Most Pointless cars on sale

cianclarke

The Nissan Cube!!!!

G Luxel

Toyota Yaris Verso: This (out of production for 9 months) car

yep, but replaced by new car called the Ractis and there is also a yaris
saloon called the belta, very nice looking but as usual for 3 box tiny cars
not available here.

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

I think you're not giving hybrids a fair go

colm_mcm wrote:

BTW a prius emits about 30% less CO2 than a BMW 320D

What kinda comparison is that?

A small family car like a Prius (78BHP, 115NM, 0-100 in 11s) for sure can't be compared with a junior executive saloon like a BMW 320d (163bhp, 340NM, 0-100 in 8s)

colm_mcm

unkel wrote:

What kinda comparison is that?

A small family car like a Prius (78BHP, 115NM, 0-100 in 11s) for sure can't be compared with a junior executive saloon like a BMW 320d (163bhp, 340NM, 0-100 in 8s)

fair enough. it emits 30% less CO2 than a BMW 118d or a 407 1.6 HDI.

ninty9er

unkel wrote:

What kinda comparison is that?

A small family car like a Prius (78BHP, 115NM, 0-100 in 11s) for sure can't be compared with a junior executive saloon like a BMW 320d (163bhp, 340NM, 0-100 in 8s)

Actually the BMW would be less powerful. Going on the conversation I had with Cllr. John Ryan former Mayor of Limerick. He was the first Mayor of Limerick to have a Prius having switched from the Saab 9-5 and said on the open road the Prius was as if not more peppy than the 9-5 2.0

colm_mcm

ninty9er wrote:

Actually the BMW would be less powerful. Going on the conversation I had with Cllr. John Ryan former Mayor of Limerick. He was the first Mayor of Limerick to have a Prius having switched from the Saab 9-3 and said on the open road the Prius was as if not more peppy than the 9-3 2.0

In fairness, the Prius isn't overly quick. unless the 2.0 he had was non turbo and very old, the Toyota'd hardly be much quicker and the 320D would be far quicker.

Oh and BTW unkel. the bhp figure you quoted wasn't including the electric motor which generates 67hp @ 1200rpm

ninty9er

It would have been a 03 saab 9-5 not 9-3 sorry. he said there was no noticible difference.

colm_mcm

ninty9er wrote:

It would have been a 03 saab 9-5 not 9-3 sorry. he said there was no noticible difference.

He's probably a bit mental so!
The Prius is fine. just no more powerful than a 1.8 Avensis mid range. Any 9-5 I've driven has been notacibly quick

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

Oh and BTW unkel. the bhp figure you quoted wasn't including the electric motor which generates 67hp @ 1200rpm

Yep you're right there. So technically we're talking 78bhp from the petrol engine plus 67bhp from the electric motor, totalling 145bhp

Any small family car (diesel or petrol) with 145bhp would do 0-100km/h a lot quicker than 11 seconds. I guess things don't really add up for the Prius (or any hybrid for that matter)

colm_mcm

You can't really just add one to the other, as they both peak at different rpms.

do you reckon hybrids are pie in the sky nonsense that'll never take off?

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

do you reckon hybrids are pie in the sky nonsense that'll never take off?

No that would be harsh and unfair. I've a lot of respect for Toyota (and Honda) not for inventing the hybrid or pioneering it (they did neither) but for actually bringing it to the market as a serious (and green) alternative to petrol only cars. With the right fiscal regime, these cars could have been owned for no more money than same size / performance petrol cars, especially with big saving measures such as no/lower VRT or congestion charge exemptions, etc.

But then there was the European diesel revolution that took Toyota and Honda completely by surprise. You can't really blame them because their main markets were Japan and the US, where diesel still is very unpopular. They missed out completely and are only very recently, desparately and quickly trying to catch up

Having said all that, I believe that bio diesel cars are the most eco friendly mass produced car for the near future (next 5-10 years) and perhaps also ethanol fuelled petrol cars. For right now, it can only be modern diesels

I do see a role for some of the technology of current hybrids in those cars though, but perhaps not with as big an electro motor (if any) and battery system

colm_mcm

We'll have to wait and see how it pans out

commited

Any 4x4 not bought by farmers
Pick ups not bought by builders
MPVs bought by families with less than 3 kids

Ford Fusion.

unkel

colm_mcm wrote:

We'll have to wait and see how it pans out

Absolutely. Hydrogen has been a lot slower to progress compared to what was expected a few years ago, so indeed we'll just have to wait and see. A lot will also depend on fiscal measures. Just a wee current example of the latter in the form of excise differences:

Ireland:

diesel €1.16/l
petrol €1.17/l

Netherlands

diesel €1.02/l
petrol €1.40/l

This difference has a big impact on people choosing new cars

weemcd

i might get slammed for this, and i actually love the cars to a point, but when you look at it on paper. r32 golfs? whats the point? you can buy yourself so much more space, comfort and spec for the money. It is a golf at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, ive seen two in the flesh and thought they were nice, but in a rather you than me kinda way. Anyone else agree, or am i missing something? the original gti hot hatch image is no longer appliable to young male drivers (surley their first target audience all those years ago?) and the r32 is even further out of reach. It seems to me as if the only people who could realisitically afford a gti or r32 would be those who had a mk 2 all those years ago and want to relive their youth. does therin lie the market?

blindingly fast golf's aside. The smart roadster. why? an mx-5, mr 2 or celica to a lesser extent will bring you so much more joy and won't seem such a terrible mistake. The original smart had its place, small, affordable easy to park city car, a roadster though? laughable imo, though i heard they are out of production

JohnBoy

as for all the talk of the prius emitting 30% less c02, whopee

what about all the lovely deadly nasty stuff that goes into the batteries, since when have batteries been nice?

esp rechargable ones?

sure it emits less pollution while driving, but how much more pollution does it generate in manufacture and disposal?

Mc-BigE

Henry Ford III wrote:

Rodius :eek:

Pointlessly ugly.

have to agree, i want a car to drive , not a car to be driven...to the graveyard!

Funeral Companies would like this car!

http://www.parkers.co.uk/pricing/used_car/valuation.aspx?deriv=31459&model=1400&plate=80&pay=false&buyorsell=buy

http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing/carreviews/gallery/?model_id=1400&category=Main%20image

smarty

weemcd wrote:

The smart roadster. why? an mx-5, mr 2 or celica to a lesser extent will bring you so much more joy and won't seem such a terrible mistake. The original smart had its place, small, affordable easy to park city car, a roadster though? laughable imo, though i heard they are out of production

Just wondering whether you have you ever driven a smart roadster?

weemcd

of course not

peasant

smarty wrote:

Just wondering whether you have you ever driven a smart roadster?

I actually booked one for a test drive once, when it was just newly available.

Didn't get to drive it though ...couldn't fit in ..not with the roof closed anyway ...and I'm only 6'1" and a bit:D

smarty

peasant wrote:

I actually booked one for a test drive once, when it was just newly available.

Didn't get to drive it though ...couldn't fit in ..not with the roof closed anyway ...and I'm only 6'1" and a bit:D

That seems a bit odd. Jeremy Clarkson is 6' 4" and he had no problem getting in, or driving it.

There is a lot more room in the roadster than there is in a Lotus Elise, and it is a lot more dignified trying to get in or out of the roadster.

I drive a brabus roadster coupe and it is surprisingly practical. I can fit my gym bag and laptop into the front boot, and I can actually fit a set of golf clubs into the rear boot. It has a 698cc engine, but it puts out 101bhp and it weighs half nothing, so it is surprisingly nippy too.