Doors to close on Antwerp plant after approx 80 years.
My first Vauxhall Cavalier GSin 1978 was an Belgian Opel in drag.
Very Good car, for its time - reliable and comfortable and would have bought it from leasing company but 3 mths short of lease it was run off the M8 in a blizzard. Repaired but not the same car, all panels/doors apart from roof and o/s rear wing and passenger door replaced.
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I had a Mk1 Cavalier when I was 17. I still remember the reg plate - TGP 813R. I loved that car and even now, having gone through some very posh cars comparatively, still remember it keenly. See very few of them on the road. RWD taught me a good lesson or two...
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I had a yellow 1600cc one - lovely car and as you said re-assuringly RWD. I still have a clock from it somewhere...
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The garage lent me a mk1 Opel Ascona (the Opel version of the Mk1 Cavalier) as a courtesy car several years ago. I didn't know it was rear wheel drive until I did a 360 pirouette on a bend in the wet one evening - whoops! Being used to front wheel drive I planted the throttle thinking it would pull me out of the spin. How wrong I was. The indicator stalk would occasionally fall out as well. A couple of years later a friend bought a similar looking car. In fact it was the exact same car, with still the same faulty indicator stalk.
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>> I had a yellow 1600cc one - lovely car and as you said re-assuringly RWD.
>> I still have a clock from it somewhere...
>>
"re-assuringly RWD."
As someone who finds RWD anything but "re-assuring" could you elaborate please PU? (This is a civilised question, BTW, not me trying to be argumentative)
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For years I refused to entertain Fwd, but now it's the other way around. The Master van (Fwd) is so much better for towing than the old Rwd Transit.
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>> "re-assuringly RWD."
>>
>> As someone who finds RWD anything but "re-assuring" could you elaborate please PU? (This is
>> a civilised question, BTW, not me trying to be argumentative)
>>
I know what PU means. I've been driving 30 years, and for the first 23 years, this was mostly in fwd, which I thought I prefered. Now I think I prefer the 'predictability' of rwd oversteer (so long as the rear tyres are grippy enough) to the torque-steer understeer of fwd.
On reflection, I think that the average fwd car of 30 years ago didn't have enough power to make torque-steer noticeable, or understeer a problem. Conversely rwd cars 30 years ago had skinnier tyres with less grip, making oversteer/loosing grip more of an everyday problem. Of course ESP also makes rwd easier these days, and the steering feel to a rwd car is preferable to a fwd.
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Which in a very neat paragraph explains why I have never liked any Focus I've driven - made all the worse by loving praise in the motoring press.
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...why I have never liked any Focus I've driven...
It surprises me that any driver can not get on with the direct steering, grippy roadholding, and go-where-you-point-it handling of a Focus.
This is particularly true of what I would call ordinary speeds.
In a Focus, there's no need to slow down for corners as much as in other cars.
Time and time again I've been followed into an A-road bend at about 60mph, only to emerge 20 or 30m ahead of the car behind without trying.
I've not driven all that many other modern cars, but in its class and for its money, a Focus puts a smile on your face like no other.
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Another thumbs down for the Focus from me.
I don't find it handles any better than the Astra-G or H. I find it more uncomfortable too. And don't get me started on the handbrake lever that's on the wrong side of the centre console.
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>> On reflection, I think that the average fwd car of 30 years ago didn't have
>> enough power to make torque-steer noticeable, or understeer a problem. Conversely rwd cars 30 years ago had skinnier tyres with less grip, making oversteer/loosing grip more of an everyday problem.
>> Of course ESP also makes rwd easier these days, and the steering feel to a rwd car is preferable to a fwd.
I have to agree 110%!
Im getting really peed of the the kickback my old Mondie gives over the poor road surfaces, under acceleration.. wide (205) tyres plus FWD equals torque steer without even trying!
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FWD doesn't have to suffer from torque steer. It all comes down to the design.
I drove the Lotus Elan back in 1990 - they knew how to do it twenty years ago!
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>> FWD doesn't have to suffer from torque steer. It all comes down to the design.
>> I drove the Lotus Elan back in 1990 - they knew how to do it
>> twenty years ago!
>>
I beg to differ, all FWD car's Ive driven have suffered with it to a greater or lesser extent, cars with unequal length driveshafts being the worse, and cars with lim-slip diffs normally the best.
Another cause can be uneven grip, from one side to the other, due to the road surface (as per my original comment) or unmatched tyres.
I had a Mk 1 Fiesta that didn't suffer with it too badly, till I tuned it, then it was dreadful, until i added a 4th engine mount (well gearbox mount in fact) as fitted to the 1.3 and XR2 versions.... in that guise it torque-steered less than the standard car!
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Opel - GM to close Antwerp plant - brettmick
