Me in a Reasonably-Price car (Slow cars can be fun)
Discussion
I used my wife's Mk1 Fabia 1.2 12v HTP (yes, High Torque Performance!) earlier on a run that involved a few moorland roads with more than a few twisties.
The engine isn't great from a performance point of view (My wife prefers it to her old 1.2 Micra because it has more low rpm torque, but the Micra would pull quite well at high rpm). The Fabia has only 64bhp and the torque peaks at 3000rpm and drops off sharply, so there's little point in revving it out in 2nd & 3rd. Having said that, we are all blasé about engine power these days and it could still be pedalled along quite briskly (and even at illegal speeds if so inclined... ahem). Overtaking was possible and felt like an achievement.
The best bit is the noise from the 3 cylinders, especially when blipping on the down-shift
Handling isn't bad (far better than the appallingly blancmange-like K12 Micra she used to have) and it could be hustled around reasonably well, with a bit of understeer, but no worry about wheelspin. Once I got up to speed, I felt like Paddy Hopkirk trying to maintain momentum in a works Cooper on the 'Monte'. Cornering speed certainly isn't slow and the small size helps on the tight roads. All-in-all, good fun.
The vRS must be a laugh. Hmmm, I wonder if the suspension would bolt-on... Then again, the front end of the 1.2 is a lot lighter.
The engine isn't great from a performance point of view (My wife prefers it to her old 1.2 Micra because it has more low rpm torque, but the Micra would pull quite well at high rpm). The Fabia has only 64bhp and the torque peaks at 3000rpm and drops off sharply, so there's little point in revving it out in 2nd & 3rd. Having said that, we are all blasé about engine power these days and it could still be pedalled along quite briskly (and even at illegal speeds if so inclined... ahem). Overtaking was possible and felt like an achievement.
The best bit is the noise from the 3 cylinders, especially when blipping on the down-shift
Handling isn't bad (far better than the appallingly blancmange-like K12 Micra she used to have) and it could be hustled around reasonably well, with a bit of understeer, but no worry about wheelspin. Once I got up to speed, I felt like Paddy Hopkirk trying to maintain momentum in a works Cooper on the 'Monte'. Cornering speed certainly isn't slow and the small size helps on the tight roads. All-in-all, good fun.
The vRS must be a laugh. Hmmm, I wonder if the suspension would bolt-on... Then again, the front end of the 1.2 is a lot lighter.
Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 11th August 23:18
Well, it will apparently do about 100mph. How fast do you want to go?
'Briskly' is A-B on the roads in question. I'm not talking about doing 130 on a long straight.
Edit: Driving it was surprisingly fun and I speak as somebody who enjoys riding motorbikes enthusiastically.
It's not about the bike, or car in this case.
'Briskly' is A-B on the roads in question. I'm not talking about doing 130 on a long straight.
Edit: Driving it was surprisingly fun and I speak as somebody who enjoys riding motorbikes enthusiastically.
It's not about the bike, or car in this case.
Edited by MC Bodge on Wednesday 11th August 23:12
I see where you are coming from.
Sometimes it's nice to get behind the wheel of a lowish powered car,it's more of a challenge-every overtaking manouver must be timed to perfection and once you know your car and the roads you are driving on you can embarass someone in a quicker machine who doesn't know the route quite so well
Sometimes it's nice to get behind the wheel of a lowish powered car,it's more of a challenge-every overtaking manouver must be timed to perfection and once you know your car and the roads you are driving on you can embarass someone in a quicker machine who doesn't know the route quite so well
MC Bodge said:
zollburgers said:
I'm sure the bottom of the range Fabia will be immense.
Bottom of the Range? It's an Ambiente! It has a CD player, air con and everything.ps. When I got back my masculinity and heterosexuality were both still intact.
zollburgers said:
is a 1.2 Fabia really that good to drive?
I'm not comparing it directly with anything else, having not driven any other small cars recently. The steering isn't as sharp as -from memory- a (Mk4?) Fiesta, but it was certainly acceptable.It could be improved of course. Now, where are those spring compressors and that angle grinder? This could be the start of a new Project Sausage
Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 11th September 23:52
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