Cars which aren't as bad as they're made out to be...

[TameRacingDriver]

Just wondering what cars are out there that always seem to get overlooked or written off as rubbish despite the fact they aren't really all that bad.

For example, I've always wondered if the MGF / TF deserved its bad press?

Also, on PH I'd probably get told to wash my mouth out, but was the Vectra (early shape) as bad as they were made out to be, because I actually quite like the look of them, the SRIs and GSIs anyway. What about the Calibra?

I've noticed there doesn't seem to be much love for the VXR brand either, most people either go for STs, CTRs or the MPS.

On that note, a lot of people think Micras (K11) are rubbish but I had a couple and they were surprisingly fun to drive little things with a 1.3 under the bonnet.

I also thought the original 1.2 16v Punto Sporting was an utter riot to drive, yet everyone went for Saxos instead.

[TameRacingDriver]

essexplumber said:

Peugeot 207 GTi, had mine for two years with no major faults.

Decent economy and performance, best seats in any car I have been in, loads of kit.

The looks are an aquired taste but all in all a very good car. Still want a BMW 330i Touring though.

Quite a good shout I reckon, I had heard that the chassis was much better than the 206 and with a remap it would be plenty pokey I should think. I had one trying to keep up when I had my MR2 Turbo and he seemed to be having no difficulty keeping up.

[TameRacingDriver]

martin84 said:

In terms of sheer value its hard to do better. If i was to pick a car to drive from one side of America to the other in then the 300C would probably be up there.

Well all I can say is I hope its better than the Dodge Charger I had when I was there as that was rubbish. Not even very comfortable TBH.

[TameRacingDriver]

Dalto123 said:

I drive a K11 Micra and to an extent I agree. I drive a 998cc car and its a perky little car, but you really have to give it the beans, but when you time a gearchange right and get the right amount of throttle it can go. I do a lot of motorway miles and it can keep up quite well and do outside lane speeds very well.

That said acceleration is slow. Having 54bhp is annoying if you need to quickly accelerate because it wont. The brakes also arent great imo, especially in damp conditions, if you do an emergency stop or harsh braking you musst change down becuase they lock up easily.

The suspension is basic and very wobbly, this is a car designed for the city not for the motorway as a result its designed to be soft, wobbly and comfortable. And this is a personal thing I find the seats really, really uncomfortable and barely manage more than an hour and a half behind the wheel.

I actually had both, the 1.3 SR / 1.4 Sport were actually a much better drive than the 1.0 litre models, as they actually were pretty perky and had much more grip and less bodyroll... brakes were still terrible though.

[TameRacingDriver]

kedaha said:

MG ZS/ZT. Got pretty poor press, MGR imploded, and everyone suddenly thought they were the most unreliable cars in the world.

Had two ZT's now(red diesel, and a chromactive facelift petrol) and gotten so many compliments on both.

I dont ever recall reading a bad thing about those, other than from the badge snobs?

[TameRacingDriver]

Hammer67 said:

This GTi was the 2nd last registered in the UK and was Mrs H67s wheels twice. Bought it at 18 months old with 17K on the clock and ran it without any issues whatsoever for 5 years to 60K. Fancied something newer and px`d it but always regretted it. 2 years later it came back into work as a px ~ Mrs had it back in a heartbeat and had another 2 years out of it to about 80K miles. Only ever needed servicing and tyres, returned 35mpg and once did 4 laps of the ring on a family holiday to a German Centre Parcs.
A car that impressed and surprised anyone who ever travelled in it. Pity Nissan don`t build stuff like this anymore.

So true... 90s Nissans are so underrated.... as I said, I had 2 K11 Micras which proved indestructible despite being thrashed from cold most days and never ever went wrong... and now as a stop gap I've got a P11 Primera GT which has 145,000 miles on the clock and gives that same extremely durable impression, as well as the fact it drives better than most would ever expect, it is a really fun and capable car to hustle around and as you say has impressed everyone who has been in it so far, nobody more than me TBH. I had a Clio 182 years ago and it didn't drive as well as the GT and fell apart with next to no miles on it, but of course, nobody would believe you if you told them....

Another mate had an Almera GTI with uprated cams etc and it was a quick and capable car, and totally reliable with those mods. Ugly, but otherwise very good cars that I'm sure wouldn't disgrace itself against the GTI-6s of this world.

[TameRacingDriver]

pthelazyjourno said:

the seats are the best I've sat in (out of hundreds of cars)

Dunno if the the S1 135 model is different to the others but the one I went in, I found the seats horrendously uncomfortably, I've sat on more comfortable park benches.