What is everyone's current thoughts on the "Best Small Car"?

[ik9000]

A new Jaguar rather than second hand?

Our next door neighbour just got himself an open top Jag. Very nice car, sounds good too!

I'm sure a jag makes a lovely sound as it scrapes its way along lampposts in car parks and bottoms out on speedhumps, goes up the kerb and backs into bollards. Great for a first car obviously. That said a girl at my school was given a merc estate to learn in by her dad, so perhaps this is just how some people roll.

(Needless to say we're not getting a jag)

[kalniel]

my wife starting car hunting the other day for her first car after passing - something she could practice in and wouldn't matter if she dints it. So last night she asked me if we could go and look at a Jaguar. No, seriously. I hate to see what the expensive option would look like.

Either your wife has style, or maybe she means an old banger?

can you film it?

Not legally. Will have to see if I can get a willing early morning passenger. Good plan.

[scaryjim]

Either your wife has style, or maybe she means an old banger? ...

There's a corner on my bike ride to work where someone keeps putting cars up for sale second hand - was biking past a couple of weeks ago and there was a jab sitting there was a £180 price tag on it. Not sure if it was a mistake or if there was something seriously wrong with it, but i was half tempted to stop and give them a ring...

[DanceswithUnix]

I'm sure a jag makes a lovely sound as it scrapes its way along lampposts in car parks and bottoms out on speedhumps, goes up the kerb and backs into bollards. Great for a first car obviously. That said a girl at my school was given a merc estate to learn in by her dad, so perhaps this is just how some people roll.

(Needless to say we're not getting a jag)

If you are that worried, then there is something to say for having lots of metal around a person to keep impacts away.

A big Merc estate doesn't do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6NhuIS1RAE (G-Wiz in front offset impact test, not pretty).

There's a corner on my bike ride to work where someone keeps putting cars up for sale second hand - was biking past a couple of weeks ago and there was a jab sitting there was a £180 price tag on it. Not sure if it was a mistake or if there was something seriously wrong with it, but i was half tempted to stop and give them a ring...

That can't be far off the scrap value for a Jag. Almost worth it for a hoon about, and ebay when it needs servicing

[ik9000]

If you are that worried, then there is something to say for having lots of metal around a person to keep impacts away.

A big Merc estate doesn't do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6NhuIS1RAE (G-Wiz in front offset impact test, not pretty).



That can't be far off the scrap value for a Jag. Almost worth it for a hoon about, and ebay when it needs servicing

Did that edit badly? A big merc estate must be better than a G-wizz in your video clip.

[kalniel]

Well a G-wizz isn't even a car so I'm not surprised it doesn't take impact tests well! Modern small cars can be good though.

Large banger vs small car:

[DanceswithUnix]

Did that edit badly? A big merc estate must be better than a G-wizz in your video clip.

Poor choice of negative words: "A big Merc estate doesn't do this:" hidden from obvious sight by sticking it right in front of the link?

Yes, a big Merc must be better.

Well a G-wizz isn't even a car so I'm not surprised it doesn't take impact tests well! Modern small cars can be good though.

Large banger vs small car:

That isn't a fair test. Old small banger vs old big banger or new small car vs new big car would come out as expected.

It is also quite funny these days to see that Volvo being referred to as big, as yes that Volvo is twice the mass of the small Alfa I was driving of that vintage but is probably lighter than a modern 3 series by some margin.

[kalniel]

It is also quite funny these days to see that Volvo being referred to as big, as yes that Volvo is twice the mass of the small Alfa I was driving of that vintage but is probably lighter than a modern 3 series by some margin.

Cars are just enormously heavy these days. I was pondering it the other day thinking that even with one of the most advanced petrol engines you can get, and things like stop start, regenerative braking, cylinder deactivation etc., I'm not really getting that much better economy than I did in my 1985 mk2 golf gti with 200k on the clock. Acceleration is pretty much the same and less exciting to boot, while absolute cornering grip may be a little bit better, the gti felt a lot more nimble and you really knew where the grip was without power steering.

New car is a bit comfier I guess And the brakes are about a million times better.

[ik9000]

Cars are just enormously heavy these days. I was pondering it the other day thinking that even with one of the most advanced petrol engines you can get, and things like stop start, regenerative braking, cylinder deactivation etc., I'm not really getting that much better economy than I did in my 1985 mk2 golf gti with 200k on the clock. Acceleration is pretty much the same and less exciting to boot, while absolute cornering grip may be a little bit better, the gti felt a lot more nimble and you really knew where the grip was without power steering.

