"Speedmonkey" (Speedmonkey)
09/25/2013 at 09:38 • Filed to: Hot hatches
1
12|
"Speedmonkey" (Speedmonkey)
09/25/2013 at 09:38 • Filed to: Hot hatches | 1
| 12 |
Sorry America. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! you don't get, and which is really rather good.
Lime - Light
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 09:45 |
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Looks like a shrunken Nissan Murano.
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Speedmonkey
> Lime - Light
09/25/2013 at 09:49 |
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Its looks aren't its best feature
PelicanHazard
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 10:04 |
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Really? I rather like it.
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Speedmonkey
> PelicanHazard
09/25/2013 at 10:08 |
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It's not ugly. Just not very stand out. This is the 80s icon, 205 GTI
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PelicanHazard
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 10:11 |
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Which to me looks like a Ford Festiva.
The 208 GTI may not stand out as much as, say, a bright orange Fiesta ST, but that's how looks go; some like 'em, some don't.
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Lime - Light
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 10:22 |
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Not ugly, just...lumpy. A lot of cars seem to suffer from the "wax in front of a heater" styling method.
BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Lime - Light
09/25/2013 at 10:26 |
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It looks less like it's been inflated around the front grille in person. Pictures don't flatter the front end.
Not exactly a stunner, but less porky in real life.
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 10:38 |
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I drove one of these on the trackday I went to at Brands Hatch (it was a Peugeot sponsored day, and they had a couple of cars you could try out).
I have to put a disclaimer out there that the newest car I've ever driven has been an '02, and the newest car that wasn't tediously dull has been a '99.
I finally understand what the motoring press have been saying about steering 'lacking in feel, but sharp as a pin'. Saying that, it's an absolute hoot. The single most eager car I've ever driven. Pretty certain I'd crash one pretty promptly as it just eggs you on to go quicker and quicker. More than once when I was hooning it around the track I said to the instructor 'whoops, that was a bit wide' , which is in stark contrast to the measured approach I was taking with the MR2.
Better front end grip than my Alfa, despite being on the same width tyres. Pretty much zero torque steer coming out of the corners. I managed to push the traction control into action once or twice (which felt odd, first car I've driven with TC), but only when I was pulling some fairly ballsy early throttle manoeuvers.
Such a chuckable car. Very impressed.
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Speedmonkey
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
09/25/2013 at 10:45 |
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No sentence spoken between people in the front seats of a car is good if it starts with "Whoops..." !!!
Thank goodness this didn't happen
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 10:53 |
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Thanks goodness indeed.
It wasn't anything close to that in severity. Simply getting a bit off of the racing line on the exit of Druids.
There was one of the Nurburgring 24h drivers for Peugeot doing hot laps though. Going out with him was a revelation. He was hossing the GTi through the corners so quickly he was keeping up with Caterhams. This wasn't even a novice trackday either. It had people that genuinely knew what they were doing.
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Speedmonkey
> BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
09/25/2013 at 11:06 |
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Brill! I'm doing a track day at Silverstone with Caterham soon. Hope it's not too close to winter. Might be a bit chilly in one of their cars
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BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
> Speedmonkey
09/25/2013 at 15:08 |
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Definitely. I also hope it's not wet.
I'm a pretty competent driver. I've done a lot of fast road driving in pretty much any condition. I've also raced karts for a while now, on and off. Recently I came 5th in a field of 52 in a rally-cross style format kart race (3 heats each, then at least one final), in changeable conditions on a track layout I haven't raced on before (beating two regulars that quite often get on the podium).
3rd lap in the MR2 I span going round Paddock in the wet. Very hairy. Was feeling pressured by a VX220 behind me and wasn't paying attention to the corner.
Lesson learned, ignore faster cars behind unless you're on the straight, especially in the wet.