Driving a "regular" car

[st3ph3n]

How do people do it? Seriously.

Got my mums 51 reg 5 door civic with a 1.4 engine for today, and probably tomorrow, whilst mine is temporarily out of action. And it quite frankly astounds me at just how bad it is. The steering has a "dead zone" in the middle before actually doing anything, yet when it does turn it is so dangerously unresponsive, light and provides no feedback at all so much so that I nearly cracked the car off a kerb doing 5mph round a roundabout. I literally drove on the motorway moving the steering wheel 3-4 inches left and right without the car moving an inch.

The brakes are not bad actually.

It's gutless.

Oh except in first gear when you want to get out at a junction sharpish, then all hell breaks loose and the wheels spin like mad, all the way into 3rd.

The dashboard digs into my knees.

The only redeeming factor is the suspension is so relaxed that speed bumps are barely even felt.

That suspension of course is what's responsible for the frankly ridiculous handling.

If I find myself in a few years time with perhaps some responsibilites and the need for a sensible car then I might well shoot myself.

[jcscoob]

Well steven im on a hired new vectra at the moment and its kak, NO traction at the front end, just totaly boaring i was thinking about selling the scoob but after driving that piece of shat i just dont know !!!

[Gumball]

its great fun. making use of a stealth atrsa that runs about 500miles a tank is great. It gets driven like i stole it and can be blasted from cold.

you cant left foot brake cos of the (i dont know, squirrel told me once) and it loses power when you do so. so the threat of lifting off is amusing.

i like it, i look like CID and its funny. i can even drive past the police interceptors and not get a look/pull

beware of the diesel

[paddy247]

2nd the diesel, my wee Punto run about is economical, but i take my life in my hands every time I go round a corner

[st3ph3n]

Perhaps I would be better off in a regular car that wasn't geared at drivers going to the supermarket once a week, and the garden centres during the summer.

[gus the bus]

I run a 1.1 Saxo to work which is great when you jump from that to the Scooby and realise just how good they are

[2559B]

<< I run a 1.1 Saxo to work which is great when you jump from that to the Scooby and realise just how good they are >>

Agreed !!!

I have a wee Rover 214 that I use for the work commute ....... makes you appreciate the scoob even more !!!

[oobster]

Wish i could afford a wee second car to keep the scoob mileage down a bit.

Mrs has got a 1.4 automatic Pug 206 and it's a nippy wee bugger. Quite the opposite from yer mum's Civic st3ph3n - steering is VERY sensitive. Turn the wheel 5mm and the car has shot over the other side of the road. You can't take a corner smoothly - every bend in the road ends up being taken as if it's a 90-deg turn!

Unfortunately she needs it every day for work, otherwise i''d run about in that during the week.

[McGoo]

Agree. It is like that old saying of sorts, its great to travel but its always good to come home to what you're used to. It is surprisingly good to step into the Scooby after driving other machines.

When I have to use my other half's runaround ( 1.2 Corsa ) for any reason, I find myself planting the right foot and then rocking back and forward in my seat willing the acceleration to kick in, hoping the rocking forward will somehow mystically add another 150bhp to the "Foxy Vauxy". Never happens though. But when I need a car, any car, the missus' Corsa is the best coz it gets me from A to B and thats the important thing. Perhaps I'll secretly install NOS on it and not tell her !!

Having driven a few borrowed and hire cars recently, I was impressed by the

1. Audi A6 Avant Sport ( 2.0 TDi ) for handling under load, comfort over distance ( 1600 miles ), cabin specification, build and surprisingly good torque and take off when planting in any gear. A true European Mile Muncher.

2. Pug 307 SW ( 1.6 TDi ) for fuel economy, layout of the cabin, specifcation and load size for an estate.

3. New Nissan Micra for the cabin size / height at the driver seat.

Have not been impressed by

1. Ford Focus Estate ( 1.6 Petrol ) for build quality, seemed cheap and handling under load was a bit "bouncy".

2. Ford Fiesta 1.1 for absolutely dreadful handling and steering feedback at anything more than 40mph. Instructions should be.."Turn Steering Wheel - clockwise or anti-clockwise - in the direction yuo wish to travel, wait 5 seconds, car will move in the required direction"

3. New Renault Megane for confusing the hell out of me with the Key Card Slot and Start Button, and all round visibility from the drivers position is poor with the positioning of the A pillars.

