What cars have you been surprised by?
Discussion
Was just thinking back to a previous experience I had in my previous car and was just wondering if anyone else has had a similar situation realy, Basically what car were you driving at the time and what did you go try overtake or "play" with but then resulted in you being rather surprised by how capable the other car was, Ill start this off then.
I was in my previous car which was a Skoda Fabia VRS Which I had done a bit of work to including a Sachs sports clutch and lightweight fly-wheel and the car was running 170bhp and 300lb/ft Torque, I came off a roundabout in 2nd gear (2k rpm just on-boost so perfect to give it the beans and overtake) Infront of me was VW Touareg V10 and they are quite a large motor too, He was going a normal pace so I pulled out to overtake and there was a puff of black smoke from his twin tail-pipes and I was left in the overtaking lane with this hulking jeep pulling away from me! :-O At first I was quite embarrassed until I got home and had a bit of a search on the net to then find out the thing had over 300bhp and over 500lb/ft of torque!! :-O lol! Well theres my story now has anyone else had anything similar happen to them?
I was in my previous car which was a Skoda Fabia VRS Which I had done a bit of work to including a Sachs sports clutch and lightweight fly-wheel and the car was running 170bhp and 300lb/ft Torque, I came off a roundabout in 2nd gear (2k rpm just on-boost so perfect to give it the beans and overtake) Infront of me was VW Touareg V10 and they are quite a large motor too, He was going a normal pace so I pulled out to overtake and there was a puff of black smoke from his twin tail-pipes and I was left in the overtaking lane with this hulking jeep pulling away from me! :-O At first I was quite embarrassed until I got home and had a bit of a search on the net to then find out the thing had over 300bhp and over 500lb/ft of torque!! :-O lol! Well theres my story now has anyone else had anything similar happen to them?
Different situation, but when I got a ride in a mates atom 300
I knew it would be quick, but my god. I couldn't stop laughing
insane.
Other one was a corsa D, he was edging to go at the lights, I gave it a little, my cars not quick but thought it was a standard corsa. Then it barked, shot off like a rocket and only when I heard the chatter of the blow off valve I realised it was a VXR, it had standard bodywork, all VXR gubbins taken off. Nice sleeper, found out it was rather tuned too!
I knew it would be quick, but my god. I couldn't stop laughing
insane. Other one was a corsa D, he was edging to go at the lights, I gave it a little, my cars not quick but thought it was a standard corsa. Then it barked, shot off like a rocket and only when I heard the chatter of the blow off valve I realised it was a VXR, it had standard bodywork, all VXR gubbins taken off. Nice sleeper, found out it was rather tuned too!
My mate's Dad's Volvo 850 T5 that had been remapped, and something done to the wastegate. At this point, I had no idea what a Volvo T5 was!
He kept telling us how fast it was, and none of us believed him - especially when we saw the thing. It was totally standard on the outside so we thought he must have been giving us BS. Until his Dad came out and took us out in it. I don't think I have ever been so surprised by a car in my entire life! That thing was properly fast, and there were 4 of us in the car at the time. It went way past 10 leptons and just seemed to keep going!
Wanted one ever since
He kept telling us how fast it was, and none of us believed him - especially when we saw the thing. It was totally standard on the outside so we thought he must have been giving us BS. Until his Dad came out and took us out in it. I don't think I have ever been so surprised by a car in my entire life! That thing was properly fast, and there were 4 of us in the car at the time. It went way past 10 leptons and just seemed to keep going!
Wanted one ever since
BMW 116d - pulled surprisngly well for the entry level model.
My old Impreza the first time I drove it, was used to 250bhp (TT) beforehand but I remember thinking "f
k me, this thing's quick" when I planted it.
A certain friend's (
) BMW Mini, although to be honest that's possibly more down to his driving style than the car itself.
The new Megane 3dr actually has a very competent chassis, while the one I drove (buddy's company car) only had 110bhp, it was amazingly chuckable through the corners, and quite a nice place to sit too. It smelled nice too.
Finally, while not a car, an unloaded VW Transporter is a fantastic van to drive. Rented one when I moved house and absolutely loved it.
My old Impreza the first time I drove it, was used to 250bhp (TT) beforehand but I remember thinking "f
k me, this thing's quick" when I planted it.A certain friend's (
) BMW Mini, although to be honest that's possibly more down to his driving style than the car itself.The new Megane 3dr actually has a very competent chassis, while the one I drove (buddy's company car) only had 110bhp, it was amazingly chuckable through the corners, and quite a nice place to sit too. It smelled nice too.
