Ever find yourself enjoying a "bad" car?

[Knoxville]

I have, well, I suppose it's not a bad car. Perhaps I should elaborate....

As some of you know as a general rule I wouldn't be caught behind the wheel of something without four wheel drive and a green oval on the bonnet but I've been without the truck for a couple of weeks and have been tooling about in a Mk.5 Fiesta of all things.

I can't see over hedges, I look under traffic now rather than over it and honestly, it's too easy. Too light on the steering, too servo assisted in the pedal box and it has a combined MPG figure that wouldn't make a grown man weep and remortage his house for the second time.

BUT... and it's a big but and you other brothers can't deny...

I took it for a hoon around a few of the country lanes I use to get back and forth to work today and out in the sunshine, window down, Thunderstruck on the stereo.. It worked. I didn't have to fear corners or think eight car lengths further ahead when it came to breaking for them either and the revvy little 1.6 that annoys me with it's lack of low end torque came to life in a completely different way as I worked her through the gears....

I hate it, it's a passionless, personality deficient, white good on wheels... But today on those B roads, it was a nice place to be for all it's foibles...

Someone please tell me I'm not alone in this insanity!?

[Disturbedguy]

I had a 2014 as a hire car from work the other week, was a 1.0 EcoBoost with 125BHP engine, I loved driving it in general but infinitely more so on the twisties.

[DanceswithUnix]

My wife's first car was a 45bhp FIAT Uno. Wonderful little car, loads of fun and cost peanuts. Not just you.

[Tumble]

Sometimes, a bad car is better, because you aren't so worried about it's mechanicals so you give it a bit more stick than you normally would, and relax into it a bit. Saying that, if I got into Fiesta-shed from my current car, it would probs scare me half to death with it's pathetic torque-less motor and poop inducing lack of braking power... but coming from the Landy, it probably feels like it stops on a sixpence and goes round corners on rails..... it's all about your frame of reference really isn't it?

[kalniel]

it's all about your frame of reference really isn't it?

I'd agree with that - by many measures hardly any fiestas would be seen as a 'bad' car. Not special perhaps, for several models, but not bad.

[shaithis]

Every time I see an alfa romeo I enjoy a bad car.

[DanceswithUnix]

Every time I see an alfa romeo I enjoy a bad car.

Then you should try driving one, they aren't for looking at

[DeludedGuy]

I have a confession - I really enjoy driving the Citroen C2 VTS - its bloody nippy the engine sounds great!

[Butcher]

Not that I recall. Drove a Fiat 500 1.2 and it was universally terrible. Poor driving position, gutless engine, the hazards came on if you went past super gentle on the brakes, wallowy handling. There were pretty much no redeeming features.

[scaryjim]

Does the late 90's Rover 414 count as a bad car? Because I absolutely adored driving mine

[Knoxville]

I'd agree with that - by many measures hardly any fiestas would be seen as a 'bad' car. Not special perhaps, for several models, but not bad.

This is true, as Tumble says it's subjective. To many, people who expect a car to be a car and waft them from A to B in relative comfort it's not a bad car at all for what it costs.

For me though it is a bad car... First and foremost because I can't do tree surgery and gardening work out of the back of a Ford Fiesta, getting two musicians worth of gear into the back of it for band practices is beyond a pain as well. It doesn't tick any of my boxes when it comes to what I prefer in a vehicle either. I despise PAS and the lack of feedback you generally get through it for instance. Almost as much as I hate sitting down as low as I have to in traffic. I like a bit of low end torque too and this engine will just never have it.

Those things alone (aside from it's lack of personality) make it a bad car for me. Not because it's a terrible piece of engineering, more because of what I want out of a car

[Ttaskmaster]

Not because it's a terrible piece of engineering, more because of what I want out of a car

So it's not actually a 'bad' vehicle in any way, just that you're not used to it and you're probably using it in environments not suited to its design strengths, then?

Kinda like my bike - Most bikes are nippy in town, whereas mine is a heavy, slow lump of a machine, awkward to haul around and with a VERY heavy clutch that kills your hand whenever you're stuck behind those 'creep-forward' drivers...
By contrast, most people think motorways are boring, yet they are the personal playground for my bike!!!

It all depends what the vehicle is intended to do.

[Zak33]

... I suppose it's not a bad car. .....and have been tooling about in a Mk.5 Fiesta of all things.

.... it's a passionless, personality deficient, white good on wheels... But today on those B roads, it was a nice place to be for all it's foibles...

Someone please tell me I'm not alone in this insanity!?

its' the succesfull build up to the Mk6 which is, certainly.. one of the finest cars ever to roll a wheel on a country lane.

if the engines were more potent and less juicy it woul'd be a real used car bargain.. but they're.. just not.

I hate the shape of the Mk5 so it's got little going for it.. but you're right to love hating it and vice-a-versa

[DanceswithUnix]

I despise PAS and the lack of feedback you generally get through it for instance

Bit of a generalization isn't it? Yes, I have driven cars with awful PAS, as well as anti lock brakes that I swear were designed to make sure there weren't any survivors to complain and climate control that doesn't in any way control the climate.

Might as well say you don't like tyres because they are skinny.

I think the problem here is some cars are sold via comparing lists of tick boxes. PAS is one of those boxes, so in some cars just whack in a cheap electric servo and job done

[Spreadie]

I had a sporty Mk7 Fiesta as a courtesy car, a while go. The steering was pin sharp and it had a decent engine, so it was fun to throw around the B roads.

However, it had about as much suspension travel as a roller skate so, after you've finished tooling about on the back roads, the enjoyment quickly wears off during the bone-jarring ride home. Every pothole or drain cover, every last ripple or piece of loose gravel in the roadway - all transmitted, with unwavering clarity, up and down the length of your spine.

[Zak33]

I had a sporty Mk7 Fiesta as a courtesy car, a while go. The steering was pin sharp and it had a decent engine, so it was fun to throw around the B roads.

However, it had about as much suspension travel as a roller skate so, after you've finished tooling about on the back roads, the enjoyment quickly wears off during the bone-jarring ride home. Every pothole or drain cover, every last ripple or piece of loose gravel in the roadway - all transmitted, with unwavering clarity, up and down the length of your spine.

hot hatchs still do that on the whole.. the french a tad less perhaps on occassion

makes boys buy them