Handling

Seconded. IMO various tyre's don't seem that different in the dry, but in the wet, s**te tyres really show up. I put a set of Uniroyal 680s on my Ka (most likely available for the cinq), and they grip a bit less in the dry than my old ones (perhaps due to more height of tread), but they grip very well in the wet. The option is to practice use of the accelerator.

Okay. Here, when you say skid, I presume you mean sideways moment rather than a loss of traction - otherwise it would be easier to handle in third gear (less effective torque at the road, and all that).

If this is the case, it may well be down to your speed! It can also be down to your technique - rather than just yanking on the steering lock, it's preferable to "roll on" the steering so that the dynamics have time to adjust to the changing acceleration. With some cars, this isn't so important (the Ka being one, it's hugely responsive). Softer cars benefit from being given a bit of time, otherwise there's a lad between the front wheels starting to steer and the rest of the car catching up (which can lead to a big lurch, and if you combine with a careful lift of the throttle, can have the car doing a 180 /cough cough/).

This is true of most cars.

Your car, or the Siecento in general?

Well, acceleration as a change in velocity also means trying to go around corners, so perhaps you are.

Generally speaking, the higher the tyre pressure, the more skittery the car is and the firmer the ride. On my Cinquecento, raising the rear tyre pressure would make it gung-ho tail end happy, which although entertaining, was occasionally scary.

Heh heh heh! Isn't that part of the entertainment?

The Siecento has basically a stiffer body than the Cinquecento, and softer suspension, so it has about the same ride. Handling wise, generally speaking and under moderate load, a reasonably soft set up is good for the wet. If it's too firm, you'll end up skipping the wheels around.

What tyres? My Cinquecento was on Michelins, 155 width (I cannot remember the profile). They were very hard wearing, they were on for over 50K before needing replacing, and they gripped well enough _and_ gave me lots of warning when they were about to let go.

Learn quicker :P. I've only been driving 12 months, but manage to avoid sliding my little FWD car all over the shop ;).

It sounds like you're getting understeer (ie, you're asking the front tyres to do too much at once, and they can't get you around the corner, so the front end washes wide of the bend). If so, you might be steering too sharply, you can very easily break traction on the front wheel by turning suddenly. If you steer smoothly, you'll find you can go quicker around bends.

The other thing you could be doing is accelerating whilst steering. It's not always a bad thing, but accelerate too hard, whilst trying to get the front tyres to steer the car, and you'll be asking them to do too much. Remember that when you accelerate, you transfer weight to the back of the car (that's what it would look like if you had scales under each wheel, at least), and hence the front tyres have less pushing them against the road, and so less grip.

The way to get around a corner / roundabout without buggering up is to brake in a straight line (braking moves weight forwards, which is useful for steering, but too much, particularly whilst trying to corner and you'll look like Tiff Needel for a second before you stuff the car into a sign sideways), steer smoothly and then accelerate smoothly as you wind off the steering. You have to be giving the engine some petrol to maintain speed around the bend and avoid fun with the back of the car moving, but don't start trying to speed up until after the middle of the bend. Once you've gotten used to all this you can try the fun stuff like jumping on and off the gas / brakes in the middle of a bend.

There's plenty of stuff if you have a look on google, but make sure you're looking at FWD and not RWD techniques, as some stuff (oversteer for a start) is very different to say the least.

Try different tyres I reckon.

It'd be a shame to waste the old ones. The new ones will cost quite a bit too. I don't think it's worth it, my car only cost me £2000 and I hope to get a new one in a year or two's time anyway.

Then slow down.

It'd be more of a shame to waste the _car_ through going too quickly on a wet bend.

Can't be more than £35 a corner or so on a Seicento, surely? That's what Uniroyals for my Ka cost, and apparently not many cars use that size of tyre, so they're dearer. ISTR someone saying something about EcoContacts being a lot less grippy in the wet after they've worn a while (might have been someone who's got them on an Astra)?

Erm, 50k miles? You drive like a pussy. I got about 8 or 9k from my last front set of Fuldas.....and my car isn't exactly a sports car!

Surely you've noticed the dervman fuel economy obsession by now :P?

Yes, but we're talking about a 700 kg car wearing 155 width tyres, and with just 40 PS[1] going through them (split, heh).

You've a car that's a good deal heavier, with a good deal more power and torque, with no doubt a higher performance tyre compound, too.

Obsession?

If it were an obsession, we'd have a Lupo 3L! :(

I can't afford any claims! It costs me £1200/year and that's very cheap, student insurance. If I did waste it I'd probably be dead but if I did survive I'd probably get a sporting one, a 1.1 at least.