Alfa Romeo, Renault, Subaru and Toyota: cheap heroines
THERE ARE MACHINES that seem to improve over the years like fine wine. Technically, this is not obvious, but over time we realize that there was something pure about them, an old-school philosophy, an easy analogy that in this increasingly technological and often aseptic age we can only regret. And the beauty of these cars is that today you can often take them home at prices that, of course, are not a gift, but are still affordable. Twenty years ago, without the Internet, it was more difficult: if you wanted a particular model, you had to hope to find it at your dealer or at a flea market after a long and careful search. However, with just one click, you can find any car for sale in any remote village in the world. On the contrary, if you come home drunk and go to eBay, the next morning you might wake up with a mega headache and a car you don't even remember you bought.
And here's the idea behind this test: it's a celebration of the disappearance of a generation of cars, analog cars, tough and clean cars like they used to be, and that, simply put, anyone can buy themselves without having to mortgage a house. In addition, among cheap coupes and sports cars, it is less and less common that a new model is better than the previous one if there is a new model. The cars in this test are proof of this: they were chosen because they offer something that their modern rivals (or successors) lack.
Deciding which machines to include in the test was more difficult than physically tracking them down. We could easily make a list of twenty cars or so, but then the test would take up the entire magazine. To get into the top five you see on these pages, we've been discussing - and cutting - for hours. We ended up picking four of our all-time favorites and the white fly.
FOR THIS CHALLENGE, which takes place first in Bedford and then on the roads around the track, we chose an unusually warm day, despite the late autumn. Barely 10, and already now there is a beautiful warm sun with temperatures that in the afternoon should easily exceed 20 degrees (I remind you that we are in England, not in the Mediterranean). When I arrive at the track, I see Clio. RS 182 is waiting for me. Before I even opened my mouth to introduce its owner, Sam Sheehan, he apologizes for the air conditioning not working (apparently Sam is predicting a very hot day). But, despite the fact that he came here from London at rush hour, he smiles from ear to ear.
It's not hard to see why. There Megane RS 182 looks great with large circles and l 'undercut lowered. Later hot hatches got bigger and fatter, and as a result, this Clio looks even smaller today than it did when it debuted. Livery French racing blue this instance gives them in particular. Sheehan's car is a standard 182 with Cup frame optional: then not an official Clio Cup. This means it has a few more amenities (including the non-working air conditioner). Sheehan bought it two years ago for 6.500 euros, but admits they are now even cheaper.
I enjoy this little miracle when the roar distracts me. It is the barking of a six-cylinder engine that heralds a true sports car. But only one appears in Bedford. Alpha 147. Okay, this 147 is a little wider and with a body kit like a real tuner, but the most enthusiastic people recognize it at first glance: this is the 147. GTA, an unlikely top of the Alfa range, built with a 6 hp V3.2 250 engine. 156 GTA under the hood compact at home. If not for the sound, few would have realized that this is something special. So this model doesn't even have a GTA logo. Owner Nick Peverett bought it just two months ago after falling in love with his colleague. He spent only £ 4.000, or about € 4.700, because they are cheaper in the UK. He loves her precisely for this anonymous look: “You need to know her in order to understand how special she is. Many people think that this is one of the same old fake Alphas. " I can't blame him ...
Even without seeing her, there is no doubt who the next contender is: the arrhythmic drone, the soundtrack of my youth ... Subaru... When the car finally arrives, I realize that it is even more special than I expected: it is alone. Show first series with additional headlights below standard and mega rear wing. AND RB5: a version that is inspired by what was then the Subaru WRC star and takes its name from her: Richard Burns... It is a limited edition that can only be found in the UK and is therefore right-hand drive, but thanks to the magic of importing, anyone can buy it today. When owner Rob Allen confesses that he spent only 7.000 euros on this near-perfect specimen, I too am tempted to look for it.
I come back to reality when I see the fourth car. Toyota MR2 The Mk3 has always been a tough car, but now that its value has plummeted, it's a bargain. I would buy it right away.
Obviously, this was too much of a temptation for Bovingdon to resist. He bought this facelifted six-speed version a few months ago for 5.000 euros. Almost perfect, in shiny black livery, the interior in skin red and a variety of options.
