Smart Roadster? BMW Mini?

Smart Roadster? BMW Mini?

But they clearly sacrifice comfort for handling prowess..

The mini rides very well in actuallity.....

But the problem with the Mini is that it isnt' (mini that is).

Interior space is mini but the externals of the car are actually quite substantial.

There's nothing wrong with modern Ford cars. I've driven and owned lots of them.

The Octavia vRS was a bit of a change for me, and gave more bang per buck and better fuel economy thant a V6 Mondeo, although I'm sure I'll own another Ford in the future.

In many ways, a Mondeo is a better choice than a 3-Series.

ST220 + filter + exhaust = fantastic noise

ST220 & Contour Throttle bodies iirc (straight swap apparently, with a little bit of profiling to correct fit), Milltek exhaust and BMC CDA, unichip. now that sounds the nuts and produce in excess of 270 bhp for about £1500 if you shop around carefully. Unfortunately there aren't many specialist tuners unlike the VAG scene. Pumaspeed are about the only one. A full exhaust, induction kit (even a K&N one :eek: ) and a Bluefin will get you to 246 bhp (lots of indipendant RR's to confirm this!).

My Zetec S TDCi 130 did manage 192 bhp and 349 lb/ft of torque with allard fmic, turbo back exhaust and a unichip (lost the trip computer and aircon though :()

The Fabia is a bit of a tricky one - if you have a smoothish road it will go round bends really nicely' date=' but if it's bumpy you've really got to ease off the loud-pedal.

It wouldn't surprise me if those who've 'lost it' did so as a result of a bumpy road when using the grip to get round the bend. Bump = grip goes down for a fraction = bad stuff happens.

[/quote']

Sounds spot on to me mate.

I have driven a Mini One on the same road, but it didnt have a trip computer, so no "speed" for direct comparison. It did just stick to the road though which really suprised me.

The Fabia really hates the bumpy stuff. A stupid heavy engine and not enough damping probably doesnt help.

Cant wait to get my Fabia back next Wednesday on its standard springs... be a good comparison.

ST220 + filter + exhaust = fantastic noise

= huge fuel bill + empty wallet :thumbdwn: would deffo sound nice though:D

My Zetec S TDCi 130 did manage 192 bhp and 349 lb/ft of torque with allard fmic' date=' turbo back exhaust and a unichip (lost the trip computer and aircon though :()[/quote']

you can just about get to that BHP with just a remap on a Fabia VRS ,clutch permitting :eek:

ric,

I think this is down the fact there are no real tuners out for the TDCi engines unlike VAG who have AmD, Jabba, JBS to name but a few, also the engines may not be as tunable however since there are no tuners out there I have no idea!

Also as we know most vRS's don't actually have that power. Most are in the region of 170-180 bhp when remapped realistically with 180 in certain special casesI've had mine indipendantly RR'd twice with 2 very different results.

Jabba - 195 bhp/323 lb/ft on full, 191.5/301 lb/ft day to day.

Top Gear Performance - 201 bhp/307 lb/ft

Well Lane Turbo Centre 182 bhp/301 lb/ft

Anyone know what the remappability figures are for the 2.2tdci engine outta the ST?

Jeez got through a lot of boxes of tissues reading this thread FWIW, my 4 year old Mondeo has been fault free, excellent to drive and just sailed through it's MOT The service at my local Ford specialist is excellent and great prices too.

Anyone wanna buy it?

Chris

Jeez got through a lot of boxes of tissues reading this thread FWIW' date=' my 4 year old Mondeo has been fault free, excellent to drive and just sailed through it's MOT The service at my local Ford specialist is excellent and great prices too.

Anyone wanna buy it?

Chris[/quote']

Chris , you must be one of the very few lucky owners of a mondeo TDCI who hasn't had any thing go wrong with it , we've just been told this week that because recalibrating the injector correction factors on WDS is an adjustment Ford will not pay for this in the second and third year warranty , so i can see a few very unhappy customers who think their fault is warranty but end up having to pay:( and no I don't want to buy your car , sorry

Hi Tom

Key problem is damping. The Fabia vRS dampers are not anywhere near good enough for the standard springs, so will struggle even more with anything higher rate. My old Omega manages the bumps better than the Fabia. As does the MR2 which is similar in wheelbase, a little narrower and has infinately better wheel / body control.

Chris

I owned a 2.0 Zetec Petrol then a 2.0 Zetec S TDCi ...... although the diesel engine & brakes meant the car was slower

What do you mean by slower? On paper its a tenth slower to 60 and 2mph slower on top speed, but in the real world the TDCi 130 will waste a 2 litre petrol - I know, I had one for 112k miles.

purists said the 309gti handled better than the 205gti for this very reason

And why 205 owners usually swap the rear beam for that from a 309. I had 2 x 309GTi and 1 x 205GTi 1.9 and preferred the 309 as it wasn't as snappy. But that was due to the longer wheel base rather than the marginally wider track.

The mk3 Mondeo is a fantastic handling car for a family saloon, and although its not as nice inside as my Octy 2, it was more chuckable and was much better at higher speeds.

SKODA (Shi.te Krappy Overated Dire A[/color']utomobile)

SKADA = 'cr@p' in greek.

Well - its the straw that broke the camels back. Whilst I've never been overtaken on the section of road - knowing a boggo 2.0 Mondeo can keep with me has really hacked me off - so the car is on its return to standard (maybe it will be quicker on OEM springs?) and it will be replaced with the GTI MK2 Golf for a daily driver (loads of fun' date=' if ultimately not that quick), and a Corrado VR6 for a fun, classic kind of weekend car play thing.

[/quote']

Hi Tom

Have you got it back onto standard springs yet? If so, how does it compare on the twisties?

Chris

Hi Tom

Have you got it back onto standard springs yet? If so' date=' how does it compare on the twisties?

Chris[/quote']

Next week or so and they should be back on....

Tom.