ed
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Oh, and the facelift B suspension was done by Lotus.
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Robin
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Colin Chapmans lotus' were, modern "lotus tuned" cars a crap/
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Robin
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quote:
Originally posted by ed
Oh, and the facelift B suspension was done by Lotus.
i know, but i thought if i said "and the B" someone would tell me its only the shock absorbers.
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ed
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A pedigree bitch can still birth a litter of mongrels.
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ed
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quote:
Originally posted by robmarriott
quote:
Originally posted by ed
Oh, and the facelift B suspension was done by Lotus.
i know, but i thought if i said "and the B" someone would tell me its only the shock absorbers.
And the ARB's were changed too?
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Robin
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STFU ed  stop siding with them 
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ed
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I'm not, I'm saying that even though Lotus have made some great cars in the past, just because thier name is on a Vauxhall chassis design doesn;t automatically give it the handling of an Exige.
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Robin
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didnt they design the chassis on the proton persona? has anyone driven one? they are dire
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Jules S
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Very little of the front end ARB on the VXR astra that top gear tested......had been tested.
Lotus crap?
Funny comment indeed
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ed
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I did, I took a hairpin at 120mph, it stuck to the road like glue 'cos it's Lotus design 
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Robin
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Jules, Lotus can build sports cars, granted, give them a k series and some aluminium, and they'll make you a nice, grippy sports car
BUT, give them a brief to make a front wheel drive barge handle, and they CANNOT do it.
Lotus have NEVER managed to make a front wheel drive production car handle.
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mk4_astra
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TBH i think clarkson is a bit of a tw*t when he testdrives anything vauxhall and american. ok so the vectra vxr isnt the best handling car in the world(maybe a bit of an understatement) but what do you expect when you take a barge fwd car like that on a track when its more at home on motorways. also funny how the mondeo that was perfect in everyway was only 2 spaces up the board from the vxr.
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Jules S
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Rob,
I can only comment on the facts i have to hand.
Before Top Gear 'tested' the Astra VXR, Stu Harris (who 'we' developed the vx220 VXR with) posted on the vx forum that it would handle like shite because it wasn't finished.
Since I guess vertually all the posts commenting here about Astra VXR's are based on the TG test, perhaps you should all defer judgement?
Proton bought Lotus...that variant was simply a mildly chassis tweaked re-badge IIRC
As for aluminium and 'K' series engines? why do you think I have a vx220
Edit: to clarify the Astra point of things
[Edited on 16-07-2006 by Jules S]
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Robin
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i agree about the TG astra test. but i've been out in a production astra VXR, and wasnt that impressed
and, like mk4_astra says, the vectra is suited to motorways, not a track...
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Jules S
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quote:
Originally posted by robmarriott
i agree about the TG astra test. but i've been out in a production astra VXR, and wasnt that impressed
and, like mk4_astra says, the vectra is suited to motorways, not a track...
Lets face it....driving a front wheel drive car of that sort of 'power' is never going to be easy......and in fairness (no offence meant) going 'out' in one isn't going to give you enough feedback to make a valid comment. Would you buy a car on the basis of a pax ride? doubt it....I wouldn't
As for the other VXR variants? Personally I think they've gone too far, and the 'badge' is now simply a selling point.
Sad really....to me once again Vaux have sold out
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Robin
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going out in a car, you get a feel for if it handles or not, and in my opinion, it didnt seem to.
normally i'd agree though, driving is a better option, but i'm too young to test drive one, or insure one for a day....
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Jules S
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quote:
Originally posted by robmarriott
going out in a car, you get a feel for if it handles or not, and in my opinion, it didnt seem to.
normally i'd agree though, driving is a better option, but i'm too young to test drive one, or insure one for a day....
And therein lies your problem mate....again no offence meant....mines broke atm and I cant be arsed with an arguement 
Remember clarkson slagging off the elise S2 for terminal understeer?......followed by Gavan kershaw showing him how to 'actually' drive it?
Its worse with a turbo lump in a FWD car. You 'really' need to adapt your driving style/ability to get anywhere near the potential of the car.
The above is something that top gear sadly lacked
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Robin
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 I'm too young to judge if a car handles or not?
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Jules S
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quote:
Originally posted by robmarriott
I'm too young to judge if a car handles or not?
Quite simply....yes.
Until you drive the car, and you have the understanding of what it is all about, you are too young.
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Robin
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ok
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Sooty
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Id agree with the age comment from Jules... someone at say 19 can hardly really apreciate the handling of say a group 18+ car or whatever
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Robin
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i love it, what a crock of shit.
i spent 2 years at college, doing a motorsport course (which involved the science of speed/handling, and actually putting the theory into practice by setting up and driving all manor of 'racing' cars), so i think, even at 17 (when i started the course) i could judge a car which handled or not.
BUT, i cant drive a big power car on the road, because of insurance.... does this make me unable to judge it as a passenger? no.
[Edited on 16-07-2006 by robmarriott]
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Nath
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Its all pointless anyway, TG threw a Vectra VXR round a track and it didnt handle. When is a Vectra VXR going to see a track, it's the kind of car my Dad would buy. Astra VXR, well JC can't drive for shit, remember him struggling to drive the Focus RS because of the diff? How an Astra VXR performs on the track would not influence me in anyway when it came to choosing one as a next car.
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Robin
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quote:
Originally posted by Nath
remember him struggling to drive the Focus RS because of the diff?
thats because the diff and the focus were a bad combination... ford admitted the error there
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Mase
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quote:
Originally posted by robmarriott
i love it, what a crock of shit.
i spent 2 years at college, doing a motorsport course (which involved the science of speed/handling, and actually putting the theory into practice by setting up and driving all manor of 'racing' cars), so i think, even at 17 (when i started the course) i could judge a car which handled or not.
BUT, i cant drive a big power car on the road, because of insurance.... does this make me unable to judge it as a passenger? no.
[Edited on 16-07-2006 by robmarriott]
of couse it does robert 
I think the statement that a younger person cannot judge a cars performance is quite a sweeping statement. If someone has had the experience of a number of cars, either by being involved in motorsport or by studying the science of cars, then i think they have a decent knowledge to judge a cars handling characteristics.
Obviously, your knowledge increases over they years, but to say that you can't judge a cars performance because your young or you haven't been driving legally for a decent length of time is, in my eyes a bit off !!
[Edited on 16-07-2006 by mase5]
Mase
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