Your first car

hey guys
I had a pretty nice thought when I drove my car to the grocery store today. My first car, which I am really in love with.

I had trouble deciding which car I should buy, and I guess some of you guys have either gone through this trouble or you're experiencing it right now.
That's why I'd like to start a review thread for your first car. or the one you're driving right now.
Guess it would help some people.

I'll just start:

Opel Tigra Twintop 1.8 '05

Bought it for 2500€ with 93000 Km on the clock
allways buy convertibles from November to February.

came with: Irmscher front bumper addon thingy( those edgy things on the sides of the bumper)
Nice, although scratched R&H 17" wheels on 215x40 r17 tires (stock were 185x55 r15 steelies)
Vauxhall badges (considered exotic in good ol' germany)
those: i have no idea what they're called, but it looks better. I don't have AND want that spoiler though.

needed: Front left wheel bearing
new resistance for the ventilation ( only the highest mode works)
something with the linkage to the gearbox ( gear one and two are weird to shift )
a subtle amount of lowering, he has the ground clearance of a damn SUV

After almost two of daily driving I can definately say it's a nice car.
It handles like a dream, it's really fun on twisties you'd normally only enjoy on a bike.
The 125 horsies (mine prolly does a tad more, better air filter) are more than enough, and it only uses like 9 litres in the city and 5.5 on a highway (combined that's like 35mpg? correct me if i'm wrong).
It's also really practical. The trunk is huge if the roof's up und if it's not you can still fit in all of your groceries .

It has some downsides too,sadly.
If you're over 1.80 (6 feet?) you're gonna have a bad time. also if you're big boned.
It's only a two seater, so fk that family vacation.
reverse parking sucks, no pdc and the visibility of a tank
And most of all: stock, it looks like this


But all in all, if you don't mind the downsides, eventhough i'd really recommend putting in pdc, its a really great car and i'd recommend it to everyone.
but not the 1.4 . It consumes almost as much as the 1.8 but has none of the power, especially low end power.

 

See underneath that car is a corsa C, and I've written/slated my old one extensively. I would not recommend purchase of one. Build quality, definitely non german, mine went wrong more often than it went right. Also struggle to believe the tigra is any good for the twisties considering how terrible the corsa C was for the twisties, of all the cars I have driven, it is the *worst* handling yet. Mums Rav4 handles better and is basically a boat in comparison, my skoda handled better, the polo handles better, the yaris handled better, the micra handles better, the shogun handled better, the fiesta handled better and these are all cars which should not handle any better than a corsa. Dunno if the tigra has an improved setup over the corsa, but it cant be that drastic. Nor can alignment be blamed as mine was aligned, several times as apparently opel cant make a car that doesnt have its alignment drift in daily driving....


If I can give 1 good point to it. Spares are cheap. And for city driving my 1 litre engine was efficient, outside of the city, ahahaha. Oh comfort, for its market segment I would say its pretty comfortable. I mean my brother has a polo which I'd say is same segment, the seating in corsa is far more supportive than the polo and yet I think the polo is a more expensive car? Go up a segment to golf, focus etc and yeah, those will be more comfortable, but for the price range the corsa surprises me.



However my first car was a far more enjoyable (and better driving) vehicle. A 1999 Skoda Felicia 1.3 mpi. Only about 10 more horsies than the anemic 1 litre I had in the corsa, but it felt alot more than 10 alongside the corsa. While at 1.3 its never going to be quick, it was adequate, the corsa needed to rev the tits off to do anything other than city driving (and this is of course a point unique to that engine rather than the corsa in general, slap the 1.8 in and i think you'd go from anemia to absolute overkill for that platform), I got better fuel economy outside of town in the skoda than I did the corsa, in the town the corsa trumped it big time. Was roomier. Wasnt as comfortable but was older and when new I think cheaper.
But, winter, starts first crank. Throw it in a bend, was no sports car but was more sure of its footing than the corsa ever was. Cheap to buy, cheap to insure, lots of character and an overall lovable first car. I miss it.

 

Maybe it's my tires, 30mm wider than stock, but on the way to a car meet (opel exclusive) i've been right on my pals back, who drove a corsa d opc nürburgring edition.The handling is really "calcualteable". Understeer only happens when you're way too fast, and it doesn't even know torquesteer.
The engine is nice and torquey btw.

 

Tyres would help. Perhaps the extra reinforcement on the tigra (for when roof is down) and altered weight distribution from roof mechanism helps in some way, wouldnt surprise me if a tigra had different springs from stock at least on the rear.

But my point on the understeer, yes it happens when you are way too fast, for the car. The corsa hit understeer earlier than any other car I have driven. It also snapped very rapidly from understeer to oversteer upon relaxing the throttle. It was a very very poorly planted vehicle.

