The most fun Beige car I've ever driven

"PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power" (petarvn) 11/24/2013 at 15:32 • Filed to: None

0

12

Let's face it, EVERYONE has had at least one "Vanilla" or "Beige" or boring car in their life. These are the cars you don't normally want when you become "enthusiast". But, for me, there is one "beige" car that I truly do love, The Opel Astra Classic II.

This is the car my mom bought new in 2008, an opel astra classic II with the 1.6, 16V engine that generates a "whopping" 103 horsepower. It's not fast, and it's not interesting. It is a boatload of fun, though.

See that 6,500rpm redline? yeah, this car only hit that a few times in years, usually on twisty backroads, and generally by me (i'm 15, so honing from time to time is what I tend to do :P). It can hold it's own in the corners, as well! this car is almost as fun a vehicle in the twisties as my stepdad's GTi!

Not only did it schlepp me to school for 4 years, it allowed for me to learn stick, and to experience the joys of driving. For these reasons, I love it, even though (as a friend of mine once said) it's worth $fuckall.
So, what "beige" car do you like for some reason or another?

Note: Yes, this 6 year old Opel does only have about 22,000 kilometers on the clock! we rarely use it anymore, since we only drive it when we visit Europe in the summer

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/24/2013 at 15:36

1

Not my car, but my parents used to own a 2009 Chevrolet (Opel) Corsa with the VHC 1.4 l engine and it was pretty fun to toss around as well. I still haven't owned anything beige, but that's just because I'm on my first car. I figure the beigeness will catch up to me eventually.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 11/24/2013 at 15:37

1

Hey! there's a black '09 corsa in the last pic :D ! My aunt's, with a 1.2L 75hp engine!
also very fun to toss around, I agree!

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion 11/24/2013 at 15:39

0

My aunt also had an '09 Corsa! (see background on last pic) I agree, it is really tossable, but the 1.2 in my aunt's is so underpowered....

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/24/2013 at 15:44

0

I see it, but I hadn't realized it was a Corsa... The one we had in 2009 here in Brazil was a little different. And by different I mean outdated. :p

It was one just like this, except in red and with VHC heads installed on a 1.4 l engine producing about 120 hp and I've no idea how much torque. It wasn't torquey, though, that much I can tell, as I used to drive it flatout most of the time, haha... It was great for pretending you were a race driver, as it was completely stripped out and you were either standing with both feet on the throttle or both feet on the brakes.

davedave1111 > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/24/2013 at 15:46

0

For all the stuff people like to talk about on here, I've only ever driven one vehicle that wasn't fun to drive in its own way. Some have been more fun than others, but only one was so bad as to take all the pleasure out of driving.

The Astra's a reasonably small car with fairly good handling for an ordinary hatchback, so it ought to be fun if you're doing it right :)

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > davedave1111 11/24/2013 at 16:34

0

Out of curiosity, what vehicle was it?

davedave1111 > Goshen, formerly Darkcode 11/24/2013 at 16:49

0

I'm pretty sure it was a Daihatsu Charade. Although it was long enough ago that I'm not certain it wasn't a Suzuki Swift - I think you'd know it as a Geo Metro, with a few changes.

I guess you can see why I'm a little confused:

duurtlang > davedave1111 11/24/2013 at 16:53

0

I did get to drive a Charade once, the generation you pictured. It had the optional 4 cylinder engine. A 1.3L with 90 hp, which is quite a lot in a 800 kg car from about 1990. I enjoyed driving that thing.

davedave1111 > duurtlang 11/24/2013 at 17:04

0

The one I drove wasn't woefully underpowered, it was just everything else about it that was wrong. The steering was heavy and dead to the touch, which is odd on such a light car, and it was way too slow. The pedals felt wrong, and the gearshift was like stirring dough with a chopstick.

Fundamentally, the car was perfectly capable of going from A to B. It was just that making it do it was so awful it was a chore instead of fun.

I didn't drive it for more than a couple of hours, although I was offered free use of it at a time I didn't have another car on the road. It was that bad.

gbbts > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/24/2013 at 19:11

0

I've seen beige cars being driven by skillful hands and beat so called enthusiasts cars. I rather see an enthusiast in a beige car than a douche wasting a an enthusiasts car.

My first car was a 2 doors 2008 Fiat Palio. 1.0L and 64hp. 5 speed manual. At twist roads, it was more limited by the skinny tires than its engine. It didn't had a tacho, so I adapted one. Non ventilated disc brakes at the front. Drums at the rear.

The car helped me a lot through my college years. Every morning was a pleasure to rev the little italian engine to the redline.

Jonathan Harper > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/26/2013 at 22:24

0

Toyota Yaris rental in St. Maarten with 4 emergency tires mounted = no grip but MUCH fun! (fun for me, not so much for the relatives)

Fezzasus > PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power 11/27/2013 at 05:23

0

This badboy.

Cost me £190 (approx $250) without a valid inspection, required one wire connecting to pass the inspection, then it was ready for a 6000 mile drive from tht UK to Amsterdam, then to Copenhagen, then into Norway to Oslo, Trondheim, Fauske, Tromso, Nordkapp, then into Finland to Rovaniemi, Helsinki, over into Estonia to Tallin, then through Latvia to Riga, Lithuania and into Poland to Warsaw, then finally Germany via Berlin back to the UK. in ten days. Car never missed a beat, and was driven for another 40k before I got rid of it with about 170k on the clock for £10 less than I paid for it.