Not everything is to do with bhp or engine size it’s also the torque and the gear ratio and how much boost a turbo gives and when it gives it, and the power to weight ratio. so certain cars can be very different it depends how you drive them or like to drive them..
I been driving for work pretty much all my working life and have driven so many different types and some crazy miles, even rally driving in the welsh moutains of snowdonia.
Some people prefer something over something else and others prefer what that other person hates and some thinks as they ok with x why should you be allowed have y, and maybe it’s just me but i don’t care about hate and those that hate just because they don’t agree with someones view. Like the hot hatch thread that got closed down..
There nothing wrong with that at all.. we all different, but replys with do you really need that? or this? etc is not helpful. so on with what i was saying i don’t wanna go offtrack, but need saying.
I used to have a mk7 1.6l golf tdi it had 110 bhp and about 250 nm of torque and the only time it was really an issue was when it was fully filled to the roof with camping stuff and 4 grown men (my brothers) in it and then i’d have to use the manual mode on the dsg box to pull away at any speed at all or to do an overtake but it still did it..just… Most of the time just slipping it into sport mode would do the trick.
Now i have a 1.5l petrol civic sport it has 182 bhp and only 220 nm and when needed it will do that overtake i reckon 2 times faster and sadly the new golf mk8 / 1.5l petrol has only 148 bhp but it does have 250 nm of torque. The manual civic has 240 nm and has a much higher top speed than the cvt gearbox that i have, but that top speed is not really needed so doesn’t worry me at all. it’s mid range speed i care about.
The civic is such a joy to drive, whatever driving mood i’m in or road conditions occur. The beast can be released when it’s safe to do so..
now imagine this!
That truck starts moving across fast when you halfway past it.. I know which car I’d rather be in… Most of the time defensive driving is the best option but sometimes thats not an option and power is your friend. Imagine it’s wet also, too much power at once can be your enemy in many situations but so could braking, how close is the car behind you and what are the conditions all come into play when we talk safety.
Bigger tyres have more rubber in contact with the surface and thus more grip, more water dispersal etc so there are pro’s and cons to all situations and add to that better brakes and disks, which cars are safer to drive is not in question imo. We talking stock cars as well not modified it’s like goldilocks and the three bears and look someone will like the its not so sweet or the it’s two cold. but in most cases you can have what you like the way you like it, before the golf i had a grand c4 picasso 7 seater as needs must and was great also, but i’d not get another citroen did have it’s issues but no problems driving it at all..un like a c3 a test drove 3 years earlier but it was very van like it got us from a to b but not with a smile on me the drivers face, like the golf did and now in the civic wow it handles so much better and the ride is more comfortable than the golf.
So comfortable infact that my 9 year old has sat in the front only twice since we got it back in july. So i’m very happy with the car it’s perfect for me in so many ways and my son would of loved it, and it’s on the scheme but i do see it going due to the co2 levels and it being replaced with a hybrid or maybe an ev.
Which will be sad in many ways as the roar of the vtec and when it changes is such great technolgy, getting more bhp from only a 1.5l is amazing even the power they get from the 1.0l is crazy imo and it reminds me of my 1st ever car a 1980’s honda accord fastback that was smaller than the current civic and had a 1.6 n/a engine and i think it had around 80 hp but i’d rather have this one, i may even buy it.. The smile it gives me is like the smile you get when you drive a van / truck all day for 8/12 hrs and then you jump into your own car a pug gti and your like yesssssss… It’s effortless at minimal throttle.. So there that as well..