I’ve recently been thinking over what I want from driving. What is fun on the road? Is light cars with low power better than heavier cars with big power?
Perhaps I should let you in on my car history. My first car was a mk4 Ford Fiesta with a dreadful 1.3 engine from the dark ages. I got this car while dating a girl who lived out in the sticks and my commute to her’s was down incredibly twisty country lanes. I absolutely kicked the living crap out that car and you know what? It was immensely fun. Okay the engine was horrid, I even hated it at 19 for its lack of anything, but the chassis was so fun, I could throw it about and know it’s limits very easily.
Then came my quest for power. At university I ended up with a Audi A4 b5 1.9 tdi. It was mapped, 150 bhp or so and felt pretty rapid compared to the fiesta. It handled okay, but it had more power so the “fun” came from trying to cain it on straights. As time went on I got bored of the small powerband and yearned for something to rev.
When my mother passed I decided to get something else, something faster and went for an Audi S3 8L. I ended up mapping it to 260bhp and that felt rapid for a few months. Then the power bug hit. Hybrid turbos, downpipes etc quickly led to engine rebuilds and big turbo conversions to the sound of 420bhp. It was fun, in a certain way. Obliterating cars behind was a big laugh, the car rarely lost traction with the Haldex controller and I could throw it around with confidence and usually at big speed. The feeling of speed wasn’t really there till bonkers numbers and it didn’t really feel fun until that kind of pace. The fun seemed to be how fast you could take a road.
When my insurance came up at nearly double the cost the following year I decided enough was enough and broke the car I had fell out of love with. I replaced it with an Octavia vrs 2009 mapped to 250bhp. It’s still reasonably quick, it’s comfortable but my God it’s boring. Back roads aren’t fun to me, I don’t feel I know what’s going on from the steering and it’s not that much cheaper than the s3. It’s a good car as an all rounder but it’s not fun, to me anyway.
This got me questioning, what do I find fun? Thinking back to my Fiesta days it was fun but really needed more power and a more fun engine, probably what the puma was (never drove it). I rented a new 320d auto last year which did 0-60 in 7 and more importantly to me, 30-70 in 6.8 and felt a good compromise between not too slow and not too quick. Perhaps something lightish (1250kg) with modest power (200ish) is the way to go or is something like a Suzuki swift sport the answer?
A stretch of the m1 near me has 70mph 24/7 cameras now so it’s obvious where speed enforcement is going. Cars are much faster, much more capable, bigger and insulted but the speed limits are the same as the 60s and roads are the same size.
Who here has felt that low power low weight is better for fun on the road? Who has made the move from big power? Do I look back on my Fiesta days with rose tinted glasses? I fear I’ll miss power but I’m not sure if that’s a male thing.
Any opinions on people moving from big power or have done would be very interesting to hear
.
Perhaps I should let you in on my car history. My first car was a mk4 Ford Fiesta with a dreadful 1.3 engine from the dark ages. I got this car while dating a girl who lived out in the sticks and my commute to her’s was down incredibly twisty country lanes. I absolutely kicked the living crap out that car and you know what? It was immensely fun. Okay the engine was horrid, I even hated it at 19 for its lack of anything, but the chassis was so fun, I could throw it about and know it’s limits very easily.
Then came my quest for power. At university I ended up with a Audi A4 b5 1.9 tdi. It was mapped, 150 bhp or so and felt pretty rapid compared to the fiesta. It handled okay, but it had more power so the “fun” came from trying to cain it on straights. As time went on I got bored of the small powerband and yearned for something to rev.
When my mother passed I decided to get something else, something faster and went for an Audi S3 8L. I ended up mapping it to 260bhp and that felt rapid for a few months. Then the power bug hit. Hybrid turbos, downpipes etc quickly led to engine rebuilds and big turbo conversions to the sound of 420bhp. It was fun, in a certain way. Obliterating cars behind was a big laugh, the car rarely lost traction with the Haldex controller and I could throw it around with confidence and usually at big speed. The feeling of speed wasn’t really there till bonkers numbers and it didn’t really feel fun until that kind of pace. The fun seemed to be how fast you could take a road.
When my insurance came up at nearly double the cost the following year I decided enough was enough and broke the car I had fell out of love with. I replaced it with an Octavia vrs 2009 mapped to 250bhp. It’s still reasonably quick, it’s comfortable but my God it’s boring. Back roads aren’t fun to me, I don’t feel I know what’s going on from the steering and it’s not that much cheaper than the s3. It’s a good car as an all rounder but it’s not fun, to me anyway.
This got me questioning, what do I find fun? Thinking back to my Fiesta days it was fun but really needed more power and a more fun engine, probably what the puma was (never drove it). I rented a new 320d auto last year which did 0-60 in 7 and more importantly to me, 30-70 in 6.8 and felt a good compromise between not too slow and not too quick. Perhaps something lightish (1250kg) with modest power (200ish) is the way to go or is something like a Suzuki swift sport the answer?
A stretch of the m1 near me has 70mph 24/7 cameras now so it’s obvious where speed enforcement is going. Cars are much faster, much more capable, bigger and insulted but the speed limits are the same as the 60s and roads are the same size.
Who here has felt that low power low weight is better for fun on the road? Who has made the move from big power? Do I look back on my Fiesta days with rose tinted glasses? I fear I’ll miss power but I’m not sure if that’s a male thing.
Any opinions on people moving from big power or have done would be very interesting to hear
.
