What cars have people got etc ...

Just wondering if we could have some kind of general chit chat about cars, a Top Gear thread if you will.

What are people driving? pet hates and loves, opinions on cars and other drivers, that kinda thing really.

I'll start, currently driving a 1.8 diesel 52 plate 4 door Ford Focus and I love it. Despite initially being sluggish on the acceleration, once it's past 30mph, the revs are up and the turbo kicks in, it'll give most modern petrol saloons a run for their money. You can chuck it round corners pretty well too.

My pet hates with driving are: crossover SUVs, big ugly road tumours that seem to be driven by very angry, short women, with dyed blonde/black hair, huge sunglasses and are full of aggresson until they need to drive round a bend ...

Chav on finance cars, usually some neon bogie coloured 1.0 thing, that sits up my backside whilst I'm doing 30mph in a residential area until I join a road where I can do 40 mph +, then they're dead in the water, and BMW drivers; usually driven by chavs on finance again, after they've knackered their neon bogie or the usual middle managers who can't satisfy their crossover SUV driving wive so take out their aggression by driving like a git.

1996 P plate Suzuki Swift 993cc 4 door automatic. I do about 600 miles a year in it...






*awaits howls of laughter*

I have a 1.1l 2010 Nissan Micra.

15 Octavia 1.4tsi estate. Huge amount of space and fabulous engine - fast but economical. Mid 50s mpg on a motorway run with acceleration to embarass some bigger names. Karoq looks interesting when PCP comes up next year.

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i don't own a car. My last one was a 1ltr Seat Ibiza.

A blue one

2.0t TT. Nice car but wish I plumped for an AWD version sometimes.

DynamicSpirit said:

A blue one

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it was blue - how did you know?

57 plate BMW 118d inherited from father in law. No chav no finance I'm afraid to break your outdated stereotype.

And a 64 plate Zafira Tourer 1.8.

The Zafira is the nicer all round car, comfier seats, smoother and packed with driver aids

12reg Audi A1 S Line just as a general runabout

15reg Lexus IS300h Premier ( mum's car )

17reg Lexus RC300h Premier ( dad's car )

I'd say the best one out of these would be the IS . Quiet , comfortable and fast , but is slightly small inside

Hates: BMW X6 or simillar . Awful ugly Cheshire-style vehicles . Also not a fan of all the Gold Bugattis and G Wagens that will invade Knightsbridge at this time of the year

My favourite type of car would probably be a Q Car sort of vehicle , in fact apart from supercars etc ,I would love to have an Audi RS7 , fully blacked out and anonymous , specced up , so that it looks standard , but has the power to demolish other supercars or chav mobiles

BMW 330ci, 2001 (e46 model), manual, in black.

The engine is the highlight - an old school naturally aspirated straight six. Plenty of torque and power, although it likes a drink (of both petrol and oil).

Over 100k miles, still as tight as a drum.

I'm only the second owner. My uncle owned it from new and I acquired it early last year.

I expect I'll keep it until it dies. Touch wood, that probably means I'll still be driving it in five years!

56 plate astra convertible coupe 1.9 turbo diesel and I love it lots of torque its black with red on black seats and the sat nav is the best I have ever come across , not saying its best or most expensive out there but best I personally have used, nice sized screen built into car gets me where I want to go first time everytime. Any landmark or petrol station as well

Not mine (can't drive) but my sister was given a Nissan Micra Accenta 14 plate and that ends up being the primary mode of transport for the house.
Has the Nav upgrade, climate control and even has a speed limiter and cruise control (last 2 standard on this grade).

Not really the best car in the world and is not exactly a speed machine (1.2 petrol) but gets us here and there.

Audi RS6 here, solely for the lovely sounding engine, if I could have this engine in a base spec without the large wheels and spoilers I'd be happier. I don't drive it to impress anyone. 18m old now. My wife drives a Golf.

My pet hates (and I'm biting my tongue because I have many): Large SUVs driven aggressively. People seem to choose them for exterior neighbour-impressing purposes rather than usefulness. Why? And the people driving them (present company excepted, of course) tend to have a need to impress others above all else.

And a lack of courtesy on the road. how hard is it to wave "thank you"?

2004 1.2 Corsa, currently at 110,000 miles. Still in pretty good nick (in mechanical/interior terms - the previous owner seems to have taken little care of the paintwork but it's all rust-free). They're quite common where I am.

In fact, they're so common that I took mine into the garage for a minor repair a couple of months ago, they had two 2004 silver Corsas, got them mixed up and gave mine an MOT by mistake...

