The worst car you've ever driven...
Discussion
One of those new Fiat Tipo things.
Had one for the weekend. Dire. So slow, it was dangerous. It revved and revved, but just didn't go anywhere. No torque. Second gear was so short (trying to mask the lack of power, I guess...), it was useless.
Even the media system (no infotainment in this thing) was awful - the bluetooth only connected for calls - not for media!!!!
And, to cap it all, after doing almost 900 miles in the thing, I concluded that the seats make your bum hurt...
Also - it is as ugly as sin. I stared at it for quite a long while wondering how the Italians - of all people - could produce such a soulless, designed-by-committee generic lump of so-called car.
Had one for the weekend. Dire. So slow, it was dangerous. It revved and revved, but just didn't go anywhere. No torque. Second gear was so short (trying to mask the lack of power, I guess...), it was useless.
Even the media system (no infotainment in this thing) was awful - the bluetooth only connected for calls - not for media!!!!
And, to cap it all, after doing almost 900 miles in the thing, I concluded that the seats make your bum hurt...
Also - it is as ugly as sin. I stared at it for quite a long while wondering how the Italians - of all people - could produce such a soulless, designed-by-committee generic lump of so-called car.
dro
said:
said: Most the motors mentioned here would be sublime in comparison the worst thing I ever drove, my old neighbour asked me if I would take his FSO Polonez to the scrapyard many years ago, now that was just beyond awful, the biggest bag of ste ever, truly nasty.
I remember going to the motor show back in 1980 something. Sat in an FSO Polonez (FSO had their own stand!). When I slid the heater control from left to right, it stuck proud of the lip on the ashtray, so would open the ashtray every time it was slid across. Some people call it character!te ever, truly nasty.Probably not the worst car I've ever driven, but the worst car this year...
I recently had the pleasure of a Peugeot 2008 diesel active as a courtesy car. And to sum up my thoughts in one word - "squishy"
The seats were too soft and were not supportive, it rolled too much round corners, neither the gearbox nor the steering felt tight. It had no personality at all and I suppose that its only redeeming factor is that it's a reasonably spacious car with a small footprint.
I recently had the pleasure of a Peugeot 2008 diesel active as a courtesy car. And to sum up my thoughts in one word - "squishy"
The seats were too soft and were not supportive, it rolled too much round corners, neither the gearbox nor the steering felt tight. It had no personality at all and I suppose that its only redeeming factor is that it's a reasonably spacious car with a small footprint.
Worst car is purely subjective, and will differ depending on what you've driven, what you're used to and what you so desire from the car. I had a peugeot 309 and was by far the best car ever. It just hummed and skipped along. No gizmo's, you could feel the road through the steering wheel and pedals and was nice and comfy. Likewise, the 306 D Turbo and my current 206 HDi top notch. They deliver everything I expect, and more. The 525 SE touring I had, whilst a vastly "superior" car, just didn't have the fun factor, nor deliver more than I ever asked or expected.
During my pizza delivery years I had the misfortune to drive some atrocious cars, the stand out all time dreadful was the Vauxhall Corsa 1 litre. Pedals too small for my feet, gutless, soulless and dreadful around town. The engine growled like a hippo with indigestion, and had zero 'refinement'. Y'know the feeling you get from an engine, even small ones can be smooth, gentle, responsive. The vauxhall felt like it was full of sand and gravel.
Cars I've owned, well the rover metro 1.1C was the worst. Handled ok but for its size and class, drank like a fish, rusted like sin and spent hundreds on it. In the end, the crunch point was the rust. The fuel tank had started to rust, till a small hole appeared and cried petrol. I threw a lit cigarette at it in the end. Didn't even burn properly. Wretched contraption.
As for courtesy cars, top of the list was some god awful Panda. All I remember was some weird semi auto gearbox. Clunky, jerky, under powered POS.
During my pizza delivery years I had the misfortune to drive some atrocious cars, the stand out all time dreadful was the Vauxhall Corsa 1 litre. Pedals too small for my feet, gutless, soulless and dreadful around town. The engine growled like a hippo with indigestion, and had zero 'refinement'. Y'know the feeling you get from an engine, even small ones can be smooth, gentle, responsive. The vauxhall felt like it was full of sand and gravel.
Cars I've owned, well the rover metro 1.1C was the worst. Handled ok but for its size and class, drank like a fish, rusted like sin and spent hundreds on it. In the end, the crunch point was the rust. The fuel tank had started to rust, till a small hole appeared and cried petrol. I threw a lit cigarette at it in the end. Didn't even burn properly. Wretched contraption.
As for courtesy cars, top of the list was some god awful Panda. All I remember was some weird semi auto gearbox. Clunky, jerky, under powered POS.
