Friday 18 May 2007

Driving My Not Hot Hatch As If It Was


Yes, my car is a hatchback. It's not a hot hatch though. It still has a good amount of power, but not the upwards-of-160bhp that they seem to be all going towards. Or the scary 6 second 0-60 dash for the Mazda 3 series for instance.

Anyway, there's a few ways in which I try to maximise the fun I have in my car:
  • There's a corner I can take to deliberately get a bit of wheelspin. I have used the car in a few different ways so I'm pretty good at controlling it now.
  • I know the power ratios so I can get maximum torque or power.

One thing I noticed about my Vauxhall Astra SXI 1.8 today was how well balanced it is. I came out of a corner and pressed on the loud pedal. rather than giving me grief for making the turn-in it was reasonably responsive and held the line. Quite good for such a big car. I was impressed.

I am still quite looking forward to getting my car onto the track and testing the absolute limits of it. I feel that only here can you know your motor completely. Well, it's either that or driving it through some muddy valleys. As it's not an SUV then I think the former is the most appropriate!

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