Wednesday October 11, 2006

Getz [sic] this...

Our car is being repaired to fix the damage caused by this event . I am lucky enough to have an insurance company that provides a courtesy car while ours is being repaired - I should not complain about this but I am finding it hard to resist. I appreciate that the car in question provides an affordable motor vehicle for those who cannot afford to spend larger amounts of money on a car like our Golf.

So it was on a rainy afternoon that I was introduced to the loaner car. Outside appearances seemed ok it looks a bit like one of the older generation VW Polo's . It has four doors and wheels. So far so good. It was only when I drove it home later that day that some of its interesting features were made known to me. The cabin is very sparten and basic but I expected that. The seats feel like you are sitting on a bale of straw there is no give in the seat at all. The driving position is fine but it is clear this car would not be enjoyable on a long journey. The things that amused me are:

The electric windows are the only things that work quickly in this car. These open and close at guillotine speeds. Scary.

The car rolls in an un-nerving manner when you do persuade it to go round a corner. Over bumps it tries to shake your teeth fillings out.

I don't expect it has a 0-60 time because I don't think it can get to sixty.

The indicators/wiper stalks are round the other way to most cars in Europe. This means unless I am really carefull when I indicate, the wipers end up going swish swish across the screen or when I put the wipers on I indicate that I am turning when I have no intention of doing so.

The speedometer has a red line on it marking the speed of 30MPH. Does this mean any speed exceeding this is dangerous for either car or driver?

There is a surprising lack of activity when using the accelerator pedal. The car is slow for sure but pressing the accelerator does not increase the revs by much I think the rpm meter is optimistic about the max revolutions the engine will reach.

The steering is scary. You turn the wheel and you do not feel any feedback from the wheels it is like you are driving on black ice all the time.

The car in question by the way is a Hyundai Getz the 1.3GSi model which I reckons stands for Go Slow Indefinitely. But the really interesting thing is despite all of these grumbles I am enjoying driving this car because it is easy to drive a car that is easy to drive, but one that has lots of interesting features that you have to find a way of dealing with is a challenge. I won't be trading the Golf in for one of these though..