Discussion
What cars have a reputation as being a bit tricky, even dangerous and do they live up to their reputation ?
Pug 205 GTI with its lift oversteer.
MR2 Turbo with its spinning top reputation
Any TVR will alledgedly try to kill you, just by walking past too close.
Spitfire, the wheel tucking under during hard cornering.
Early 911's, especially the first turbo.
So do these cars deserve their reputation or are they actually pretty benign really if you are aware of the drive layout or trait ?
Are there other cars with no such reputation that are actually a bit unpredictable, I got caught out driving my brother in laws old LWB Maverick 4wd heap, crap tyres and a wet roundabout and not realising its not 4wd all the time, lurching, slithering, bouncy POS !
Toyota Lite Ace van, pretty twitchy.
I think Budget tyres are a lot of the problem with some cars.
Pug 205 GTI with its lift oversteer.
MR2 Turbo with its spinning top reputation
Any TVR will alledgedly try to kill you, just by walking past too close.
Spitfire, the wheel tucking under during hard cornering.
Early 911's, especially the first turbo.
So do these cars deserve their reputation or are they actually pretty benign really if you are aware of the drive layout or trait ?
Are there other cars with no such reputation that are actually a bit unpredictable, I got caught out driving my brother in laws old LWB Maverick 4wd heap, crap tyres and a wet roundabout and not realising its not 4wd all the time, lurching, slithering, bouncy POS !
Toyota Lite Ace van, pretty twitchy.
I think Budget tyres are a lot of the problem with some cars.
Classic Grad 98 said:
How long until someone comes along saying
"No car is a widowmaker you just have to drive it perfectly like me, I can drive any car to it's limit and anyone that can't shouldn't be driving"
...or simular?
Aah! there it is! "No car is a widowmaker you just have to drive it perfectly like me, I can drive any car to it's limit and anyone that can't shouldn't be driving"
...or simular?
willfinch36 said:
All down to the driver IMO.
I had a 309 GTi many moons ago and whilst it was brilliant, it also had a knackered baffle inside the tank and so if it had less than say 1/4 of a tank and you threw it round a right hander, the fuel would surge to the left, the pump would run dry and it's stutter... which would then induce much lift off oversteer. I had it mastered on damp roundabouts but less so on the back road to Lanark when it went sideways, my talent ran out, I screamed like a girl then melted the bank at the side of the road.
The bit about the tank/fuel was told to me by a Peugeot owning mate... it could be b
ks. Maybe I was just a pish driver!
The bit about the tank/fuel was told to me by a Peugeot owning mate... it could be b
ks. Maybe I was just a pish driver! willfinch36 said:
Driven my 97 MR2 Turbo since I was 19.... Now 22, its running not short of 300bhp, never really had a st my pants moment.... and I hardly drive it, how shall I put it, with fuel economy in mind?!
All down to the driver IMO.
I think the only reason MR2 gets flack for its handling is that it was the biggest selling mid-engined car of modern times. There's a generation of drivers brought up on FWD car with dogged plough-on understeer engineered into the chassis. Many of them seem to get in a tangle with RWD, let alone a mid-engined car with low moment of inertia. (In other words with the weight at its centre a body can turn much more easily. Hence the almost universal use of mid-engine in racing cars.)t my pants moment.... and I hardly drive it, how shall I put it, with fuel economy in mind?!All down to the driver IMO.
Just about anything with swing arms or semi-trailing arms. Massive camber changes during cornering which can cause sudden upredictable oversteer
The most famous proponent of swing arms was the original Beetle. IIRC the Corvair had them too. And rear-engined Skodas?
Semi-trailing were very popular in Germany for a long time - the first two gens of 3 series had them IIRC. Think the Spitfire and GT6 did so too.
Or short wheel base mid-engines machines such as the Stratos
Or mid engined cars with high COG such as Fezza 512BB.
The most famous proponent of swing arms was the original Beetle. IIRC the Corvair had them too. And rear-engined Skodas?
Semi-trailing were very popular in Germany for a long time - the first two gens of 3 series had them IIRC. Think the Spitfire and GT6 did so too.
Or short wheel base mid-engines machines such as the Stratos
Or mid engined cars with high COG such as Fezza 512BB.
LuS1fer said:
Early BMW 3 series would snap into lift-off oversteer prior to their Z axle.
Classic Minis have a habit of spinning when the brakes prove inadequate and you're trying everything to stop.
yes, I did that in a Mini, the brake circuits not acting equally on either side, hard braking, then spin, no harm done apart from my pants.Classic Minis have a habit of spinning when the brakes prove inadequate and you're trying everything to stop.
I think the big thing with the 205 GTI was un-matched tyres. When I first got mine, I remember experiencing very unpredictable lift-off oversteer at really quite lowly speeds. Once I'd got matched tyres all round, it would still LO oversteer, but was *much* more controllable.
My vote would be for the last gen Vauxhall Cavalier. Remember spinning one on a wet roundabout and had absolutely no idea it was spinning until I started un-winding lock to realise it was still rotating. Poop-in-pants time!
My vote would be for the last gen Vauxhall Cavalier. Remember spinning one on a wet roundabout and had absolutely no idea it was spinning until I started un-winding lock to realise it was still rotating. Poop-in-pants time!
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