Putting aside my individual car and looking at it as a model...
Ill start with the worst point - pedal position is terrible - in the auto it wouldnt matter, but such is the way the pedals are mounted, the clutch is too far away to fully depress or the accelerator is too close, either option results in leg ache in town.
Im experimenting with some small mats piled underneath where my right foot rests to try and alter the angle my foot is at to see if it makes a difference. I had this problem in my Fiat Seicento aswell so Im sure ill find the balance with some fiddling.
Other negatives, well the radio is darned fiddly on the move ( I can just about find the ON button and locate two preselected radio station buttons without looking ).
Mirrors are a tad small or atleast the magnification isnt right as I cant see a darned thing thats useful sometimes in the passenger mirror.
Gearing is a little low - 70 is about 3000 rpm although its not noisey - funny enough the 1.5/1.8 versions have taller gearing - seems to be the wrong was around to me.
Onto the positives. Well I for one LOVE the looks of it. Maybe its because its in white and it shows the design better, but it has more than a hint of an 80's Citroen concept car, so its almost a bit retro :-) I do like the lack of solid metal rear pillars as its all glass on these and it removes the usual blindspot with saloons, plus it makes the back very light and airy.
The gearbox isnt slick, but it has a light throw and once you get used to it, you can be precise with it. It doesnt handle in any special way, but its perfectly acceptable even if you quite spirited - I wouldnt mind a quicker steering rack though as sometimes it needs more work at the wheel than you expect.
Space is what you would expect for a 16ft car, so its good, the boot is deep and tall, the 19cuft capacity believable.
Performance isnt what ive come to expect of a 2.0 car - theres no real surge as such, but then its only 105 bhp so you are left wishing it had the 16v GM 2.0, but even so, it will tug up quite steep hills without much effort and never feels slow.
Economy is a work in progress, Im sure down to my car having spent its life doing cold runs with both its previous owners, so Im going to wait until I have put some miles on it before the jury makes a verdict, but ive managed 38 mpg which is 7 mpg above the combined and the exhaust was blowing, so now with a new pipe on it, Im hoping for a little extra and I may throw some Redex in the next tank aswell for good measure, see if it helps.
Id say not an exceptional car by any stretch, but its not a sacrifice of basic expectations on comfort and driveability - it is competant in the main with a few good points and no very bad ones. Its better than I was expecting tbh.
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