There you go then, move over Jezza, I should be on Top Gear !!

C'mon let's hear your reviews of other marques and models. Proper reviews mind not just "well it ain't as good as a Scooby"

Edited to Add :

My old boy used to have a Hyundai Accent which was THE worst car to drive in the world. A blamange with wheels would have been better. Eventually he got rid of it but traded it in for a newer model !!!! AAARRRGGGGGG It was just as bad. Did he not listen !! Thankfully for him, he's seen the light and punted it. Not before time.

[st3ph3n]

I suppose part of my problem is that I've got my car well sorted handling wise with the Whiteline droplinks, Tein springs, proper geometery. So when I drive something else it's always going to rear its head.

1) VW Passat Saloon and Estate. TD, but not sure what models they were but the 4 or 5 I've driven were all good, but not as good as they could have been. Steering was decent. Driving position wasn't so good. Engine was top notch.

2) Laguna Estate. Another TD. Engine was useless, handling was woeful, not comfortable, dodgy instruments, gearbox made of either jelly or granite depending on what gear you were going for.

3) Merc C class 180K - My dad's old car. Not bad but not good. Dodgy build quality. Reasonable engine. The automatic gearbox from hell. Unpredictable ar5e out action with the traction control off in the rain. Not had a shot of his new C class Diesel with the sport pack, but the interior is a whole different ball game to the last car. It has massive stoppers on it too, and sports springs. But a weak engine looking at the specs.

4) The aforementioned Civic - not a patch on my '98 S reg 1.4 Civic Hatch, very disappointing.

5) My brother's 1.0 Corsa - PHUT PHUT.

6) My 2001 Vectra (previous car) - Any more front end lift and it would have been doing backflips. Surprisingly good in the corners when not touching the accelerator, but give it even a gentle nudge and you were understeering all over the shop.

And finally one from well back in the archives:

7) 4.3 Litre Supercharged Cadillac DeVille. Or was it 5 litre? Can't remember. Cornering ability - NILLLLLLLLLLLLLL.

[Gumball]

im too busy at the shat, i mean sharp end of IT to look at how we got onto the list of cars suitable.

VW Passat,

VW Bora

VW Golf

Ford Mondeo

Vauxhall Shatstra

are all cool for cats when it comes to tackling the M8 in rush hour. scoobs on that road in that environment are nae use. you need something you can scrape against other cars as you fight for possession of tarmac between the hours of 0730-1000 and 1700-1830

[fai17]

General cars are Boring full stop.

But they have their place in the community so that we can over take them on the back roads

I have a VW Sharan TDI Auto which i use for work and shifting things.

[ScoobyAndy]

You all want Suzuki Ignis sports as your second cars Goes like stink and sticks to the road like glue..

[lescazscoob]

i been using father in laws 2l calibra for a few days i wheel spun at every junction and felt like i had to pedal to go faster. felt like i had just passed test waiting for the big gap to pull out as it didnt have the power? only good thing to say about it was that £10 went a lot further in that petrol tank than i would have got!!

[Ken 275]

I think the point is that your own cars are tailored and customised to your own requirements and therefore feel "right". Jumping into a bog standard Vectra or Mondeo type job will never be as good as what you are used to.

FWIW, my Old Boy's got a Volvo 940 which I use occasionally for moving stuff and it's not too bad. The RWD is a refreshing change and it is a nice, relaxing cruiser. I'll never understand why Swedish cars are so crap in the snow though.

The exhaust's a hell of a lot quieter than a Scoobysport too!

K.

[st3ph3n]

Well I'm getting used to it. Went down the Glasgow meet in it. Only rattled my knee off the dashboard once.

Keeping it straight on the motorway is a pain, but cornering isn't bad. V-Max is a buck and a dime.

[bigdavie]

my 2nd car is better than all of them lmao its big 'diesel and has a taxi plate on the back !! everyone gets out the way !!