Who's gone from a fast car to something a bit slower?

[Pulse]

I've previously owned a Z4 Coupe, which I loved, but had to sell. I'm now thinking of getting something small with around 100bhp instead.

I'm curious if anyone has done this, and more importantly, if you've actually enjoyed it, and why?

Am I mad?

[Flanders.]

A chap on here went from a RS4 to a Corsa VXR and he seemed to really enjoy it.

[Lancs Jag Boy]

I went from a 400hp XJR to a 231hp 330d and then to a 520d at 167hp (i think this figure is correct, I have little interest in finding out, just in case there's more bad news).

It's not nice, not nice at all. The jump down from XJR to 330d was no problem and thankfully the car is still in the houshold (the wife), but taking up a 520d as a company car.....difficult.

[slipstream 1985]

mr2 turbo down to a xsara vts. but the difference was i could push the xsara much harder than i dared the mr2. i did miss the turbo whoosh and ptshhhhh's but gained the sleeper (ish) effect

[ShadownINja]

CLK 55 AMG (350bhp?, 0-60mph 5s?) to Golf 1.8 Cabrio (100bhp?, 0-60mph 16s?). I was bored of the Mercedes and the Golf was essentially a free car. I still enjoy driving and realised that I didn't need a fast or decent handling car to have fun. It's about getting the driving right what ever you're in. Summer's particularly enjoyable and can still have fun on a track etc. Just don't bother with VMax days.

[EDLT]

Flanders. said:

A chap on here went from a RS4 to a Corsa VXR and he seemed to really enjoy it.

His view may have been skewed by the fact that the Corsa managed to not break down for an entire week.

[Podie]

I went from a modified Chimaera 450 to a 2.5 V6 Mondeo several years back...

[Matt Harper]

At one point, I went from C5 Corvette to LWB Chevy Suburban - what I missed in performance was made-up for in utility and practicality. Sometimes, needs must.

[zhead]

I switched from a sports car to a comfortable wafter - in my mind, losing power but expecting the same enjoyment is almost impossible however, losing power but changing the experience (or type of enjoyment) can be ok.

Any reason for the change?

[sparkyb999]

In 2005, I went from a E46 M3 to a 2.0 Ford Mondeo.. was a little frustrating, but you soon get used to it.

I have just gone from a Golf R32 to a Land rover Freelander which is a bit shock to the system, and doing 60mph in my new tractor feels scarey!

[DuncanM]

I wonder if anyone can beat Cerbera to Cinq Sporting .

If you love driving you'll love driving anything (within reason!).

Duncan

[halo34]

Modified skyline to a golf gt tdi (110) ages ago - finding these days traffic means it makes near to no difference to my rate of progress now. Albeit I currently drive a fairly nippy diesel.

[AndyDRZ]

Depends on the traffic where you live but I found:

Fast car = frustrated all the time as too much traffic doing 40mph in a 60 zone and too much coming the other way to overtake.

Slow car = Having a laugh ragging it as fast as you can/happy saving money when you're stuck doing 40.

[Pulse]

zhead said:

I switched from a sports car to a comfortable wafter - in my mind, losing power but expecting the same enjoyment is almost impossible however, losing power but changing the experience (or type of enjoyment) can be ok.

Any reason for the change?

I'm thinking of keeping the costs down a bit. It doesn't save me much (around £1500 a year), but it would also be something a bit different. I hear Panda 100HPs being raved about, though I can't say I'm entirely convinced.

[grenpayne]

I went from an Evo 6 to a 10 year old 306 XSi

Whilst it was a comedown, it was driven by our need to free the cash up to move to a bigger house as we were starting a family. As previous posters have said it was actually a good experience as the 306 could be made to feel more on the edge at speeds far lower than the Evo ever would.

[Lakeland9]

Confession time

From Nissan GTR to

Insignia VXR

Still got 320 hp but a long way off 485 plus

Could be worse, I suppose although as the GTR has just gone I'm struggling.

[yoof full chav]

From a clio 172 weighing approx 1300kg with 172 at flywheel
to

A citroen c4 coupe 1.6 with 110bhp that weighs over 1700kg.

Quite a bit of difference, size wise the c4 is bigger and heavier, and has no get up and go as such, and isnt a great deal more econoimical. But safety wise, its light years ahead of the clio, and the main reason i changed was due to high mileage on the clio

[juansolo]

Went from an Impreza WRX to a MX5. Re-adjusting to the lack of thrust took a while, but when I did, I realised that the MX-5 was actually the more satisfying car to drive. You can have more fun, more of the time in the little Mazda without having to be doing license losing speeds to get your thrills.

[otolith]

AndyDRZ said:

Depends on the traffic where you live but I found:

Fast car = frustrated all the time as too much traffic doing 40mph in a 60 zone and too much coming the other way to overtake.

Slow car = Having a laugh ragging it as fast as you can/happy saving money when you're stuck doing 40.

Depends on the roads, I guess, but it's a very slow car these days that isn't easy to punt along at 60+

At least with something quicker you have a larger choice of overtakes - worst option would be something like a warm hatch diesel with enough mid- range to goad you into trying to go faster and not enough peak power to actually overtake.

[MartinQ]

I went from an Elise S1 to a BMW 318i.

Despite the 0-60 times of 5.7s and 9.0s the 50-70 feels faster (and probably is) in the BMW making it more useful for the motorway commute that I spend most of my driving time doing.

I've taken a small hit on the fuel consumption for something that is hopefully more reliable and less likely to be crashed into by white vans and petrol tankers (VOE).