It'll probably depend a bit on vehicle, implementation and what people want from a vehicle but the 7 speed in my Navara is smooth, responsive but there is enough going on with it I can manipulate its behaviour via throttle input, etc. if I desire.
Worst car you have driven
- Thread starter Milkyway
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It'll probably depend a bit on vehicle, implementation and what people want from a vehicle but the 7 speed in my Navara is smooth, responsive but there is enough going on with it I can manipulate its behaviour via throttle input, etc. if I desire.
You can't tell someone else that they prefer a MK1 focus over a MK7 Fiesta, that would be your opinion not theirs as different people value different things in a car.
It's a bit like me insisting that your favourite food is a Chicken Tikka Vindaloo and that you are wrong if you tell me otherwise.
Don
There's nowt wrong with the Shoveit. Used to have a right laugh in one of those. RWD and 0 grip on crossply tyres made for a fun combination.
Have fond memories of learning to drive in my Dads Chevette... once you got used to the on / off clutch action.
Bit if a harsh ride, but nippy enough & handled well.
My first car was an Escort Mk2 1.3L.... that was a hoot too.
Get the urge sometimes, to be let loose in some of the older cars that I have driven...just for a day.
Even better... get to drive some of the cars my Dad owned.
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Soldato
Protons have a huge following. One even won the Concours de l'Ordinaire at this year's Festival of the Unexceptional. Obviously this thread is just about what Clarkson likes and dislikes.
Soldato
The 2.3L HS version was terrifying. The same horrific handling/grip, but you arrived at corners twice as fast.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
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Fiat Uno couldn’t think of a single reason why you buy one over the competition.
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This thread has brought back some good and not so good memories of some awful cars I've driven.
My cousin had a Fiat 126 which was probably the least enjoyable car I've driven. I "looked after it" for a week whilst she was away on holiday, and I didn't have a car of my own. Cramped, dreadful handling, no power, noisy, leaked, rusty, overheated after 10-15 miles and the spongiest brake pedal I've ever encountered (it was impossible to lock the wheels as the pedal hit the bulkhead first!). Thankfully it didn't pass it's next MOT and went straight to the local scrapyard.
My first car was a 1972 Mk1 Escort 1.3 Actually quite fun to drive, especially in the snow. However, reliability was a big issue and I carried around with me a toolkit at all times, including a hammer to whack the starter motor when it seized, spare distrubutor cap and points, feeler gauges, jump leads, water to top up the radiator and so on... It had a dynamo instead of an alternator, and in winter the battery would slowly lose charge through normal driving until on a freezing morning it would refuse to start without a jump start. Which reminds me, getting older cars to start in winter was a bit of a lost art as they didn't have fuel injection. Pull out the choke, pump the pedal a few times, clutch in and then turn they key and balance the throttle and choke until all 4 cylinders were firing. If you got it wrong and flooded the engine, then often a bump start down a nearby hill was required.
My mum had a Chevette. Handling was quite poor, but it could have just been this example. My girlfriend at the time got severe travel sickness every time within a few miles, as it rolled around corners. I think leaking exhaust fumes might also have been a contributing factor.
My cousin had a Fiat 126 which was probably the least enjoyable car I've driven. I "looked after it" for a week whilst she was away on holiday, and I didn't have a car of my own. Cramped, dreadful handling, no power, noisy, leaked, rusty, overheated after 10-15 miles and the spongiest brake pedal I've ever encountered (it was impossible to lock the wheels as the pedal hit the bulkhead first!). Thankfully it didn't pass it's next MOT and went straight to the local scrapyard.
My first car was a 1972 Mk1 Escort 1.3 Actually quite fun to drive, especially in the snow. However, reliability was a big issue and I carried around with me a toolkit at all times, including a hammer to whack the starter motor when it seized, spare distrubutor cap and points, feeler gauges, jump leads, water to top up the radiator and so on... It had a dynamo instead of an alternator, and in winter the battery would slowly lose charge through normal driving until on a freezing morning it would refuse to start without a jump start. Which reminds me, getting older cars to start in winter was a bit of a lost art as they didn't have fuel injection. Pull out the choke, pump the pedal a few times, clutch in and then turn they key and balance the throttle and choke until all 4 cylinders were firing. If you got it wrong and flooded the engine, then often a bump start down a nearby hill was required.
My mum had a Chevette. Handling was quite poor, but it could have just been this example. My girlfriend at the time got severe travel sickness every time within a few miles, as it rolled around corners. I think leaking exhaust fumes might also have been a contributing factor.
Is this not how every single automatic gearbox works?
With the 7 speed I can get a good compromise, when I want to, between the auto doing its thing and intentionally manipulating its behaviour for a more interesting drive.
Less gears it loses refinement, which is especially noticeable in a vehicle where ride/handling isn't exactly refined in the first place but same applies on smaller stuff, more gears you don't really have the same effect - though it is better if you just want to waft along in comfort.
One of my friends in college had a bright yellow Uno - it was terrible but funny at the same time kind of in an Inbetweeners kind of way (and that was before Inbetweeners).
Sounds fun, not as bad as the wife's old 2002 Jeep Though, that wouldn't start due to failed glow plugs & the bulkhead stopped you getting at plug No 5. So in the winter it was a ****. Used to leave a hairdryer pointed at the intake manifold in the morning for about 20 mins whilst I had a shower & a shave & got dressed if I needed to use her car for any reason like it was snowy, it was the only way to start it as below about 5c it was impossible otherwise.
Soldato
Soldato
Talking of trying to start a car in the cold...This is a funny.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFM1mAslzFk
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFM1mAslzFk
Yep, certainly agree with you there, felt like a 90s car interior wise. We had one a hire car for work. The car had under 1000 miles on it we found surface rust under the bonnet already. I don’t know how they done it, ride wise it managed to feel willowy and crashy all at the same time.
Sounds like my 205...It had a nice ‘ting’ to it.
It was a Junior diesel ( Denim interior, complete with orange stitching)
Once you got it going it was OK .. great handling.