Today, i test drove...

... by virtue of its lower weight and shorter gearing no doubt.

ahh yes - 0-62 7.4s, top 137, 202Nm @4750, 180bhp @ 7000, 1159kg

Volvo... 0-62 8.8, top 140, 240Nm@ 2200-5300, 180bhp @ 5300, 1440kg

So, how do they make a small car with a light body and small frontal area and so many horse power go so slowly?

Also, I bet the 206 does 62 in second gear to get that time...

Who cares - more importantly how do Volvo make something with 180bhp take nearly 9 seconds to hit 60?! You must have trouble fighting off AX GT's...

Also, they do 0-62 tests with 2 people in and full tank, on road tyres :) Which, to be fair, Volvo probly do as well. I was reading an article on how manufacturers get times the other day - Renault are another that do it with

2 people in full of fuel, whereas Ford do it with one person in on slicks! Most of the Jap ones are done with 1 person in on slicks as well...

I dunno - i was too busy grinning and enjoying the ride :) The handling was even better than the engine as well! Although, the engine was VERY smooth, the torque curve felt fairly flat, it pulled well at low revs (which i was surprised at, i was expecting near Vtec like flatness), it didn't seem to 'kick' anywhere through the range, it just pulled like a bastard :)

"The much-modified two-litre engine is quite splendid, its variable valve timing ensuring that there is an almost seamless pull from 2000rpm to the

7300rpm red line. Of peakiness there is not a trace: I overheard a colleague say he felt an extra surge at 4000, but I didn't notice it. "

Taken from

I didn't know it had ESP and anti-skid etc - although i didn notice a flashin orange light on the dash on one of the roundabouts :) I figured it was the engine management light - it being french and all :) When i looked back as i was leaving the roundabout, the light had gone away, and i don't think it came back - although i was concentrating on the road quite hard...

fastest time i've managed is a 9.2 anyway - it's a heavy car - never forget that, and sixty is two gearchanges away...

Most cars can't compete off the line, because I wil short shift to second then unleash the power while they're looking for the next gearchange...

something you had to do in the bloody 50's normally on land rovers coz syncro mesh shit wasn't about :)

And lets be honest - how often do you actually get to do a 0-60 flat out dash, unless you're doing it deliberately to time it ;)

bah cack that's about what my MK1 will do it in (when it has big end bearings) and that's only 122bhp :) just over 900kg's though

after 62 the volvo would pass no doubt anyway :)

Vamp made the world a better place for us by saying..

Bloody hell, ye olde Golf (still for sale) would beat 8.8... and that's 112 bhp IIRC

Why would it? As long as the 206 was kept 'on song' i see no reason for the Volvo to pull by once you get to stupid speeds, where it is no doubt more aerodynamic cos its longer and longer cars seem to be more aerodynamic :) By the 206 would probably by quite far ahead by like, 100, because it hits

60 over a second before the volvo, which in a straight line dash is quite a long time....

And even if it was slower, which i don't have any reason to think it would be, i'd forgive it cos it was SOOOOOOOO much fun :)

Though a very similar (if not almost identical) technique is used in clutchless gearchanges, which is bloody handy if your clutch cable snaps.

Peter

Precisely. My A6, as far as diesels go, is reasonably quick off the line in

1st gear, but it's such a short gear that I'd rather chuck it straight into 2nd, not pull away desperately quickly off the line (and let's face it, it's not desperately quick off the line anyway), and take advantage of the 3rd gear that goes up to 110mph :-)

Peter

Very nice and all that, but new hot-hatches are just so sterile and rubbery to drive. And what's all this stability / traction / numpty control business all about, then?

I'd much prefer a 205 1.9GTI. Probably just as quick from less power. Certainly much more fun to drive.

Nah :)

And you want to watch out for a certain black micra as well :) lol

well at least it's not a 206 cc - minger or what!

phenominal.

Saab is bog slow off the line (like a 1 litre diesel taxi). and 1st is short, usually out of it by 15mph. Second can be good upto 58, but I usually shift up to 3rd arround 30. Then floor it in 3rd, and watch as everything else fades into the distance.

Was crossing a dual carriageway roundabout yesterday on the way to work in the second lane, leaving the roundabout at about 35, and accellerating hard before moving over to the inside lane, for anther roundabout with a single exit.

As I give the mirrors a check, and a quick lifesaver, I happen to notice a WRX attempting to sneak up the inside of me and giving it some. Normally, at about 50 I would have moved over by now, and shifted up for the 400 metres before the roundbaout, then pretty hard on the brakes for the roundabout.

But he wasn't going to let me in (matching speed now), and had cars behind him.

And cars behind me, so I couldn't back off. So only one thing to do, leave it in 3rd. plant it again, watch the needle rocket from 50-70 in a matter of seconds, pull in, harder than normal on the brakes because of the 20mph polo driver on the roundabout in their pajamas (could see the dressing gown). Quick glance in the mirrors, notice WRX driver looking a little peeved, and slighty slack jawed. Every opportunity I got after that, I made sure to open a gap behind whenever possible (just to show I could), without of course risking my safety gap up front, or breaking any speed limits.

It's fun baiting "Performance" car drivers who think they are the dogs danglies.

snip

Hey, Ed's back - where ya been?

Right on two, wrong on one ;)

If your synchromesh fails - and it will do, if you drive bangers, especially Minis - then it's a good way of extending the life of your gearbox. And if you drive a veteran or vintage car, then you better know how to do it, otherwise you'll learn why it's called a 'crash' gearbox ;)

Richard

snip

Pah, there's a few completely clueless WRX drivers about here - 3 times in the last couple of months I've been held up (about 40-50 mph FFS!) on backroads by Scoobies, in the TRANSIT!!!

And they don't have 180bhp :)