Aphex - Hatch - 0-60 in 8.3s but its the midrange that's the fun bit. Top speed of 129mph (same as the estate). A mate had one as a hire car last week (Thrifty) and was mightily impressed. He got 135mph (he's from Singapore so semi immune to speeding tickets) indicated in the clock too. I bottled (need my license) at 125mph in the middle of nowhere at night. They are genuinely speedy and handle well too.
my vectra has nothing but mid-range.... nothing till 2k then nothing after 4k, does my head in which is why im looking at chipping it, hopefully smooth out the torque curve a bit heard people say similar about 150 pd engines too..
that is damn impressive got a diesel, the reason being is as you know with their limited rev range you have to make at least two gear changes to get to 60 where as a mk3 abf will only need one... so in gear, the diesel is basically fast lol id still have ya though (if i was using the mk2 lol)
Matt - A well sorted mk2 16v is hard to beat on the tightish twisties. The chassis just helps you along and they weigh naff all. Even something like a Saxo VTS or a 106 GTI is very very quick on back roads - both have a great chassis. I held an RS6 at bay for about ten miles in the R32 in Devon - simply because I was about 3-400kgs lighter and more agile around thr corners. However in a straight line the RS6 is MUCH quicker.
Just buy mk2's and be done with it! But more on topic, nothing wrong with diesel if you can put up with the stink, the noise and power delivery. Remember all diesels end up sounding like white van mans rattle machine sooner or later and all will develop that lovely nack of kicking out a puff of black dust!
Db - even you will be coverted soon. Yoooou cannnnottt reeeesssiissst the fooorcceee of the sooooot chuccckkerr....
Personally I wouldn't get one purely because of the noise the thing makes. I jumped in my mk2 after about a month and a half of driving the diesel and everything felt right with the world again Surely going from an r32 to a diesel it must be even more of a shocker?
Aphex - well we had to get the Astra out of pure necessity (vandalism) and at first, I liked the handling, the look and the build quality but I really didn't get on with the engine. However, I persisted and adapted my driving style quite dramatically and it grew on me more and more. Sure they don't sound great (although the turbo whistle is quite fun) but the car is well insulated. Sure they smell - but the Astra is a very clean diesel. But learn to exploit the torque and things get rather fun - and you use no fuel and pay naff all insurance too! I'm with diesels for good now.
Ah yeah I remember reading about that. Rubbish ey I found the diesel to smell a bit like scalextics that'd got a tad hot Nothing wrong with a diesel though, completely agree. I enjoyed the 'sport' button and ease of overtaking other traffic. Full throttle gearchanges got rid of the lag between gears too!
my mates 306 d turbo was awesome for full throttle gear changes, just picked the next gear up straight away on full boost and you were off, my vectra doesn't do the same [:^(]
Hmmm - the R32 was rather good at that too. In fact it was rather good at pretty much everything. Except being vandal-proof. Boo hoo...[:^(] [:^(] [:^(] Seraph - Sometimes you know when a car is really trying. The engine was fully bellowing (I LOVE the sound of that RS6 turbo'd 8!), the tyres let out the odd squeal (I had my window slightly open to hear both engines - yep - sad git!). It was great fun. Something lighter and more agile may have done even better but both of us had 4WD grip on our sides. One of my favourite ever drives in fact.
Not been on for a few days and was not expecting all this debate over this. She does not drive like me so the chassis set up is not too important to her as it is for me thats why i am keeping my mk2 16v. She wants a Golf with good power and all the mod cons of a modern car. That is why i told her to consider the TDI which she thinks are slow, i know they are not. No matter how fast a Astra was i would not have a Astra parked out side of my house. And if she bought one i would sell it when her back was turned
Yes, stay away from Diesel, it's the spawn of the Devil! Faults can be astronomically expensive and can ruin the engine block. It dirties the oil leading to another sin, engine flushing.... Run your engine on Angel tears instead. The cheap bi-product of other fuel making process, LPG, then have your engine looking like this after 260 K Miles:
