In my view, a car has to have decent steering to make you feel "at one" with it, and that instantly eliminates about 95% of the mainstream cars on sale today. Electric power steering has been, and continues to be, a curse for those of us who like to feel what the front wheels are doing. Some (Ford, BMW and I daresay a handful of others) are able to squeeze some feel out of these systems, but they are still rubbery and numb compared to the best hydraulic systems of 15 years ago. In fact, I believe BMW revert to conventional hydraulic PAS for their "M" models, which really does speak volumes.
A friend has just spent £900 on a slightly tatty 19 yr old Eunos Roadster (Jap import MX-5). In bald performance terms, a modern warm hatchback would leave it for dead, and I suspect a base spec Fiesta has higher limits of grip, and is therefore quicker round corners. But the Eunos talks to you, as I remember our old MX-5 did.
It is EXACTLY the kind of car you get up early on a Sunday morning, just to drive, because it makes you feel involved and engaged, even tootling up the High St at 30 mph. The steering twitches over bumps and tugs gently with camber changes, and you can feel the weighting subtly change with different surfaces and grip levels. When you push on, the feel through the steering and seat of your pants is incredible.
That simple thing, "feel", has completely gone in almost anything on sale for under £40k today.
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Men, music and machines. new
Men, music and machines. new