What Cars do people own?

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Originally posted by Derek Wright:
No did not work for Saab - the makers do claim a high rate of owner retention though

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A bit like Naim then

Currently running a Mazda MX-5 1.8i and likely to be for quite a while.

Opted for it because it's reasonably small, reasonably quick, reasonably affordable, and (importantly) rear-wheel-drive!

Chris L

chronological list

-81 Volvo 240dl
-87 Mercedes 190
-92 Mercedes 200E(for sale to buy more Naim)
-75 Mercedes 200(bought for about 140£)

This is the 92 Merc by the way

Hi Andreas,

So whats the reasoning for blacking out the rear windows and not the front? On a trip to Götenborg a few years ago, I noticed virtually all the cars were like that.

Hejdå

Steve

Derek, sure that's not anal retention? Actually, I had a couple of 96's; freewheeling was a scream, especially on the one that had no brakes.

John C, so it was your Audi next to that proper car.

Alex

Good question Steve, I'm pretty sure we have some law that forbids blacking out the front windows.

Ha det bra
/Andreas

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Originally posted by Stevie Dempster:
Hi Andreas,

So whats the reasoning for blacking out the rear windows and not the front? On a trip to Götenborg a few years ago, I noticed virtually all the cars were like that.

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And more to the point why do you need those big, wide wheels on a 200E?

Regards
Steve

It's obviously a cosmetic thing

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Originally posted by Andreas Nystroem:
It's obviously a cosmetic thing

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I see - I take it you're more interesed in show than go then? If that's the case what are you doing with Naim kit?

Regards
Steve

well as I said i'm getting rid of it for more naim so that hopefully makes up for my terrible crime of having a car that looks good

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Originally posted by Andreas Nystroem:
well as I said i'm getting rid of it for more naim so that hopefully makes up for my terrible crime of having a car that looks good

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It's not a crime (or at least not one you can be convicted for) to have a car that you
think looks good (I think it looks horrible to be honest but then maybe I'm just getting old).

Personally I'd rather have a car which goes well but looks normal, but then my posing days are long gone.

BTW If you'd like to abuse my chosen vehicle it's the silver one in the middle of this group.


Regards
Steve

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but then my posing days are long gone.

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Yes thankfully i'm not that old yet

I would never abuse your choice in vehicle but it can't be good for your back sitting on one of those.

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Originally posted by Andreas Nystroem:
"but then my posing days are long gone"

Yes thankfully i'm not that old yet

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I'm old enough to be going through my 2nd childhood though and the nice thing about that is you can afford the insurance for a vehicle with decent performance! Which might go somewhere to explain why my commuting transport can do 165mph and 0-60 in 3.2 seconds...

Regards
Steve

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my commuting transport can do 165mph and 0-60 in 3.2 seconds...

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But...but you should see the space shuttle I drive to work and.....it's faster....and.....

seriously i have no death wish

Looking out on my wing mirrors :-)



I just dig flares.

Steve

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BTW If you'd like to abuse my chosen vehicle it's the silver one in the middle of this group.

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Yuck. What is it with those headlights?

This is my speedy toy, appearing at a hill near Stirling this weekend....



(The 'flames' were on it when I got it and changing the finish doesn't make it go faster, so it doesn't get changed....)

Paul

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Yuck. What is it with those headlights?

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At least my toy has some...

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Originally posted by Paul Ranson:
This is my speedy toy, appearing at a hill near Stirling this weekend....

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If I hadn't been away this weekend (a motorcycle trip round the north of Scotland) I'd have come over and spectated. I take it you're racing at Doune then - best of luck.

Regards
Steve

Kept going back to Saab because they were simple to order and I knew where the ignition key fitted (on the floor between the front seats, except in the 96 and the 9000s). The ignition key is used to lock the gear stick in reverse

One mans fish is another mans poison as they say

Derek

I love Saabs. I like the key position. I had a 900 Turbo. Drove it smack into a tree at 70mph. Got out without a scratch. Really!

Before that I used to drive it around Europe. You could just park up, brush your teeth, and sleep in the back. Got some funny looks in Lyme Regis High Street though.

The problem with Saabs now is that they seem to have become expensive Vauxhalls.

Alex

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Looking to order a new Cooper S shortly and toying with an Elise 111 but interested in TC's views on the Honda S2000, which I'd heard is a handful despite a great engine.

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Okay, seeing as you asked. Note that I don't own the car so in some ways wasn't pushing it (that, plus the fact that I knew that it was getting lowish on oil and also I was doing a 500 mile run in the Highlands (this is only 10 days ago, so it's still fresh).

The car itself is rather nicely put together - it's quirky, in a Japanese sort of a way. As someone who has owned a modern MX-5, it was kinda like the big brother to that car in its internal layout, driving feel and solid build (they are both surprisingly well screwed together IMHO).

Driving position is comfortable, I'm 6'2" and there was plenty room for me. The seats, all-leather, were comfortable but not as much as those in the MX-5 I felt. They are height adjustable, which is useful if you are shorter.

Gearbox is a six-speed with a short throw, gears are pretty close I felt and it's moderately quick (or at least as quick as I was, which probably wasn't very). Clutch is heavier than your average modern car but featherweight compared to (say) the Ferrari 308 series, which is a bit like being at the gym and overdoing the weights on the leg lift machine. Clutch feel was good, very good once I adjusted from the easy drive of the (new style) Mini Cooper to that of the Honda. I found that on occasion the car would shudder a little on low-revs in the smaller gears, but that seemed to be as much to do with the car being cold as it was with driver input.

Steering: very very nice indeed. The car is clearly a sports car but perhaps a criticism would be that the feel is a little more 'modern' than a classic sports car would feel. Obviously assisted, it's still meaty enough and the leather wheel is the right size for comfort.

