How does you car handle? Your honest opinion.
- Thread starter Styles
- Start date
Man of Honour
as the mx5's been done i'll post about the zato...
tbh the size of the tyres and the width of the car means the grip is really quiet limited, its nicely setup for town driving so its very very nimble, but push it round the corners and the grip gives up very quickly (well.... not all that quickly considering) sending you into a 4 wheel drift, stamp on the loud pedle and it seems to handle amazingly well sideways, drop the throtle and grab the grip back and it sends you rocketing off in the direction your pointing
amazing fun, and seriously surprises some other cars kept pace with a standard (non-sport) mx5 round some twistys, albeit with tyres squeeling and slightly sideways....
tbh the size of the tyres and the width of the car means the grip is really quiet limited, its nicely setup for town driving so its very very nimble, but push it round the corners and the grip gives up very quickly (well.... not all that quickly considering) sending you into a 4 wheel drift, stamp on the loud pedle and it seems to handle amazingly well sideways, drop the throtle and grab the grip back and it sends you rocketing off in the direction your pointing
amazing fun, and seriously surprises some other cars
kept pace with a standard (non-sport) mx5 round some twistys, albeit with tyres squeeling and slightly sideways....
Capri 2.8i.
Changed the 13" Stock wheels for 15"s & stuck some decent quality tyres on.
Feels a bit quicker to change direction than it did before and the ride is a lot harsher but has a tendancy to understeer in sharp bends still, back end actually feels quite well behaved in the dry unless you provoke it which i never do, brakes could do with uprating a bit.
In the wet the rear becomes quite twitchy, dont know it it understeers still as i never dare take corners fast enough to find out as it seems way too easy to lose the back end even at low speeds in the rain.
Naff bumpy road surfaces are bad in the rain too as even accelerating moderately can cause wheelspin when the rear hits a decent bump.
Changed the 13" Stock wheels for 15"s & stuck some decent quality tyres on.
Feels a bit quicker to change direction than it did before and the ride is a lot harsher but has a tendancy to understeer in sharp bends still, back end actually feels quite well behaved in the dry unless you provoke it which i never do, brakes could do with uprating a bit.
In the wet the rear becomes quite twitchy, dont know it it understeers still as i never dare take corners fast enough to find out as it seems way too easy to lose the back end even at low speeds in the rain.
Naff bumpy road surfaces are bad in the rain too as even accelerating moderately can cause wheelspin when the rear hits a decent bump.
Muncher said:
Almost, or if you think beyond what you think your car can do. I've not driven anything into corners like I have my Vectra, but I know my car doesn't handle well and that it feels unstable.
I don't think that's it's a rubbish handling car, I just think that I want something more stable that would inspire confidence.
Speaking of the GSI's earlier, I remember being told these have lotus designed suspension? I'm have no idea whether this is true or not as I can't research it (at college). Is this true?
I want a car that I can feel everything through the wheel, so every movement I make is translated onto the road, instead of feeling loose.
agw_01 said:You should try driving one then. Bit pointless saying the handling is crap when you've only been in one as a passenger()
I've only been in my mates fiesta as a passenger, but that thing feels so unbelieveably unstable it scares me. I don't need to drive it to tell that.
Absolutely terribly. (2005 Seat Leon TDI)
It handles like a typical FWD euro econobox, same as every other non GTI VAG based car. I dont know the technical phrases but if you corner too hard (not very fast in this pos) you end up straight on into the field infront of you, it has no grip whatsoever thanks to ultra skinny crappy 195 width tyres on 15" rims. Its steering is ultra over assisted, its gearbox is mishy mashy sloppy with a long throw, 4th gear has started grinding for no aparent reason. 2nd gear only does 50mph, and 3rd only does about 80mph, so backroads you are having to be all over the place between 2nd 3rd and 4th which slows progress.
Overall its just....crap. It does 50mpg though
It handles like a typical FWD euro econobox, same as every other non GTI VAG based car. I dont know the technical phrases but if you corner too hard (not very fast in this pos) you end up straight on into the field infront of you, it has no grip whatsoever thanks to ultra skinny crappy 195 width tyres on 15" rims. Its steering is ultra over assisted, its gearbox is mishy mashy sloppy with a long throw, 4th gear has started grinding for no aparent reason. 2nd gear only does 50mph, and 3rd only does about 80mph, so backroads you are having to be all over the place between 2nd 3rd and 4th which slows progress.
