Worst car I have ever driven....

[coppice]

I certainly haven't - and I'm no driving superstar . Overtaking is primarily about timing , anticipation and judgement.. Huge bhp can flatter you into believing you have all three but low bhp (or more accurately. low bhp/tonne) makes you realise just how much you haven't.

I learned to drive in cars with , typically, 60bhp/tonne and have driven daily drivers with as little as 30bhp , and as much as 400bhp +/tonne - overtaking is the same skill in all.

[skyrover]

I think it's fair to say there are plenty of cars on British roads which would be safer for Joe average if they had more power.

[Camelot1971]

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive. Foot flat to the floor everywhere. There were some hills in Bath I avoided as it was risky as to whether it would make it up to the top!

[longblackcoat]

Chevrolet Orlando - the 2.0 petrol had the almost unique distinction of having an engine which drank like a thirsty docker and vibrated like a road drill but failed to produce anything other than the most glacial "acceleration." It also had the worst blind spots I've ever encountered - the A pillars blocked out a massive amount - and it was hugely unrelaibale. Cheap to buy, admittedly, but expensive to own and miserably st to drive, it's comfortably the crappiest car I've ever had the misfortune to encounter. And bear in mind I've also had a Fiat Regata, an Allegro and several Montegos, so I know a crap car when I see one.

[RobM77]

I've driven a lot of dogs - three spring to mind immediately: an intergalactic mileage Mondeo, a nackered old Datsun Cherry that blew fuses every 30 minutes; and a 106 covered in dents with totally screwed geo. Unlike many here, slow doesn't bother me; I've driven plenty of classics with sub 40mph top speeds and don't have an issue with slow at all. The worst though for me was a brand new Peugeot 407 - the worst DBW throttle lag I've ever known, ridiculously jumpy brakes, awful damping, and zero feel of anything. Considering how competent the 406 was, it was quite a shock. Second worst is probably the 208, which is rather depressing for Peugeot, especially given how great to drive their cars in the 80s and 90s were.

[languagetimothy]

I don't know about the worst car, fortunately, but over the last few months I've been in portugal a several times and the hire cars I've had were all ok and it's been a bit of a relevation as they were all only a few months old

Seat Ibiza. Only thing I didn't like was it probably had a low spec engine, 75hp so lacked a bit on the motorways don't thing it was a Tsi engine. Could throw it around a bit in the twists. An FR version I'd like.

New shape Nissan micra Plenty of get up and go, not too bad to look at. Sat nav was a bit iffy tho (told me to turn off way past a junction).

Renault captur. Went ok, comfortable but not my sort of thing

Ford Focus dci. That was a lot of fun

My daily in the U.K. Is a 2011 Polo Tsi which is fun though a bit soft but it's currently in the garage (cam chain) and I have a new polo as a courtesy car, only 65hp but the difference in feel and quietness (as they all are) to my daily is huge. This new one is a great town car, so smooth and quiet, anyway, hardly in depth reviews but useful to me as I'm thinking of getting a new eurobox later in the year and at least I've had a few long term test drives.
At the moment I'm thinking Ibiza with at leat 95 or 115hp, or equivalent Polo.

[cerb4.5lee]

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

[RobM77]

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

Interesting. I've driven several of these and thought they were all nice to drive. A low kerb weight meant decent handling, and the controls were all nicely balanced and weighted. No complaints at all. I even took one around a track once at a sprint.

[Sa Calobra]

Balls people need more power.

I happily drove an Aygo from Manchester to Germany.

A scary car is one with overdampened suspension and oack of steering feel.

The OP mentioned the MKI A class interior. It was very well made.

The latest A class is a reverse tardis.

[V8RX7]

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

I took a mint 1.0 Micra (the bubble shaped one) in PX, having been shocked how well a 1.2 Clio drove I went up the road and thought, as I listened to the revs slowly climb, any second now this will come onto cam and be great fun

It never did - slow and dull.

[cerb4.5lee]

RobM77 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

Interesting. I've driven several of these and thought they were all nice to drive. A low kerb weight meant decent handling, and the controls were all nicely balanced and weighted. No complaints at all. I even took one around a track once at a sprint.

The car was almost brand new too, I got it while my Nissan 200sx was in for some work. I ended up just parking the crappy thing on my drive, and I jumped in my ratty 1994 Mondeo 1.8LX instead(my shed daily at the time).

The Mondeo was only a £500 car but it felt a world apart from that Micra, and I questioned why anyone would pay so much money for the Micra(a new one anyway)...they were getting robbed in my eyes!!

[DeltaTango]

RobM77 said:

Interesting. I've driven several of these and thought they were all nice to drive. A low kerb weight meant decent handling, and the controls were all nicely balanced and weighted. No complaints at all. I even took one around a track once at a sprint.

