both…Like a 1.0 fiesta instead of an ST.
My 300 odd bhp highly modified ST, and the wife has her trusty 1.0 Ecoboost.
The ST is pretty rapid, as a Range Rover Sport (SVR) owner found out yesterday when he couldn't pull away.
But the Ecoboost still feels pretty “nippy”, it’s 140 bhp and weighs 1100 odd kilos so its power to weight is warm hatch. When you think back, most superminis were in the 50 to 80 bhp range.
But yes, “nippy”, usually means you haven’t driven anything faster.
Also, a lot of folk don’t “drive” a car, they aim it, can go fast in straight line, but have never leant on one in the corners, it’s amazing how capable modern cars are, a racing driver will likely lap quicker in an Aygo than the average punter in a performance car.
miniman said:
vaud said:
For me it would be a small car with a reasonable engine and a short gearbox. 205 Gti, AX Gti, etc for older cars, Suzuki Swift for newer.
Never going to challenge a sports car but fun to drive and decent acceleration and handling. Feels fast rather than being fast which is a whole combination of factors.
See also 106 Rallye. Never going to challenge a sports car but fun to drive and decent acceleration and handling. Feels fast rather than being fast which is a whole combination of factors.
vaud said:
Mr Tidy said:
The problem seems to be that it means different things to different people, so doesn't really mean anything!
Yeah but this is PH and we can spin out the discussion of a nebulous concept, while mentioning MX5s, for at least 12 pages.Even if they seem to be gutless little rot-boxes!
Somewhatfoolish said:
Mrs Foolish has a 2010 Kia Picanto. I promise you - light and small as it is - it doesn't have the ability to accelerate, other than in a theoretical physics sense.
I have had it up to 3 figures in very favourable conditions. Was noisy
I have had it up to 3 figures in very favourable conditions. Was noisy
But it does have the ability, to sound very nippy.
J4CKO said:
SAS Tom said:
No, it’s usually someone who’s not got the sporty version of something but they try and convince you it’s as good.
Like a 1.0 fiesta instead of an ST.
lol, weirdly we have both…Like a 1.0 fiesta instead of an ST.
My 300 odd bhp highly modified ST, and the wife has her trusty 1.0 Ecoboost.
The ST is pretty rapid, as a Range Rover Sport (SVR) owner found out yesterday when he couldn't pull away.
But the Ecoboost still feels pretty “nippy”, it’s 140 bhp and weighs 1100 odd kilos so its power to weight is warm hatch. When you think back, most superminis were in the 50 to 80 bhp range.
But yes, “nippy”, usually means you haven’t driven anything faster.
Also, a lot of folk don’t “drive” a car, they aim it, can go fast in straight line, but have never leant on one in the corners, it’s amazing how capable modern cars are, a racing driver will likely lap quicker in an Aygo than the average punter in a performance car.
As a side, I find ‘nippy’ more about handling, throttle response etc more than out right speed. Mrs Astra vxr was in for some work and she got a fiesta as a courtesy car, no idea what engine, it was slow, but that was ‘nippy’, eager to get going like it wanted to rev, quick steering, light, agile, handled well ‘up on its toes’, actually quite fun!
The performance spectrum regularly changes, and therefore so does my label of a particular car: there is now a gulf between the slowest and fastest cars.
Cars that I would have once described as fast are now downgraded in relative terms. For example, it would now be inaccurate to describe my 430 as fast when even at full throttle modern supercars would make it look like it was going backwards.
I'd think of the term nippy applying to warm hatches e.g. Swift, and fast for something like an M5, or a proper AMG (not 4 cyl).
Cars that I would have once described as fast are now downgraded in relative terms. For example, it would now be inaccurate to describe my 430 as fast when even at full throttle modern supercars would make it look like it was going backwards.
I'd think of the term nippy applying to warm hatches e.g. Swift, and fast for something like an M5, or a proper AMG (not 4 cyl).
My thoughts were that "nippy" is a term used by people mostly in their senior years. A late great uncle of mine had a succession of fairly invisible cars... Talbot Solara, a Montego then a Nissan Bluebird. Never was the phrase "Aye, it's quite nippy" used until he bought a 1.0 Toyota Yaris.
The thing used to struggle to maintain 60mph on a flight motorway incline therefore I came to the conclusion that nippy isn't related to speed... it's used to describe something small, nimble and therefore can get off the mark and be haphazardly piloted around a supermarket car park fairly effectively.
The thing used to struggle to maintain 60mph on a flight motorway incline therefore I came to the conclusion that nippy isn't related to speed... it's used to describe something small, nimble and therefore can get off the mark and be haphazardly piloted around a supermarket car park fairly effectively.
A friend recently bought a Kia Niro hybrid.
On the test drive, I encouraged him to put it into the legally misnamed Sport and floor it. Oh dear
Wow that's pretty pokey, sez he, the imminent owner of a 9 second 0-60 SUV thingy.
Mmmmmmm, sez me, the owner of a stage 1 Golf R
Still, he's happy
On the test drive, I encouraged him to put it into the legally misnamed Sport and floor it. Oh dear
Wow that's pretty pokey, sez he, the imminent owner of a 9 second 0-60 SUV thingy.
Mmmmmmm, sez me, the owner of a stage 1 Golf R
Still, he's happy
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