MGFs...

No no, I meant the 306 cabriolets specifically are s**te.

The hardtop 306s are great ! They're cheap to fix, and you understand them. Make her get one :)

All of which applies equally to the MX-5 !

*All* cars in that class are pointless by those standards. None are practical, and none have significant performance.

Are you having a laugh ?

From that list, only the Puma and the Pug 306 are consistently rated as excellent driver's cars, by the motoring press.

Fiat Bravo HGT ? Golf MkIV GTI ?

HA !

Puma everytime. It's more practical, and offers cheaper running costs. It's also about the best teeny-car-drive ever, according to Evo.

MX-5 is a close second.

I wouldn't consider an MGF.

Yaris is the best of the city-box cars - but it hardly competes with the above three !

It depends how you drive.

I overtake everything at every opportunity - a LHD car would be a

*nightmare* for my work commute !

Stop it Steve, you're talking like a Concentration Camp Guard.

Cool, my own impressionist. Today, uk.r.c.mods, tomorrow, the world.......

Yeah, I'd agree with Puma, MX5, then the mid engined Metro.

Steve's tiresome, ill informed, anti-Ford views are to be ignored :-P

In news:5oFQd.112$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net, AstraVanMan decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Oy Vey!

You just need a quick LHD car, even my Golf had no trouble with overtaking.

Then again, overtaking in 33ft of Lincoln is easy enough if you know how.

Yeugh. I think the Streetka is astoundingly ugly, it's front wheel drive... hell, I couldn't find a single reason to consider one when they came out and I was shopping for a new convertible!

Richard

"Fraser Johnston"

Gah! Two of the most contemptible vehicles on the road! She can have two MGFs instead, with an engine upgrade to the one from a 600Ti

That what i meant. As in the hood itself would probably be a pain/expensive to fix if it went wrong/ripped/leaked.

Heh, tried and failed. But got the money now, so going car hunting on friday

Tried her on a Sera? *hopes*

Richard (well, see, I found this PPG Wave 2.3 that used to belong to Kajagoogoo on eBay...)

Lexus RX330 is a fugly mo' fo' of a car, the X5 would only be cool if pimped out in black with chrome 18's and window tints :)

na you wanna proper lexus like the GS300 that's pimping :)

or a IS200 RS or altezza whatever the silly japs called it :)

If by fun you mean "understeery and unpredictable," then yes.

The engines are not fantastic. Great. Not fantastic.

VAG claim 8.5 seconds for the Golf and 8.7 seconds for the '99 Passat and

9.2 for the '01 Passat. The Passat only weighs approximately 70 kg more than the Golf. Either / or, 8.5 to 9.2 isn't "bloody quick."

The standard 1.7 Puma achieves it in 8.6 seconds, but removing the traction control and torque limiter punts this to under 8.0. The Ka with the 1.7, slightly lower gearing, no traction control and no torque limiter, manages the dash to 60 (not 62) in 7.5 seconds.

It doesn't handle as well as a Puma and is only slightly quicker than the Puma on paper despite a hefty power advantage.

Impractical? More room in the back of the Xsara coupe. Neither suitable for anybody bigger than kids. More luggage capacity in Xsara.

Ugly - personal opinion. The Xsara looks forgettable. The Puma is memorable.

Not that quick - slightly and I do mean slightly slower on paper.

Expensive? That's called quality.

Handling - Puma better.

Ride - Puma better.

Resale - Puma better.

Dealership servicing - Puma better.

Insurance - Puma better.

Build quality - Puma miles better (have you been in a 90K Puma?).

You forgot about this!

And this.

Take off your jaundiced glasses and forgive yourself for owning an old Escort.

Who buys a hot hatch not to overcook it?!

I don't see the relevance of this? :)

Load up the Civic to be a similar specification to the RS then... :)

The same person who doesn't overcook it?!

Every car needs thrashing, but that 1.7 donk in the Puma is superb. It has a magnificent flat torque curve and has lots of stomp from 2,000 rpm. The limiter for the standard machine is somewhere around 7,500 rpm or so.

It's a _seriously_ good engine. What it lacks in outright output it makes up for in the area under the power and torque curves.

But it's fun trying to get him to justify his views!