And some of my previous
cars...
Renault 5 GTturbo. Mine was an F reg Mk2 and for sheer torque
and acceleration it was hard to beat. I also loved the
handling and it was cheap to buy. Only real problems were
reliability (broken clutches/clutch cables, turbo fans
blowing up, dodgy electrics, water and oil leaks), cost
of spares and the fear of it being stolen every time I
left it. I only had one break-in, but the guy robbed the
575watt stereo I'd spent months saving for and all
weekend installing so I was not a happy chappy.
Toyota MR2 Mk1. A total contrast to the standard 'hot
hatch', but to me more of a true sports car. OK so it
probably wasn't as fast as the GTi's through the bends
(although it doesn't hang about), but the experience was
more rewarding with the low driving position, minimal
bonnet view and that beautiful twin cam 16v engine note
coming from behind you. The G reg Toyota never let me
down in 2 years (I also had an early D plate) and I never
bought a single spare (it did have a new water pump, but
then so did my earlier one and it was on warranty
anyway). Insurance was also relatively cheap. I think the
only drawback is lack of space....in the end I sold mine
to get something that would at least take my mountain
bike in the back... plus the fact you cannot get a decent
set of speaker enclosures anywhere in the passenger
compartment! I had to build mine specially to fit behind
the seats. (In fact I've still got them if anyone's
interested - sounded quite good with a 4x100 watt amp).
My
4th 205, after an XT (1.4carb) and two 1.6GTi's. The Peugeot 1.9GTi (pre-cat) is obviously faster than the 1.6,
but there's not such a large margin as you may think! I
found the 1.6's handling actually better (well, more
'chuckable' and evenly balanced) than the 1.9 and there's
also a more progressive power build up, right into the
red. Essentially what you get with the 1.9 is more torque
such that flooring the throttle at any time gives you the
acceleration you need. With the 1.6 it's very much a case
of winding the revs up before the power comes in,
although this is no hardship. The downside of the 205 is
it's pretty flimsy build quality, and the nightmare
'lurching' you get at low revs - it really cheeses
you off...but that is about all, and when blasting down a
country road you soon forget. I thought about buying
another one of these, but the days of leaded petrol are
coming to an end.....
Renault 5 GTturbo. Mine was an F reg Mk2 and for sheer torque
and acceleration it was hard to beat. I also loved the
handling and it was cheap to buy. Only real problems were
reliability (broken clutches/clutch cables, turbo fans
blowing up, dodgy electrics, water and oil leaks), cost
of spares and the fear of it being stolen every time I
left it. I only had one break-in, but the guy robbed the
575watt stereo I'd spent months saving for and all
weekend installing so I was not a happy chappy.