Finally, while not a car, an unloaded VW Transporter is a fantastic van to drive. Rented one when I moved house and absolutely loved it.
205GTI... Okay, I knew they're fast- but I met one at Brands Hatch which was cosmetically standard looking, wiped the floor with me! must've been getting on for a second a lap quicker. My caterham is only a slow one, but on that occasion the 205 was the only car I saw which I felt was lapping quicker.
It turned out that it had a stripped-out interior, semi-slicks and brake and suspension mods, but I still underestimated its capability quite badly!
It turned out that it had a stripped-out interior, semi-slicks and brake and suspension mods, but I still underestimated its capability quite badly!
I think anything half decent, driven by a competent drive can surprise other stuff, I was behind a Seal Leon Ecomotive thing the other day and the drive was punting it along quite well, I had another (on paper) almost 140 odd bhp but it didnt feel like it, ok, if it went to two lanes I wouldnt have stayed behind for more than a few seconds but there and then it gave a very good account of itself, I certainly wasnt going to corner much faster on the road.
Was with my step dad in his Evo 6 last year, we pulled up in the overtaking lane at some lights and there was a TT at the front. We pulled off sharpish up dual carriageway and the TT was keeping pace. It wasn't until the exit and roundabout as we went separate ways with a smile and wave I saw the RS badges. Didn't realise what it was until a bit of research.
With my uncle in his EP3 CTR when a black Nova pulled off with almighty sound from the exhaust. Tailed him a bit when there was some clear road. Stayed with it at full pace, it wasn't getting away but had us thinking what's in that!? 2.0 Redtop and a stripped interior was the answer.
In my MK4 Golf GTI (mapped
) behind a metro that was LOUD. Road opened up and we both hit the go pedal, he pulled away at a steady pace with a lot noise. We were both headed for the same destination a couple of miles or so away. It had a 1.8 VVC in it.
With my uncle in his EP3 CTR when a black Nova pulled off with almighty sound from the exhaust. Tailed him a bit when there was some clear road. Stayed with it at full pace, it wasn't getting away but had us thinking what's in that!? 2.0 Redtop and a stripped interior was the answer.
In my MK4 Golf GTI (mapped
) behind a metro that was LOUD. Road opened up and we both hit the go pedal, he pulled away at a steady pace with a lot noise. We were both headed for the same destination a couple of miles or so away. It had a 1.8 VVC in it.Not quite a 'blown away at the lights' moment or anything like that but I remember a friend of mine having a Fiesta 1.8 D which was surprisingly fast for an old diesel. It took forever to pick up pace but once it was going it was going! It was an effect no doubt emphasised by the lad's reckless driving. The car was pitched into every corner as fast as possible with no regard for breaking zones or positioning, everything was an effort to keep the momentum the car has gained! It wasn't a record breaker and it was like a tractor off the start line but I was surprised by it.
One car that did surprise me was an older Astra. I had a Zetec Focus 1.6 petrol at the time, which was slow, particularly 'off cam', so you were encouraged to drive it in a manner that preserved your momentum and speed. Luckily, it handled very well so I was able to use that to my advantage. I was driving home from work one night when I noticed a car acting strangely some way off behind me. It was around midnight and the roads were all but deserted, and my attention was drawn to something with yellow foglights. Due to it having the fog lights on, I couldn't quite make out what it was, and it followed me a little way through a 30mph zone, weaving around on the road despite the massive view ahead. I crossed a shellgripped roundabout in the 30 zone, keeping right to straighten it out. The car behind was ignoring the 30 limit and so was right up behind me as I left the roundabout in the NSL dual carriageway. After approximately 250 yards of DC there was another roundabout, which I took the straightest line through as the Astra was some way behind, perhaps being let down by the slightly naff Astra handling. As I left the roundabout onto another NSL dual carriageway, I was in the left hand lane with no traffic ahead. The Astra pulled up next to me, trying to overtake and kept level for a while as my Focus began to run out of puff at the speed limit. It pulled level and couldn't quite get past, before changing gear alongside me and rocketing off at huge speed. Only then did I realise it was an Astra, likely heavily modded. I watched it shoot off at a very high speed and then disappear at the next roundabout. That thing had some serious grunt for a tatty old Astra!
