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Jul 30, 2013 11:48:21 GMT
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I'm in agreement with g40jon. The most fun to drive early Polo I've driven was a GT. I'm sure you know the specs, 1272 mpi engine with 75bhp. Coupled to the low ratio differential these have makes for a great drive especially on the back roads. The G40 I had was way quicker (dyno'd @ 181bhp!) but you obviously had to be a LOT more careful. Essentially the same car but it felt quite different. The mk2 Polo will be fine with an ABD conversion, the 1.4 engine is less rev happy but a smoother more torquey unit. Good luck with it Tim.
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Jul 30, 2013 11:52:03 GMT
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James Hunt used to drive an A35 van. During an interview he said he could push the van to the limit using all his skills learnt over the years yet still be below the speed limit. If he did that in the V8 Merc he had at home then it'd be doing well over 100MPH to give him the same thrill as 30-50 mph in the A35.
Paul H
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Jul 30, 2013 12:00:18 GMT
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[quote author=" EmDee" source="/post/1817578/thread" timestamp="1375184136 Anyway, as a fellow mk2 polo owner all I have to say is that it does get way better with more power. Mine has about 135 and yes I do have to exercise some restraint, but I don't think you'll be disappointed with your 80 or so.[/quote] Oi Martin, exactly when have you exercised any restraint when driving your Polo?!! Braaaaarp Braaaaarp!
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Jul 30, 2013 12:03:38 GMT
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i used to much prefer driving and have more fun in my wife's 140bhp escort convertible around town than my 300 brake impreza i had at the time as it was just too fast to enjoy if you tried putting your foot down on anything other than a big a road. I've now got a bmw 318is as a daily and its great fun
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Its not broken, its resting! Max signature image height: 80px
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Jul 30, 2013 17:52:16 GMT
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There's a certain bit of rd round here,that i love to drive down .... its a winding rd,some small dips and 'crests', really works the steering and gearchanges,the hedges make you feel like you're going faster than you are .......
I must point out that i'm only going at 40 mph (my legal limit) and i can see clearly over the hedges ...... the vehicle mentioned is my works DAF skip wagon. (5900cc straight 6, 9 ton unladen weight) I have done the same road in my car, much much faster, but it never did give me the same feeling.
So as has been said,i guess it must be the feeling of driving a 'non' sporty model quickly thats the key ??
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Jul 30, 2013 18:58:32 GMT
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There's a certain bit of rd round here,that I love to drive down .... its a winding rd,some small dips and 'crests', really works the steering and gearchanges,the hedges make you feel like you're going faster than you are ....... I must point out that I'm only going at 40 mph (my legal limit) and I can see clearly over the hedges ...... the vehicle mentioned is my works DAF skip wagon. (5900cc straight 6, 9 ton unladen weight) I have done the same road in my car, much much faster, but it never did give me the same feeling. So as has been said,I guess it must be the feeling of driving a 'non' sporty model quickly thats the key ?? ;)Love it.
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Jul 30, 2013 20:23:46 GMT
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Just put the engine in and see what it's like, if it's not as much fun, upgrade the handling and braking to counter balance. Allowing you to have the performance of the 1.4 and letting you run more speed into corners and late braking, which should help put the fun factor back into the 1.4 conversion if needs be.
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Jul 30, 2013 22:07:04 GMT
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I think this is really interesting. Loads of things at play like others have said.
I have a 310bhp Volvo and it's pretty damn quick. It used to have 260bhp, I thought more power would make it more fun as it seemed lacking to me. More fun now? Nope, not really. It's too sanitised from steering feel, noise, vibration, on the limit handling. I have a 165bhp Toledo that had 120bhp when I first owned it. More fun now? Oh yes. The extra performance is on top of a driving experience that always felt exciting in the first place. I reckon the right balance of power and a fun chassis is the key. Your Micra will no doubt still feel fun with more power all else being equal, but it is probably a game of diminshing returns. At some point, the power would overshadow everything else too, but I think that may be beyond your plans. I have started to realize recently that 'fun at fifty' is the end goal for me, not out and out performance. That isn't me chasing some kind of suburban middle aged wife swapping, but how much fun you can have without going over 50 mph. I think with roads becoming more and more choked up, and more rural roads moving from 60mph limits to 50 and 40, we have to be able to get our driving thrills at more modest speeds. I'm sure the rise in track days over the last 10 years has something to do with more and more performance being available in a car, but nowhere to exploit it. I am a long term subscriber to evo magazine, whose strapline is 'the thrill of driving'. I started to spot that a number of the writers were actually running fairly modest (and often classic) machinery as their own transport. Cars that have the right balance of power and a good chassis. If these guys, after driving hundreds of different cars in pursuit of that thrill, then choose cars that aren't all about ultimate performance, it indicates something to me. Not sure I know what point I'm trying to make now, but nice to talk about it all the same.....
