Clio 172

Feels quick and everyone who drives ones them thinks they are...... :rolleyes:

Feel quick because they are small, noisy, made out of bakefoil and bits fall off as you drive along giving you the impression you are really motoring.

c-class 250td....
fast diesel with 340nm after a revo.......nice drifts can be had around an island:)

Has to be the Caterham, spent a morning in one at Oulton Park a while and it felt like I was well shifting. Found out after that I was only up to 80-90mph at the most.

an old metro 1.1 gta Felt very quick due to it being light (if any pedestrians sneezed you felt it would blow over) also the insane speeds you could enter roundabouts at.

Wifey had a SEAT Arosa Sport TDi 1.4 PD, in gear it was really pokey and did scare a few Saxo/Corsa/Fiesta types:thumb:

Jay Leno (American chat show host bloke with serious car buying habit) summed it up.

He said the worst thing about modern cars is 100 mph feels like 50 mph.Which is why he has bought an Atom and reckons 100 mph now feels like 200mph.

My octavia vRS is quicker than my wifes diesel Fabia,but it the Fabia that feels quicker

But you've just confirmed the pointlessness of many posts on this thread. Caterhams are fast.

You've also missed the point Kiwi.

Entry level "caterfields" are 6 and a bit to 60, all over by 110. A classic uk impreza would romp away in a straight line without too much difficulty, as would most of today's hot hatches from say 50 mph onwards, yet you will feel supercar fast in the caterfield.

If you've ever driven one, or passengered in one, you would know that.

It isnt pointless, its interesting to get subjective opinions, some say M3's don't feel that fast, or at least dont feel as fast as the figures suggest yet a Fabia VRS does feel fast, a lot of big Mercs are so smoot and powerful you have no clue of how fast it is going, like watching telly.

Go on a Go-Kart which is the ultimate expression of a slow thing (i.e. the ones you get at an arrive and drive, not proper racing ones) and tell me that 30/40 mph doesnt feel ballistic, like the time I nearly stuffed my Golf GTI (on coilovers, stiffer ARB's etc) as it felt like a wobbly barge after a cart going around a roundabout.

My 1968 Marcos coupe used to take off at about 80mph, that felt faster than it was, especially as you could not longer steer it :D

Tel, back off :mad:

The first time I went in my mate's Dad's Capri 3.0 it felt like a rocket. Then again, 138bhp was quite a lot in 1975 :D

Fiat Coupe 20V turbos are pretty quick by any standard but they feel awesome if you just nail it in 3rd and let it rev out .... it's like being shot from a catapult

There seems to be an emerging theme - for a car to feel fast it must generally have one of all of these:

* A sudden large increase in torque in a short space of time (turbo)
* Be very low to the ground
* Have paper thin build quality

TDI's fall into section 1
Caterfield's fall into section 2
Clio 172's fall into section3 !

SO the sh1tter the car, and the crappier the engine the better :D

i think it also helps if the car is a bit stiffer than the average i.e running uprated suspension or other chassis components.

my mate has recently got his '87 levin on the road and that thing feels like a rocket especially on the road down a place called lowrie's den near where i stay,mostly because of the paper thin bodywork,the odd rattle and the uprated trd shocks on the thing.it also healps that you think you are doing 100mph thanks to the clock still reading in km/h:luxhello:

i cant wait to find out how my crx feels when i get the coilovers on it:cool:

I'd have thought the softer the better! The way my 406 V6 luxo-barge used to sit back on its suspension under accelertion really made it feel like it was lugging :D

As stated TDi's
MX-5's/Caterhams/and the like as stated
ALL FRENCH Cars

I'd add "be small" to that list.

Most superminis will generally feel faster than the same performance from family cars, which will in turn feel slower than big luxobarges at the same performance/speed. (the Fabia vs Octavia comment earlier being a case in point) Admittedly, smaller can often equal worse build quality or lower to the ground, but not always. I think having less car around you heightens the sensation of speed.

Possibly also true that smooth, quiet multi-cylinder engines make less of a fuss about the performance so often aren't as conspicuously fast.

Do you think someone got panned by a Clio by any chance ?

Anyway, how do the french manage 5 star safety ratings with this paper thin build quality ?

Trim, crap, electrics woeful but build quality, where it counts is usually pretty solid, I had a 309 ages ago and it was pretty much as solid (and less rusty) than any of the Golfs I had.

my citroen vans fast:idea: dump valve high lift cam:cry: just day dreaming:sleep:

range rovers feel faster 'cos u r up high

In reply to J4CKO's thread, unfortunately, arrive and drive carts feel pretty slow regardless. However, most of the classes that race at your average owner/driver circuits (ie direct drive or clutched karts, but not gearbox - they just generally are stupidly fast) aren't really that quick (speeds in the region of 70-90 mph), but feel obscenely fast when you are trying to argue with 27 other karts wanting that same inch of tarmac.
Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but if you haven't tried one of these for kicks, get on one and see what you are missing.
Craig

Those that say Caterfields feel faster than they are obviously have been driving pretty crap ones :confused:

I got panned alright, i owned one and it was rubbish !

Drive a Caterham at 100mph, then an SL55 at the same and tell me which one feels faster....
I'd also say 0-60 in 5secs in a mid spec caterham feels quicker than the same in a 1500kg barge that can do the same and is therefore more grin inducing.

(ps - I do get your point though - Caterhams are certainly not slow though)

A classic mini has to be number one on this list. As slow as a very slow thing, but you feel like you are driving a F1 car. Even more so when you squeeze between silly gaps at 60mph-top speed!

dipster

Must be a teeny weeny 850. My 1000 Mayfair would do 86 on the flat ;)

My Atom300 feels alot quicker than it is, in that 80 feels like 130 and 130 feels lke your going way way way too fast... So much is happening around you that you get sensory overload, its very scary for a passenger...:norty:

My first nova felt faster than it was cos i changed the engine from a 1.2 to a 1.6 but didnt bother changing the old 4 speed gearbox. felt really quick but topped out at about 80! LOL!