I have been reading this thread today and have a headache!!
I do care about mpg figures so that's why I have been looking around at the different figures. I have a TDi FR and bought it 2 years ago at the time when mortgage rates were high and money was tight so needed an economical car.
Recently I have been earning more and being on a tracker mortgage the rate has gone down significantly so wanted a faster car.
I have always liked the Cupra R and wanted one a while back so decided I was going to get one.
A Mondeo St220 came up for sale at a very reasonable price so I thought, whilst looking for a Cupra R I would get this as a bit of fun.
However, I cant get any better than 23.9 mpg and 240 odd miles to a tank. This to me is silly. On speaking with a mate who had a Cupra R and now has a Focus St he wishes he hadn't bought one as he was only seeing a best of 22mpg! Whereas the Cupra R was around the 30 mark.
So I think mpg does make a difference.
In relation to 99 octane fuel, are people using this to get better mpg? If so is it really worth the extra price compared to the extra mpg you get? I used to have a ClioSsport 172 and ran it on Shell Optimax and swore I could feel a difference but was it in my head?
As far as the speed kills debate, I agree with both sides to the story.
Speed itself doesn't kill, add in all the other factors, that's what kills but I would say the biggest killer is inexperience.
I had an accident when I was 19. (I'm now 30) I was on an A road, late at night in a 16v XR2I which had been lowered and had a boy racer exhaust. I was doing about 90 thinking I was driving good. I came into a right hander and half way through thought, crap im going to fast. So i backed off got massive lift off oversteer and panicked. I slammed my brakes on thinking this was what I should do but ended up locking up, spinning, hitting a hedge and rolling about 6 times into a field. I survived because of my seat belt (I have pics of the car if you wanted to see).
What factors were the
problem in that accident?
Speed? yes to a certain degree however I know that corner can be done in a bigger car at the same speed ( I am now an advanced Police driver and drove the road on my course 4 years ago)
Inexperience? definitely! had I never got off the throttle mid bend the car would not have been unsettled and would never have lost control. had a steered into the slide and got back on the throttle I would never had spun.
Driver education is the key not indiscriminate speed cameras placed to get the most money from normal law abiding citizens. When I say law abiding I mean the ones who insure, tax and register their cars.
I would like to see more speed cameras outside schools and more Police on the roads to educate drivers.
Also, if it helps, the majority of accidents I go to is because of poor judgement and not paying attention. The cars they are driving are always middle of the road cars or cheaper older cars. Not high performance hot hatches.
Don't get me wrong, I don't condone speeding, I can't however I warn more people when I catch them speeding if their driving was ok, because these are the type of people who realise the errors of their ways.
However, if you do drive like a "hooligan" then please don't moan if you get done by the Police as it is your own fault.
Now bring on the Police bashing comments and the pig jokes, I have thick skin!!
