Is having a fast car all it's cracked out to be?

[Bailes1992]

As I'm now on company insurance I'm insured to drive my old Mans T5.
Bare in mind it's a FWD Volvo estate with 230bhp. 0-60 in 6.7s and 150mph.
Now I had to drop my Dad off and pick him up from Cardiff. Once I put my foot down and found it pointless.
It's too fast, you put for foot down for a few seconds and before you know it your in ban territory.

Now my HDi90 I can hammer, drive as hard as I like and never really break the speed limit. And it still does 47mpg

Anyone else feel this way?

[Gary406]

dont get caught and you can have as much fun as you like
i would sooner have 2 much power than 2 less ...

[highlander]

i would sooner have 2 much power than 2 less ...

Having owned a 1149cc Renault Clio (57 HP), and having driven a 6192cc Lamborghini Murcielago (572 HP), I can honestly say that I would agree with Gary

It's not just about 0-60 times, it's not just about your top speed - a fun car is fun due to a combination of the power-to-weight ratio, the steering/suspension setup, the weight distribution, and (most importantly) how it makes you feel. You should never feel that you're fighting a car to get performance out of it, but similarly, you should never feel that the car is going to kill you - it's about striking the balance.

I love the way my Coupe drives; sure it's only 160 HP, and maybe she could do with another 50 - 100 HP so that the performance can match the looks, but she can still move pretty damn sharpish, and make a great noise when she does. Such an improvement over the old 1.8 saloon in absolutely every respect.

[Doggy]

....or get a fast HDi.

[Welly]

I think it's good to have a big shove of power for overtaking.

I enjoy the feel of a powerful car, you don't have to rag the nuts off it all the time but you can give it a 'squirt' when you want and enjoy the acceleration.

I do get what you mean though bailes, we should all drive steadily and economically and all at the same pace. I suppose the ideal set up would be to have an economical 1.6HDi for normal use and then a good track car for weekend events

[gumby6371]

I can sit on the fence on this one, it is really nice to know that you have enough power to overtake if you want/need to but you do need to be very concious of what you're doing at all times.
I was taking my kids back to there mom's on sunday afternoon, joined a dual carriageway behind a Berlingo who then sat there at 55. I decided to overtake, foot down but nowhere near floored it, pulled out, next thing my eldest said to me 'are you allowed to do 95 dad?'
I can honestly say I had no idea I was going that fast and that was in a 1996 1.9td.
My first thought was how pleased I was with my new car, second thought was that's an instant ban if I get caught and I need my car!!!!

[OdinEidolon]

I can say that the most fun car I've ever driven is my beloved and now scrapped Peugeot 106. Tremendous fun, perfect handling. And... 1.5 litre diesel non-turbo, 56hp, 80 mpg. EIGHTY!
It's sad knowing I'll never own a car that good anymore... they don't make them like that anymore.

[Doggy]

I think it's good to have a big shove of power for overtaking.

I enjoy the feel of a powerful car, you don't have to rag the nuts off it all the time but you can give it a 'squirt' when you want and enjoy the acceleration.

I do get what you mean though bailes, we should all drive steadily and economically and all at the same pace. I suppose the ideal set up would be to have an economical 1.6HDi for normal use and then a good track car for weekend events

I can relate to that, but suspect the 1.6HDi owner will either spend the weekends fixing it or flogging the track car to pay someone else to.

[waue1978]

As I'm now on company insurance I'm insured to drive my old Mans T5.
Bare in mind it's a FWD Volvo estate with 230bhp. 0-60 in 6.7s and 150mph.
Now I had to drop my Dad off and pick him up from Cardiff. Once I put my foot down and found it pointless.
It's too fast, you put for foot down for a few seconds and before you know it your in ban territory.

Now my HDi90 I can hammer, drive as hard as I like and never really break the speed limit. And it still does 47mpg

Anyone else feel this way?

I honestly would have thought that living in the valleys, you wouldn't need to ask such a question. One Sunday, take the 406 out along the single carriageway roads nearby. When you come across the inevitable doddery old bu**er doing 30mph in the 60 limit, overtake at the first available opportunity - preferably with a nice gap in the traffic.

The following weekend do the same test in your Dad's T5 & see how much earlier you get past...

Been a long time since I had a car quick enough to overtake on single carriageways without needing plenty of space. Think the Cav GSi was probably the best one for that, but that said, the 325tds had enough to overtake without too much drama whilst still capable of 40mpg+.

