Technical Manual AC - just checking others' experiences

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

If you got big arms driving those you should have tried driving early 70s Ladas (Fiat 124s), I worked for the agents and we reckoned that was how they trained the female Russian shot putters for the Olympics.
The steering geometry from the factory was so bad the tyres could wear bout in 600 miles and that was Russian tyres that didn't grip the road.

Yup, my pal had a 1200. It had virtually no self centering action so you were constantly applying corrections just to keep going straight. Very annoying and tiring. The thing I never came to terms with was the throttle pedal position which was compromised by the Intrusion of the wheel arch on right hand drive versions so demanded a very strange and tiring driving position for your right foot. At that time I was hiring genuine Fiat 124s quite often which were a nice sporty drive - the Ladas was really horrid, but not as horrid as the Polski Fiat/FSO Polonese cars I later got involved with.

 

[bugsymike]

Yup, my pal had a 1200. It had virtually no self centering action so you were constantly applying corrections just to keep going straight. Very annoying and tiring. The thing I never came to terms with was the throttle pedal position which was compromised by the Intrusion of the wheel arch on right hand drive versions so demanded a very strange and tiring driving position for your right foot. At that time I was hiring genuine Fiat 124s quite often which were a nice sporty drive - the Ladas was really horrid, but not as horrid as the Polski Fiat/FSO Polonese cars I later got involved with.

That is exactly what I found.
I always remember going on the Lada course at Bridlington, Carnaby airfield? The lecturer on the course used to rally them and after we had complained about their road holding he took five of us up an airfield in a 1500 estate version, we were doing 80mph on the main runway and he said "don't say they don't handle" he then piled full lock on at 80 mph to send us in the opposite direction, as we we were going around the turn, he said "we are on three wheels now" to which we replied "bo**ocks", so he straightened the steering and we all felt it drop back onto the road.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

That is exactly what I found.
I always remember going on the Lada course at Bridlington, Carnaby airfield? The lecturer on the course used to rally them and after we had complained about their road holding he took five of us up an airfield in a 1500 estate version, we were doing 80mph on the main runway and he said "don't say they don't handle" he then piled full lock on at 80 mph to send us in the opposite direction, as we we were going around the turn, he said "we are on three wheels now" to which we replied "bo**ocks", so he straightened the steering and we all felt it drop back onto the road.

The mk1 Lotus Cortina did that. There are some very spectacular pictures of Jim Clark cornering in his Lotus Cortina with the inside front wheel hovering about a foot off the road.