RE: Shed of the week: Seat Arosa 1.4 Sport

[Mighty Flex]

Mine was great. Willing engine and chuckable, seemed about right for hustling along, bumpy, muddy b roads. Clutch/Gearbox were a bit rubbish and probably the mechanical weak point, Oil level needs to be checked regularly. I see a few rattling around in club motorsport, as they are decent in the sub 1400cc classes.

Edited by Mighty Flex on Friday 9th November 12:43

[alorotom]

There’s just something about these (and the Lupo, along with the mk1 Smart ForTwo) that I just love.

I’ve never driven one (or the lupo) and don’t know if I would love or loathe it, but it’s quirky and rare and tiny / chuckable - what’s not to love!

[J4CKO]

I took the wifes friends auto one for MOT, think was a 1.4, expected it to be rubbish but quiet liked it, as something for batting round town it was perfect, fairly willing (the car), an auto box that didnt seem to dopey and tiny.

[teleostbat]

J4CKO said:

Why ?

Strange thing to say,

Let's be honest, it's because the car is a bit of a joke, say compared to some of the more exciting sheds you get (e.g. MX5, Merc E430, Jaguar XJR).

These souped-up starter cars do nothing for me, and we've had 3 now in the past four weeks. Not surprised the first comment was negative, made me chuckle.

[Barchettaman]

That's a winning shed, particularly at £750. Well done

can't remember said:

I think it's about time this feature was killed.

Have a word with yourself.

[Q Car]

I had one of these as a hire car for a week many years ago. Stirling Moss was completely accurate in his assessment of ‘the fastest car he’d ever driven’.

[kellyt]

There are some genuinely nice cars around for the budget.

This is not one of them.

[Billy.RS]

I had a 1.4 Lupo a couple of years ago, low miles in the nice anthracite/silvery grey colour. Personally I didn't like it. 13 inch wheels and I think what was a 65 profile tyre? was probably why. It just seemed to waft around the place and generally understeer with the slightest of jabs with the right pedal.

Maybe an upgrade to 14s or 15s, with some improved rubber would've solved it, but I really didn't get on with the car and ended up shifting it on. They really are city cars at most.

[carinaman]

I didn't know they existed either. The size and nippiness of that would suit most of the driving I do. It's very tempting. The advert would've benefited from some editing.

[RacerMike]

It’s incredible there’s only 100 left. My parents bought one as a runaround/for me to drive when I was 19. I used to drive it a fair bit when I was back from Uni, and amusingly they still have it now! It’s ‘only’ done 53000 miles and my Dad loves the thing. They even took it to Sweden with them for 6 months when my Dad did some work out there.

Don’t be deceived by the fact it’s light and small. It’s sadly very dull to drive. It has that stodgyness that VAG seemed to do so well to engineer into everything mid 2000s.

Good points:

•Engine is a peach despite having a flywheel off a 35ton truck. Takes forever to rev in neutral but it’s actually quite revy once it gets going. Sadly no one makes a lightened flywheel....you have to Machine the standard one if you want less inertia. It sounds good though....even better with an aftermarket induction kit (remember those days?)

•Despite being tiny and weighing 950kg it has 4 wheel disc brakes and ABS. There’s zero feel to the pedal, but it’s comically over braked for a car with 100hp

•They’re pretty practical. With the seats down the load space is pretty big

•No one expects to to be as ‘fast’ as it is.

Bad points:

•Steering ratio is about 10 turns lock to lock

•Geo was moved away from ‘fun’ through ‘safe’ and into ‘boring’ by whoever set it up at VW

•The dampers have comically low travel and you’re into the bump stops constantly

•Gearbox befits the econobox image

•Motorway journeys aren’t much fun in 5th at 4500 rpm at 70mph

•Seats don’t go low enough

I’ll probably keep the thing once my parents have done with it. I’ve always wanted to live out my teenage dream of actually putting a proper setup on it and seeing if I can make it any good. GTI steering rack, some more adventurous geo and some decent seats (along with some TLC on the now neglected paint) and it would probably be a lot of fun again...

Edited by RacerMike on Friday 9th November 09:59

[Motorrad]

Great advert for a nice little car.