Straight line ability is almost spot-on. As it's a slightly heavier car than the MX-5, it doesn't feel quite so vulnerable on long straight B-roads at speed. In fact, it's confidence inspiring, if a little bit intimidating at first (this is a pretty quick car when provoked).

Cornering is great - whilst we set off on our tour in the dry, being Scotland we experienced both rain, wind, drought and a touch of snow on our travels. The route we took was Edinburgh to Loch Lomond, right round Loch Lomond, then across via Pitlochry and the notorious A9, then a navigation error caused us to miss a turn and end up half way to Inverness (women!!!). We then turned back, and did the Royal Deeside route in a fruitless quest for Super Unleaded (we were running on fumes, and had to cheat and use Regular Unleaded for 12 miles or so, which is okay so long as the car isn't thrashed or the engine strained over this distance). We then ended up visiting my sister in Aberdeen, who has just bought a new house which we hadn't seen. Then, back down the road via Dundee (and a steady 70-80mph due to evil speed cameras), and a more reasonable 90-110 from Perth down to Edinburgh.

Total trip: 490 miles or so. Petrol cost was around £60 for this trip, slightly under in fact, so it's quite economical.

Anyway, I digress. What I'm trying to say is that the car didn't strike me as a handful, in the way that (say) a Caterham Superlight in the wet would be a handful, or something equally tail happy.

The engine is somewhat aggressive sounding; it's a high-revving VTec, red-lining at at 9,500, which in top should equate to 170mph+, but I am led to believe it's electronically limited to 155. Most of the power is delivered above 5,000 revs, with a real kick to it at 7,500rpm and above. Beyond 6,000rpm the engine begins to sound very very nasty in a nice sort of a way - a real sporty note which is far to loud for conversation.

The engine is a delight - whilst on paper it's only 250bhp or so, in practise it feels much quicker than it's 0-60 time of 6s. Through the gears, nothing we saw in our five hundred miles could touch it for rapidity over normal roads. I reckon part of the reason this car feels so quick is due to the ability to rev higher than other cars thus doing away with the need for gear changes (and most people change up at around 5,000rpm in 'normal' cars).

In terms of behaviour in the wet, the car was no worse than the MX-5 had been. In other words, if you provoke it, yes, the back end will drift, but it's a communicative enough car to be able to collect any errors and resume the straight line. Although this wasn't my car, I was responsible for it and so I wasn't going to test the limits, suffice to say in the dry you probably won't find them unless you're (a) mad or (b) really trying.

My verdict is that I'd really like one - it's a better drive than a Boxster S (which I have tried), cheaper and just as quick. It's also a lot cheaper, by virtue of having an 'ordinary' pedigree. However, this is no ordinary car!

Next up for me is a day of madness in their 300hp+ Evo 6. Apparently that is quite a bit quicker (not driven it yet) but far less fun, due to being more of a 'point and shoot' than a 'drivers car'. You pays your money and you takes yer choice.

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

The Cooper S should be interesting, but I have to say that I'm delighted with the standard Cooper. I just feel that the S is just too much more expensive - fully spec'd would take you over the £20k level - and for a little runabout the standard Cooper is great fun, quick without being daftly quick, corners as well as anything I've ever driven, up to and including Subarus and the like (of course, that was always the strength of the Mini and I'm pleased to say that the new Minis really uphold the tradition of cornering like they're on rails).

One thing I like about the Mini is that they appeal to all - young folk like them 'cause they're funky and cute, older folk like them 'cause they're refreshing and different, petrol heads (me!) like them 'cause they're moderately cheap and great fun, and they're also pretty inconspicuous.

Still lust after something devilishly quick, though, but I don't share Steve G's death wish...

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Re Saabs as expensive Vauxhalls - yes I know what you mean - the 900 Turbo GM style was a disapointment compared to the classic 900 Turbo, the ride was very twitchy and because it has a sports type suspension, (relatively low profile tyres and a firm suspension) it has quite a hard ride, however not as hard as the Viggen, and it is quite noisy. The 9-5 estate is a different class of car. It harks back to the good luggage carrying capacity of the classic 900 with the level floor(can swallow a pair of Wilson Bensech Act2s in their boxes quite easily). The car appears to be more of a Saab than the GM 900 and is easier to drive (rear visibility) than the saloon 9-5. It's performance is not bad, not quite as fast as the 900 but can surprise a few other cars on the road.

The reasons I chose Saab 31 years a go are now part of world history, it was disillusionment with UK cars, the reliability and rust susceptability, the lack of creativeness and inclusion of what I thought were essential features.

AS time progressed, as each car performed well I became a Saab camp follower and I had found no compelling reason to jump brands.

So after 31 years I am still driving Saabs - this was not planned it just happened.

Something to be amused at rather than be proud of(or to be pitied - some would say)


Derek

[This message was edited by Derek Wright on FRIDAY 14 June 2002 at 10:19.]

Thanks for your views on the Honda, TC.

It sounds a lot better than the reports in the auto press. Was the one you drove a 2002 model year? I understand these have been improved quite a bit and some of the tail -happines has been tamed plus better steering feel. I also read somewhere that they are a bargain when imported (£21K-ish). AND you think it better than a Boxter S - high praise indeed.

As far as the Cooper S is concerned, as long as you keep the options reasonably modest, I don't think the extra over a standard Cooper is unreasonable. Having said that, I've not driven an S yet nor have I given the Cooper a thorough thrashing. But I will!

Cheers

Dave

Take a quick sniff here

Steve

Over the shoulder:



Mike (who ignored everyone who said that black is the worst color) Sae