[OdinEidolon]

As I'm now on company insurance I'm insured to drive my old Mans T5.
Bare in mind it's a FWD Volvo estate with 230bhp. 0-60 in 6.7s and 150mph.
Now I had to drop my Dad off and pick him up from Cardiff. Once I put my foot down and found it pointless.
It's too fast, you put for foot down for a few seconds and before you know it your in ban territory.

Now my HDi90 I can hammer, drive as hard as I like and never really break the speed limit. And it still does 47mpg

Anyone else feel this way?

I honestly would have thought that living in the valleys, you wouldn't need to ask such a question. One Sunday, take the 406 out along the single carriageway roads nearby. When you come across the inevitable doddery old bu**er doing 30mph in the 60 limit, overtake at the first available opportunity - preferably with a nice gap in the traffic.

The following weekend do the same test in your Dad's T5 & see how much earlier you get past...

Been a long time since I had a car quick enough to overtake on single carriageways without needing plenty of space. Think the Cav GSi was probably the best one for that, but that said, the 325tds had enough to overtake without too much drama whilst still capable of 40mpg+.

With good timing both the 110 and the 2.2 have enough grunt to overtake whatever you want... you just need to take consideration of the turbo lag.

[waue1978]

With good timing both the 110 and the 2.2 have enough grunt to overtake whatever you want... you just need to take consideration of the turbo lag.

This is true, but the point I am making is that with a faster car you don't need to rely on the good timing as much. A remapped 2.2 would do the job, but the 110 is not "a fast car" - merely adequate.

There used to be a (short lived) TV series that was either on Channel 4 or 5 that used to do a test where they would follow a truck doing a set speed, then pull out to overtake & try to fully pass before they reached the end of their coned off overtaking gap. Think it was called Driven, but it had Jason Plato & Penny Mallory in it before they respectively went to 5th Gear & the also short lived Used Car Road Show (with Jason Dawe - the fat bloke that managed 1 or 2 episodes of Top Gear then took his umm-ah act to ITV).

The program was sh*te, but that was the best test I'd seen for proper power testing. A top of the range special edition Evo may put in a good time round the Top Gear test track, but it would have still been waiting for the turbo to spool up to pass that truck.

[nutski]

This is true, but the point I am making is that with a faster car you don't need to rely on the good timing as much. A remapped 2.2 would do the job, but the 110 is not "a fast car" - merely adequate.

Don't discount a remapped 110, mine was very quick as my dad reminded me last week when overtook me coming off a slip road and my 2.2 HDi is not slow

There used to be a (short lived) TV series that was either on Channel 4 or 5 that used to do a test where they would follow a truck doing a set speed, then pull out to overtake & try to fully pass before they reached the end of their coned off overtaking gap. Think it was called Driven, but it had Jason Plato & Penny Mallory in it before they respectively went to 5th Gear & the also short lived Used Car Road Show (with Jason Dawe - the fat bloke that managed 1 or 2 episodes of Top Gear then took his umm-ah act to ITV).

A mate at work gave me a link to a video about that a few weeks ago, they were showing a Polo overtaking the truck with the cones, then did it again in the same car with NOS.....

[OdinEidolon]

With good timing both the 110 and the 2.2 have enough grunt to overtake whatever you want... you just need to take consideration of the turbo lag.

This is true, but the point I am making is that with a faster car you don't need to rely on the good timing as much. A remapped 2.2 would do the job, but the 110 is not "a fast car" - merely adequate.

Of course, however many will agree that the expense of having a very powerful car is not worth the smile it can put on your face when overtaking. Still, when a certain horsepower limit is passed I guess it's more a matter of look mine's bigger than yours... ahem passion.

[sirwiggum]

I had an Alfa GTV 2.0 TS, was only 150bhp but was quite light and quick. There was nowhere really to rag it properly, did get a couple of good drives out of it, but most of the time you're stuck in traffic and no real overtaking opportunities.

The HDi 90, I didn't notice going from 150 to 90 bhp that much day to day. OK on the motorway it took a bit longer to get up to speed, but stuck in traffic or following someone at 60mph, you can be in a Ferrari and you're going to get the same journey out of a £500 diesel car.

Current car is also 150bhp, more of a cruiser but has a good kickdown for power if needed.

[omega]

you cant beat a fast car but what is a fast car?
100,150,200,300,400+ bhp?
ferrari,scooby,etc

to me its not bhp or the name on the bonnet its the feel
a fast car should be a extension of you
its putting the car into the bend faster than you would your 406,its feeling the tyres bite knowing how far you can push before it gets messey,its knowing the car and its takeing the long way home,or getting up early just to take the car out.and when your at home you look outside and have a little smile everytime you see it.