New car is a bit comfier I guess And the brakes are about a million times better.

A lot of the weight comes from the safety features now built into the cars. I'd rather have the weight and protection (plus comfort) of modern cars. It makes you wonder how efficient a modern engine in an old chassis would be though - if we get similar mpg to back then even with all the extra weight.

[Butcher]

Hard to guarantee any make is free from that these days. Audi are supposedly the best in the business but mine creaks at a precise point - cold mornings when the first layer of interior is warmed up but the rest isn't yet - the temp differential is causing quite a few creaks. Sadly it's un-testable because the dealer doesn't open early enough in the morning to catch the condition and they won't fix what they can't reproduce. Even more sadly my every day commute does

Pfft, my car rattles like a kids toy, it gives it character!

[DanceswithUnix]

A lot of the weight comes from the safety features now built into the cars. I'd rather have the weight and protection (plus comfort) of modern cars. It makes you wonder how efficient a modern engine in an old chassis would be though - if we get similar mpg to back then even with all the extra weight.

As someone who has a reasonably modern engine in a kit car, I would expect it depends on usage. Around town it is pretty awesome, even with a 3l petrol V6 the lack of weight to accelerate gives it good town mpg. On the open road at a steady pace, old cars tended to be fairly brick shaped

[Marenghi]

My 2p's worth, the current Eco Boost Fiesta's. My own personal car is Corsa, but recently drove an Eco Boost Fiesta as a hire car and have to say probably the best small car I've driven in the last few years

My current car is a 100bhp eco boost fiesta and it's not that great having driven it for 5 ish months now. Yes free tax is a bonus but 55MPG? I got the same and slightly above from a '63 Fabia VRS 1.8 twin charged 180bhp and I could accelerate much quicker and not take a huge hit on the MPG like I do with the fiesta. Don't get me wrong what they've done is great and it's a great technological achievement but the engine/turbo can be rough as hell accelerating at times (the worst I've ever experienced), and you have to constantly drive with your MPG in mind unless you want to go down to 50 or below!

It's a nice city car but I would never ever recommend the 100bhp model, unless you have no issues accelerating as if you were driving a HGV because if you do decide to accelerate faster than that, then say goodbye to fuel efficiency.

[DanceswithUnix]

It's a nice city car but I would never ever recommend the 100bhp model, unless you have no issues accelerating as if you were driving a HGV because if you do decide to accelerate faster than that, then say goodbye to fuel efficiency.

Are you going by the trip computer readouts on the cars? Most cars are pretty rubbish as that, and it could simply be that the Fabia is less truthful about what it is doing.

If I floor it in my little 150bhp diesel, it reads about 9mpg. I know from doing old school calculations from what the pump and odometer say that it agrees pretty closely with the average on the trip meter.

OTOH, a collegue with a Citroen finds that the car claims at least 65mpg but calculating from the pump he gets under 55mpg so over 20% out, the same as I would expect from my Alfa if I did his daily motorway trip rather than pootling around town with a cold engine all the time.

[Butcher]

It's a nice city car but I would never ever recommend the 100bhp model, unless you have no issues accelerating as if you were driving a HGV because if you do decide to accelerate faster than that, then say goodbye to fuel efficiency.

All cars are terrible for mpg if you boot it. Mine does about 34 mpg normally, and more than that cruising on the motorway, but I've burned half a tank of fuel in less than an hour before (probably in the region of 8-10 mpg).

[kalniel]

All cars are terrible for mpg if you boot it. Mine does about 34 mpg normally, and more than that cruising on the motorway, but I've burned half a tank of fuel in less than an hour before (probably in the region of 8-10 mpg).

My diesel cars weren't, only noticed it with the petrol ones.

[DanceswithUnix]

My diesel cars weren't, only noticed it with the petrol ones.

Petrol cars are actually pretty efficient at flat our acceleration. Diesel cars are really good at low load steady state, eg medium speed cruising on the motorway. Hence for start/stop town driving (like I do) diesels really aren't very good.

Fundamentally, in a system that uses stored chemical energy to move it, acceleration needs you to burn a load of that chemical whatever it is.