They generally are (provided they're in vaguely decent working order), but the 1.0 3 speed auto is a special case. Had one as a hire car in Cyprus 10+ years ago. The hotel had a very steep uphill drive to get out onto the road. I remember my parents heading out, then coming to find me by the pool 15mins later saying they couldn't get out the car park. I took the reigns, backed it up the edge of the car park, took the 90 degree left onto the hill as fast as I dared and just managed to dribble it up onto the main road. Hilariously poor drive train. Still enjoyed driving it.

[Camelot1971]

RobM77 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

Interesting. I've driven several of these and thought they were all nice to drive. A low kerb weight meant decent handling, and the controls were all nicely balanced and weighted. No complaints at all. I even took one around a track once at a sprint.

The K10 didn't even have power steering, so was "interesting" around town, even with skinny tyres.

[cerb4.5lee]

V8RX7 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

I took a mint 1.0 Micra (the bubble shaped one) in PX, having been shocked how well a 1.2 Clio drove I went up the road and thought, as I listened to the revs slowly climb, any second now this will come onto cam and be great fun

It never did - slow and dull.

I was expecting it to be slow in fairness(I didn't hold that against it). It was just how poor it was overall to drive and how terrible it felt to use. I found it hard to understand why I used to see so many of them on the roads at the time.

I guess that it is the perfect car if you don't enjoy or aren't interested in driving though.

[coppice]

Very popular car in Autograss , and obviously indestructible .

[TwistingMyMelon]

zarjaz1991 said:

Those claiming cars are 'dangerously slow'...they're not. Your driving skills are 'dangerously lacking'.

You should be able to get into any car, no matter how different from your own, and adapt your driving style to suit. Many in this thread clearly can't do that. Worrying.

I've driven all manner of awful pool and hire cars, and not a single one of them was 'dangerous'.

Indeed makes me laugh when people say "dangerously slow" I mean how do you think laden up HGVS cope, they often use the same junctions with less speed and 5 x length!

[V8RX7]

cerb4.5lee said:

I was expecting it to be slow in fairness(I didn't hold that against it). It was just how poor it was overall to drive and how terrible it felt to use. I found it hard to understand why I used to see so many of them on the roads at the time.

I guess that it is the perfect car if you don't enjoy or aren't interested in driving though.

It's a relative term, I was comparing it to a 1.2 Clio or an old Metro - both of which were characterful and relatively fun to drive.

The old Micras were famed for reliability - possibly because they were so dull so no one drove them "enthusiastically"

[RobM77]

Camelot1971 said:

RobM77 said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Camelot1971 said:

My mum had a K10 Micra 1.0 3 speed auto once. Immaculate condition but what a dog to drive.

I had a K11 Micra as a loan car once and it was absolutely hateful to drive...easily the worst car I've ever driven(and my first car was a 1982 Skoda!). I didn't have any qualms with the performance(it was terrible but I expected that), but I was shocked at how poor it was to drive.

Interesting. I've driven several of these and thought they were all nice to drive. A low kerb weight meant decent handling, and the controls were all nicely balanced and weighted. No complaints at all. I even took one around a track once at a sprint.

The K10 didn't even have power steering, so was "interesting" around town, even with skinny tyres.

Hmm.. I drove one without power steering and it was fine; just like all the other non-PAS cars I've driven.

What's interesting about these threads is how they allow us to see what we all love and hate about cars. It's all very subtle and tricky to judge when we're discussing something like an M3 or an Elise, but if we go to 'best' and 'worst' I find it far clearer and more revealing.

[zarjaz1991]

bad company said:

There’s always a ‘finger wagging’ on driving threads and here it is.

You’re obviously a far superior driver than the rest of us normal mortals.

Seriously have you never felt vulnerable in an underpowered car incapable of a safe overtake?

No. Because I always adapt my driving to the vehicle I'm in.
If I know it's low powered I will change the way I think about a potential overtake (and many other manoeuvres) to take account of the vehicle I'm driving.

This isn't 'finger wagging', it's common sense, and it scares me that so many people appear not do this, judging by this thread.

What seems to be happening is, people are suggesting they approach an overtake the same way, regardless of vehicle, and then end up in a mess because the car isn't quick enough. That's the fault of the driver, not the car.

Sorry if it's unpalatable and all that.

[RobM77]

zarjaz1991 said:

bad company said:

There’s always a ‘finger wagging’ on driving threads and here it is.

You’re obviously a far superior driver than the rest of us normal mortals.

Seriously have you never felt vulnerable in an underpowered car incapable of a safe overtake?

No. Because I always adapt my driving to the vehicle I'm in.
If I know it's low powered I will change the way I think about a potential overtake (and many other manoeuvres) to take account of the vehicle I'm driving.

This isn't 'finger wagging', it's common sense, and it scares me that so many people appear not do this, judging by this thread.

What seems to be happening is, people are suggesting they approach an overtake the same way, regardless of vehicle, and then end up in a mess because the car isn't quick enough. That's the fault of the driver, not the car.

Sorry if it's unpalatable and all that.

I tow a fair bit, at which point I have 2800kg and 160bhp, and no, I never feel vulnerable due to lack of power. I've also driven a few classic cars with sub 40mph top speeds and again, no, I've not felt vulnerable.