lozgti1

Just reading Evo,Letters page and article on various Lotus Elises all got me thinking

I'm sick of all technology.Flappy paddles and drivers aids.Bluetooth as selling Point,sport And eco buttons etc

Just like Colin Chapman's principle.Just need rev counter,Speedo,seats,etc.New cars are just becoming less and less appealing

What do you prefer? All your gizmos or simple stuff ?

Take me back to the 80's please!

Matteeboy

It is getting silly. Take a BMW - another owner won't ask you what engine it's got, they'll ask you what options you have.

What's happened to weight? Why do people forget that complex stuff breaks expensively and much of it distracts you?

An Elise has no space but I like the idea of simply stuff that works. Also look at 4WD land - the ONLY simply 4x4 you can buy is a Land Rover Defender which sadly, breaks down a lot. A neighbour has an old Daihatsu Fourtrak - totally bombproof, goes anywhere. If you don't want LR, you have to get some completely "luxuried" up massive thing weighing 2.5 tonnes++ or that is just crap off road.

richs2891

There does need to be a balance, There is a lot of unnecessary things in cars eg , things like electric adjustment seats and electric steering columns - (a personal hate of mine as utter waster of time, as I set them once and never adjust them). Air cooled leather seats, the list goes on,
Standard sat nav - never found one that better for features and easier to upgrade than an £100 Tom Tom, just give me a point where I can slot a normal sat nav in and a phone mount and I would be happy. Multi point traction control - just on and off for me, traction control on a 4x4 - now that makes me laugh - give me a lockable lsd any day. Will you see the current Range Rover or Disco with all its electronics in 15 / 20 years time going around a 4x4 pay and play site - I doubt it as all the electronics will have broke !

Richard

Paullen

iTrader: (2)

A bit more controversial, but what about all the safety features? Crash bars, ABS, air bags etc

grahamc

iTrader: (10)

Although I do understand where you are coming from...... And I will run a "drivers" car alongside the GTR, I do like the gadgets.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I'd go back to my MkI Escort Mexico tomorrow....or better still, the Lotus Cortina I had. The induction roar from a pair of Webber 40 DCOE's is to die for, forget your burble......

I really always wanted a Twin Cam Escort, too, but never got one.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

I owned an S1 Elise for 3 years and never have I been in a car that felt more in touch with the road. As a driving for fun tool it was superb, but as a method of getting from A to B it sucked. It was hard to get in and out of, had no room anywhere and was impossibly noisy ..... I loved it, but was glad it was a second car.

I did get to test its crash worthiness at first hand though. I was hit by a suspected drunk driver who drove off despite the front of his car being mashed. He spun me into a dry stone wall. I hit the wall with the front and back of the Elise twice each end and ended up 90 degrees across the road on a dark wet November night. I walked away unscathed but the Elise was a writee off. Two of the brake disc even cracked in half as did two of the alloys. A sad day, but to be honest I had had my fill by then. Bought an Integra Type R next.... that was a brilliant car

ATWRX

iTrader: (10)

Fully with the OP here, I love my Scoob, ABS and air bags to keep me safe, no Traction Control and everything else is pretty basic, it's about as raw as you can find these days.
I had a TVR Cerbera, which I would have back tomorrow, it didn't break down and was just an amazing car, although it was a weekend car, I tried to use it as much as I could.
It was loud, brash, unforgiving, raw and an absolute hoot to drive, even at low speeds through town. Again, no real comforts, no air bag, no abs, no tc, just leather seats, a heating system that worked and a long throttle to control the power (That was TVR's traction control system, a throttle that was about 36" long ), but it was just amazing and an occasion to drive every time you got in it.

hodgy0_2

funnily enough got my Caterham thingy out the last weekend for the first blast of the summer

it does have a cigarette lighter, but no doors, fantastic (although I don't smoke)

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Me being fairly young, I haven't ever experienced a "proper drivers" car so I do not have anything to compare to, and I doubt I ever will.

All this technology and electronics is the new way to drive. But I understand what you lot are saying.

You guys are all old farts

CrisPDuk

I run a Mk2 Golf 16V as my every day car, what are these 'gizmos' you speak of

Back in those days, VW (and Peugeot with the 205) were perfectly happy to make you pay extra even for power steering

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

if my classic had proximity entry and start, I'd not complain.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I drove a Westfield SEi last week and realised there are limits to the less is more theory:

Yes I could grab a road wheel and easily lift a rear wheel clean off the ground (not the front as it has a pig-iron Pinto engine ). But...it was a little too OTT to be used as a daily driver....certainly needed a few mod cons, like doors, a heater, maybe a roof and boot too.

It has to be said though that things are going too far....Our 530GT was purchased for mile munching comfort to drive across Europe and still have space for a loads of luggage (point to note - the runflat tyres work OK in France and Spain...no potholes ). It does 40+mpg, it does 0-60 in 6.7 seconds. BUT it weights just shy of 2000kg!!!! And it handles and brakes like it..that's not to say it doesn't handle...it does handle well, its also not to say it doesn't stop...it does. Until...you reach the limits of grip and realise you have two tons to stop or change direction - Not good, hence its never driven in fury...its just too over-assisted and devoid of feel in terms of forces the chassis is going through. I just keep wondering...how good this car could be if it was 700kg lighter?

Oddly, my old Jag XJ-s a car iconically criticised by the motoring press and public for being too detached to drive yet has far more feel than many modern cars. OK I have a RS steering rack and later specification shocks/dampers (basically what is known as sports pack, as all current genuine or OE spec replacement parts for old XJs are now of sports pack spec), but essentially the rest of the car is unchanged.

The steering loads up when cornering hard, its also very precise - no wooliness or vagueness (a common Jag criticism). The brakes are firm, a nice hard pedal that is very proportional to effort. Even the accelerator pedal feels proportional. This is all from a car that weighs close to 1700kg and was always regarded as a barge! Yet it just feels more attached to drive than a brand new 5 series!! Same with new Jag XFs and Mercs E classes with their spongy over-assisted brakes and dis-proportionate steering.

I also drove a Rover Metro GTi last week. Wow, a rare beast! No don't laugh, it was mint...30,000miles from new. I used to hate Metros for generally being rusty death traps, but now I'm wondering, there was nothing wrong with the way these cars drove, in fact it reminded how bad small cars are now, just if only they were safe in a crash....if MCC could make a Smart Fortwo safe(ish). All Rover had to do was use better quality metal and construction? A bit more weight, but not much if done right.

Definitely the sporty "super minis" of today are anything but...the Suzuki Swift is the closest I driven, but it still felt heavier and not so spritely as a 21 year old Metro! But then it is 250 odd kg heavier with a engine bogged down to comply with a load of emission/mpg crap.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

I liked Alec Issigonis's view.....it you had a car that handled and stopped well...you could AVOID accidents

He was right...to a point. The Mini didn't exactly have a glowing safety record

zip106

Well, I used to think that.

My Exige had no power steering, but thank **** for the airbag and side impact bar....

http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/h...8/P7010348.jpg

...without those, I may still be aching at best!

So for me, I'd like to keep them.