Brinyan said:
dro said:
said: Most the motors mentioned here would be sublime in comparison the worst thing I ever drove, my old neighbour asked me if I would take his FSO Polonez to the scrapyard many years ago, now that was just beyond awful, the biggest bag of ste ever, truly nasty.
I remember going to the motor show back in 1980 something. Sat in an FSO Polonez (FSO had their own stand!). When I slid the heater control from left to right, it stuck proud of the lip on the ashtray, so would open the ashtray every time it was slid across. Some people call it character!te ever, truly nasty.
No denying it, they were genuinely, absolutely, bloody awful things.
There seem to be a lot of Vauxhalls in this thread. I'm not really sure what happened there. In the 80s and early 90s, rust aside being an issue with most cars of the time, the Vauxhall products (Nova/Astra/Cavalier) were generally seen as more desirable than the equivalent Ford (Fiesta/Escort/Sierra) or Austin Rover (Metro/Maestro/Montego). Certainly I think that the engines were superior. I had an Astra F and it wasn't amazing but certainly nicer than an equivalently-aged mk5 Escort. Prior to the mk1 Focus, the Astra G was also pretty decent and although not very exciting looking in my opinion one of the best drives in its class. Certainly better than the mk6 Escort and in retrospect, i would have had one over my mk4 Golf too. Ford managed to reinvent itself though and it seems that Vauxhall have been playing catch-up ever since. When people are berating the Astra, are they talking about the previous one or the current one (K?). I heard that the Astra K was supposed to be pretty good? Personally though, there was a time (maybe 15+ years ago) when a Vauxhall would probably have been on my shortlist but now they're just as irrelevant to me as SEATs.
Tough one.
The most recent in my memory was the Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible, it handled like a boat, didn't stop despite large Brembo brakes and even though it had a 6.2 V8... was slower than a Mk6 Golf GTi.
Interior was solid plastic, had a large screen with no sat nav, drank fuel, slippery cheap plastic vinyl seats, soft yet uncomfortable suspension and didn't even sound all that great.
I guess its the worst performance car I have ever driven.
The most recent in my memory was the Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible, it handled like a boat, didn't stop despite large Brembo brakes and even though it had a 6.2 V8... was slower than a Mk6 Golf GTi.
Interior was solid plastic, had a large screen with no sat nav, drank fuel, slippery cheap plastic vinyl seats, soft yet uncomfortable suspension and didn't even sound all that great.
I guess its the worst performance car I have ever driven.
Wiccan of Darkness said:
Cars I've owned, well the rover metro 1.1C was the worst. Handled ok but for its size and class, drank like a fish, rusted like sin and spent hundreds on it. In the end, the crunch point was the rust. The fuel tank had started to rust, till a small hole appeared and cried petrol. I threw a lit cigarette at it in the end. Didn't even burn properly. Wretched contraption.
I can relate to that a fair bit and I'd just sold my Sierra Xr4x4 to buy a house, and my Mrs at the time had one and we went on holiday to Wales in it, I drove and after that experience I said I'd never have a small car again...I bloody hated everything about it!! 
It's took me 23 years to get over it and I recently went back to a (smallish) car with the MINI, cheers for the trip down memory lane.
Dandanfings said:
Tough one.
The most recent in my memory was the Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible, it handled like a boat, didn't stop despite large Brembo brakes and even though it had a 6.2 V8... was slower than a Mk6 Golf GTi.
Interior was solid plastic, had a large screen with no sat nav, drank fuel, slippery cheap plastic vinyl seats, soft yet uncomfortable suspension and didn't even sound all that great.
I guess its the worst performance car I have ever driven.
Was this a 2016- Camaro? I've driven the latest Mustang GT/Camaro SS and Challenger R/T and I would have to say that the latest 2016- Camaro is the lightest by a significant margin and the best handling. In fact, I would say that the handling and brakes are up to European standards (BMW M3/Audi S5/C63 AMG) etc. As for not being as quick as a Golf GTI, I find that difficult to believe. It has around 455bhp and is the quickest of the three by some margin. The interior is not amazing and not as stylish as the Mustang but interior quality is decent. I loved the way it looked and the sound under full throttle but the one I drove was an 8-speed auto and shut down four cylinders under light load, so was a bit quiet and in order to experience the full muscle car experience, you had to pin it and break the speed limit. As a result, it didn't get under my skin as much as the Mustang/Challenger, which are shouty all the time but it was the most economical by some margin and in many ways objectively the best of the three cars. I'm sure that I would have enjoyed it more as a manual but still far from the worst car that I have driven...The most recent in my memory was the Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible, it handled like a boat, didn't stop despite large Brembo brakes and even though it had a 6.2 V8... was slower than a Mk6 Golf GTi.
