I need a new car

All true, can't argue with any of that. FWD/four-wheel drive is, on balance safer for people who don't know what they are doing. The danger with four-wheel drive is that you might be tempted to corner too fast, believing that you are invulnerable.

 

Understeer is only safer to a point.

My car is FWD, and it will understeer if you push it, like pretty much any FWD.

However, I found that the company Audi A4 (X reg 1.8 NA, so one of the lightest engined ones) was seriously bad in terms of understeer. It was just completely unwilling to change direction on country roads, and on motorways it tramlined something awful. I think more neutrality than that is safer than excessive understeer.

 

You're not wrong - I find it can corner incredibly quickly, but it does have a sudden tendency to let go, though (so far) it's been much easier to control, and less scary than a slide on my mosickle! And it accelerates pretty quickly, though not in the same ballpark as the bike..
Still, the increased traction does allow me to drive up our hill in snow/ice that stops any non-4wd motors, which is common here in winter.. I was fed up of being stranded last year - which of course coincided with our Land Rover being off the road as well.

 

We haven't had any proper snow in Glasgow for over two years. Four wheel drive weighs more than two-wheel, thus blunting acceleration and pushing up fuel consumption.

I regard it as a marketing thing, unless you are a farmer or a country vet.

 

not always,a classic Scoob weighs 200kg less than a lardy Audi TT,hence why a Scoob is rather more rapid

 

"a classic Scoob weighs 200kg less than a lardy Audi TT,hence why a Scoob is rather more rapid"



Yes, but a RWD Scoob would be even faster still. Better steering, better fuel economy and less to go wrong, too.

 

actually,the 4wd part of a Scoob is extremely reliable,and a rwd Scoob does exist,of sorts,the STi 5 Type R V Ltd,a beastie with an adjustable diff,very rapid and not for the faint hearted

 

Sounds like fun!

 

they are fun if you know what you are doing.They are the best Scoob ever made,forget pouffy cars like the P1 (just a posh STi5 itself) or the RB5,they are the real deal,awesome cars.
I have been in one around Donnington,with a guy who went down Craner at 115 on his warm up lap...........................I don't have the ability to even think about driving one fast.

 

That's the way I'm heading at the moment. After test driving a few more cars over the weekend, I've decided to go for the "Warm" hatch option rather than an out and out hot hatch. I don't want an estate (it has to look reasonably decent and not like a family-mobile).

I liked the Leon Cupra (not R) - basically a Golf GTi, but cheaper (uses the same engine as the basic TT) - good spec for the money and loads of space. Engine seemed very refined for a reasonably powerful unit (1.8T 180bhp) and it was a pleasure to drive.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, I also looked at Golf GT TDi (130bhp) - power and economy in a quality package. Loads of torque from low down revs in any gear - it just seemed to keep pulling and pulling without any signs of strain. I must admit, I was well impressed (last time I drove a diesel was about 5 years ago and it was a very different story then!). Only problem was the dealer - couldn't get them to knock any money off (£12399 for on '03' plate with 11k on the clock) and they offered me the worst possible price for my Shitroen (£3,500) - even after complimenting me on how well looked after it was!

So it comes down to these two - I prefer the Cupra (although servicing every 10k miles is a pain in the a*se when most cars now are around 20k, but you can't have everything), although the one I looked at was sold not long after I was there. Other benefit is there aren't so many on the roads whereas the Golf is one of the most popular out there. Had a surprising insurance quote result too - not much between the Golf and Cupra (group 10 vs group 16), but £180 between the Cupra (group 16) and the Type-R (group 17). This brought the Cupra down to less than £500 which seemed pretty good value to me.

 

You can't always count on insurance groupings... a group 11 subaru forester 2.0 would have cost me more to insure than my group 13 galant 2.0. I guess that's because the insurance companies see young man + subaru = big money. That said, the new legacy would be significantly cheaper to insure due to the security on it.

Still, I'd still have a VR4:

 

Hi,

How about a Seat Ibiza cupra gti.

I have the older version and it's a nice hatch.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road_tests/?id=7

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/motoring/roadtests/roadtests_newcarnet/2002/04/11/story_163.html


You can get the new version in 2 forms. One with a 180bhp petrol engine and the other with a 155bhp diesel engine.

http://www.seatenthusiasts.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=22167

http://www.germancarfans.com/photos.cfm/photoid/3040527.001/seat/1.html

Not sure how these two perform. I hope to try them out sometime this year. The prices new may be out of budget & I don't know what the 2nd hand market is like. Here is a review of the diesel model.

http://www.channel4.com/4car/road-t...ons-2004/S/seat/ibiza-cupra/cupra-diesel.html

Also for very good value for money & very good performance look at the Skoda Fabia vrs. This is well within your budget new. Cheap insurance & good on fuel(diesel). I don't know if it will be big enough for you but well worth a look (& drive).

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,12529-1173432,00.html

http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=145&i=8014

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2003/08/08/emfab09.xml

The departed(from the forum) Paul Birkett has one of these and it looked alright. It did seem to to shift when he drove it.

SCIDB

 

I'd prefer something a bit bigger (preferably Golf / Ford Focus / Leon size ) - I think a bigger car will generally make for a more comfortable 350 mile motorway journey. I've ruled the Mini out - great fun to drive, but I think it's only good as a second car (I would need a practical car also).

Maybe that was just Birkett's driving style

I must admit to being very impressed with the latest diesel engines - they can certainly shift when you need them to.

 

Oops. Me and my mouth. Snowing like a bastard now.

 

Batfink,

is you're thinking about the Cupra, or anything else in the VAG range with the 1.8T engines, ensure its had all four ignition coils replaced with the new design, otherwise could be expensive.

 

What's wrong with the old ones ? How long do they last ?

I'm looking at getting an '03 or '53 model - are they recent enough to have the revised coils ?

 

Batfink who told you £500 every 8K
Its only the fronts that need replacing and its about £220 fitted for both.
I love my Type R you cant beat it for fun, racing factor.
As you say 6000RPM-8000RPM is the power band though its no slouch before that it just kicks more.
You can dolly around in it if you care to but i find it very hard.
Unfortunately i have to sell mine as we now need 2 cars.
Breaks my heart

Curtis

 

That was the law of averages. One guy I know replaced all 4 after 6k, another at 9k. That's the only real 'additional' cost that's put me off buying it (although the insurance leap between a 180bhp car in group 16 and a 200bhp car in group 17 is massive).

What are you going to replace it with ?

 

I find that hard to believe takes some twattish driving to do the rears in that short space of time.
My missus needs a cheap runner to go to work and back so with the money left over i may get an old Integra.

Curt