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Smiler
Posted a lot
I no longer own anything FWD! Or with less than 6 cylinders, or 2.5ltrs! :)
Posts: 2,492
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Jul 30, 2013 22:29:31 GMT
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Haven't read all the replies as it's late but a friend of mine had a Mitsubishi Evo7 for six months before chopping it in as he preferred his 2.0ltr converted old Nova. The Evo didn't challenge him as it performed too well. He was merely a passenger giving directions to it. The Nova he could drive on the limit which always gets the blood flowing.
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www.Auto-tat.co.uk'96 Range Rover P38 DSE (daily driver) '71 Reliant Scimitar SE5 GTE 3.0ltr Jag V6 Conversion '79 Reliant Scimitar SE6A 3.0ltr 24valve Omega Conversion '85 Escort Cabrio 2.0 Zetec - Sold '91 BMW 525i - Sold '82 Cortina 2.9i Ghia Cosworth - Sold '72 VW Campervan - Sold '65 LandRover 88" - Sold
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Haven't read all the replies as it's late but a friend of mine had a Mitsubishi Evo7 for six months before chopping it in as he preferred his 2.0ltr converted old Nova. The Evo didn't challenge him as it performed too well. He was merely a passenger giving directions to it. The Nova he could drive on the limit which always gets the blood flowing. I found that with the Evo, I had an Evo 4, and you could tell it did the work always pushing you. You'd do 30mph and it felt like it wanted you to do 50mph and so on, whatever speed it wanted more. It was so well "planted" that it felt it would do 150mph round bends.
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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The most fun I've ever had driving a car was in any one of my Yugos with the front springs chopped and the rear leaf removed.
The 903 OHC begged to be revved and it handled like a go-cart. It may have only done about 55mph, but you could do that everywhere!
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A few years ago, the powers that be in the motorcycle GP road racing world found out that the 250s sometimes had higher cornering speeds than the 500s. Some of the 250s had qualifying times that would get a good place in a 500cc grid. As the 250s were lighter and more usable. the 500s were heavier and difficult to get the best of. They did allow smaller bikes in the 500 races. But they didn't get anywhere as they were outgunned on the straights and held up in the corners. I suppose you had to be a total 2 stroke nutter to get past the 500s on the smaller bikes. But maybe Simpson helmets, jeans, bomber jacket and trainers weren't ACU approved gear.
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Clement
Europe
ambitious but rubbish
Posts: 2,095
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My 48bhp Cortina is huge fun on winding roads especially in the wet, you can almost feel it dancing on the tarmac, just on the verge of sliding around but still being composed. Well, once I hit a bump on the road while going out of a 25mph corner, the back stepped out and I felt like I was a talented driver because I caught it. The engine was so quickly out of breath that you kinda have to wring it to get any performance out of it, but once you're at the speed you want it's not a problem anymore.
In comparison, the Giulia (103bhp) feels a lot more composed, almost less fun with my completely absent driving skills and courage.
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Copey
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,845
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Jul 31, 2013 11:20:45 GMT
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i am in the fast car slow camp, you don't need to use the power all the time and you don't need your foot to the floor to be able to have fun, but when you need the power its there
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1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire GLSi with 2.0 Zetec 1985 Ford Capri 3.0 (was a 2.0 Laser originally)
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bortaf
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,549
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Jul 31, 2013 12:31:44 GMT
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The car i miss the most was my 1.1 Mk4 escort XR3i rep, loads of fun at walking pace ! TBH it's the same reason i love my P100 so much, slow cars IMHO are never more dangerous than a fast car i cant think of more than 1 or 2 incidents were i got away thinking "you know what that would have been safer if i had more power" and those few were all overtakes that i should have waited on, so my fault for getting into that position of needing more power not the lack of said power.
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R.I.P photobucket
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