Gutless cars - underpowered and downright dangerous at times, here's my starter for 10....
Reminded me on the unusual sightings thread of one of the most gutless cars I can remember - a hillman avenger 1250, along with the sierra 1300, anybody for anymore?
Recently I had the displeasure to drive a nissan people carrier - I deliberatley have forgotten the name, scarily slow...
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Suzuki Swift auto.
Swift it aint
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F reg bought new Metro city 1.0 in white ( uh what was I thinking )0-60 19 secs engine from the fifties I think.
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>Recently I had the displeasure to drive a nissan people >carrier - I deliberatley have forgotten the name, scarily slow... That must be a Nissan Serena
My contribution:
Volvo 340 1.4 - Gutless and lethal handling
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My contribution: Volvo 340 1.4 - Gutless and lethal handling
My first car. Never found it had lethal handling - yes, the back stepped out quite easily but was progressive and easy to catch. Gutless - well I have to agree with you there.
I hired a 1.1 Toyota Avensis (didn't look like the UK one) which was awful and just a little quicker than the Clio 1.0 that I once hired.
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1988 Sierra 1.6 was appallingly underpowered and the handling was atrocious (I had one when new)
2003 Lexus ES 300, strangled by emissions controls, overweight, with computers monitoring your every move, ready to cut the limited power should you need it, wallows like a canal barge... very, very like the Sierra.
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Escort (mark ?) circa 1992. Had either a 1.3 or 1.4 engine, can't remember which. I think there was a known fault with the carb, but it was amazingly unresponsive and you had to change down to third to get it up even a slight incline.
It was lucky it was slow, because the handling was so bad, you had to wind up the windows in case you fell out the car when going round a corner!
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1983 Maestro 1.3 - Worst Car ever.
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E reg 1.6 diesel fiesta- so slow you measured the 0-60 time with a sun dial.
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Any Corsa with the terrible 1.0 3-cyl engine. Dog rough, dog slow.
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mini (original) automatic.
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Almera 1.4, going further back Austin/Morris 1100 auto.
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Megane 1.4e (8 valve)
Completely gutless, no equipment and lousy ergonomics. Only saving grace was that I rarely needed to put petrol in it
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Almera 1.4, going further back Austin/Morris 1100 auto.
Almera 1.4 gutless? Not the way my wife drives hers!!!
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Hyundai accent
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Another vote for the 1250 Avenger.
Megane 1.4e not so bad if you wind it up enough!
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1.0 VW Golf - 45 bhp in a car that weighed about a tonne.
Amongst those I have experienced directly, 1.2 8v Corsa and 1.0 Polo (55 bhp, 2001 model) - undertaking was barely possible in those but, being driven by young and inexperienced drivers, nevertheless attempted and utterly scary. I also learned to drive in a 950 Fiesta that was frequently overtaken uphill on the motorway by Transit vans.
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Previous shape Range Rover 2.5 six cylinder diesel automatic. Perfect off the road. Horribly slow on it. HJ
Agree with you completely HJ. My mum has one and after having the misfortune of driving it I instantly disliked it. It was excellent at making lots of noise and not really doing anything, and it had lethal handling and shocking brakes.
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Almera 1.4, going further back Austin/Morris 1100 auto.
Autocar tested the BMC 1100 auto against an identical manual version and found the auto was quicker in some insatances*
*: if you overrode the automatic function and changed gear yourself
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Quite a few years ago, my mum had a P reg 1.0L Polo. Due to bad planning, Dad got rid of the Mondeo the week before, a car sale had fallen through and we were left with that to go to Scotland in.
I will never forget the time we were driving down this road, perfectly straight, 4 people in this 3 door Polo when Dad thinks he's still got 6 cylinders to play with and overtake this Transit van pulling a trailer. And no I'm not joking.
The van, determined not to be overtaken, accelerates. Ordinarily, it would be quite easy to blow him off and leave him coughing in your midst. However, we seemed to be in the middle of nowhere actually falling behind the van. Then, naturally, as we weren't able to complete the overtake, a car appears from nowhere.
The sound of 4 simultaneous screams was over Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" was something to behold.
