My Trip to Scotland [Archive] - Ultimatecarpage.com forums

Kitdy

10-31-2008, 07:17 PM

Well, as some of you may know, I was recently on Scotland (on family business) and recently returned. This thread will focus on the automotive aspect on my trip and my thoughts on the culture there as well. I have been to Scotland many times in my life (somewhere around 10 I'd say) so the culture is something I have gotten used to - but this was the first time I'd been there in 4 years - nearly 5 actually and now was a time I was interested in cars. We stayed in a small east coast fishing town where some of my family lives.

I was struck by how ugly the common cars were - Ford Kas, Nissan Micras were a lot of what I saw for example. The odd Citroen, etc were also pretty nasty. Cars that I saw included a new SL 63(?), a Vantage, many new Minis, several 1-Series, an Alfa GTV, many Vauxhalls, and Rovers, which I must admit I did not know existed. The roads were small as were the cars - our rental was a 1.2 L petrol Polo. My Dad said it was gutless basically. It felt cheap but no more cheap really than our Golf but also seemed smaller and had a lot less trunk (or boot) space. We went on a trip to Newcastle to see NUFC against Man City in a Vauxhall Corsa which was a 4+ hour drive and that was uncomfortable at some points but bearable - part of the problem was sitting with 5 adults even though the three of us in the back were small.

Anyways, the roads to Newcastle were fun as they were often twisty A roads but on the way back we took the A1 which was faster and more of a major highway and less fun. I will think of more to say and maybe some of you will besiege me for calling Euro cars ugly but for now I shall peruse UCP and the net.

f6fhellcat13

10-31-2008, 07:24 PM

I was struck by how ugly the common cars were - Ford Kas, Nissan Micras were a lot of what I saw for example. The odd Citroen, etc were also pretty nasty.
When I got back from Israels a coupla years ago, I was struck by how stupidly & epically low, wide, and big the cars we get here are.

coolieman1220

11-01-2008, 06:05 AM

When I got back from Israels a coupla years ago, I was struck by how stupidly & epically low, wide, and big the cars we get here are.

middle easterns lovee our big american cars for some odd reasons. they loved our 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LS Brougham. you know how often we'd go to gas stations and the attendant would ask to buy it

Ferrer

11-01-2008, 07:03 AM

They may be ugly (you already know I disagree on this), but they drive much better than your cars...

Matra et Alpine

11-01-2008, 07:27 AM

henk4

11-01-2008, 08:05 AM

5 adults in a Corsa ? That's just plain madness.

The rental company must have run out of Agilas...

f6fhellcat13

11-01-2008, 10:08 AM

middle easterns lovee our big american cars for some odd reasons. they loved our 1988 Chevrolet Caprice Classic LS Brougham. you know how often we'd go to gas stations and the attendant would ask to buy it

Because the Jews (and A-rabs :p) in Israel aren't as oil rich as some of their neighbors, the cars were relatively small and European. There were a few American cars, they seemed to prefer Ram Vans and the E-Series to Transits and Sprinters, and they had they occasional pickup from the Big Three.
Strangely, the only outwardly "sporty" car I saw there was a yucky riced STI. I guess it's a very A-to-B culture over yonder.
If I was oil rich, I'd have a whole fleet of big American RWD barges, and have awesome police chases. :D

drakkie

11-01-2008, 10:12 AM

5 adults in a Corsa ? That's just plain madness.
It's got 3 seat belts in the bag presuming most of those are kids !!!
NOBODY over here woudl accept that either.
You needed to go up one size to the Astra to make it even bearable :)

Ehm.. me and my buddies drive like that rather often in different generations Corsa, Fiesta or Saxo. No problems at all, just when something farts it gets less nice...:rolleyes:

My personal records stand on 8 people in my Mk.3 Alto, 9 people in a Mk.2 Alto and 22 in the Nissan Interstar bus on my job :p Though all were short drives across a terminal or through the MacDrive etcetera. On public roads it's madness..

f6fhellcat13

11-01-2008, 10:41 AM

I dont think 650kilos of friends in a 30-60ish hp Alto is a good idea, even if it does have one million horsepower.

Kitdy

11-01-2008, 11:14 AM

They may be ugly (you already know I disagree on this), but they drive much better than your cars...

As we discussed, definitely possible. No less, the cost of cars in Europe is higher than over here and I don't know if this premium is worth it.

I was looking up the Polo 1.2 and Wikipedia says it's an inline 3. I assumed it was an I4. The HP ratings were 55 PS and 65 PS depending on whether it was a 6 valve or 12 valve.

f6fhellcat13

11-01-2008, 11:17 AM

As we discussed, definitely possible. No less, the cost of cars in Europe is higher than over here and I don't know if this premium is worth it.

I beleive a good chunk of that is taxation, not an actual premium from the manufacturer.

Ferrer

11-01-2008, 12:50 PM

As we discussed, definitely possible. No less, the cost of cars in Europe is higher than over here and I don't know if this premium is worth it.

I was looking up the Polo 1.2 and Wikipedia says it's an inline 3. I assumed it was an I4. The HP ratings were 55 PS and 65 PS depending on whether it was a 6 valve or 12 valve.
True but that's a small city car with the smallest engine. I'm sure a Chevy Aveo with a 4 speed auto is pretty gutless too.

When it comes to cheap small fun cars Europe is definitely the place to go. We've got a lot of them. Small Fiats, small Fords and several others.

Furthermore you don't need a lot of power to maintain a steady speed in a straight motorway. We've got corners and drive much faster on average. Our cars have three pedals and gear lever. Use them if you want to move around quickly.

Roentgen

11-01-2008, 09:57 PM

When I went back to HK, I couldn't believe how many big luxury cars I saw. Cars like Maybachs, Phantoms, S classes, and 7th series. And also the number of MPVs.

In contrast, I like saw 1 Lamborghini...

f6fhellcat13

11-01-2008, 10:32 PM