Tell us something we don’t know!

therealmccoy wrote: Mazda 6 - The soul of a sports car. With it's ***** Lexus lights and that slogan, these people believe it IS a sports car in disguise! Rather than the poor mans Mondeo that it is!

Mazda 6. Great looking car that handles really well and is a joy to drive.

therealmccoy wrote: MG's - Maximum caffeine etc. All the money goes on the bodykit and seats, result more plastic than a normal Rover! Again, most believe it IS a sports car, rather than just a mess!

The Mg's are genuinely good cars. I have driven a ZS180 and in terms of ride quality and handling it was up their with my BMW. It was the kind of car that you just get in a drive hard without having to go to the trouble of getting to know it first. Very forgiving and great fun.

therealmccoy wrote: VW Golf GTi 1.8 (non turbo) + 2.0 - The original GTi. People believe these cars are fast - err no!

Agree totally

therealmccoy wrote: Leon Cupra T + R - for those that just couldn't afford an S3.

Better than an S3 and cheaper so why even consider the Audi, other than for the badge.

therealmccoy wrote: Saab - For people too snobby to buy a Vauxhall!

Saab, for people who think they are getting something special but are really being sold a vauxhall in a fancy dress!

In response to The Real McCoy and Peter Fenwicks comments on various cars:

Mazda 6:

I'm with Peter on this mostly in that I think they're a nice looking car that does drive well.  However, I do know what RMC is getting at because they do seem to have attracted a certain kind of driver in some models. I have had 2 of these try to race me in the M3.  Very odd behaviour indeed.

MG's:

On these I am firmly with RMC.  I too have driven a ZS180 - and it was truly awful.  Plastic and tacky.  Feedback was quite good, I'd give it that.  But a truly 'borrow for an short trip' car if ever there was one.  I couldn't live with one for more than an hour.

As for it being up there with BMW in respect of anything at all, I just can't agree.  It was leagues apart in every respect.

Golf GTi (previous generation):

Agree with you both.  Slower than a fat slug on salt.

Leon Cupra's v S3's:

The S3 is in a different class as far as I am concerned.  It is better built, offers better feedback, is quicker (in standard form) and it is much much more than just a badge syndrome.

But, the Cupras are good cars in their own right.  So I'm a bit inbetween on this one you could say.

Saab:

For people who can't afford a BMW, Mercedes or Audi, but still think it is a respected badge.  Ahem.

Hmm. BMWs and Fords. My favourite and least favourite manufacturers.

I think it probably is fair to say you`re more like to see a BMW being driven badly than a Saab. But then there are more BMWs out there on the roads.

Cars I`d identify as ones to avoid are Saxos [or in fact any car that's clearly been "modified" in a max-power kiddy style] and the older style Vectra SRi. Company vans should probably be included on there as well. I`m not about to group whole manufacturers.

Far more of a problem is some old people. Some of the things you see them do is cringeworthy.

Coasting wrote: Rover wanted to get to a younger market and did the same (although they did it rather differently).  I actually don't have a ounce of respect for what they did.  They merely dropped prices and skimped on every engineering aspect they could have done.  Their cars continue to be a revamp of this and a revamp of that. The rear of the 'new' Rover 45 is the worst revamp of anything I have ever seen.  Their cars are the same they were 7 years ago. The sooner they close the doors on the place and let it's sorry state fade into history, the better. I'm sure that will attract some derision - but what can they do now?

The problem with Rover is that they spent all that time and money putting a V8 into the 75 and converting it to RWD rather than replacing the the 25 and the 45 which are both horribly out of date.

Much as I like the MG ZT260, in order to be successful Rover need to be making better mainstream cars. After all sales of the ZT260 aren't going to pay the bills.

As for my comment about the Audi and Seat. I have never driven either so my view is based on the fact that the Seat is cheaper and comes out above the Audi in every comparison I have ever read. When they make an S3 version of the new A3 it might be different. In fact out off all the cars based on that platform the SKoda Octavia and Seat Leon have been given the most praise by magazines like EVO

Jonners wrote: one word answer to which question??

ref to the survey where people were prejudging bmw owners as bad drivers.