The only thing missing is the white fly of the group, a machine that we could not fail to include in this challenge. On the hood, it has the same branding as the MR2, but that's the only similarity between the two. This is Toyota Celica GT-Four, the latest purchase from our colleague Matthew Hayward. It's not as well preserved as other cars, and has a few scratches and a few non-original components like those strange aftermarket rims and exhaust from Fast & Furious. But Hayward paid only 11.000 euros for this. € 11.000 for a real special mid-nineties homologation, an all-wheel drive replica of a rally car that will immediately remind people of a certain age Juka Kankkunen and the Sega Rally video game. Given his cult status, we can safely forgive him for a few scratches.
I DECIDE TO TRY FIRST 147 GTA, especially since a lot of time has passed since the last time I drove it. When she was new, GTA didn't handle the challenges of her peers as well, perhaps because she wasn't lucky enough to debut at the same time as Ford Focus RS и с Golf R32 Mk4. What struck me about her ten years ago was her engine fantasy.
And it still is. Gone are the days when big engines were installed in small cars: today, manufacturers rely on small turbocharged engines to try and cut emissions. But the GTA is proof that a bigger engine than a car is a good idea. This is the perfect recipe for a quick and relaxing car at the same time. Today, as then, the most distinctive feature of the GTA is the engine itself. At low rpm it is liquid and a little anemic, but after 3.000 it starts to push harder and gets wild around 5.000. From there to the red line in 7.000 laps, it's very fast even by today's standards.
On the bumpy roads of Bedfordshire, I rediscover another GTA feature: shock absorbers excessively soft. While the 147 is never rebellious or dangerous, that floating feeling is unpleasant and makes you slow down. If you listen to your instincts and ease off the gas pedal a bit, you'll find a relaxed and incredibly docile machine when you start it at a good pace, but don't pull your neck. The steering is more responsive than I remembered - but maybe that's just proof that since then the steering has become more and more insensitive and the grip has gotten much better. All thanks to the limited slip differential of the Q2 version, which at some point in its history was also installed on this model. After nine years and 117.000 km, the car does not have the slightest vibration in the cabin or shaking suspension: this is a big setback for those who say that Italian cars are falling apart.
It's time to switch to French. While the Alfa has definitely improved over time, the Clio tends to get worse. But this individual is looking at the road with such enthusiasm that I ask Sheehan if he has done anything to it. He—sitting next to me, tormented by watching a stranger drive his favorite car—replies that with the exception of the aftermarket exhaust system and 172 Cup rims (which are the same size as stock anyway), the car is completely original. .
It looks like he just left the factory and is attacking the road decisively. I forgot how much the old 2-liter engine loves to boost: it's the perfect antidote to modern small displacement turbines. The new exhaust, while not harsh, adds a lot of vibrancy to the soundtrack. IN Speed it has a rather long stroke, but when you get to know it, you will find that it is smooth and pleasant to use pedals they are in perfect heel-toe position.
But what is most striking about the Frenchwoman is that frame. suspensions they are perfect, they absorb bumps without making the ride too hard, they are softer than the latest RenaultSports, but they guarantee excellent control. IN steering it is lively and sensitive, and the forepart is very clear. The 182 doesn't have as much grip as modern hot hatches, but it doesn't even need it: the front and rear grips are so balanced that it's easy and instinctive to shorten the trajectory with the accelerator. If you then disable the standard stability control, you can also send it slightly oversteer.
If I had to chase the new Clio RS Turbo with the Clio RS, probably within two hundred meters, I wouldn't even know which direction it was going, but I'm also willing to bet I would have driven the old car a thousand times better. Among the sharpest Clio, I think this is the best.
Could it be better? Maybe not, but when I see MR2 Bovingdon, basking in the sun with the roof down, makes me at least try to match him. There Toyota she is strange. In the new state, it looked like a good car, especially compared to its direct rivals. But it is also one of those cars that survived their own magical moment, and then were almost completely forgotten, transferred by history to an additional role alongside the brilliant MX-5 of the same era.
