Chuckleworthy...

Perywinkle said:
Except it's not a under steering fwd pile of pig ****.
RWD for the win.
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Surely you know enough about cars to know that RWD on its own doesn't make an awesome car?

Which handles better - the understeering FWD pile of Honda Integra Type R or the RWD FOR THE ABSOLUTE WIN Volvo 340?

My point exactly. The Chevette is a totally crap car until you throw loads and loads of mods at it, and lets face it you can make any car good if you mod it to the max. Not so long ago you could find the Chevette in those books they wrote about 'crap cars'. It was derided universally. It was the early 80's equivilent of todays Corsa 1.2.

Yet now suddenly becuase most of them have been scrapped and it's RWD its some sort of amazing icon? Yea whatever.
 
[TW]Fox;10858439 said:
My point exactly. The Chevette is a totally crap car until you throw loads and loads of mods at it, and lets face it you can make any car good if you mod it to the max.
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Now you're just showing your ignorance. "Mod it to the max", eh? That's like me saying that 530is are only good cars if you spend £15k on modding them...Complete rubbish. They're good cars from the factory if that's your kind of thing.

The Chevette (and even more so the Viva) are very neutral cars from the off. Particularly the Chevette saloon and estates which have vertical rear shocks, turreted from the factory, meaning better axle positioning under load...Incidentally, the Bedford Chevanne is a hoot. Because they're neutral, they're quite 'nice' to drive. You don't have to fight the car and (as I've explained many times on here), they can put a smile on your face at 40mph on B-roads.

As for 'loads and loads of mods', £300 gets you bolt-on big brakes and uprated suspension. A day's work at most to get you something very, very fun. Whilst I have never claimed that they are perfect or some sort of secret Exige, they are very neutral and very easy to drive...Which is what I was looking for in a fun car.

That's why I bought one instead of a mkII Escort. It costs a bomb to get an Escort to handle the way I like...Plus Chevettes don't suffer from Scene Tax...Although they have been appreciating steadily for a few years now.

The only real downsides to the Chevette range are the four speed on the 1256 and the lack of a mid-point in the range. You either have the orsum powaahhhhh of the 58bhp 1256cc Viva lump (although a decent carb and exhaust will net you 65bhp and a cam plus a bit of porting gets you 80+...I've seen a 1293cc mill that kicked 98bhp but that was running high-compression pistons et cetera) or you have a 2.3-litre slant four which will throw 220bhp easily and 300 if you have the money. If there was a midpoint (say with the Opel CIH lump or similar), it would have been great.

So if you want more than a realistic 65bhp, you need an engine swap. The easy routes are Ford and GM engines and boxes. Tuning kit is cheap and plentiful for both.

Ford, you have Crossflow, Pinto or Zetec. Respectively, a comfortable 90bhp, 120bhp and 160bhp without too many mods. Type 9 'box or MT75...Borgwarner T5 if you're chasing big power and beyond that you're looking elsewhere.

GM, you can go small Family II (1200, 1400 or 1600), large FII (1800, 2000), CIH (up to 2.4 litres with a Frontera block. Torque, sir? ;)) or XE. In terms of power, anything from 60 to 150 out of the factory and with basic mods a bit more. Vauxhall-fit 5-speed Getrag boxes (as found in your beloved BMWs) are cheap and plentiful.

The stock 1256cc axle will take 100-120bhp if you don't abuse it. Above that, you need a Manta A axle, Manta B axle or Isuzu Piazza axle. LSDs are available for all if that's your thing...Or you could always just weld up the diff... ;)

Not so long ago you could find the Chevette in those books they wrote about 'crap cars'. It was derided universally. It was the early 80's equivilent of todays Corsa 1.2.

Yet now suddenly becuase most of them have been scrapped and it's RWD its some sort of amazing icon? Yea whatever.
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You're imagining things which have simply not been said. The only possible explanation for this is that you're insecure and seeking to lash out at others.

*n
 
Surely you know enough about cars to know that RWD on its own doesn't make an awesome car?
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Totally agree with you Fox.
I'm just going from personal experience. Several friends have owned chevettes over the years and one still does. (HS spec and it goes like **** off a shovel)
I've driven them and found them a great fun chuckable little car.
Ok, the base models in standard trim are not fast, or pretty, but they are fun :) (I like chucking small lightweight cars around)

It's just a preference thing for me.
I like the involvement of pushing a car, and in my opinion rwd is far more rewarding than fwd.
i'm not stating it as fact, it's purely an opinion.
 
Begbie said:
Penski, I'm assuming you have a Chevette?

Nice...
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Had it for a while, sold it, got it back, neglected it due to lack of funds/stuff/mojo and it's currently getting sorted... :)

Silver four door with an HS front end...Will look a bit different once done.

*n
 
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