Wheels, Tires, an Engine, Corroborator, Transmission, Seats, Steering Wheel, Fuel Tank, Various Pedals for Controlling it, a radio.

The basics.

Err, I believe you might have misunderstood the idea of this thread slightly... ;)

BTW, what is a 'corroborator'? :confused:


Back to topic, I can't believe I forgot handling from my previous post. Of course handling is important, but not enough to sacrifice comfort or everyday practicality, I just don't want something that suddenly is going to throw me off the road when I don't want it to.
Taking curves at way too high speeds and some other slightly irresponsible road behaviour is occasionally fun, if the car allows that without risking lives that is, so when it looses grip it should do that smoothly with all tyres, not just loose control of the rear end. Fortunately both the cars I've had have met the criteria without any silly wide tyres or other expenses.

I'd also like to add to the power aspect, also I really want my car to be able to at least squeal its tyres a little when floored on takeoff, I don't find that too much to ask when I'm able to do this in a reasonably sized (as in big enough to effortlessly bring a fridge) stationwagon with an ancient normally aspirated 1,9L diesel engine...

im pretty sure that you dont want your car slidding on all fours, in that case you have no control at all of direction, when the rear kicks out (oversteer) you can control it with the throttle and keep the car in a general direction

Ford has crappy interiors?

Maybe thats why Ford just won a award for overall quality over Nissan and Toyota

If you think the Mustang's interior is crap dont get me started on GM's recycled plasticized Goat feces interiors.

But on topic...

IMHO handling can be considered part of the performance. I like good handling and power but with good fuel economy. Maybe thats why I have always liked 4cyl turbo cars and smallish cars.

I like a balanced vehicle. Best car to date i have ever owned and the one I still miss the most was my 1993 Mercury Capri XR2.

1.6L DOHC, EFI, turbocharged, intercooled, FWD, 5 speed transaxle, 4 wheel disc brakes, P195/50-ZR15 tires. After tune-up, wash and wax, alignment, and properly inflated tires best mileage ever was 42mpg coming back from my Dads in Ft.Myers Florida.

The Capri XR2 was also a convertible (I love convertibles) and was the car that convinced me FWD cars could handle well.

Car was involved in wreck 2 months after I bought it but other guys insurance paid for it.

Drove car for five years with only thing going wrong being alternator went out.

I got rid of car when turbo blew a seal and caused damage to motor and I was still going to get it repaired but then passenger rear wheel bearing went out and destroyed spindle. Problem was I could not find another spindle at the time to for love or money. I sold car for $500 with it not being driveable. The turbo went out 2 weeks after I paid off car.

yeah my car can get desent mileage as well, about 27mpg on average (60%highway, 40%in town) and tops at 33mpg all highway, but if ive been having fun all day, i can get as low as 8mpg, it really sucks it down when youve got it running WOT for a few miles
i really wish i had a manual, im tired of going through a corner in 4th and waiting for it to downshift, usuing the brakes to much, even if im not driving hard i always compression brake my sisters Jetta when im driving it, it makes my dad mad though, it handles much better than my car
the handling cant touch my uncles Miata though, even though i outpower it i still cant beat it cause its so light

Indeed, it seems that autos require you to brake everywhere, I don't brake much in a manual BX other than when I start gaining at something in front too fast, or the lights turn red just in front of me (and there isn't any potentially dangerous cars right behind me), but in the automatic Yaris I have to brake at almost every single corner, although part of it is due to seriously worse handling, more unfastened load and no time to put on the seatbelt.
I suppose I wasn't quite awake when I wrote that, obviously I don't want it to slid on all fours, I really just want to stay in control and on the road. :sleep:

I guess it's a matter of taste, but I rather want to know where my car is going, so I prefer neutralish handling over lift-off oversteer or horrible understeer. In this the BX suits my idea of good handling pretty well, and if I bothered to exchange comfort for better handling by getting harder spheres it should be excellent for an ordinary car of its size, supposedly the harder 16 Valves make pretty good track cars with handling to match seemingly much sportier cars.

There's a lot of things that make a good car for me.. I'm very picky..

- it's gotta be rare
- parts should not be that hard to find and buy
- it's gotta have passion (not your regular VW golf)
- design, gotta have sex AND agression
- sound, wether it's a gurgling V8, a rev happy V6 or a singin' V12..
- power, doesn't have to be 400hp, but I like to know I can beat most of the other cars.

The butchery of the word "Carburetor," commonly occurs when the speller is half-asleep.

I dont think my Mustang convertible looks that good with the top up but when I put top down I just fall in love with it every time I look at it.

I dont feel that I need a massive amount of horsepower, but I do like enough power to get out of my own way and scoot a little bit. I would like to get I6 into my convertible and turbocharge it but truth is Id probably still be happy having normally aspirated 200 hp I6 with 5 speed and 3.73 rear.

im more into the jap tuner style cars, so i like more Acceleration rather than top end speed and looks aswell.