I havent driven a vauxhall with the 1.8, if it at least matches or outperforms the 1.8 in my current focus then I'm sure its more than plenty for that platform, in fact if anything I'd prefer not to drive it after the negative experience with the handling of my lighter corsa (3 door, no air con or other luxuries, 1 litre engine, about as light as a corsa can come).






The focus. Highly recommended. Quieter, more comfortable and better ride than the corsa had, and thats not trying to insult the corsa for once, its simply a more expensive vehicle from factory. More importantly. My focus is a 15 year old estate. Many bends on the twisty roads I live on it can fly through the apex a full 10-20mph faster, and yet mine is a nice large estate not a little hatch, there is actually a corner that the corsa would only manage at 35, the focus will do at 50. The road feel is much better than the corsa was (although I suspect that is in part because mine had that puny 1 litre block on the front end and no air con, nothing to weigh the steering down as such). Build quality seems better (a gazillion rattles and squeeks in the corsa).
Extra bonuses for my focus in particular, uplholstery/trim is nicer and the engine is nicer, however these arent fair to compare as of course there are multiple engine choices for each car and my focus is in ghia trim rather than bottom of the barrel life trim. Oh and electric chair height adjustment is just a nice little giggle fest. Also got aircon (one of the few broken things on mine though) and electric mirror adjustment which were both absent from the life trim level on a corsa.

 

Hi, my first Car is a Corsa C GSi ... i think this Car is good! Okay i think its only because the GSi have better shock absorbers and springs (handling) there are many things different to the 1.0l corsa but i think is a good car ( the GSi)

And the Tigra is not a corsa c... its astra g I think

Sry for my bad english

 

2008 Toyota Camry 1.8 G sold it after an accident

 

My first car was a 1995 GMC Sierra 1500 short bed. Still have it too. I got it fo' free from my daddy, with about 80000 miles on the clock, and have only put 6k on it since. I am pretty convinced Top Gear (or what's left of it) could do to my truck what they did to the Hilux and it would be in better knick. It has a lazy 5 liter V8 that produces a lot of nice noise but very little power. In fact, it has barely enough to break the tires loose. the ABS is absent, as is a posi, I can upload a pic, but that will be later because I'm too lazy. Equipped with a bench seat and a bed for all of your make-out needs (apart from the guy or girl of your choice.)

 

My first car is a 1981 Citroën 2CV6 Spécial. It has done around 116.000 km and got it from my dad (it was his first car too). It is in dire need of a respray though (no clue as to which colour I want yet) and the engine isn't as good as it's supposed to be. The top speed right now is around 85 km/h while the original top speed should be 115 km/h. So it needs an engine revision as well. I'm thinking of having it fitted with a big bore kit (+50cc, 4hp and many torques) and maybe a powertube (which directs extra air from the fan to the air filter for another +4hp) so I can really use it as an everyday car. Nice extra's include sound insulation on the inside of the hood, interior lights, a 1960's grille, lots of chrome bits and a lockable fuel filler cap! I'm also going to fit it with original hubcaps because they look nice.

All in all it still drives like a charm. The comfort level of the suspension is to die for and it makes that distinct sound only boxer engines make (I ran into an old 80's porsche the other day, and they sound really similar actually). Plus everyone looks at you and smile which is a great thing

 

That car for 2500€?

Here in Spain that could barely get you a decent 206 or Focus MK1...

 

THis Therad should be deleted or moved to off topic

 

i have a 1994 camry

 

a 1988 Toyota corolla, good car.

 

Chevy Duramax LB7. It was awesome. I called it the black beauty. And then it got sideswiped by a school bus in the school parking lot. Totaled. Now I'm looking for a car, any suggestions? I'm thinking crown Vic or 240 sx.

 

Mine was a Skoda Octavia 2.0 with 115 Hp (although Chip Tuned and turbocharged so 200 was no problem) from 2001 the sound of it was awesome sadly the repairing of the suspension was to expensive so I bought myself a New one a Octavia VRS TDi with 184HP

 

'04 nissan xterra with 115k miles for 8K USD. I love my baby

 

A 1987 Porsche 944. It's slow but fun.

 

My first car was a black 2008 Honda Accord EX-L sedan. My mom totaled it, but she was okay, and that's all that matters.

 

My first and also current car: 2001 Ford Focus 1.6l Ghia with nice stuff like heated seats, air con and alloy wheels. God i love this car!

 

first car: my dads 2002 jeep liberty
current car: 2015 jeep cherokee 2.4l i4
tentative next car: 2017 dodge charger R/T 5.4l HEMI v8

my mom works for FCA so thats why all my cars are from FCA (chrysler, dodge, jeep, etc)

 

Lets see...back in '80 was when I got my license and first car, my dad's 1975 4 door Chevy Nova. It looked a lot like this, same paint job and everything.