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Adam
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Lexus 200 auto .. so disappointing, really slow and actually dangerous in overtaking situations
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One of the cars I learned to drive in, a Micra 1.0. 5th was a no no, if you wanted to go up a dual carriage way incline or overtake on a dual carriage way. Mashing the pedal into the carpet never really produced much of a response, and it made my (comparatively aged) 93 Polo seem like a ball of fire. Managed to get the Micra up to 45 MPH in 2nd once! (nearly made my ears bleed)
Secondly, my dads old work van, a 95 (?) escort 1.8d. Couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. What a pathetic engine.
Quite an interesting thread this!
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One of the cars I learned to drive in, a Micra 1.0.
Another former mare household car! We must have had quite a few gutless cars - Maestro 1.3, Almera 1.4 and a Micra 1.0, and they all felt / feel fine. My current C3 1.4 petrol is a bit wanting sometimes, with the aircon on.
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One of the cars I learned to drive in, a Micra 1.0.
How about the latest shape Vauxhall Corsa 1.0? I drove one from BSM when learning to drive, it was gutless going around up & down the hills of High Wycombe!!! My instructor ask me once to do a hill start, as you pull away you have to rev up to 5000 rpm to get it goin up into 2nd without stallin or pinging from the engine & to at least get up the top in one go!!!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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My current C31.4 petrol is a bit wanting sometimes, with the aircon on.
Try the 1.1 with aircon!
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Top thread this - thanks.
Got to agree with HJ about the old RR diesel. Drove a relative's auto one once; very comfortable, but an awful lot of rough, noisy revs for not very much acceleration.
Don't agree with the 1.6 diesel fiesta - I had 2, and they weren't *that* slow. Respond well to being revved out in every gear - the engine is unburstable; the bodywork crumbles to dust long before it gets tired.
Previous employers' 1.9 non-turbo-diesel Xantia was pretty grim. Too heavy a car (same engine is a lovely match for the ZX, though still far from fast) for that little power.
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Has everybody forgotten the Montego 1300?It was forgettable believe me
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If I ever win a double-rollover jackpot I would buy a Pagani Zonda and have it re-engined with a reconditioned VW aircooled flat-4!
cheers, SS
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If I ever win a double-rollover jackpot I would buy a Pagani Zonda and have it re-engined with a reconditioned VW aircooled flat-4!
Can i put first dibs in on the original Zonda engine then?
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Volkswagen 2.0 115hp Sharan Automatic. If ever there is an ill marriage of torque characteristics, excess weight, incorrect gear box spec for the type of vehicle (lifted straight out of a Golf, complete with engine), and consequent dire fuel consumption, this is it. Thank heavens it wasn't mine.
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1990 Cavalier 1.7D (non-turbo). So slow it should have been illegal.
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1990 Cavalier 1.7D (non-turbo). So slow it should have been illegal.
And not forgetting the 1.4 litre Cavalier either.
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Interesting thread - almost all the examples are where someone has had the misfortune to drive the smaller-engined version. I've always found it best to go for the biggest engine I can afford (within reason). The Laguna V6 (two cars ago) and my present Avant 2.5 TDI are the best cars I've had. And I greatly regret never owning a Triumph Vitesse.
The Volvo 340 was a typical example - but the Renault engine that powered it was excellent in the Renault 5. All Hillmans had that problem - too small and gutless an engine for a ponderous car (do you remember - all Hillmans seemed to be FAT). The Avenger was the last of a very dreary line.
I've also found that anything under 2 litres struggles with an automatic - maybe some of you know exceptions to that?
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Interesting thread - almost all the examples are where someone has had the misfortune to drive the smaller-engined version. I've always found it best to go for the biggest engine I can afford (within reason).
I would have agreed completly until I bought (with my own money!) a Vectra 3.2. Really fast, but a completely pointless clonker of a car. I owned it only six weeks before I had to sell it for the sake of my own sanity. Cost me a fortune.
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Surely the Nissan Serena diesel must come very near, if not at the top of any list of gutless cars?
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The basic versions of the Skoda Fabia are rather Gutless, 0-60 of 18 seconds for the basic petrol and SDI.
