Tell us about your first fast car experiences

[Swotty]

And along the same lines, I remember the Rover 600Ti. There was one in the local Rover dealer when I was a teen. It was British racing green. Lovely wide (at the time) silver alloys with ultra low profile tyres. It looks the dogs and I believe they were very quick. But 200bhp through the front wheels, it also suffered from silly torque steer.

It did - my brother had one ... he was really pissed off when he found out my calibra had been chipped ... and had 4 wheel drive.

 

[Swotty]

Ours was 3 speed manual with OVERDRIVE operated by a push-pull handle under the centre dash. Horrible thing: Lift off throttle to engage O/D, pedal to the firewall "kickdown" to revert to direct drive. And the bloody thing freewheeled when throttle lifted in O/D.

Was it a Mk 1? Mine's a 1965 mk 2 - I would have preferred an auto but this one was too good to pass up. I think auto suits the car better.

 

[Teego]

Was it a Mk 1? Mine's a 1965 mk 2 - I would have preferred an auto but this one was too good to pass up. I think auto suits the car better.

Probably a MK1. Came after his 6/99.

 

[Teego]

Oh yes, a Rover 827 Vitesse. I had one of those. It was my first non-Ford and I learned for the first time what customer service really should be like. Warranty claims were dealt with without question and the car personally handed over after service. I'd never experienced that with Ford

I had a 1993 800 Vitesse Turbo as a company car. Drank litre of oil every 500 miles (that's normal sir) and my commute was 400 miles per week plus business travel.
But it was bloody fast. On the autoroute down from Calais to Paris , chasing a Renault Alpine, the speedo went onto the stop pin as we passed him. Saw Plod on the shoulder, hit the brakes hard, NOTHING. Anyway there was enough space to slow gently and Plod didn't come after us. Afterwards I calculated the speed back from the rev counter. About 155mph. IIRC Rover quoted 135.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I had a 1993 800 Vitesse Turbo as a company car. Drank litre of oil every 500 miles (that's normal sir) and my commute was 400 miles per week plus business travel.
But it was bloody fast. On the autoroute down from Calais to Paris , chasing a Renault Alpine, the speedo went onto the stop pin as we passed him. Saw Plod on the shoulder, hit the brakes hard, NOTHING. Anyway there was enough space to slow gently and Plod didn't come after us. Afterwards I calculated the speed back from the rev counter. About 155mph. IIRC Rover quoted 135.

They were properly quick, and felt even quicker than the 220 Turbo and 600ti. I think the size and longish bonnet fooled the mind. Great cars

 

[ToeKnee]

I've been looking through this site below which gives vehicle stats, at some of my older cars and their acceleration. I find it quite interesting!

Lap times, performance data and vehicle specs - FastestLaps.com

Fastest laps, lap records, specs, lap times and automotive news

fastestlaps.com

 

[DavidL]

I had a new shape Honda CRX with the trick electric roof from a year old (the car not me), my first decent car. That was quick but actually with only 165 bhp it probably wasn't.
My 944 turbo is mildly modded to about 320 ish so quickish, never felt mindblowing but a nice drive.
I bought my 996 turbo with a Manthey remap to 500bhp and that was a whole order of magnitude faster. With 4wd it was just ballistic. I've never travelled so quickly or accelerated so fast. For those that know it there is a section of dual carriageway on the A350 coming north towards the A36 just before Warminster. I usually aim for the outside lane whatever I'm driving as lots are really slow but in the 911 the first time I tried this, third gear and floor it, the damn thing just took off. I have no idea how quickly I was going by the top but we went past a lot of cars!
The e55 is pretty swift but not as fast as the 911. Just rather more capacious and useful. These days I look at anything with less than 400bhp as mildy swift. Adequate but no more.

 

[SpoonJar]

And along the same lines, I remember the Rover 600Ti. There was one in the local Rover dealer when I was a teen. It was British racing green. Lovely wide (at the time) silver alloys with ultra low profile tyres. It looks the dogs and I believe they were very quick. But 200bhp through the front wheels, it also suffered from silly torque steer.

I owned my Rover 620ti for 4 years and never experienced any bad torque steer.

