My hire car for the day....

[Wycombe83]

..... a Vauxhall Corsa C 1.2 life 04 reg.

Compared to my Astra H 1.6, it feels quite nippy if a bit strained on the by-pass.
The polite lady at the garage didn't tell me you need to unlock the car to open the fuel filler cap to my £20 worth in.
The interior is a bit grubby, no mats, some leaves can be found underneath the driver's seat, but I suppose for an 8 year old courtesy I can't complain too much.

[FreeLitres]

Hire cars are always faster. Always.

[Wycombe83]

Is it because they're run in well or just a bit of leg pulling?

[Grey Ghost]

Wycombe83 said:

Is it because they're run in well or just a bit of leg pulling?

Nope, just because everyone drives them like they stole them

[crocodile tears]

Grey Ghost said:

Wycombe83 said:

Is it because they're run in well or just a bit of leg pulling?

Nope, just because everyone drives them like they stole them

indeed.. I never feel satified unless I have smelt the clutch and bounced off the rev limiter

[SD1992]

Mum has one of these - it is a brilliant little thing. Had it since it was a year old and it has been 100% faultless. Brilliant in town, not so great on long motorway trips, but that is not what we bought it for.

I do think they get a lot of unfair criticism.

[Wycombe83]

I reckon the one was loaned must have been well run in, it went through the rev range like a chainsaw.
But I do agree, I wouldn't want use it on a long motorway, a lot of noise from the engine plus road noise too.

[ejenner]

A friend of mine took quite a few 1.0 12v 3-cylinder Corsa's off the clock. The one which counts the revs anyway. He enjoys destroying cars. It was simply a case of taking it up to a high speed, sticking it into first and then letting the clutch in.

Does anyone know the rules of the hire car?

Anything is acceptable so long as there is no damage to the bodywork (inc wheeltrims) and it can be driven back to the dealer... or at least did not fail to proceed under suspicious circumstances. If it just stopped by the side of the road somewhere for no reason then you'll probably get away with it. I know of a Ford KA which ended up filled with water, bobbing around floating in a river covered in little bits of water-weed which magically ended up clean and dry stuck by the side of the road somewhere unable to start for no apparent reason.

[SD1992]

Wow, giving them a bit of a thrash now and then fair enough - we are all guilty of that, but needlessly destroying a perfectly good car for no reason other than "its not mine", really?

[ejenner]

SD1992 said:

Wow, giving them a bit of a thrash now and then fair enough - we are all guilty of that, but needlessly destroying a perfectly good car for no reason other than "its not mine", really?

yeah, friend of mine destroyed multiple Corsa 1.0 12v 3-cyl - actually, can't you see a good reason for having fewer of those on the road?

The KA I've heard about just came off the road and ended up in a river. A handling defect I heard.

[poing]

I've never had a hire car older than 1 year old. Although I'm normally a sucker for taking the upgrade when it's offered to me

[spaceship]

SD1992 said:

Mum has one of these - it is a brilliant little thing. Had it since it was a year old and it has been 100% faultless. Brilliant in town, not so great on long motorway trips, but that is not what we bought it for.

I do think they get a lot of unfair criticism.

So does mine, though it's a 1.0 12v. When I drive it I swear it's egging you on to rev it to the limiter. Probably because it is a tad slow but it does love to rev and the 3-pot sounds kinda cool as you get to 6000rpm!