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The daddy of all gutless dogs must have been the Yugo 45A. I drove a brand new one home from the dealers for a mate who bought it before he passed his test.
Performance wasn't helped by having to move the gear lever the lenght of a Tour de France stage between changes.
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Volvo 340's have been mentioned a couple of times, well, I run one as everyday transport. It's a bit heavy on fuel around town, but absolutely and totally reliable. And, if anything does go wrong, I can fix it. Much credit is due to the Carb equipped 1400cc Renault engine.
As for velocity, it copes well - but then, I don't drive like a loony.
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Didn't realise there were that many out there!!
My first ever car a Mk2 1100 Ford Escort - not good, it did about 70 flat out wind behind going downhill etc. I remember regularly flashing HGVs so they could return to the inside lane on a motorway - it struggled to maintain 60 mph.
How about the Mk3 Cavalier 1400? - again not too rapid.
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I'd be intereetd to know what was wrong with the Vectra 3.2 - I loved my Laguna V6 and the magazines speak highly of the big-engined Mondeos. Maybe a diesel 3.0 Vectra would have done better - can anyone give their impresions of one of those?
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Interesting thread - almost all the examples are where someone has had the misfortune to drive the smaller-engined version.
Yep, hence my comment about the 1.4 Cavalier. I was loaned one once as a courtesy car, and my first impressions was that it was gutless compared to other 1.6 litre engined Cavaliers I had previously driven. I didn't initially realise it was a 1.4 as it had been debadged. It wasn't until I flicked through the service book that I realised it was actually a 1.4.
I've also found that anything under 2 litres struggles with an automatic - maybe some of you know exceptions to that?
My Dad's 1.6 Astra auto is fine.
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Sorry DD missed your comment on the 1.4 cav.
Just remembered another - Fiat Regatta 1300 more guts in a gutted fish - this one had a "city" driving mode - engine cut out if it idled for more than 10 seconds and restarted on depressing the clutch - fine in theory - not too clever in practice in the Cambridge rush hour....
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Never driven one but a lot of Skoda Octavia taxis up here have a 68bhp (1.9?) diesel engine...I cannot image that goes very quickly!
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My Fiat Regata 1600 was actually quite nippy, and that was the SOHC as well!
After I bought it I let a brilliant mobile mechanic loose on the engine and he got it tuned up beautifully.
A few weeks later I got stopped on the motorway for speeding :( averaging 95mph! This was in 1994
I don't think the policemen quite believed that such an uninspiring estate was capable of that!
H
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>My Fiat Regata 1600
Did that have the twin choke carb? In its day that was a nice little lump.
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>My Fiat Regata 1600 Did that have the twin choke carb?
Erm, no I don't think it did. I know you could put the webber on there for some extra poke, but mine was standard issue.
H
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1949 Austin A 40, my first car. I had to look carefully at the speedometer to tell if I was really accelerating, and the brakes and handling were dangerously bad. It was the first car I had ever driven and I was amazed at how hard I had to push the brake pedal to slow at a rate similar to the acceleration. It felt as though there was a block under the brake pedal.
I was still in heaven with the sense of freedom, though! This was 1960.
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Have to agree with previous posts about Nissan Serena Diesel.
Had this a rental car about five years ago. It failed to follow HGV's up hills. Even ringing its neck during the course of the holiday failed to improve it.
A few years later I had Fiat Doblo Diesel (non-turbo) which was reckoned to be dead slow. It was certainly a lot faster at the end of the holiday than at the beginning........
Remarkable what a little blast through the gears can do for cleaning out the cobwebs.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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The first generation Frontera with the original 2.3 diesel.
Shameless truck with an engine capable only of maintaining speed on an incline. One of few, infact, that truckers could easily overtake.
Altogether a 24 carat dog.
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Astra 1.4 (60bhp) circa 1995.
Hire car. Drove to North Wales and back (from London). Canned it absolutely flat out there and back. 5 mph faster going home. Still got burnt up by Mastro Van.
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Astra 1.4 (60bhp) circa 1995.
Is that all the power it had? My old 1.3 Astra had more than that:- 75bhp. Mind you that was a pre-cat.