[RacerMike]

Billy.RS said:

I had a 1.4 Lupo a couple of years ago, low miles in the nice anthracite/silvery grey colour. Personally I didn't like it. 13 inch wheels and I think what was a 65 profile tyre? was probably why. It just seemed to waft around the place and generally understeer with the slightest of jabs with the right pedal.

Maybe an upgrade to 14s or 15s, with some improved rubber would've solved it, but I really didn't get on with the car and ended up shifting it on. They really are city cars at most.

Possibly the 1.4 8v which was a dog. Well and truly a relic from the 80s, but the 1.4 16v was actually a pretty good engine. I think it first appeard in the Mk4 Golf?

[daveco]

RacerMike said:

Billy.RS said:

I had a 1.4 Lupo a couple of years ago, low miles in the nice anthracite/silvery grey colour. Personally I didn't like it. 13 inch wheels and I think what was a 65 profile tyre? was probably why. It just seemed to waft around the place and generally understeer with the slightest of jabs with the right pedal.

Maybe an upgrade to 14s or 15s, with some improved rubber would've solved it, but I really didn't get on with the car and ended up shifting it on. They really are city cars at most.

Possibly the 1.4 8v which was a dog. Well and truly a relic from the 80s, but the 1.4 16v was actually a pretty good engine. I think it first appeard in the Mk4 Golf?

Yep. That's the 60hp 1.4, capable of 0-60 in 14 seconds. Weighs under 900kg though.

[Arsecati]

can't remember said:

I think it's about time this feature was killed.

I think by now you've probably got the impression that you are very much in a minority of ONE.

Though not every week offers a diamond from the rough, it's still my favourite feature of the week - perfect day for it too, as you're about to kick off the weekend!

Shed Rules!

[AppleJuice]

teleostbat said:

Not surprised the first comment was negative, made me chuckle.

Odd (sad) thing to say

[RacerMike]

daveco said:

Yep. That's the 60hp 1.4, capable of 0-60 in 14 seconds. Weighs under 900kg though.

Before the Sport, my parents had a 1.0L. 50bhp and 0-60 in 17.7s. Had the rear discs off an Ibiza on the front and drums on the back and you could only just lock the wheels if you stamped on the pedal....

[carinaman]

Blasted Road Tax. £195 pa. So over 5 years I'd pay £2K in Road Tax. For me it makes more sense to spend £2500-£3000 on a newer slightly bigger hatchback that will deliver almost as much bhp, better MPG and pay whatever the £30 pa rate now is and pay less than £195 over five years in Road Tax on it. It really is a Noddy Tax. So a perfectly useable car is made less desirable and more scrap-able due to a Noddy Tax system. The tailpipe emissions really wouldn't be much as it would be lightly used.

[kellyt]

can't remember said:

I think it's about time this feature was killed.

Some weeks it’s a gem. The last two weeks, IMHO which is of minimal consequence, I don’t like either of them. But, that doesn’t mean that next week it won’t be, maybe an ST200, or ST220, or a V8 Lexus. Might be anything. Might be great. Might be hideous.

But, there’s no call to kill the feature. Most people like the feature. Sometimes just not the cars.

[kellyt]

There are some genuinely nice cars around for the budget.

This is not one of them.

[J4CKO]

teleostbat said:

J4CKO said:

Why ?

Strange thing to say,

Let's be honest, it's because the car is a bit of a joke, say compared to some of the more exciting sheds you get (e.g. MX5, Merc E430, Jaguar XJR).

These souped-up starter cars do nothing for me, and we've had 3 now in the past four weeks. Not surprised the first comment was negative, made me chuckle.

Its Shed of the Week, its like a Bag of Revels, sometimes you get the nasty coffee flavoured aberration, sometimes you get the Galaxy counter or the Malteser and its made better as it gets rid of the taste of the Coffee flavoured one.

"Like is like a Bag of Chocolates, you never know what you are going to get" a wise man once said, well it was a box but you get the point, it would be predictable if it was a six or more cylinder BMW, that would be "Ageing six cylinder of more BMW of the week" .

Shed is great as it stimulates debate about a car we didnt know about or had forgotten about, its the same reason football supporters stay with the same team through thick and thin and not just change allegiance to whoever is winning that season. Humans just aren't cut out for constant gratification.

For pleasure to be truly enjoyable, you need a bit of pain occasionally, Shed will realise some are getting weary and drop in that nice old Japanese Coupe or luxo barge, but be patient !