Pet hates - large SUVs driven aggressively and people using their phone while driving. There's just no need for it :roll:

The missus has a 1.3l Honda Civic which is quite nice if a bit underpowered. I have 2 Gazelle bicycles

Pet hates, the number of idiots in Milton Keynes who don't slow down for roundabouts, have no lane discipline and drive up your arse

2007 Kia Sorento and a 2001 Corsa...

Hi Gordon I am a Bedford lad I know the pitfalls of mk well lol you in the railway industry mate

I got rid of mine a while back. Was debating with the missus as to whether I should buy another as im bored of hers

Peugeot 508 Allure SW... 2013 plate.. Very nice and comfortable.. Looking forward to driving it to Slovakia next month..

gordonthemoron said:

The missus has a 1.3l Honda Civic which is quite nice if a bit underpowered.

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That's why I got the 1.6l Diesel Civic. Fantastic car, love driving it, it's great for going up and down the motorway to Scotland and has cracking fuel efficiency. Going for the diesel ain't the best option environmentally, but for the Civic (at least when I got mine) it was by far the best option economically.

Pet peeves - the slow (old) drivers of North Wales (it can be seriously painful to drive around here - my journey time can be more than doubled because someone's driving 15mph on a NSL road perfectly suitable for 60mph), lack of lane discipline, parking on double yellows (they're always there for a reason) and (here's an odd one) being "flashed" out at junctions for particularly right hand turns, unless it's definitely appropriate to do so. Here's the reasons why:

1) You have to be very deliberate with your headlights. If you give me a quick flash, there's a good chance I could be looking in the other direction for cars coming from that way. And if I miss your quick nanosecond flash everything just grinds to a halt. Similarly, a bump in the road at night can be mistaken for a flash if it make the headlights look suddenly brighter for a moment.
2) There's clear priorities on the road, and it's much easier and safer just to stick to them.
3) It should only ever be done where there can be absolutely no confusion - I've seen a few instances where people have decided to "flash" a car out of a junction only for a third driver in the hidden side road to think that they now have right of way - I've seen this nearly cause collisions. (Terrible driving from all involved here).
4) I've had to slam on my brakes a couple of times because someone decided to be nice and let someone out of a junction, presumably without realising that in doing so that the other car crosses in front of my path.
5) Another North Wales local one, in fact common outside my house (where I have to turn right onto a side street before turning into my drive). I know you're just "being nice", but if there's no cars behind you, it's quicker for both of us if you just continue past and let me turn when I can do so. By slowing down to flash me out, you not only slow yourself down but I have to wait longer to turn because I need to be sure of your intentions.

Do you know you should never flash your headlights period, say you see someone you know and flash them a different vehicle might think you are flashing them out the junction

If there's a cycle lane the cyclist may also not see.

baz962 said:

Do you know you should never flash your headlights period

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That's not true. You may:

"Only flash your headlights to let other road users know that you are there. Do not flash your headlights in an attempt to intimidate other road users".

baz962 said:

Do you know you should never flash your headlights period, say you see someone you know and flash them a different vehicle might think you are flashing them out the junction

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Oh yes, absolutely. But it's the real world, and people flash their headlights all the time to transfer priority. And there are instances where it is reasonable to do so. Personally, I'd rather gesture with my hands so that I can make eye contact with the individual and get a response but that's only possible during daylight hours. At night, I'll generally just avoid doing it (also, because my car's automatic headlights turn off when I flash them, it's not ideal for me to do so anyway).

Bletchleyite said:

If there's a cycle lane the cyclist may also not see.

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Not to mention pedestrians - I've seen a few cases where a pedestrian has crossed in good faith only for the drivers to decide amongst themselves to alter the priorities and cause a car to turn into a crossing pedestrian. Thankfully I've never seen anyone come to harm but amongst less careful drivers the potential would be there.

Bromley boy said:

I expect I'll keep it until it dies. Touch wood, that probably means I'll still be driving it in five years!

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Unless some idiot hits it in the depot.


Mine is also blue.

I also wish I had gone for the AWD version. This is my second [redacted] and I was going to go for the AWD last time but the performance in the snow that year of someone else's put me off. The AWD version of my [redacted] is always on the higher engine models and the worst MPG ones.

My driving pet hate is people who pause at roundabouts; especially mini ones. Look on the approach, check right, indicate (if required, and get your ass moving. I hate it at a mini when everyone is stopped and no-one moves.

I still have a Renault Laguna 1.9 dCi, and I don't plan on changing it until it falls apart. It's been very reliable and economical.

I have a Renault Modus 1.5 dci (55 plate, about 60k miles). Has good acceleration, decent fuel economy and only costs £30 tax per year (I've seen other used cars for sale with road tax as much as £210 per year)! I like the higher driving position given by mini-MPVs.

(Half of) a 2013 Suzuki Swift which is good fun to drive.

telstarbox said:

(Half of) a 2013 Suzuki Swift which is good fun to drive.

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Must be tricky to balance it though?