Feel in love all over again

[CircuitMonkey]

If I'm very honest I started feeling as if my 200 GT wasn't fast and exciting enough anymore and was already mentally compiling a list of what I'd like to get next.

That was until I just spent 3 weeks in South Africa driving a Ford EcoSport. I drove it all the way from Cape Town to the Kruger park and then down to Johannesburg. Actually it was 2 EcoSports as the first I had to get replaced after a few days due to some brake and engine problems. Apologies to anyone who has one of these dire cars but this is the beginning of the EcoSport bashing. With a 1.5 petrol engine it is neither economical or sporty. We struggled to get 500km out of a tank and got bored trying to figure out it's 0-100 time. We did a few mountain passes in the thing and got overtaken by lorries.
To be fair, it did quite well in Kruger park, sitting higher than a normal car afforded better views of the animals and the suspension did an admirable job over the uneven un-tared roads.

Fast forward to today when I finally got back into my car and it was like night and day. I'm in love all over again and treated it to a wash and wax at the local carwash as after being sat for 3 weeks it was a sorry sight.

After 3 weeks away I'm very happy to be home but happier to have my RCZ back!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[Plecodoras]

Sometimes it's the little things that remind you of what your missing, other times it's a Ford EcoSport...
Ha Ha :dance:

Glad you've got your mojo back for your RCZ !! :thumbup:

Cheers M. :beer:

 

[Nemi]

If you ever get that feeling again, try to remap your RCZ :thumbup: I got my remapped to 230 HP / 340 Nm and the difference is very noticeable :shock:

 

[howardf]

I know what you mean
I'm stuck in a Vauxhall mokka x diesel until my new car arrives :thumbdown:

Makes the RCZ feel like a F1 car!

 

[DKZ5745]

I always think my RCZ feels like an F1 car anyway :thumbup:

I am constantly amazed when setting off from lights how a slight acceleration in the Z, nothing drastic, and if you look in the rear view, all the other traffic is disappearing behind you. I actually do keep thinking, is my Z really that fast? Or does everyone else just forget what the fun pedal is all about. :eusa-think:

I don’t think I’d dare getting mine remapped, the wife thinks it’s already far too fast for her (although she doesn’t drive it much slower than me - I’ve checked the dashcam footage )

 

[RCZ-R]

We all are a bit biased about our RCZs. But how one cannot be about the RCZ, right? :eusa-whistle:

Recently I got the chance to drive the newest Audi RS3 (I'm still on the search for a replacement of my beloved R). And let me tell you, this Audi, albeit its 400 horses, the farting and burping exhaust (which I personally hate), left me stone cold. There is hardly any drama and excitement when driving this car. Yes, it pulls strongly. Because it has 400 ponies. There is nothing that touches my heart and soul while driving it other than a bland straight forward performance.
I was even surprised how feeble the car feels to me when accelerating hard from a stand still. I hardly felt any acceleration. Even sitting on the passenger seat I was not impressed by the acceleration. Rather disappointed by the missing G forces. You watch the speedo grow numbers very quickly but you don't feel it.

I had a small hope this time they did a better job than the previous RS. But not for me. Coming back to biased view: I feel, experience, laugh, enjoy, swear, smile more in my "cheap audi tt" called RCZ R than in that "overpriced Golf R" called Audi RS3 :greetings-wavingblue:
That is what I told the dealer too while handing him the keys.

 

[renegade79]

plus Ze German manufacturers make you pay lots more for the toys etc. That was always something Peugeot was good at - including a lot of kit as standard.

dare I say, have you tried a Leon Cupra R 300? I was tempted before I got my GTi...

 

[RCZ-R]

plus Ze German manufacturers make you pay lots more for the toys etc. That was always something Peugeot was good at - including a lot of kit as standard.

dare I say, have you tried a Leon Cupra R 300? I was tempted before I got my GTi...

No, I'm not so much into Seats. I also test drove all the Golf GTIs and Rs. They all are almost the same. For me, the VAGina lack excitement & thrill of driving. They are all good cars. But they don't touch my soul.

 

[DKZ5745]

I know exactly what you mean.

When my late Brother bought the latest Mercedes GLA AMG 45, I drove it, and I drove it hard, there were the above mentioned noises from the sports exhaust, and this drew looks from pedestrians, but although the figures tell me that I was accelerating quite a lot quicker than my 200GT, it didn’t feel like I was going fast.

Maybe that’s the point, maybe that’s what Merc/Audi are trying to achieve.

Personally, I like the fact that people I pass look at my car because it looks amazing, rather than it sounds like it should be on a track.

 

[CircuitMonkey]

If you ever get that feeling again, try to remap your RCZ :thumbup: I got my remapped to 230 HP / 340 Nm and the difference is very noticeable :shock:

I'll certainly keep that in mind, but my hand may be forced to getting a bigger car anyway S4 or 6 advant maybe, don't think I can afford anything much more than that?

 

[CircuitMonkey]

I always think my RCZ feels like an F1 car anyway :thumbup:

I am constantly amazed when setting off from lights how a slight acceleration in the Z, nothing drastic, and if you look in the rear view, all the other traffic is disappearing behind you. I actually do keep thinking, is my Z really that fast? Or does everyone else just forget what the fun pedal is all about. :eusa-think:

I don’t think I’d dare getting mine remapped, the wife thinks it’s already far too fast for her (although she doesn’t drive it much slower than me - I’ve checked the dashcam footage )

After driving the EcoSport I can well believe some cars are just unable to go any faster!