I guess this all starts back when I was 17, you know, that great age when suddenly the world becomes your oyster and you are deemed responsible enough to control a large metal box capable of much speed and potential damage.
Actually as fate would have it, I didn't get that chance. While all my friends were revving about in there 1.2 Clios that they had bought for £30 from a guy at work and their mums 1.4 Fiat Punto active with manual wind windows that never actually shut properly. i had to make do with scabbing lifts everywhere as it was deemed that my eyesight wasn't good enough. Really i cant blame the system, the test is put there for a reason and it just so happened on that particular day,I was the reason. For a 17 year old man with no wheels it was bloody frustrating though!
Fast forward 2 years and some experimental new drugs and i retook the test and passed first time. Thank god! My prize for all that hard work and perseverance? my very own little pocket rocket. i had been learning to drive in my dads 2003 1.4 ford fiesta zetec and as a new driver i thought this was a cracking little car. Until the KA came along. when my dad told me that he would buy me my first car i was ecstatic!
I started learning to drive in my dad's 2003 ford fiesta 1.4. He bought it when I was 17 but of course I took so long to pass the test he kept it for my sister and she still has it today. I have to say, It was a cracking choice for a learner. Great all round visibility and really easy to drive. As soon as I passed I got myself a little runabout. A family friend was selling her ford KA. It was in a pretty good condition having only been used for running about town all its life. The only signs it was starting to show it's age was the usual bubbling on the rear quarter panel around the fuel cap and on the bottom sill. Wasn't going to complain however as it was a great price. Now the Ford KA has a reputation for being a little old lady car or really girly. I think that's slightly unfair. True, it is quite cutesy but, that engine! Ford created a gem with that 1.3 duratec. The low end torque is something that engines with twice the displacement will struggle to reckon with. I read somewhere that the KA has one of the best 0 to 30 times under 50 grand. I have to say, they may have a valid point. I don't know how many times I minced boy racers and vans off the line around town. That torque is something I have only just matched in my Seat Ibiza.
Thankfully I spent most of my life running about town as once I got onto the open road the engine struggled past 80 mph. Fine if your cruising but overtaking was a bit of a chore. Happily the gearbox didn't have a limiter so I could bang it into 3rd until the pistons were dancing on the bonnet, then change gear. That gearbox was pretty sharp too. I was surprised actually as the fiesta could be vague at times however the KA faithfully locked into gear with no issues at all.
Handling was always the Ka's strongest asset. It drove like it was on rails, something you got used to very quickly. You could chuck it into any corner you liked and it would just turn. No hassle, no jumping, no nervous twitches. Just direct and sharp. It was epic. With its wheels right out at the corners there was nowhere near as much body roll as you would expect either. However due to the tiny dash, being a passenger was a somewhat nerve racking experience as you constantly felt as if you were about to be sent sailing through the windscreen.
All that handing did come with a price though. When you did push it too far it bites back. Hard. Twice I spun that car. Once due to it not having modern ESP. So when i rapidly had to abort an overtake it just spun out. (I really pushed it mush further than most sensible people ever would). The second time I caught a patch of black ice with the back end on a roundabout. Thankfully it was 1 in the morning so I was the only one there, but it taught me more about car control than the previous 15000 miles i did in the car.
So, I have rambled on about my first car for long enough. I have made this blog to talk about cars, and my experiences of them, and why I love them so much. Please feel free to comment and discuss.
My final piece of advice for learning to drive. Your first car should be a small ford! @forduk
Thanks for reading
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