Rover 200 (Mk3) & 25 - Handling

[Tesla]

I have been thinking, the Rover 214i (Mk3 8v) I had for a couple of months was the first smaller car I have owned so the following could be down to this.

The handling on this car seemed great, very responsive and chuckable into the corners. It didn't exactly have fantastic tyres and I never threw it about so hard to generate tyre squeel or spin the car or anything but it just was good fun to drive.

Are these cars known for any sort of good handling characteristics?

I was chucking the Mondeo round a roundabout last night, took it at quite an illegal speed and coming out of the roundabout it feels a bit blurghhh and boat like. It held the roundabout really well and the feeling through the steering is fantastic, however upon exit it's a bit unsettled.

Could this be due to the chassis, it's an estate.

So, am I just seeing the differences of two chassis or are small cars better than larger cars in the handling department? If so why do F1 cars etc... have huge chassis?

 

[olv]

So, am I just seeing the differences of two chassis or are small cars better than larger cars in the handling department? If so why do F1 cars etc... have huge chassis?

F1 cars are tiny. they weigh 600kg. they are designed from scratch to do nothing other then go around corners as fast as is physically possible.

 

[Tesla]

As a typical example, the 2006 season Honda RA106 is 467.5cm long, 180cm wide and 95cm high.

Bigger than a Mondeo...

 

[ajgoodfellow]

The Mk3 200 isn't a bad handling car at all. The 25 improved on the handling by using the suspension from the 200Vi across the entire range, and the ZR further by lowering and stiffening the suspension, uprating the brakes, shocks, bushes, etc

 

[oweneades]

Bigger than a Mondeo...

But the chassis of the F1 car is much smaller isn't it?

As per your first question I think its more down to what the chassis of the car was desgned for. Your mondeo would have been designed (I would have thought) more for comfort rather than cornering ability whereas the rovers chassis I would assume would be designed more for manauvering (being smaller) which could make it feel tighter and more controlled.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Your Mondeo, being an Estate, also has a higher centre of mavity.

This will make it roll more and feel more unwiedly even if ultimate grip and cornering speeds obtainable are much higher than that with the Rover.

 

[agw_01]

That, and the fact that the Mondeo is floaty to begin with.

rg-tom's was scary! I was almost sitting on the window!

 

[JRS]

As a general rule, longer wheelbase cars are very stable in a straight line but don't turn as quick while SWB cars rotate much quicker, it's due to polar moment.

Steve Smith discussed it in a guide he wrote for the GPL racing sim - LWB F1 cars like the '67 Eagle were wonderfully stable on long, open, sweeping courses like Spa but a bit of a 'mare to hustle round the streets of Monaco. SWB cars like the Brabham BT24 on the other hand were much twitchier on the long courses but could be thrown around a tighter course with ease.

Now, as Fox pointed out you'll also get other factors. CoG, width of the car, weight and weight distribution being some of the important ones.

 

[D4VE]

the 1.4 k-series is pretty damn light, probably helped with the handling of the Rover.

 

[Jez]

To be honest neither are what i'd call "good" handling cars, the rover certainly suffers from a huge lack of grip (probably down to the tyres and it understeers like a madthing!), the perceived better handling might be down to the go kart feeling of the base model rover, and the fact it doesnt really have any power to play with, so you are always going a lot slower than it actually feels. The 200 series rovers are very chuckable however, due to them being lightweight and small, the sportier models are a fun drive when given some power to play with as well (200Vi etc)