Re: PH Blog - Passat Power
Discussion
Just found out how wide of the mark I was, Holy f
k!
Nice wide track, short-ish looking wheelbase. Styling brutal, but Looks great - what is the handling like?
http://www.roadtrackrace.co.uk/rtr_atomic.html
The MEV Atomic has been designed with raw performance in mind. It is a single seater and has the engine placed at the side of the driver for perfect weight distribution. The donor vehicle is a Yamaha R1 motorbike (1998-2006) which gives the Atomic a power to weight ratio in the region of 400bhp/tonne. In May 2010 it passed it's IVA test which means that it can be driven on he road as well as on the track
k!Nice wide track, short-ish looking wheelbase. Styling brutal, but Looks great - what is the handling like?
http://www.roadtrackrace.co.uk/rtr_atomic.html
The MEV Atomic has been designed with raw performance in mind. It is a single seater and has the engine placed at the side of the driver for perfect weight distribution. The donor vehicle is a Yamaha R1 motorbike (1998-2006) which gives the Atomic a power to weight ratio in the region of 400bhp/tonne. In May 2010 it passed it's IVA test which means that it can be driven on he road as well as on the track
The part of the blog that struck a chord with me most? About having a "point" to every journey. So very true!
With any car I drive I feel like I need to revel in a part of it. If that part is economy, then so be it. If it's a fizzy little engine always destined for the red line, then great! What a shame, though, when a car has none of those things. No mantra that it likes to share, no soap box from which to exclaim at least something.
(Peugeot 307, I'm looking at you!)
With any car I drive I feel like I need to revel in a part of it. If that part is economy, then so be it. If it's a fizzy little engine always destined for the red line, then great! What a shame, though, when a car has none of those things. No mantra that it likes to share, no soap box from which to exclaim at least something.
(Peugeot 307, I'm looking at you!)
CHIEF said:
TangoGTR said:
The Passat shot is a Photoshop !!! I have the original shot
Sorry Chris, couldn't help myself
Hope PH Mods have a good sense of humour <gulp>
Chris Harris takes SOTW to an all time low!Sorry Chris, couldn't help myself
Hope PH Mods have a good sense of humour <gulp>Is Chris Harris even actually in the Deutschland Derv Hearse?
Actually I think I have my cake and am eating it too!
I have a pretty little silver S1 Elise that I've had since buying it new in 1998 .... for the weekend ... and a 2006 Golf GT TDI 170 DSG (GTD in recent terminology) for when I'm being sensible.
Trouble is ... the Golf is indecently quick (probably quicker than the Elise midrange!) and handles brilliantly ... so I have almost as much fun during the week ..... and return 40 mpg! Personally I think it's one of the car world's best kept secrets.
Who says you can't have it all.
I have a pretty little silver S1 Elise that I've had since buying it new in 1998 .... for the weekend ... and a 2006 Golf GT TDI 170 DSG (GTD in recent terminology) for when I'm being sensible.
Trouble is ... the Golf is indecently quick (probably quicker than the Elise midrange!) and handles brilliantly ... so I have almost as much fun during the week ..... and return 40 mpg! Personally I think it's one of the car world's best kept secrets.
Who says you can't have it all.
If I could get away with only one car I would have a Merc e63 estate - got a decent auto when you want to relax, room for the kids and their parafernalia plus serious go and amazing sound when you want fancy it. As we need 2 cars I've got a z4m coupe while family duties are taken care of by a 530d.
I've stuck to the 1 car mantra, simply as I enjoy all driving, be it a hoon over Staffordshire's B-Roads or my daily grind down to Dudley, I tend to enjoy it all, so I've just gone for 1 entertaining car that can do everything. It's getting a bit long in the tooth now (an E36 328i), but until I can think of anything to replace it with which is going to do as much yet be just as entertaining, the rusty rocket stays.
It's amazing the effect that the car you commute in can have on your attitude to work as well. I wake up every morning looking forward to firing that 6-Cylinder motor up and listening to it purr, snort and growl its way 40 miles down the M6 to Dudley. It means when I get in in the morning I'm still wearing an enormous grin from the drive down and am set up for the day. However if the 328i is in getting serviced and I have to do the same journey in the 320d the daily grind becomes just that....a grind.
