03/03 2.0 petrol Focus Ghia hatch.
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L\'escargot.
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205 1.4 - just asked to be thrown around, and took the punishment like a man.
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It would have to be a J-registration Rouse Sport 304R Sapphire Cosworth.
Take the bottom and midrange grunt of a good modern 2.0 turbodiesel and extend it right through to 6500 RPM. The result was stunning performance in both an outright sense, and in real world A to B driving. The turbo lag of the standard Cosworth had been completely eliminated to leave an engine which just effortlessly squeezed you into the seat under even light throttle openings, and went completely berzerk when given its head. Acceleration was grin inducing (claimed sub 5 to 60 and completely believable).
The steering was near perfect with excellent weighting, quick gearing, and constant feedback through the rim. The ride was firm but not harsh, and body control was flawless. It handled like a car half its size, responding instantly to steering inputs but without feeling at all nervous or twitchy. Grip was huge, and the brakes shed speed effortlessly, with plenty of feel, and near perfectly judged servo assistance.
The excruciatingly expensive looking leather Recaros were flawlessly comfortable, the driving position completely natural, the gearbox had a precision and slickness to its operation that you only get when you have the gear level dropping directly into the tail of the transmission. A slightly long throw was my only complaint. To cap all that, it had a huge boot, and could seat 5 in total comfort.
Andy Rouse's Rouse Sport conversion was very expensive, but you could see where the money went. Every mod on the car was carefully chosen and skilfully implemented to complement either the car's basic character, or the other mods installed. Without knowledge of the base car, it would have been impossible to tell where the standard car finished and the mods started.
I stayed in touch with the owner of this particular example, and he racked up 135,000 miles in over the 5 years he owned it. When sold, it was still on the original engine, gearbox and turbo. It was serviced every 6,000 miles religiously on a no expense spared basis, but driven very much as intended and not mollycoddled in any way. A testament to a beautifully engineered conversion, and solid basic mechanical engineering.
I loved this car, and couldn't think of a single practical way to make it better when I drove it, apart from maybe a slightly shorter throw on the gearbox. When that's your biggest gripe, you know you're driving something pretty special.
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difficult to answer isn't it, because perfection in one area, can affect another area.....drove a Ferrari 355 at Silverstone over the weekend (supercar driving day present from SWMBO).......and that was a considerably more impressive driving experience than i thought it would be.......had to chuck all my pre-conceived ideas out the window.
honest answer is my S Type 3.0 SE auto though.......as an allrounder. The longest i've ever owned a car and there's no way it's going yet........which tells me something.
(I suspect my realistic dream list answer, would be the twin turbo diesel version for a bit more economy)
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In the 80's an Alfasud Sprint Veloce for the sheer fun, handling and exhaust note. In the 90's can't think of one that endeared itself to me the same way. This decade, BMW 330d auto, no contest. I will own one one day as soon as I can convince myself that not every body despises BMWs and their pilots.
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1 - BMW 635CSI. 2 - Honda Legend Coupe (I actually owned that one).
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This decade, BMW 330d auto, no contest. I will own one one day as soon as I can convince myself that not every body despises BMWs and their pilots.
You should move to Japan, apparently they don't have anywhere near the same image there.
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I'm quite happy with my Xantia. Not perfect by any means but best up to now. Before that the 405 GTX TD.
Steve.
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Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
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Erm, I would say my dad's CLK, but I've only ever driven it around the drive! I can tell she's a beauty though!
So, out of cars that I've driven for a decent distance, it would be a facelift Mondeo Ghia X. I remember been so impressed with the audio system, the sublime leather seats and the lovely way that it drove compared with my company Fusion.
Also, it was fitted with the High Line Nav system and I was in a desperate hurry to get to a customer's house to collect some information that I had forgotten to ask them, without it, the deal may have been delayed at a *substantial* loss to the company, I had no idea where their house was and it was the first time I'd ever used Sat Nav, I'll never forget how calm and soothing the voice was that guided me fairly easily to the destination, the day was saved, I kept my job, and I was left wowed by that car. Then I went back to my Fusion and cursed it.
Blue
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Cars improve all the time of course, and I loved the Citroen C4 turbodiesel I drove a few months ago: refined, capable and rapid. But not quite perfect (there was a very slight judder on initial clutch bite) although nearly new. And I thought the LCD dash looked unreliable. You wouldn't know what to do if it just blinked out.
Most perfect steering: Lancia B20, absolutely no play or backlash, just hard mechanical connection. Most perfect gearchanges: series 1 Lotus Elan, RH remote on my R Type Bentley. 2.4 911S was pretty good too, but a slightly rough example.
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E39 530i Sport.
Utterly brilliant. Brilliant cruising ability, excellent comfort, great handling, bags of kit, looks fantastic, excellent performance, basically everything I want in a car, done brilliantly.
530d comes close, infact, I guess a 530d Sport would be more perfect but I've not driven one, only an SE.
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Honda Accord.
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Stevie
Lakland 44-02 Sunburst
Yamaha YTS-23
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