OV9

I do miss the era of everyone having slow cars though.....now everyone has Ferrari power in a hatchback with added distractions and feelings of invunerability due to aids.

Jimexpl wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 9:58 am
Significantly better than the 1.3 Endura in the Fiesta that we had later on, which should never have been put in a car.

13. endurance in the Ka was indeed crap. I particularly enjoyed finding out that the longer recommended plug-change intervals offered by the newer tech plugs they fitted were causing quite a lot of problems with spark plugs snapping off in the heads….. after one of ours snapped off in the head. Lost a whole weekend sorting that shit.

Matty wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 11:11 am I do miss the era of everyone having slow cars though.....now everyone has Ferrari power in a hatchback with added distractions and feelings of invunerability due to aids.

Yep. It is quite amusing however to see people moaning about eating through tyres on their powerful EV's though (or at least it is until I remember how quickly mrs mik eats through tyres on her E-Tron).

Matty wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 11:11 am I do miss the era of everyone having slow cars though.....now everyone has Ferrari power in a hatchback with added distractions and feelings of invunerability due to aids.

I miss it too. But even an 85bhp Peugeot 205 was fast enough to do 100mph on virtually any straight, given a sufficiently exuberant driving style.

Rich B wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:18 pm
i think i bought this in 2005 from Gavster:



then my CTR in 2006.

That brings back memories, such a sideways car once made a friend sick driving home from a party, she climbed out the back and immediately vomited in the gutter.

I have no idea what I replaced it with though. Around that time I had a cheap Vauxhall Ashtray, I'm wondering if that was it.

Gavster wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 1:26 pm

Rich B wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:18 pm
i think i bought this in 2005 from Gavster:



then my CTR in 2006.

That brings back memories, such a sideways car once made a friend sick driving home from a party, she climbed out the back and immediately vomited in the gutter.

I have no idea what I replaced it with though. Around that time I had a cheap Vauxhall Ashtray, I'm wondering if that was it.

Didn't you replace it with an E36 328i Sport?

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 1:32 pm

Gavster wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 1:26 pm

Rich B wrote: Wed Jan 07, 2026 3:18 pm
i think i bought this in 2005 from Gavster:



then my CTR in 2006.

That brings back memories, such a sideways car once made a friend sick driving home from a party, she climbed out the back and immediately vomited in the gutter.

I have no idea what I replaced it with though. Around that time I had a cheap Vauxhall Ashtray, I'm wondering if that was it.

Didn't you replace it with an E36 328i Sport?

Struggling to remember exactly, I think that came later as I bought my ATR after the 328i was written off, so the order of cars between 2002 and 2009 was:

Punto GT
325i Sport
Purple Ashtray
Beige 518i
Ste's aheM5
E46 328i Sport
Accord Type-R

Ah, since the E36 was such an obvious successor I must have just assumed it came straight after.

Garage reports that the squealing is Best Case Scenario - the aux belt is bloody old, and when they tweeked the tensioner a bit, the noise went away - so probably just the belt stretching enough to juuuuuuust start slipping. Don't even think the idlers or tensioner need replacing, just the belt.

So that, and some lower arms to be thrown on next Tuesday to cure the clunks.

Got a few more things to sort out after that so I'll make a big list for them once this is sorted and see how much their eyes light up

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 12:45 pm

Matty wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 11:11 am I do miss the era of everyone having slow cars though.....now everyone has Ferrari power in a hatchback with added distractions and feelings of invunerability due to aids.

I miss it too. But even an 85bhp Peugeot 205 was fast enough to do 100mph on virtually any straight, given a sufficiently exuberant driving style.

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1991848358242220

How efficient and wonderful these were, some modern fueling and ignition and these would be awesome current cars for the environmentally conscious.

Dave!

F-ing smart has a flat battery again. Clearly has a minor parasitic drain somewhere but the dashcam has been unplugged so not sure what it is...

Plus the bonnet clip release thing has snapped the end off on one side so its a bastard even getting the stupid plastic hood off to get to the battery...

The thing needs to go but need to move house first so we can weigh up if its replacement should be an EV (possibly an R5 like Simon's).

That generation of Polo was so slow - even the 1.3 only had 55bhp and they were a fair bit heavier than an AX. The 1.1 AX had 60bhp. I kept managing to get my Polo stuck in gear because I rammed through the gearlever so hard in my effort to make it accelerate. Oh, and the brakes were shit; lack of a servo wasn't a major issue but even on my fairly new one they overheated on a trip from Kirby Lonsdale to Morpeth taking the scenic route.