Life is far too short to drive dull cars like a Passat. Yer a lang time deed, and no one in heaven is going to be massively impressed and how many MPGzzzzz you got...
It's amazing the effect that the car you commute in can have on your attitude to work as well. I wake up every morning looking forward to firing that 6-Cylinder motor up and listening to it purr, snort and growl its way 40 miles down the M6 to Dudley. It means when I get in in the morning I'm still wearing an enormous grin from the drive down and am set up for the day. However if the 328i is in getting serviced and I have to do the same journey in the 320d the daily grind becomes just that....a grind.
Life is far too short to drive dull cars like a Passat. Yer a lang time deed, and no one in heaven is going to be massively impressed and how many MPGzzzzz you got...
CDP said:
rs48635 said:
Anyone see Senna or Hamilton asking for the 4WD in wet GP?
I can't possibly imagine either of them turning it down if it were available; especially if the others had it. Any GP driver will want the best kit on the grid, nothing less.
XJ40 said:
CDP said:
rs48635 said:
Anyone see Senna or Hamilton asking for the 4WD in wet GP?
I can't possibly imagine either of them turning it down if it were available; especially if the others had it. Any GP driver will want the best kit on the grid, nothing less.
CDP said:
rs48635 said:
Anyone see Senna or Hamilton asking for the 4WD in wet GP?
I can't possibly imagine either of them turning it down if it were available; especially if the others had it. Any GP driver will want the best kit on the grid, nothing less.
Not the point anyway - wet weather demands more care - not just more technology to do the work for you. On a road car at least, nobody is setting any records or being timed.
Does more safety kit / technology make roads safer? are people taking more risks because of ABS, airbags, 4wd etc.
OK, for those of you who have the 1 car fits all mantra, do you not spend a fortune on the upkeep?
Bigger all rounder car, used daily and then used for hoonage/on track. Does the cost of tyres/brakes/servicing and repairs mount up quite considerably?
Reason i ask is it may be cheaper to have a lightweight fun car, even a classic, that cost next to nothing to run, is easy on consumables etc.
And then we're back to the less fun daily making your weekend/special time car feel even better.
Or is i a case of if you only have one car that does it all, you spend very little time hooning?
Would you sacrifice comfort/class/speed during the week to run a lesser car if it mean you could have a much more fun weekend car?
Bigger all rounder car, used daily and then used for hoonage/on track. Does the cost of tyres/brakes/servicing and repairs mount up quite considerably?
Reason i ask is it may be cheaper to have a lightweight fun car, even a classic, that cost next to nothing to run, is easy on consumables etc.
And then we're back to the less fun daily making your weekend/special time car feel even better.
Or is i a case of if you only have one car that does it all, you spend very little time hooning?
Would you sacrifice comfort/class/speed during the week to run a lesser car if it mean you could have a much more fun weekend car?
OlberJ said:
OK, for those of you who have the 1 car fits all mantra, do you not spend a fortune on the upkeep?
Bigger all rounder car, used daily and then used for hoonage/on track. Does the cost of tyres/brakes/servicing and repairs mount up quite considerably?
Reason i ask is it may be cheaper to have a lightweight fun car, even a classic, that cost next to nothing to run, is easy on consumables etc.
And then we're back to the less fun daily making your weekend/special time car feel even better.
Or is i a case of if you only have one car that does it all, you spend very little time hooning?
Would you sacrifice comfort/class/speed during the week to run a lesser car if it mean you could have a much more fun weekend car?
I hear you, but life is what you make it. My 123d se is just going back to the leasing company at 150k and has been great fun during the week. Not as much fun as the M3 or Westy, but as much fun as i could make it. The new everyday car is a 118d se coupe, chosen in part to your point about choosing less for more fun, as it will be far more tax efficient and economical yet will be as much fun as i can get from it.Bigger all rounder car, used daily and then used for hoonage/on track. Does the cost of tyres/brakes/servicing and repairs mount up quite considerably?
