So, I took the 182 out on a blat to some of the best country roads round here, and I headed up towards Castleside in Consett, there were two cars ahead of me, one a 1.4 Corsa, and the other, a white car which I did not immediately recognise, but what I later found out was a Toyota Paseo...

So, I'm thinking, I'll be overtaking these two soon. Well I did overtake the Corsa, but the Paseo, well... I got a bit of a shock here! The first stretch of roads in Consett towards Blanchland and the like are some fast twisty affairs, and I was quite surprised to see he was actually pulling away around the corners!! I wasnt really in race mode at the point though, but when I saw that, well I decided to put a bit more effort in.

By golly did this guy throw this car around corners at some high speeds! I really was struggling to keep up even having made a lot of effort. I was keeping up, but only just and there were points when he was clearly pulling a lead on me. Now, get to the straights and unsurprisingly it was a different story, the 182 easily closing the gap... however, I decided not to try and be a smart **** and overtake because I just felt that if I did he'd probably be making me look silly come the next set of corners.

So I decided just to tag along, I could see he was quite amused by this little blat out :hehe: anyway, he decided to take it easy for a while so I kept following him. He obviously knew his car well because his overtakes were always quite convincing considering (I'll get to that part in a minute).

Anyway, we headed through Cordbridge and up the A68 towards Jedburgh. Now he really went for it, and for the most part I was keeping up, but there were a couple of times when he had chance to overtake and I didnt, and anyone who knows the A68 knows its a road with a lot of hidden dips and summits so one has to be a bit careful. A couple of such chances like this passed, and I only ever got sight of him in the distance... there was one bit where I nearly caught up again only to get stuck behind another car.

Now we went our seperate ways eventually, because I had to head back home and he was clearly prepared to drive all the way to Scotland, however, my fuel computer was going down at a rate of one mile every 10 seconds, so I was having to be pretty careful here!

Now, that was undoubtedly the fastest cross country blat I've ever had in the years I've been driving... I wont go into how fast it was, but lets just say it was FAST!

So I get home, and look up some stats on the Paseo, and I'm shocked to see its only a 1.5! So obviously its no wonder I could catch up fairly easily on the straights, but I will say that he obviously knew his car as every chance to overtake was taken, and to be fair it seemed to have a pretty decent pace to it considering it was only a 1.5.

And I'm guessing it must handle well, because as I say it was pretty hard to keep up round the twisties! So if you are the owner of a white Paseo, who drove the above route with a silver Clio behind you, thumbs up buddy, you're a better driver than I, and you certainly have more bottle!

I think you're right that it's hard to keep up with someone who has more bottle...

For example, the other day I being followed by a couple of kids in a 106 (standard cooking model with Halfords lights and cheap alloys). I went round a bend (it was wet) and saw a "slipery road" sign, so slowed down... They took the chance to overtake me, so I thought "whatever". I didn't even have to think about keeping up with them on the straights, but round corners, they were just chucking it round them, far faster than I'd probably go round in the dry!

Either got massive brass balls or are thick as pig whatsit.

Either got massive brass balls or are thick as pig whatsit.

The latter I think... Thick as Pig poo.

I've always liked the Paseo, often wonder how it'd go with a 2.0 turbo droped in!!

How a standard Paseo got anywhere near a Clio 182 is beyond me ? More like Nigel Mansell was driving......or some drug crazed maniac.

How a standard Paseo got anywhere near a Clio 182 is beyond me ? More like Nigel Mansell was driving......or some drug crazed maniac.

I know, tell me about it! Must have been the stig driving. On the straights he wasnt a problem at all, but on the corners, well....

That being said, I've always felt it took a lot of bottle to push the Clio hard, unlike say the Mk2 Golf, which practically anybody could get into and drive it like they stole it...

I had a dice with a Xantia on the A82 up the side of Loch Ness one night - not sure what model but it was reasonably rapid. It must have been a local driving as he was going round the bends at some rate - fast but smooth :eek: :eek:

I was keeping up in the Octy, spurred on by SWMBO in the passenger seat :D I could easily reel him in on the straights, but as I don't know the road that well I wouldn't have been able to travel so quickly if I hadn't been following the Citroen :O

After writing my last motor off on the snake pass when it was a touch slippy I have lost my bottle (probably a good thing really) There are nutters who will take crazy chances, but after being given a second chance (by wrights I should have been all fcucked up, but walked away scot free) I don't take them anymore. It's best to let the idiots crack on and do ther eown thing.

iirc the paseo has gullwing doors

Monkeychild...

I had a crash in the wet round the peak district years ago, and that's what has slowed me down round the twisties...

Not nice is it.

Thinking about it, one mistake by either of us could have resulted in a bit of an accident, and at the speeds involved, well lets just say if it had happenned to me, i'd probably not have been writing this now!

iirc the Paseo is not only slow but the handling is diabolical.

That means either fantastic driver or a bizarre suicide attempt!

some people do take too many risks on the bends though, in my opinion pbirkett, you played a sensible game, and had fun without too much risk... I do this, If someone is determind to out do you, they tend to start taking risks, at this point I back off and let them go! better to laugh at them in the next feild than join them

Monkeychild...

I had a crash in the wet round the peak district years ago' date=' and that's what has slowed me down round the twisties...

Not nice is it.[/quote']

Your damn right it's not :thumbdwn: I had the unfortunate pleasure of greeting a long wheelbase shogun pretty much head on :eek: Luckily no-one was hurt. It had been a day for it, as 30mins before my crash a guy had been heli-lifted away to hospital after crashing :eek: The road was greasy as hell! Why there was no warning of this I will never know :confused: I was to blame as well as i should have been going a touch (or two) slower. But unfortunately I had Fridayitis i.e. I had to get from Near enough Sleaford in Lincs to Wigan for the weekend. I had to attend a 3 day driving improvment scheme after it. I had no points, fines or anything afterwards (thank god)

some people do take too many risks on the bends though, in my opinion pbirkett, you played a sensible game, and had fun without too much risk... I do this, If someone is determind to out do you, they tend to start taking risks, at this point I back off and let them go! better to laugh at them in the next feild than join them

The longer it seemed to go on, the more determined he seemed to get. Maybe he thought I was after him but to be honest, I pretty much felt like I was at the limit of how hard I wanted to push... maybe I could have pushed harder... in fact there was no maybe about it, I'm sure the car could have gone faster, but I sure as hell wasn't about to start driving beyond my ability to find out

He probably knew the road really well and was a capable driver.

Comprehensive local knowledge is better than a fast car any day - we all know a road that we drive regularly and can do at silly speeds just through being so familiar

He probably thought you were the drug deal that went wrong

iirc the paseo has gullwing doors

Nope, its the (import only) Toyota Sera that has gulwing(ish) doors.

Paseo was available from Toyota uk but just wasn't very popular!! (and they all seem to be green as well?)(except the one in my pic!!!)

Here's a pic of each -

Forgot how much the paseo looks like the Hyundai Scoupe

I'd flog that 182 and get the furby back.Sounds broken to me;)

Nah, he's still changing at 4300rpm

Nah, he's still changing at 4300rpm