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Tha A40 Devon was actually ahead of its time, with an OHV engine, a four-speed gearbox and (I think) independent front suspension. You were lucky, Wildcolonial, that your first car wasn't a Ford Prefect, a Vauxhall Wyvern or (most gutless of all) a Hillman Minx.
Your A40 may have been past its best. I was lucky with my first car, a 1955 Austin A50 bought in 1969 - started first time and never let me down. Agreed, the handling was very much of its time but Austins were still better cars throughout the 50's than the competition. Sadly, the quality problems and poor management in later years ruined the reputation - but we won't go down that well-trodden road now!
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It's all relative. It depends on what you've driven before and what your expectations are.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
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Toyota Corolla, c.mid 90's, 1600cc, 3spd auto. Jap import, came to NZ where me and 2 friends had it as a hire car on the South Island.
Couldn't overtake anything uphill, not even the camper vans. flooring the accelerator caused it to kick down to 2nd, make a lot of noise and go no faster.
3spd autos are fine if mated to a Rover V8, otherwise I fail to see the point in them.
Other than that, the Mk 1 Fiesta 950 was apalling, I used to put it in 3rd (4spd box) to get up the hills on the M62.
Someone mentioned the 1.3 Maestro but that had POWER compared to the Ford Fiasco. Never had to put the Maestro in 3rd on the hills of the M62......
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Polo Dune 1.2. 17" rims, 225x45 tyres and a body kit don't mix with a 1.2l engine. Soooo slow, and only 30ish mpg!
Joe
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Mercedes Benz C180 Auto.
Even in "sport" mode I couldn't make it up the slight incline I was trying to climb without holding up a line of cars. Hugely embarassing.
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Big body, small engine again.
Elder daughter away for a fortnight so I took out her 1.3 Yaris to give it a run and be a kind Dad and put some petrol in for her - I'd forgotten what fun it is.
All the difference in the world between the 1.3 and the 1.0 Yaris courtesy car that SWMBO had a few weeks ago when some plonker (plonqueuse to be exact) reversed into the Honda. It had no oomph at all, just like the German taxi (overpriced and over here) that E34kid is referring to.
Price difference only £300, and she should get some of that back the other end. Anyone in the market for a Yaris - that could be the best £300 you ever spend.
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Avant - i'd have to agree with you there! The 1.0 yaris revs alot, makes alot of noise but goes nowhere fast. its not even particularly economical (well not when i'm driving as i'm ringing every last bhp from it!) The difference in cost and economy of the 1.3 is minimal and a definate wise investment
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Ah, but the 1.3 is not available in T2 spec. I don't like gutless cars, but I'm not hugely excited by the extra goodies that T3 spec offers. Hence the cost of going up to the 1.3 engine (if I were buying a Yaris) would be £1600 or so. Hats off to Citroen for selling every engine in the Berlingo in the basic trim. Would that the same was true for other cars.
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The latest loan car is a 1.4 Golf FSI five speed.
After pulling away from the lights I was overtaken on the inside in a 40mph limit as there was absolutely no acceleration in fourth gear at 30mph. Guess I am too used to a turbo diesel.
Things were not better on the hills. Would not go faster than 40mph in fourth. Changed to third, a lot more noise but still the same speed.
Definitely gutless and makes the 1.6 FSI 6 speed seem lively.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Nissan Micra 1.whatever automatic as a courtesy car . I deliberately took the long way home so I would avoid getting anywhere near a motorway. The car was just downright dangerous, couldn't get out of its own way. Had I known the car would be that bad I would have declined it (and all the hassle to sort out insurance cover) and just taken a taxi home.
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Yaris T2 3dr 1.0 is available through brokers for £6750 and a 1.3 3dr Yaris colour collection is available for &7250, this has a better spec than a T3 but due to toyota throwing money at the model it is only £500 more expensive than a much more basic T2.
It will retain it's value far better than a basic T2.
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Jetta 1300 Formel E - even heavier than a Golf and only 55 bhp to lug it around - my daughter's Punto has that and must weigh 50% of the Jetta.
Good car though, and the boot saved us from a nasty bump from a well known actor luvvie who managed to crumple the boot floor while getting to close in his Corrado.
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