TU engined 205 for me though. What I hated about mine at the time (it wasn't quick enough) I made up for by driving quicker than anything else on the road. Until I crashed it.

Beany wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 4:55 pm Garage reports that the squealing is Best Case Scenario - the aux belt is bloody old, and when they tweeked the tensioner a bit, the noise went away - so probably just the belt stretching enough to juuuuuuust start slipping. Don't even think the idlers or tensioner need replacing, just the belt.

So that, and some lower arms to be thrown on next Tuesday to cure the clunks.

Got a few more things to sort out after that so I'll make a big list for them once this is sorted and see how much their eyes light up

I'd get the tensioner and idler pulley done anyway. If they've not been done before it will still be worth doing "while they're in there", and they cost buttons. I had mine done last year "just 'cos", and despite the Indy saying they were fine, they sounded pretty rough to me when I spun them up that evening. They'd have probably gone on for a few more years tbh, but like I say, they cost naff all.

V8Granite wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 7:59 am

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 12:45 pm

Matty wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 11:11 am I do miss the era of everyone having slow cars though.....now everyone has Ferrari power in a hatchback with added distractions and feelings of invunerability due to aids.

I miss it too. But even an 85bhp Peugeot 205 was fast enough to do 100mph on virtually any straight, given a sufficiently exuberant driving style.

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1991848358242220

How efficient and wonderful these were, some modern fueling and ignition and these would be awesome current cars for the environmentally conscious.

Dave!

Or just buy an Up.

930kg, 60bhp, 63mpg combined. Actually thought the fuel gauge on ours was broken as we’d driven it loads and it had barely moved. AC, abs, leccy windows and mirrors.

V8Granite wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 7:59 am
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1991848358242220

How efficient and wonderful these were, some modern fueling and ignition and these would be awesome current cars for the environmentally conscious.

Dave!

What an awesume video

I wish there was sound for the 0-60 - all lurch horribly as they go 1st to 2nd

integrale_evo wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 12:10 pm

V8Granite wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 7:59 am

Jobbo wrote: Thu Jan 08, 2026 12:45 pm

I miss it too. But even an 85bhp Peugeot 205 was fast enough to do 100mph on virtually any straight, given a sufficiently exuberant driving style.

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1991848358242220

How efficient and wonderful these were, some modern fueling and ignition and these would be awesome current cars for the environmentally conscious.

Dave!

Or just buy an Up.

930kg, 60bhp, 63mpg combined. Actually thought the fuel gauge on ours was broken as we’d driven it loads and it had barely moved. AC, abs, leccy windows and mirrors.

It's a lot of fun driving my mums Citigo, they nailed it with that group of cars.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 12:53 pm

integrale_evo wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 12:10 pm

V8Granite wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 7:59 am

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=1991848358242220

How efficient and wonderful these were, some modern fueling and ignition and these would be awesome current cars for the environmentally conscious.

Dave!

Or just buy an Up.

930kg, 60bhp, 63mpg combined. Actually thought the fuel gauge on ours was broken as we’d driven it loads and it had barely moved. AC, abs, leccy windows and mirrors.

It's a lot of fun driving my mums Citigo, they nailed it with that group of cars.

Dave!

You can get a 75bhp motor in the Seat Mii FR and still group 1 insurance but feel quite lively. I wanted my son to have one as a first car but I've raised car snobs and he ended up with the 80bhp triple but heavier at 1036kg Ibiza FR. A hoot to drive with relatively stiff suspension and fat tyres but woefully slow 4 up

Any of these small city cars will be faster than a fair chunk of the traffic out there. Consider all the vans and pick up trucks with a bit more power but weighing 2 tonnes. And then the other half of the population just can't drive or are scared to press the accelerator. How many times do you end up behind a car with over 200bhp on the slip road and they join the motorway at 50 mph despite having a 3/4 mile run up. Downhill.

Mito Man wrote: Fri Jan 09, 2026 2:02 pm Any of these small city cars will be faster than a fair chunk of the traffic out there. Consider all the vans and pick up trucks with a bit more power but weighing 2 tonnes.

My work vivaro, lwb 1.6 diesel, 120bhp does 0-60 in 12 seconds when it’s empty, just a smidge over 2 tonnes. It’s full of gear all the time so probably more like 2.5tonnes, so say 13-14 ish, so probably about the same really

The motorhome passed the MOT this week. It's always a slightly anxious time as the handbrake on the Fiat Ducato/Peugeot Boxer etc is totally useless and struggles to reach the 16% needed on the brake rollers. Luckily the garage I use service lots of vans so is well aware of this "quirk"