Comedy Journey

[Howard]

Well, i have just got back from a very relaxing few days away in Lundy.

But that's beside the by ... what the purpose of this post is about is to relay the hilarity i had in driving down there .....

I had the CLK430 lined up to take down , a nice jolly jaunt down the 303 to Hartland , then Dad asks 'Where are you leaving it ? ' ......

I then have to inform him that it will be left in a field on top of a cliff at Hartland Point , unattended for 4 days ....

Naturally, he balks at this and decides he doesn't want to lend me the car after all ...

Sitting and having a think about this, i can see his point .... and this then makes me think that i don't want to take mine .... i can just imagine looking through the binoculars on Lundy across to Hartland Point, watching some oik unbolting my wheels while i am seperated by 12 miles of the Bristol Channel .

So ..... with hours left until we leave and no way of hiring another car , we elect to take the Ka

Now, the Ka is fine for running around town , it's small and nippy, but long motorway journeys are not its forte.....

We set off and it becomes apparent that it will sit happily at 75/80 mph ...... until you reach a hill ..... when the speed sloughs off at the rate of about 5 mph per 200 yards ....

At one point, we pulled alongside a chap in a Focus as we were going up a hill , what happened can only be described as embarrasing we lost momentum and he had a good old laugh , as we had to fall back and pull in behind ... i've had this happen before , but only when driving a dangerously overloaded 7.5 tonner and trying to overtake an artic....

Changing gear didn't help , it's just down to a good old lack of power ( 63 bhp ) !

Now , i think the problem lies in that the gears for the Ka are quite close except for the 5th which is very long ..... so you cane it up to 65ish in 4th ( i know, i know ) and then change into 5th , and the revs drop right down .... too far down as it turns out as you then lose all accelleration on a hill and bog down.

Anyway , a good little holiday , and to give the Ka it's dues , it was OK ...

No real point to this post , just to let you all have a good old giggle ....

H

 

[television]

When the gearbox failed on my Saab I hired a Ka to get back home, it was brand new and only me in it , it flew down the 303 with only me in it, it was great, I forget was engine it had.


Pleased that you had a good break and that you enjoyed it

 

[Howard]

Ours is the old model 1.3 old skool engine , same as the Ford Anglia i believe ....

Angela and me , and all our luggage ....

 

[MBManInKen]

At least the Ka had an excuse, being a 1.3 engine not generous on the hp.

Two years ago I had to rent a car for a trip to the continent (long story, but the s-class was waiting for a new seatbelt that couldn't be fitted in time).

This is what I ended up with.

Kia Magentis. 2L. You'd think that the bloody thing would be able to maintain 70mph on the not very steep hills between London and Dover. But no. Always ended up struggling and falling back significantly.

And the noise that the thing made at 70mph.

 

[jeremytaylor]

A Ka? You had it lucky! You reasons which are still unclear to me, I had to let SWMBO have my C320 today, relegating me to using the ... 2CV.

Like the Ka, this is fun in the right places, when you're in the mood. But slogging up the A3 ain't fun. The engine sounds like it's going to burst on the flat at 70. And that's before you even see the meerest hint of a hill.

But worst of all is the 'headlights' . A Bic lighter would do a better job of lighting the road ahead, especially when you are used to Xenons

Driving it is a stark reminder of how much cars have progressed in the last 60 years!

 

[gaz_l]

Since the C43 went, I've been using the going to work car (1993 Fiat Panda) for everything. To be fair, it's willing and quite fun to drive in a small Italian car sort of style, but with only 45 BHP it's never going to win any grand prix, even though it weighs less than a paper bag.

With petrol at over a pound a litre now, the fact that it does 40 MPG even when I rag it also helps...

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[crockers]

A Ka? You had it lucky! You reasons which are still unclear to me, I had to let SWMBO have my C320 today, relegating me to using the ... 2CV.

!

At least your eggs didnt get broken on the way across the ploughed field.....:bannana:

 

[Howard]

Since the C43 went, I've been using the going to work car (1993 Fiat Panda) for everything. To be fair, it's willing and quite fun to drive in a small Italian car sort of style, but with only 45 BHP it's never going to win any grand prix, even though it weighs less than a paper bag.

With petrol at over a pound a litre now, the fact that it does 40 MPG even when I rag it also helps...

Cheers,

Gaz

We should have a burn up ...

I expect the Ka's a bit heavier , which should even out its power advantage .....

 

[gaz_l]

We should have a burn up ...

I expect the Ka's a bit heavier , which should even out its power advantage .....

According to Parkers - Ford Ka 96-04 59 BHP/871 KG = 67.7 BHP/tonne

According to Fiat handbook - Panda 999 Fire 45 BHP/700 KG = 64.3 BHP/tonne

If any of the other forum members would like to participate in the Gutless Awards, perhaps they might like to fill their passenger cabin with concrete to obtain an equally lowly power to weight ratio...

Cheers,

Gaz

 

[Howard]

We should start a new thread !!

Or sort out a GGTG at Bruntingthorpe !!

( Gutless Get Together )

EDIT :- Ka2 0-60 time , circa 15 secs !!

 

[jeremytaylor]

That's positively quick compared to a 2CV. I seem to recall their 0-60 as being 32 secs!

Downhill with a following wind!

 

[MBManInKen]

I seem to recall their 0-60 as being 32 secs!

32 sec? More like a day.

While in theory they could reach about 70mph with the 600cc engine, I don't think I've ever seen one do it and you wouldn't have much hearing left by that time .

 

[MBManInKen]

And who remembers these:

The dash mounted gearstick was dreadful

On the up side, it came in a Luxe version .

 

[gina2201]

I have a very gutsy (not!) Polo with a massive 45bhp, plus a hole in the exhaust, 50mpg though aint half bad....!

 

[Howard]

How weird that you should post that Guido !!

When i went shopping today , there was one of those in the car park at Sainsburys , in bright mustard yellow, i even commented to Angela on how nice it looked ...

It was on a B plate and was perfect , no rust nothing ...

It had a url on the back window , www.renospeed.co.uk , i've looked on the site for a picture of it as i didn't take one ( stupidly ) but they haven't got one up ....

It looked really nice though, shiny paint, nice wheels , like new !

 

[MBManInKen]

I haven't seen one for ages! A bit of nostalgia set off by all that talk about 2CVs.

If it was in that good condition, it could have been in storage for a long time.

I think they have been out of production for something like 15 years

 

[Howard]

I think , judging by the promo url on the back window that it had probably been restored ...

 

[MBManInKen]

Err, yes, I should have realised that actually .

I'm getting old .

 

[wallingd]

Matiz 0.8: 51bhp 830kg (51*1000/830=) 61.4bhp/t.

 

[verytalldave]

The old Fiat 500 had a top speed of about 58mph, therefore it didnt have a 0-60mph time. I seem to recall it only had about 12 or 13bhp. Hired one on a holiday in Majorca many moons ago. A great little car and had suicide doors. About as basic as a car could get. I dont think it even had a fuel gauge.