My new steed!

So, after waiting for the first week for the news that my car was fixed and ready to roll again. I decided not to bother getting a  courtesy car. However when it turned out that the job was going to take longer than expected.  I popped in to request one. Due to typically high demand there wasn't any courtesy cars available, so I asked my dad if I could borrow his winter runabout for a few days. He agreed, on the condition that I didn't break it before its service in less than 3 weeks. How hard would that be?  As it turns out the Japanese stallion wasn't as healthy as I thought it would be. The 2003 Toyota Rav4 has lived a tough old life by the looks of things and the lack of undercoat in the factory has started to take its toll.  The underside is a sea of rust  and I pity the poor soul that gets lumped with replacing all the suspension bushes that have definitely seen better days. Almost all the bolts are either rusted solid or slowly rotting away so an angle grinder will probably be the only solution. On the plus side however the 2 litre N/A engine is rock solid and hasn't skipped a beat although the sump gasket needs replaced as it has started to perish and leak very slightly.  Also the passenger side wheel bearing probably needs replaced as it too is on its way out.
I have to say however, despite all of these slightly alarming flaws. I am growing to like the little Rav. It's high driving position and great visibility remind me of my Ford KA. The absence of any turbo lag is something that I didn't know I missed. Who knows, maybe my next car will be a little Japanese 4x4!

My first grown up car.

So, after the devastating loss of my ford ka. I used the insurance money to put a deposit down on a new car. When I say new i don't mean new to me, I mean brand new. 15 miles on the clock when I got it. And what was this new, new car? Why, it was a VW polo of course! A 1.4 polo match to be exact and it was possibly the most grown up thing I owned, exept maybe the 21 year bottle of scotch I got for my christening when I was 5 years old.

It was just such a sensible car. Great, please don't think it was a bad car because it really wasn't. But very sensible. The layout of the cabin was exactly as you would expect from a german car company. Very logical and well presented, and the outside was very serious but very modern. I loved it. I was split between the polo and the fiesta but I found the fiestas dash too fiddly. So I went with the adult car.

The polo was a world of difference to the hoot of the KA. Much more comfortable, much better built and way more refined in every way. I could cruise down to Glasgow without my ears bleeding and my palms sweating. I got to test it in every way over the 2 and a half years I had it. I got my first speeding ticket in it. I did the west coast and northern Ireland. My girlfriend did her first lessons in it. VW really did an amazing job with the polo.

However, I discovered I may have been a little hasty in my need to grow up. I found myself looking around at the dash in traffic, wishing there was just a little bit more fun around. Also when I was around town the engine just didn't quite have the grunt the KA did. It was still a strong puller but I had become used to the force of the little KA.

In an attempt to get a little more life of the engine I fitted an induction kit. And it worked, to a point. Certainly the engine sounded a better and the torque band was wider. However it still lacked the ungency I craved. So I decided to go for something a little more wild.

Ticket to freedom

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