 

[SW18]

They were properly quick, and felt even quicker than the 220 Turbo and 600ti. I think the size and longish bonnet fooled the mind. Great cars

This has got me wondering whether an 800 Vitesse would be a fun cheap Q-car to own now. Sadly Howmanyleft says only 8 are still on the road, down from a high of 1600 on the road in the mid-90’s. Compared to the hundreds of SD1s still out there it seems the 800 series are a bit unloved. Can’t remember even seeing one for years now.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

This has got me wondering whether an 800 Vitesse would be a fun cheap Q-car to own now. Sadly Howmanyleft says only 8 are still on the road, down from a high of 1600 on the road in the mid-90’s. Compared to the hundreds of SD1s still out there it seems the 800 series are a bit unloved. Can’t remember even seeing one for years now.

The coupe was tasty too. They've aged remarkably well. I just spotted a Pistonheads "Shed of the Week" article from 2009 which had one for sale at offers around £895.

 

[BTB 500]

This has got me wondering whether an 800 Vitesse would be a fun cheap Q-car to own now. Sadly Howmanyleft says only 8 are still on the road, down from a high of 1600 on the road in the mid-90’s. Compared to the hundreds of SD1s still out there it seems the 800 series are a bit unloved. Can’t remember even seeing one for years now.

I remember the Police nickname for their (non Vitesse?) 800s was 'Belgrano', because of the handling

 

[Deleted member 6183]

This has got me wondering whether an 800 Vitesse would be a fun cheap Q-car to own now. Sadly Howmanyleft says only 8 are still on the road, down from a high of 1600 on the road in the mid-90’s. Compared to the hundreds of SD1s still out there it seems the 800 series are a bit unloved. Can’t remember even seeing one for years now.

I recall that they suffered write-off style ECU failures.

I repossessed one in the early 90s and was looking forward to driving it but the ECU was knackered and it went to auction on a low loader.

 

[SW18]

The coupe was tasty too. They've aged remarkably well. I just spotted a Pistonheads "Shed of the Week" article from 2009 which had one for sale at offers around £895.

I forgot about the coupe! I thought they were fab at the time of launch, but hardly any got sold. Can’t find them on howmanyleft - not sure what their proper model designation was - so I can’t check if there are any still out there.

 

[Teego]

I forgot about the coupe! I thought they were fab at the time of launch, but hardly any got sold. Can’t find them on howmanyleft - not sure what their proper model designation was - so I can’t check if there are any still out there.

Mine was a dark green hatchback with the sodoff spoiler and Recaro seats.

 

[Merc220cls]

Speaking about Rovers, I owned a very nice SD1 Vitesse from 1989 up until last year.
It had only slight rust around the wheel arches and at the bottom of the doors.
It was fast in its day at 190 bhp and could top out at around 120 mph.

I still have two photos of in my conservatory as a reminder.
Here she is in 2006 outside Longbridge the year after it closed down and prior to a rebuild I carried out over three years.

 

[Merc220cls]

and just six months later, sorry about the reflections.
The finished result was like a new car with new panels all round.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

and just six months later, sorry about the reflections.

Arrrrrrrrghhhh, you broke it!

 

[SW18]

Speaking about Rovers, I owned a very nice SD1 Vitesse from 1989 up until last year.
It had only slight rust around the wheel arches and at the bottom of the doors.
It was fast in its day at 190 bhp and could top out at around 120 mph.

I still have two photos of in my conservatory as a reminder.
Here she is in 2006 outside Longbridge the year after it closed down and prior to a rebuild I carried out over three years.

View attachment 95622

The car looked very nice before the rebuild!

 

[Merc220cls]

The SD1 got a bad name for build quality but mine was a fairly late model 1985. It was supplied by the Main Dealer I worked with at the time to a local company who’s “ premises” ( a sand quarry) was on my uncles farm so I knew the car well.
I purchased it with just 18k at three years old. It had done 100k when I sold it last year
When I stripped the wings off the corrosion was only on the lip of the wheel arch with the rest of the wing like new.
It was a huge task and kept me busy for three years.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

The SD1 got a bad name for build quality but mine was a fairly late model 1985. It was supplied by the Main Dealer I worked with at the time to a local company who’s “ premises” ( a sand quarry) was on my uncles farm so I knew the car well.
I purchased it with just 18k at three years old. It had done 100k when I sold it last year
When I stripped the wings off the corrosion was only on the lip of the wheel arch with the rest of the wing like new.
It was a huge task and kept me busy for three years.

I only ever drove one, the electric window got stuck in the down position and it had a flat tyre on the motorway - at night - in the rain.