Associate
- Joined
- 28 Dec 2005
- Posts
- 515
I think I've got a problem... I seem to like rubbish cars!
So I've recently been driving a slightly sheddy Citroen Saxo diesel and finding it more fun to drive than my Alfa 156 V6. The Alfa is of course very pretty, very comfy, nice to drive (though everything's a little over-assisted) and has an utterly fantastic engine.
The Citroen meanwhile, is as refined as a tin of beans, has an engine that when new had a quarter of the Alfa's power and feels like it probably has even less now. Being an NA diesel it doesn't really rev either, so every road becomes a case of foot-to-the-floor and working the gearbox to keep the revs up, trying to be as smooth as possible through corners to keep the exit speed up etc. Occasionally annoying, but often quite amusing.
The problem with the Alfa is that its almost too good to be fun most of the time - the engine is just a complete get out of jail free card and aside from a fantastic gearchange the rest of the car feels a bit more detached - other than the over-light steering though, its just the inevitable result of the car being made to be more comfortable and refined than its predecessors.
Is it just me?
What should I look at getting instead that actually feels mechanical and less effortless? A petrol Saxo/106? An MX5? mk1 MR2?
So I've recently been driving a slightly sheddy Citroen Saxo diesel and finding it more fun to drive than my Alfa 156 V6. The Alfa is of course very pretty, very comfy, nice to drive (though everything's a little over-assisted) and has an utterly fantastic engine.
The Citroen meanwhile, is as refined as a tin of beans, has an engine that when new had a quarter of the Alfa's power and feels like it probably has even less now. Being an NA diesel it doesn't really rev either, so every road becomes a case of foot-to-the-floor and working the gearbox to keep the revs up, trying to be as smooth as possible through corners to keep the exit speed up etc. Occasionally annoying, but often quite amusing.
The problem with the Alfa is that its almost too good to be fun most of the time - the engine is just a complete get out of jail free card and aside from a fantastic gearchange the rest of the car feels a bit more detached - other than the over-light steering though, its just the inevitable result of the car being made to be more comfortable and refined than its predecessors.
Is it just me?
What should I look at getting instead that actually feels mechanical and less effortless? A petrol Saxo/106? An MX5? mk1 MR2?