Interior was solid plastic, had a large screen with no sat nav, drank fuel, slippery cheap plastic vinyl seats, soft yet uncomfortable suspension and didn't even sound all that great.
I guess its the worst performance car I have ever driven.
Having thought a bit more about it, I think the 1998 Daihatsu Cuore that my wife had when we met is the worst car that I have driven, as it actually felt unsafe above 40mph and the gearbox was so recalcitrant that I nearly dislocated my shoulder every time I needed to change gear. Even as a passenger, I felt like I was going to fall out every time we went around a bend and there was nothing to hold onto. I usually find cheap, low powered cars (Suzuki Alto for instance) quite endearing but not this one. I put it through the local car wash a couple of times and the narrowness of it upset the rollers. The first time, it broke the aerial off and the second time the rear wiper...and it was purple! It was a hand-me-down from her parents so she was quite attached to it but we took advantage of the scrappage scheme and sent it to the crusher in favour of a new Fiat 500. No regrets, we both liked the Fiat much better.
Most disappointing car would still be the mk1 Mercedes A-Class though.
robemcdonald said:
Good old pistonheads.
BMW I8's, Jaguar XEs and a variety of other modern machinery. It's only a matter of time before someone claims a mclaren f1 or an enzo are the worst.
Are these truely the worst cars you have driven?
Agreed, has no-one driven anything from the 1960s or 70s? I used to borrow my Brother in law's 1960s Fiat 500 (the later model without the suicide doors, although he also had one of the older models, I never had the 'pleasure' of driving it) and it was absolutely dire. BMW I8's, Jaguar XEs and a variety of other modern machinery. It's only a matter of time before someone claims a mclaren f1 or an enzo are the worst.
Are these truely the worst cars you have driven?
One of the few cars without a claimed 0-60 time (it wouldn't do 60) and if driving one-up the brakes would make it turn (rather than stop) due to the weight imbalance. Also once drove an old Fiat Multipla 600 which was even worse because despite having similar dynamics it had absolutely no 'cool' factor whatsoever...
catso said:
Agreed, has no-one driven anything from the 1960s or 70s? I used to borrow my Brother in law's 1960s Fiat 500 (the later model without the suicide doors, although he also had one of the older models, I never had the 'pleasure' of driving it) and it was absolutely dire.
One of the few cars without a claimed 0-60 time (it wouldn't do 60) and if driving one-up the brakes would make it turn (rather than stop) due to the weight imbalance. Also once drove an old Fiat Multipla 600 which was even worse because despite having similar dynamics it had absolutely no 'cool' factor whatsoever...
OK, here goes! One of the few cars without a claimed 0-60 time (it wouldn't do 60) and if driving one-up the brakes would make it turn (rather than stop) due to the weight imbalance. Also once drove an old Fiat Multipla 600 which was even worse because despite having similar dynamics it had absolutely no 'cool' factor whatsoever...
My Mum bought a one year old Fiat 600 in Sand Tan in 1968, which I drove in and out of the garage (I wasn't 17 at the time)!
My first car was a 1967 MKII Cortina with the pre-crossflow engine - rotted out POS! But Mum had a Fiat 127 by then - fantastic car!
Then a year later (1977) I got a Fiat 125 (Olive Green) - fantastic twin-cam engine and 4-wheel disc brakes, but it rotted.
In 1979 I bought a Rover P6 3500S which also had 4-wheel disc brakes, but it was as rotten as the Fiats!
But while I had the Rover I bought a Fiat 132 1800ES for some reason (maybe just because I could), which was a great car with 4-wheel disc brakes and a 5-speed gearbox which was a novelty to me back then - but that also rotted.
Luckily Godfreys of Cheam was an agent for both Fiat and Kawasaki, so the 132 got chopped in towards a Z650 S2! Anyway in 1981 I bought a 3 year old Granada 2.8 Ghia (stolen/recovered because I worked for an insurance company at the time).
I replaced it with a 1977 MKII Escort RS2000 which I would have to sell my house to buy now (it was great at the time, but not that good) oh, and it also rotted!
That got sold when I found out how much quicker a 2.8i Capri was - so I bought a 2.8i Capri, but now I'm into the 80s!
But the worst car I ever drove remains the Corolla Verso petrol Auto I got given as a rental in Denmark - 2 or 3 seconds after pressing the accelerator it might move! Total POS!
I went there a few times, and actually waited half an hour for a car to be cleaned so I didn't get a minger like that Verso! Ended up with an I-30 diesel which was a great car!
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