Overall its just....crap. It does 50mpg though
Mk1 Focus 2l Ghia.
Lots of feedback in the steering.
Very stable.
NO sense of speed.
VERY easy to understeer not so bad in the dry, not seen much of that recently though).
Hard to get the power down (not so bad in the dry, not seen much of that recently though).
The last two points are down to budget tyres, getting replaced by some 17" Alloys with Toyos on this saturday hopefully.
Overall, good handling cars with tells you exactly what it's doing but scary because you have no idea you're going fast until you look at the speedo! (Or until you brake
).
Can give a much better opinion when I've got better tyres on it though...
Lots of feedback in the steering.
Very stable.
NO sense of speed.
VERY easy to understeer not so bad in the dry, not seen much of that recently though).
Hard to get the power down (not so bad in the dry, not seen much of that recently though).
The last two points are down to budget tyres, getting replaced by some 17" Alloys with Toyos on this saturday hopefully.
Overall, good handling cars with tells you exactly what it's doing but scary because you have no idea you're going fast until you look at the speedo! (Or until you brake
).Can give a much better opinion when I've got better tyres on it though...
Soldato
Like a bus!
Zafira 52 Plate (2003) 2ltr DTi
Zafira 52 Plate (2003) 2ltr DTi
Soldato
Like a go cart
Steering feedback is great, bodyroll is minimal, turn in is sharp + inspires confidence and easy to control lift-off oversteer is fun. You can take corners at quite stupid speeds compared to other cars in it's class. However due to the cars light nature and torsion bar rear suspension the car can be quite skittish at high speeds which can be scary.
Can't wait to get something that handles better though
Steering feedback is great, bodyroll is minimal, turn in is sharp + inspires confidence and easy to control lift-off oversteer is fun. You can take corners at quite stupid speeds compared to other cars in it's class. However due to the cars light nature and torsion bar rear suspension the car can be quite skittish at high speeds which can be scary.
Can't wait to get something that handles better though
Jez said:Absolutely terribly. (2005 Seat Leon TDI)
It handles like a typical FWD euro econobox, same as every other non GTI VAG based car. I dont know the technical phrases but if you corner too hard (not very fast in this pos) you end up straight on into the field infront of you, it has no grip whatsoever thanks to ultra skinny crappy 195 width tyres on 15" rims. Its steering is ultra over assisted, its gearbox is mishy mashy sloppy with a long throw, 4th gear has started grinding for no aparent reason. 2nd gear only does 50mph, and 3rd only does about 80mph, so backroads you are having to be all over the place between 2nd 3rd and 4th which slows progress.
Overall its just....crap. It does 50mpg though
Sounds like you're quite fond of this car?
Is it really as bad as you say?
Out of interest, I understand there are a couple of M3 or M3 CSL owners on here? And I believe possibly a couple of M5 owners...
How would you rate the handling on these machines? I would expect them to be technically excellent. I am on a one man mission to own either one of these by the time I finish university so any information would be great.
(I understand my one man mission may well fail miserably)
How would you rate the handling on these machines? I would expect them to be technically excellent. I am on a one man mission to own either one of these by the time I finish university so any information would be great.
(I understand my one man mission may well fail miserably)
Associate
My 2002 Vauxhall Astra SXI handles very well (1.6 16v)
In the summer, my 18 mile drive home from work over the Struie (a road through our lovely highland hillside) is always great fun
I'm curious to hear Fox's opinion on this model of car.....?
In the summer, my 18 mile drive home from work over the Struie (a road through our lovely highland hillside) is always great fun
I'm curious to hear Fox's opinion on this model of car.....?
mine handles unbelivably well bearing in mind it weighs as much as an aricraft carrier, it never ceases to amaze me just how fast it will handle a corner
I know I'm going to come unstuck but who cares I have more chance of denting the earth than I do of getting hurt in a crash!
(range rover sport)
I know I'm going to come unstuck but who cares I have more chance of denting the earth than I do of getting hurt in a crash!
(range rover sport)
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
[TW]Fox said:Will Gill how did you manage to find a corner over there?
We want proof please - pictures of you standing next to the corner, with a GPS screen showing it is indeed in the USA, and a sign saying 'ocuk cornering'.
in NYC you are right, but their motorways are awful, the road surface is like the surface of the moon and at no point are they ever straight or for that matter level!
also in new york I found a roundabout
- although they call it a rotary and are very very scared of it!