One car that did surprise me was an older Astra. I had a Zetec Focus 1.6 petrol at the time, which was slow, particularly 'off cam', so you were encouraged to drive it in a manner that preserved your momentum and speed. Luckily, it handled very well so I was able to use that to my advantage. I was driving home from work one night when I noticed a car acting strangely some way off behind me. It was around midnight and the roads were all but deserted, and my attention was drawn to something with yellow foglights. Due to it having the fog lights on, I couldn't quite make out what it was, and it followed me a little way through a 30mph zone, weaving around on the road despite the massive view ahead. I crossed a shellgripped roundabout in the 30 zone, keeping right to straighten it out. The car behind was ignoring the 30 limit and so was right up behind me as I left the roundabout in the NSL dual carriageway. After approximately 250 yards of DC there was another roundabout, which I took the straightest line through as the Astra was some way behind, perhaps being let down by the slightly naff Astra handling. As I left the roundabout onto another NSL dual carriageway, I was in the left hand lane with no traffic ahead. The Astra pulled up next to me, trying to overtake and kept level for a while as my Focus began to run out of puff at the speed limit. It pulled level and couldn't quite get past, before changing gear alongside me and rocketing off at huge speed. Only then did I realise it was an Astra, likely heavily modded. I watched it shoot off at a very high speed and then disappear at the next roundabout. That thing had some serious grunt for a tatty old Astra!
Thinking back again actually, I used to own a fairly standard R32 GTR skyline (well apart from the typical import mods it came with). Pulling out of Portsmouth on the M275 one evening, I had a Purple Ph1 205gti playing with me.
Being stupid and young, I changed down, and burried the pedal. Smiling, I then suddenly went glum as this 205gti went hooning past, smoke pouring off the front wheels, and left me for absolut dust. I have no idea what it had in it, I never caught up, but I felt rather gutted.
If anyone knows of a Purple 205gti, that could do that, please pass the owners details onto me, I want to know more!
Being stupid and young, I changed down, and burried the pedal. Smiling, I then suddenly went glum as this 205gti went hooning past, smoke pouring off the front wheels, and left me for absolut dust. I have no idea what it had in it, I never caught up, but I felt rather gutted.
If anyone knows of a Purple 205gti, that could do that, please pass the owners details onto me, I want to know more!
I've told the story before, but I once got my arse well and truly handed to me by a ratty looking Ford Capri when driving the old man's 430 Spider... stopped for a chat with the bloke down the road and it turned it to have a supercharged mustang V8 and nitrous, putting out about 700bhp!
Black Fiat Panda 4x4 thing pulled up next to me at a roundabout reving and laughing with his mates, I have my Celica ST202 (import one) at the time and decided to see what they were laughing about so went for it. Turns out they were laughing because they were about to wipe the floor with me. Stopped at the same petrol station as the guy as felt rather cheated, got chatting, turns out he had a fettled Uno Turbo engine onboard!
geeksandlies said:
Black Fiat Panda 4x4 thing pulled up next to me at a roundabout reving and laughing with his mates, I have my Celica ST202 (import one) at the time and decided to see what they were laughing about so went for it. Turns out they were laughing because they were about to wipe the floor with me. Stopped at the same petrol station as the guy as felt rather cheated, got chatting, turns out he had a fettled Uno Turbo engine onboard!
Happy days. 
Funnily enough, I also got my arse handed to me by a Toerag V10 TDI when I had a Fabia vRS.
I got a bit of a surprise the other day when some kind of 207 seemed to be fairly easily keeping up with me (MR2 Turbo), I had to pull over and let it past because SWMBO was giving me a right bking for indulging in a play (she doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for these encounters). When it went past I heard a rather loud turbo noise and dump valve so guess it was a rather none-standard GTI !
When I had my E36 328i, I was quite surprised that at times, I wasn't hugely faster than a lot of diesel rep mobiles and an IS200 - yes I had the edge for sure but I was working damn hard for it.
The thing is, you need a LOT of power to have a big advantage on the road against most half competent machines with a determined driver at the helm.
On the flipside my standard 1.8 mk1 MX5 used to surprise people, but then thats probably because I drove the thing properly, and everyone thinks they are slow, but not as slow as some people think! (still not fast though, I grant you)
I got a bit of a surprise the other day when some kind of 207 seemed to be fairly easily keeping up with me (MR2 Turbo), I had to pull over and let it past because SWMBO was giving me a right b
king for indulging in a play (she doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for these encounters). When it went past I heard a rather loud turbo noise and dump valve so guess it was a rather none-standard GTI !When I had my E36 328i, I was quite surprised that at times, I wasn't hugely faster than a lot of diesel rep mobiles and an IS200 - yes I had the edge for sure but I was working damn hard for it.
The thing is, you need a LOT of power to have a big advantage on the road against most half competent machines with a determined driver at the helm.
On the flipside my standard 1.8 mk1 MX5 used to surprise people, but then thats probably because I drove the thing properly, and everyone thinks they are slow, but not as slow as some people think! (still not fast though, I grant you)
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