i'm not really sure if you're interested or pleased with that kind of cars, but i need to share my opinion on lamborghi... or no, wait, it's a skoda fabia
well but you spotters should know, there's one thing fabia and gallardo, distant relatives in the volkswagen-porsche family, nearly share. look at the inner door handles, haha!
ok so the deal is - once vw bought skoda, czech cars started to be good, and since then the situation only got better. the fabia is a well made, good looking car. anything good you can say about volkswagen, is also presented here - like good ergonomics, extremely boring interior and stiff suspension - while the designer bit can be excused, i still cannot understand the latter - skoda is designed for markets like poland or romania - smooth roads are in minority here!
so, at least when you're into fast cornering it handles well, alas the engine is dull. it's a 1,6 105 BHP petrol engine but i gotta tell you until taking it to the gas station i thought it's a diesel. the culture of working is very very low and it sounds awfully. to make matters worse, it's thirsty (9 litres/100 km on average) and pairing it up with 45 litres fuel tank wasn't the pinnacle of german vorsprung durch technik. on the positive side, iirc that's the only engine when there's availible an automatic gearbox. yes, that skoda fabia has a fully automatic gearbox and i'm happy to report it's great. one of the best i've ever used. it's very modern - has six gears, and works like a dream. i wouldn't think twice of buying it, taking into consideration reasonably attractive price. i did a little research and this gearbox is made by japanese company called Aisin - and i've got a feeling it's owned by toyota...
well, built quality must be reflected by the origin of the car, but it's not beyond expectations. in this particular car it was recompensated by cool extras, like mp3 reader, cd changer, white roof or bixenons following corners. however those shifted up the price to intorelable 70 000 pln/17 600 eur/23 500 USD/15 700 Ł.
speaking of which, spending a week with fabia i got a feeling that skoda is leading wrong policy and they're directly following volkswagen. skodas are getting more and more premium and more and more cool. thus, they're less and less reachable and before soon will stop being "people's car" of eastern europe.
12 cylinders or walk!
so, the fabia didn't pass the test of attracting your attention, hence i'll try with something much more different.
I had a pleasure to spend one day with Dino 246 GT. I needn't tell how much joy it was. I spent more than an hour on winding empty routes in forest and on the three-lane road in the city. everything about this car is great, even though the clutch is so damn hard to operate and on some occassions i had to pull the gearbox lever with both hands. but it's hard to call it difficult to drive - first of all, this was to be a mass-market product. i had to go with it uphill on a tight road with photographic equipment attached and i made it, so it's a good proof you're able to control the car
the exterios is uhh... just marvellous, obviously. the interior is surprisingly spacious and well executed. you seat so so low - on some bumps i thought my butt is about to hit the tarmac. and the metallic bang you get from your back is nowhere near anything you get in todays cars - it's more complete and realistic even than the one in the 430 scuderia, gallardo or carrera gt for that matter. the modest 200 bhp you get from the engine is just about everything you need - the car is fast, i went with it 160 km/h sometimes and the handling even at that speed is satisfying, though of course todays car are better at it.
it was really fan to slalom on that three-lane road between usually so conceited owners of black X5s and tuned golf GTIs because of the lightness and lowness, it's a great pleasure to drive. something like smart roadster, but without that synthetic feeling and more power.
ok, i need to tell you i'm not a big fan of driving classics. i'm interested in them for their looks and historical worth, not the driving. more sculptures than machines. logically, newer is better at driving. but... Dino is not worse than today's sportscars. it's different
12 cylinders or walk!
I wouldn't mind one of those , and in yellow is even better in red (I saw the car in both in Rosso Ferrari and standard red, and I wasn't really sold).
being so young and driving such a car is what I call a good job.
about the car, do you think it could be a comfy drive using it everyday even if a few miles going to work?
how were the brakes?
KFL Racing Enterprises - Kicking your ass since 2008
*cough* http://theitalianjunkyard.blogspot.com/ *cough*
yeah in fact giallo fly is the most popular colour for it. red isn't really good for it... if i were to buy a dino, i'd go for something even more striking that yellow, like electric blue (blu dino) or light green (verde germoglio)
more interesting to come
certainly not there's always something leaking here and there, you need to wait until this and that is warm enough and not to over heat something else. weekend driver only.
frankly i didn't paid much attention to them. so there weren't bad, but also not extremely brilliant
12 cylinders or walk!
Thanks for the reveiw.
I know that when the Dino was made covered headlights were banned in the U.S. Did all non-US Dinos have covered headlights?
(I've only seen American spec ones until now. This is the first time I've seen a covered headlight model. It's a shame, it looks so much better.)
"Kimi, can you improve on your [race] finish?"
"No. My Finnish is fine; I am from Finland. Do you have any water?"
Beautiful shots!
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31695
- Are YOU listed? -
covered headlights were only for UK. this is the UK version, even though it was always LHD. after being brought to UK it was sold to RSA, then belgium, and from there it found it way to Poland
while we're at it, version for the rest of europe has white signal lenses. US version had completely different signal lamps, along with additional ones
12 cylinders or walk!
just wanted to tell you i have 300C SRT8 at the moment - 430 BHP on summer tyres in the middle of snowy winter isn't the most wanted combination, nevertheless that car is just deranged! the report will come as a comparison with another very special sedan
12 cylinders or walk!
Big cities suck
"Not putting miles on your Ferrari is like not having sex with your girlfriend so she'll be more desirable to her next boyfriend." -Napolis
and so there it is... got my first speeding ticket today 120 km/h in 60 km/h zone, after much of talking with the policemen i ended with 400 zł (about 100 euros) and 8 penalty points - i can get only 12 more in next 12 months. sucks.
12 cylinders or walk!
KFL Racing Enterprises - Kicking your ass since 2008
*cough* http://theitalianjunkyard.blogspot.com/ *cough*
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