Reason i ask is it may be cheaper to have a lightweight fun car, even a classic, that cost next to nothing to run, is easy on consumables etc.
And then we're back to the less fun daily making your weekend/special time car feel even better.
Or is i a case of if you only have one car that does it all, you spend very little time hooning?
Would you sacrifice comfort/class/speed during the week to run a lesser car if it mean you could have a much more fun weekend car?
rs48635 said:
CDP said:
rs48635 said:
Anyone see Senna or Hamilton asking for the 4WD in wet GP?
I can't possibly imagine either of them turning it down if it were available; especially if the others had it. Any GP driver will want the best kit on the grid, nothing less.
Not the point anyway - wet weather demands more care - not just more technology to do the work for you. On a road car at least, nobody is setting any records or being timed.
Does more safety kit / technology make roads safer? are people taking more risks because of ABS, airbags, 4wd etc.
In an interview with Sir Frank Williams they were discussing aerodynamic verses mechanically derived grip and they asked him which sort of grip he preferred: his answer was "precious little".
thiscocks said:
My boss has a manual one of these which I drove the other day.
Nice interior and thought the ride was good (didnt find it too hard- although my car is a 106 rallye) but other than that I found it pretty tedious. The things that annoyed me most are that to start it you have to piss about with pushing the fob into the dash while pressing the clutch (it took me about 10mins to figure that out!) and to turn off the electric hand brake (which I think are bloody horrible things) you have to have your foot on the brake, for what reason I do not know. I can imagine hill starts are a right pain.
The 6 speed ratios are nice although 2nd I found pretty long for trundling about in. Didnt need to go beyond 4th for the whole journey which was mainly fairly twisty roads. Would probably be a better all-round drive with the DSG box Harris drove.
Foot on the brake is a safety feature to stop (for example) a toddler disengaging the hand brake.Nice interior and thought the ride was good (didnt find it too hard- although my car is a 106 rallye) but other than that I found it pretty tedious. The things that annoyed me most are that to start it you have to piss about with pushing the fob into the dash while pressing the clutch (it took me about 10mins to figure that out!) and to turn off the electric hand brake (which I think are bloody horrible things) you have to have your foot on the brake, for what reason I do not know. I can imagine hill starts are a right pain.
The 6 speed ratios are nice although 2nd I found pretty long for trundling about in. Didnt need to go beyond 4th for the whole journey which was mainly fairly twisty roads. Would probably be a better all-round drive with the DSG box Harris drove.
I agree with Harris, and subscribe almost exactly to what he is suggesting. I have a very boring, but rounded 140BHP diesel Passat, that I bought for £10k 3 yrs old with 15k miles on clock. I have then spent the last few years slowly killing it at 40k miles per annum on the yawn inducing blocked up motorways of the land. It never misses a beat, it gets me where I am going without even thinking about the art of driving. I stare at it regularly and have immense admiration for this boring as hell machine, yet will never love it.
I get back home and open the garage door with a tingle of excitement (or fear if raining!). I am also the proud owner of a K Series 160 (ish) BHP fettled Caterham 7 RoadSport. And the joy for driving floods back into my veins....
Although I have tried every iteration of car type for daily use over the years, 20 years of driving wisdom (and spending stupidity / massive mileage depreciation) has eventually got me to the "cheapo diesel hack + wild sports car" combination. The car in the garage that does 2500 miles or less per year cost about twice as much as the 40000 mile Passat.
Marcus
I get back home and open the garage door with a tingle of excitement (or fear if raining!). I am also the proud owner of a K Series 160 (ish) BHP fettled Caterham 7 RoadSport. And the joy for driving floods back into my veins....
Although I have tried every iteration of car type for daily use over the years, 20 years of driving wisdom (and spending stupidity / massive mileage depreciation) has eventually got me to the "cheapo diesel hack + wild sports car" combination. The car in the garage that does 2500 miles or less per year cost about twice as much as the 40000 mile Passat.
Marcus
astrsxi77 said:
Summer 911? Winter you walk on the pavement? 
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff