Meg on pistonheads £6995
I really really wanted to love it (and thrash it) - it looked fab in the showroom....
Showroom - superb fit and finish - more BMW than Reno of old
First Impressions on driving off - nice starter button, smooth, quite, nice seats (standard)
In town - firm but superb damping, wicked brakes as salesman scrapes himself off windscreen!
Flexibility - Pulled 4th @ 30mph no trouble - great I thought - the best is yet to come!
joined Dual Carriageway - nailed it and waited for the 5K kick...rev limiter, 3rd ditto, 4th ditto - the saleman was completely unmoved by taking it to well over a ton, but sadly so was I - it felt nippy, even quite quick, but (even allowing for a a tight 1500 miler demo) barely a second slower that a standard Scooby WRX 2.0 to sixty?? - MY ARSE!
If I had to compare performance on pure feel, I'd say it felt more like a 206 GTi 137bhp or Xsara 167bhp VTS at best - more than adequate but far from blistering!
Handling - oh well performance not as good as hoped, maybe handling will give me a kick - 50mph around a flyover roundabout - v.v. easy with no fuss, could have taken 10-20mph more easy - so nothing to create that wigwam in the trousers there.
Grand Prix from Lights - 5K rip against a Cinquecento - I was well into 2nd before I could come across without cutting in! - I can do that in the dCi
Cruising? I tried to change up from 6th - 4000 revs @ 75! - it was noisier than the dCi - I checked website and it confirmed a ridiculous 18.9mph/1000rpm (182 is 22+ in 5th)
If the last one wasn't enough to spoil my day, the £ figures did. £300 pm loan, £180 extra on the rest:
fuel (60 to 31mpg), servicing (18k to 12K), tax (£50 - £190pa) and insurance (300-550)
When i got back in the dCi I realised that it IS as quick as a tight 197 (mid range since 170lb/ft and 980kg against 155lb/ft and 1250kg) and will cruise as well at 80 although with a lot more wind noise.
WHAT A SHAME,WHAT A SHAME WHAT A SHAME
I'm way way short of affording to run a 225 (or other turbo petrol) on these figures, so my shortlist is now purely blackstuff:
Ibiza FR PD 130
Meg 2.0 150 dCi
Civic 2.2 CDTi
Astra 1.9 CDTi 150
^^ all 180ish re-mapped.
I really am very :-(
screensavers to be deleted!
If they'd offer me a new RenoSport with a 175bhp 300lb/ft 2.0dCi geared for 30mph/1000 in top, I'd have one right now!
Showroom - superb fit and finish - more BMW than Reno of old
First Impressions on driving off - nice starter button, smooth, quite, nice seats (standard)
In town - firm but superb damping, wicked brakes as salesman scrapes himself off windscreen!
Flexibility - Pulled 4th @ 30mph no trouble - great I thought - the best is yet to come!
joined Dual Carriageway - nailed it and waited for the 5K kick...rev limiter, 3rd ditto, 4th ditto - the saleman was completely unmoved by taking it to well over a ton, but sadly so was I - it felt nippy, even quite quick, but (even allowing for a a tight 1500 miler demo) barely a second slower that a standard Scooby WRX 2.0 to sixty?? - MY ARSE!
If I had to compare performance on pure feel, I'd say it felt more like a 206 GTi 137bhp or Xsara 167bhp VTS at best - more than adequate but far from blistering!
Handling - oh well performance not as good as hoped, maybe handling will give me a kick - 50mph around a flyover roundabout - v.v. easy with no fuss, could have taken 10-20mph more easy - so nothing to create that wigwam in the trousers there.
Grand Prix from Lights - 5K rip against a Cinquecento - I was well into 2nd before I could come across without cutting in! - I can do that in the dCi
Cruising? I tried to change up from 6th - 4000 revs @ 75! - it was noisier than the dCi - I checked website and it confirmed a ridiculous 18.9mph/1000rpm (182 is 22+ in 5th)
If the last one wasn't enough to spoil my day, the £ figures did. £300 pm loan, £180 extra on the rest:
fuel (60 to 31mpg), servicing (18k to 12K), tax (£50 - £190pa) and insurance (300-550)
When i got back in the dCi I realised that it IS as quick as a tight 197 (mid range since 170lb/ft and 980kg against 155lb/ft and 1250kg) and will cruise as well at 80 although with a lot more wind noise.
WHAT A SHAME,WHAT A SHAME WHAT A SHAME
I'm way way short of affording to run a 225 (or other turbo petrol) on these figures, so my shortlist is now purely blackstuff:
Ibiza FR PD 130
Meg 2.0 150 dCi
Civic 2.2 CDTi
Astra 1.9 CDTi 150
^^ all 180ish re-mapped.
I really am very :-(
screensavers to be deleted!
If they'd offer me a new RenoSport with a 175bhp 300lb/ft 2.0dCi geared for 30mph/1000 in top, I'd have one right now!
