Oooh! TWO phantom raspberry blowers.
General 1.4 to Twin Air
- Thread starter Littala
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General 1.4 to Twin Air
It actually started with has anyone changed from a 1.4 to a twin. But since our only regular poster that has got a twin came from the weasel then there hasn't been many people qualified to answer that particular question.
Littala may be our test subject on that particular swap. Unless we have a new member sign up soon, who has done the swap.
Littala may be our test subject on that particular swap. Unless we have a new member sign up soon, who has done the swap.
I take it this is a serious response & not sarcasm?
Amen to this!
Me too. My first and only brand new car was the worst i've owned. Numerous faults including airbags, coils, alternator belts & pulleys failing, electrical glitches, fuel supply problems. Plus it cost nearly £200 a month and had lost £4000-£4500 in 18 months.
Buying used means i can save thousands, pay less per month & hopefully rule out duff cars by looking at owner numbers (a 4 year old car with 4 owners has probably had 4 because it's awful).
Therefore as much as it'd be nice to have the latest plate or drive a car from new, i just remember how miserable my only new car made me feel, and that knocks abit of sence into me.
I never ever thought I'd buy new but then scrappage came along and it really was too good to refuse.
Never quite understood the whole plate thing, it's just a plate with some numbers on it and I care more about the car than the plate.
In my misspent youth I did some truly shocking things to rental cars in far less than 60 miles.
In my misspent youth I did some truly shocking things to rental cars in far less than 60 miles.
Rental cars do tend to be very quick don't they! I had a 1.2 Micra up to about 170 indicated in metric whilst going down a rather long Finnish hill It's actually the car in my avatar I ****ing hate Micra's though Could not agree more on the number plate thing. When ringing the fiat dealer for a twin air test drive he asked me if I was planning to wait when buying for the march number plate change. I very nearly laughed. I also shake my head at personalised plates. if you've got that much money to burn give it to a charity ffs!
Could not agree more on the number plate thing. When ringing the fiat dealer for a twin air test drive he asked me if I was planning to wait when buying for the march number plate change. I very nearly laughed. I also shake my head at personalised plates. if you've got that much money to burn give it to a charity ffs!
I can understand personalised plates to a certain extent as long as it's not obvious that it's a personalised numberplate. If I had the opportunity to have DVN (my initials) or CVN (the wifes) as a suffix then I would have happily done it because no one else is going to know. But it's when people are using letters, numbers and conveniently placed screws to spell something that's not even exactly their name that you've got to question people's sanity.
I think for the sake of a week or two I'd wait for a plate change, but no longer. We got our car 6 weeks before the change and there was no way I was going to wait that long!
Well there's the fact that idiots think that a car with a newer plate on is worth more. We didn't buy the 500 with the plan of selling it but it's always nice to maximise the resale value of it where possible.
lol yeah I guess there is that. My only fascination with number plates has been one that looks naturally snappy and easy to remember. My old vauxhall was WX02 NRO and I just liked it. Some tend to look like a mish mash of letters where as some look neat and tidy, lol.
I chose mine out of a list of about 20 because I've got a great interest in WW2 and the three letters kind of mean something if you're a saddo like me
Perhaps it's a fair distance to a decent chippy?surely they could have parked the transporter closer to the dealer..
Nah i'm just thinking of the time I got a delivery miles suzuki splash demo car as a courtesy car...it would do 60 in second...I know cos I did it...safe in the knowledge I would never own it or ever drive it again..
babbo_umbro
Established member
A few years ago - when we were thinking of buying our Pandas - we flew to Venice (birthday surprise for Mrs b_u) and I particularly wanted to hire a Panda - they fobbed me off with a Micra, despite my histrionic/arm-waving rant - it was quite simply the worst car I've driven - followed closely by a Smart summink or other - apart from being dismal in every way it almost ground to a halt when I turned the air con on.
Even brand new cars have to be driven, if only to get them on/off transporters en route to the dealer. Sometimes they're driven carefully, sometimes not.
It's a lottery, in the same way that a new car may/may not have built in faults.
To give myself the best chance in that lottery, I specifically asked the supplying dealer not to prepare the car cosmetically and to leave as many of the factory seals intact as practicable. I also made it clear that I didn't want the car to be driven by anyone for demonstration purposes and that I'd refuse to accept the car if it had more than 10 miles on the odometer.
Paranoid? Perhaps. But the dealer understood my reasons & I got the car exactly as I wanted it, and so far all has been well.
Yes it was very much gutless!
OP
OP
I had my test drive of the Twin Air yesterday and was reasonably impressed overall. It did feel peppier than I expected, though I was hoping it'd feel as lively and sporty as my 1.4, but it didn't. That may be due to it only having a few miles on the clock and the engine not being loosened up yet ? It was noticeably noisier too from inside the cabin and when starting up. The engine sound is definitely unusual, a bit like an old Beetle or Camper Van or 2CV, but not as noisy as one of them, but louder than my current 500.
When you drive with the Eco button pressed on, it really does feel more sluggish, but then again there's a bit of a difference in my 1.4 Sport when you switch the sport button off. That's what the Eco button does though, so you're using less of the engine's power to make it more economical. On the dual carriageway I wanted to go into 6th gear, but there wasn't one of course. I guess I'm just used to going into 6th on that particular dual carriageway at that speed. It managed a fairly steep hill pretty well too, albeit noisily. I was impressed with the Start Stop facility too, but apparently Start Stop is now standard on all 500s now, so I'm told, including the 1.4. Zero road tax and better fuel economy do make it a tempting proposition, but I'm not convinced yet that it'll be as enjoyable as the 1.4.I've yet to decide which one to go for. Heart says one thing, head says another.... and all the reviews I've read haven't helped either way, except for colour choice (The Twins Airs tested all seem to be Volare Blue. I quite like that colour). I certainly haven't ruled the Twin Air out yet.
When you drive with the Eco button pressed on, it really does feel more sluggish, but then again there's a bit of a difference in my 1.4 Sport when you switch the sport button off. That's what the Eco button does though, so you're using less of the engine's power to make it more economical. On the dual carriageway I wanted to go into 6th gear, but there wasn't one of course. I guess I'm just used to going into 6th on that particular dual carriageway at that speed. It managed a fairly steep hill pretty well too, albeit noisily. I was impressed with the Start Stop facility too, but apparently Start Stop is now standard on all 500s now, so I'm told, including the 1.4. Zero road tax and better fuel economy do make it a tempting proposition, but I'm not convinced yet that it'll be as enjoyable as the 1.4.I've yet to decide which one to go for. Heart says one thing, head says another.... and all the reviews I've read haven't helped either way, except for colour choice (The Twins Airs tested all seem to be Volare Blue. I quite like that colour). I certainly haven't ruled the Twin Air out yet.
