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General Hiya

L

London ADI

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Sep 16, 2007
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Hiya guys

I am a driving instructor currently teach in a fiesta zetec s tdci but am hoping to get a 1.9 GPS in march :) any other driving instructors teach in this car and if so what are your impressions ???

Regards

London ADI.
 
London ADI said:
Hiya guys

I am a driving instructor currently teach in a fiesta zetec s tdci but am hoping to get a 1.9 GPS in march :) any other driving instructors teach in this car and if so what are your impressions ???

Regards

London ADI.
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yes there is john loummis hes got a jazzed up red one
 
Hi there i am an ADI living in Mansfield Notts and use a 1.9 Sporting, my main car is a little Panda Sporting, i wanted a Fiesta Zetec S but found the price and spec more apealing for the Fiat. As per other reply John may the best person to speak to i have only used the GP for 2 days due to loads of pupils on test over next 2 weeks and not wanting to upset there routine.
My car 1.9 Sporting Multijet 13000k, secondhand, found clutch to be very grabby, brakes are the same, 6 speed gearbox not an issue but 1st gear very low, steering very light, seat adjustment is great even my smallest pupils are ok, rear side/ veiw a tad restricted but not bad, bluetooth hands free great, turning circle a little on the large side ? but compaired to the Panda everthing is. The guys love the car and cant wait to move over to it girls not bothered, overall a lovely car to drive engine pulls from 1400RPM in most if not all gears, the build quality is as good as anything on the market at similar price, my only real concern is the odd bump on the kerb with left front wheel,(if i let it happen) anyway good luck go for a drive and convince yourself Alan.
 
hiya mate, welcome to the forum... you'll be made very welcome! :)

another thing to consider with the GP Sporting is that it has the hill holder feature on it, which could make it easier for students, not that thats a bad thing, but just something that is different when driving for instance a corsa etc. the steering is nice and light and the city button is a great touch too, not that i ever use it, lol, at least its something that fiat offer over ford etc.

shaun, i don't particularly find the GP hard to reverse, must admit i find it pretty easy. coming from a 3dr megane the rear pillars are tiny in comparison. lol.

i dont really see the point in the front quarter light style windows, you can hardly see anything through them anyway, but i suppose it looks good from the styling p.o.v. :D

cheers, david.
 
minnnt said:
shaun, i don't particularly find the GP hard to reverse, must admit i find it pretty easy. coming from a 3dr megane the rear pillars are tiny in comparison. lol.


cheers, david.
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My point is it has large blind spots which i think for a novice driver it makes reversing awkward, most learners will not have experience of other cars. it's all about opinions though.:)
 
Hi,

I'd agree with the visability comments. We've just changed from a Panda sporting to the GP and the missus mentioned this.

We also noticed that the front is obviosly alot bigger than the Panda.

That said though, it's overall a much safer car with the hill assist, seat belt warning beeps ect ect.
 
I'm an ADI, been using my GP sporting since I bought it new in April, up to 16k now, and very happy with it. Had a few problems, but the garage sorted them quickly and efficiently... (door handle stopped working, new drop links on the suspention) I used to use a fabia vRS, it is much better built than the fiat, but was quite difficult for the learners to drive smoothly, the fiat is much better in this respect, and the pupils like it.... reversing is not an problem/issue at all. My insurance went down, and the fuel economy is the same (47 on a typical working day) I don't particulaly like the he-man duals, bolt on the brake pedal gets in the way, but its only a small issue.

and don't tell your learners about the hill holder, (and it wont come in) we don't want the car banned under the DSA's 'electronic handbrake' rules! PM me if you want details about how the hill holder operates.....
 
Hi Sharky did not know you were an ADI, me too small world 170bhp, in the real world all cars will be built with this styling excercise of small rear quaters, and the stretched out A pillars for the Encap 5 star rating, have you had any issues with the Alloys yet, still trying to sort noise out on mine need back 2 back test of another 1.9 to see if its noise that all have.
 
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hey,an ADI club,I don't have problems with mine either,I don't tell my pupils about the hillholder but I have told the examiners because some pupils brake in such a way that the HH shows up unavaiable with the orange light on the dash and I don't want a test stopped for the light coming on,you know what examiners are like ,they will stop a test on any excuse these days.welcome to FF anyway London.john
 
johnlummis said:
hey,an ADI club,I don't have problems with mine either,I don't tell my pupils about the hillholder but I have told the examiners because some pupils brake in such a way that the HH shows up unavaiable with the orange light on the dash and I don't want a test stopped for the light coming on,you know what examiners are like ,they will stop a test on any excuse these days.welcome to FF anyway London.john
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yeah, if a learner has big clumsy feet, and presses the accelerator as well as the brake "hill holder unavailable" can come up, I had an examiner query it with me when it happened on a test (he didn't abort the test, [all tho we all know, if he was in the mood, he could have done] and passed the candidate)

"whats the 'hill holder' " he says...

"NOT an electronic handbrake" I reply.... I just said it was part of the ESP system, and the car will roll back if the handbrake is removed on a hill, or if clutch control is not good enough...

he was happy with the reply (y) (defining it as not an electronic handbrake)

arsedownoz: glad your happy with yours too, only noises I've had, were knocking from the front (that was the drop links, replaced under warrenty) and the usual groaning rear brakes when reversing, of which I am unconcerned, people have taken cars back for this, but all my cars (with rear discs) have done this, and it really doesn't effect anything...
What sort of noise have you got?
Alloys have been fine, I don't let them near the kerb ;) I did loose a tyre to a pot hole though, that was an expensive day, and the "get you home" foam is useless! I don't think the huge pot hole (hidden under water by the way) did the drop links any good, they died soon after...

otherwise its fine... hope it stays that way, i intend to keep it two years and 90k, much like I did the skoda....
 
Thanks for that Sharky the noise is at 2300rpm onwards, any gear and accelerating steady as on the test, yes i know you can change at 2000rpm into any gear and car will pull but some of pups do let the car rev on a little, Fiat have said there is issues with Intercooler pipes so these have been sorted, still a noise it sounds like the exhaust has started to come to bits inside and a resonating noise but Fiat want to back 2 back it with another 1.9 to see if similar noise exists, they dont have one so i am on the lookout for a local owner to come forward and check there car against mine, fingers crossed one will turn up Alan.
 
hhmmm , can't say mine makes any unusual noises... sounds good it you rev it actually, a nice deep roar! lol.... I used to live near mansfield, a few hundred miles away now tho, hope you get it sorted, keep us updated... (surely your dealer should just try and fix it anyway?! you know, just keep trying to find the noise? CAT's have been known to desintegrate inside the exhaust causing the symptoms you describe.....mine had a sqeek from new, that sounded like a belt slipping, took the mechanics two hours to find what it was, and 2 seconds to fix it! a clip had come loose on the gear linkages..)
 
Fiat have already had car twice and spent 3.5 hrs looking for cause of noise which might i add is def there, they can here it just cant find it, Minnnt has agreed to meet me Sunday and compare his car against mine for noise, i will then report back to Fiat who should Fingers crossed search a little harder, and i also agree it does sound like the exhaust is resonating and causing the niose surely if it was that simple they would have found it by now, where did you live i am at meden vale (Welbeck) not the 1st choice but nice enough Alan.
 
I lived in Worksop, not far from welbeck :) we could've met for drive, and exchanged views about which pieces had fallen off so far! lol.... I'm up in the lakes now though :) keep us updated as to how it goes...... I'd still insist they try replacing things though, to see if they can fix it, try demanding a new exhaust for example...... but it could be something as simple as a loose heatshield....
 
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