Motors What do you drive? - The Photo Gallery

It was a lot of money but in my eyes it was worth it. It has a critical piece of standard spec for me - Lumbar adjustment on both drivers and passengers seats. This is basically the only car in its class that has this feature. The cars with the same engine and chassis don't even have lumbar adjust at all (not even an option FFS).


It is also vastly better built than any other car in its class as well (The Skoda Fabia vRS is a joke in comparison), but I am going to beat around the bush, as spec'd it was expensive (although cheaper than an equivilant spec'd Polo GTI - this basically means spec everything on the Polo as most standard equipment on the A1 S Line is an option on the Polo.... .

I am currently loving the entertainment system on it at the moment. It has a 6.5" full colour screen with CD player, dual SD card readers, Bluetooth with full voice control and Audi AMI (Ipod / USB etc). With the correct adaptor cable (yay for Audi charging extra....) I will be able to play back video from my Ipod touch through the system.

 

Hmm, interesting to hear you say that. I haven't looked around either car in the flesh TBH, but I have been wanting a VRS for a while now. It does look a little plain inside (i.e. boring), but is the difference in quality really that bad? Did the car not feel like it was put together well?

I've got an old Polo at the moment - 1998 , so anything newish would be a vast improvement.


Oh and don't forget to post some pics!

 

I had a Sierra that had that in 1992. WTF?

 

only because you are in europe do you think new mustangs are manly. Over here lots of old ladies drive them

 

They do here too. You don't see many on the road here at all, but when you get them all together at events etc, you'd be surprised how many women are there, or all ages.

Still a manly car though So manly, it couldn't care what's driving it. In fact.. they get in as old ladies, but they get out with balls

 

lmao

 

£25+k on an Audi A1? Were you smoking crack?!

For that ballpark I'd be grabbing a 125i Coupé. Can't have 200bhp without RWD in my book.

Mustangs are pretty manly, even if old ladies drive them you can't take that away. Same as all muscle cars really.

 

I drove a 125i once. That car was a fantastic drive.

 

He mentioned needing lumbar support or something. Maybe he has a long term back problem. I am shocked the A1 is the only car in it's class with adjustable lumbar support though. Even my Nissan Micra has it on the driver's seat, and it's not even a high model... it's the Micra E.

 

I'm shocked the logical solution wasn't to buy a much, much cheaper (not to mention significantly more rewarding to drive) MINI Cooper S, remove the driver's side seat (place in attic for when the car is sold) and install a Recaro or other name-brand adjustable replacement with appropriate subframe for about £500. Buying a car for the seats seems to me like buying a house for the beds.

The Focus RS500 called.



It didn't like your book.

 

I know - that's why it's my book and not the industry's book. The Focus RS is a mighty capable car, along with the other super-powered hatches, but to me RWD is endlessly better than FWD.

 

Look at it this way: why are RWD crs trimmed to handle like FWD cars by their ASR/ESP?
Why are sierra's (that don't have all the electronic helpers) utterly terrible to drive in winter?
Four wheel drive I understand, RWD for racing/drifting I understand.
For handling a normally used car all year FWD all the time.

(But I'm biassed having had a 220hp FWD car for 10 years)

They're considered expensive gas-guzzelers over here, so they're not attractive to old ladies, but I see your point

 

pause for effect

 

Understeer is much easier to handle than Oversteer. Most drivers don't have the experience to handle oversteer, and generally don't go hard enough to cause understeer = FWD and setting up a RWD car's stability control systems to eliminate oversteer, will please most drivers, and a simple on/off button to please the rest = more sales $$$$

I'd also prefer RWD, but the Audi looks a bit nicer than the BMW 1's or a Focus imo. They are all nice looking cars, it's the abrupt forehead of the BMW that gets to me, it's a shame they didn't make the 1's nose more like the 3 series Focus is pretty good, but it's not just the Audi badge (I think) the Audi does look more classier.

I assume lumbar support was simply the icing on the cake for xaser04.

 

185hp from a little 1.4L engine is mighty but what's the torque output? Those middle managers might be laughing in there 2L diesels which throw big lumps of torque out the back giving them great in gear pull.

 

250Nm, since it's boosted they have pretty phenomenal torque.

Xir: I know FWD is good for the common man, and I wouldn't shy away from 200hp through the front wheels, but I'd much rather have it at the back. Winter performance is down to tyres, driver technique and whether or not you're prepared to put a bag of sand/grit in the boot for the extra grip.

 

Or you just learn to live with a near-constant active ESP-warning light
(my experience was with an older Mercedes C-Class T-type which has a notoriously light rear. On ever inclint the ESP would go mad)

 

Sorry it has to be 4WD all the way. Although I'm totally for RWD over FWD. The RS500 should always have been 4WD.

 

I agree, not making the RS500 AWD was pretty lazy for Ford in my opinion. I'd still buy one in a heartbeat, but it would have been a much better drive if it had AWD.

 

Stupid Ford... I hate them so much... Not for their cars but for their american cars. WHY WON'T THEY RELEASE THE COOL STUFF OVER HERE, TOO ? The "sport" model that we get here has an In-line 4, 160hp engine... And the car looks nothing like the RS