But often the story is wrong: the MR2 has nothing to envy of the MX-5. This is the only one sports fuel economy for true mid-engined driving pleasure. The four-cylinder transverse 1.8 is not very powerful: 140 hp. even at that time there were not many. But, despite the reduced power, with the weight The power density is only 975 kg.
Due to Jethro's busy life ... his MR2 is a bit deserted and brakes whistle at low speed (although they work normally). However, the brakes aside, the eight-year-old looks new.
Despite the excellent power-to-weight ratio, MR2 it doesn't seem fast at all. But in reality it is not so. There Toyota at that time he announced for her 0-100 in 8,0 seconds, but to reach that time, it was necessary to jump through hoops. IN engine he gets tougher as the regime grows, but he never gets the backstab you expect. Another dynamic disadvantage isacceleratorwhich, despite its long travel, uses 80 percent of its action in the first few centimeters of travel, so you feel terrible when you push the pedal all the way down and find that almost nothing happens.
Il frame instead, it's ingenious. Toyota has always been proud barycenter MR2, with most of the mass concentrated in the center of the vehicle, which in practice means driving speed in curve sensational. There's a lot of mechanical traction here, and the steering is very direct: you don't have time to give it a signal that the car is already steered while the rear wheels closely follow the front. She doesn't like traverses, even if Jethro - who knows her well - at some point manages to get her to slide into second in a slow turn. On the other hand, it allows you to go very fast, and its relative lack of acceleration becomes part of the problem.
LA RB5 ALWAYS LEAVES ME speechless. This was my favorite Impreza Mk1. Indeed, if you think about it, it was mine Show an absolute favorite. Today I hope it matches my memories of her. Despite its iconic status, the RB5 was basically the standard Impreza Turbo with an aesthetic kit that included a metallic gray paint job and spoiler rear end Prodrive... Almost all RB5s had suspensions Optional Prodrive and a performance package, also optional, which bumped the power to 237 hp. and a torque of up to 350 Nm. It doesn't seem so powerful today, does it?
When I sit down on RB5, it's like finding an old friend years later. Everything is as I remembered: white dials, upholstery in skin blue suede, even a warning sticker: "Let the engine idle for a minute before turning it off after a long highway ride." This copy is so original that it still contains a cassette player from Subaru with a box that most owners have lost within a few months. When I turn on the engine and listen apartment four he mumbles, at least I feel like I'm taking a step back in time: I'm 24 again, and I'm sitting in the car of my dreams.
TheShow not so much for the subtle. Huge steering wheel it looks like it was taken off the tractor, and Speed it's a long move. There Driving Position it is tall and upright, and the view is framed by straits Posts front and a huge air intake in the center of the hood.
Despite its age, the RB5 is still a hammer. IN engine on the bass it has a bit of a delay - but on the other hand it has always been like that - but as you pick up speed it becomes more reactive. At this point, the sound of the exhaust turns into a familiar bark and the Impreza kicks you in the ass. This example has a little hesitation at higher revs that can ruin a start, but otherwise it's very fast.
Forgot when the first Impreza was soft. It is definitely a car that adapts to the road rather than trying to bend it to its will. IN curve however this is great, thanks to frame which, it seems, will never go into a crisis. If you get into corners too quickly, the front tends to expand as you open the throttle, you may feel the transfer of torque to the rear as the drivetrain tries to keep you out of trouble. Alternatively, you can brake late and then turn, confident that even if you start from the side, you will find enough traction to get out unscathed.
The last contender is a real beast. There GTFour Hayward is completely new to me - Celica The oldest I've driven is his heir, so I just don't know what to expect. But I need a few minutes with her to understand that this is a serious car.
Il engine it's true turbo Old School: It's a little lazy at idle, and it's all a concert of whistle and suction forced induction, to which is added the hum of a wastegate. Hearing aftermarket exhaust fumes sounds like robot bees have built their nest there. And it seems that on the road the GT-Four is even louder ...
There are a lot of turbo lags at the start: when the speed drops below 3.000 rpm, you have to wait a few seconds before something happens. Above this mode, however, the Celica progresses as if it has a livery. Castrol and a guy named Sines was driving. This is a sample of the Japanese specification ST205 WRC: it originally had 251 hp. He now seems to have at least 100 more, and Matthew tells me that this is possible given the turbulent past.
Le suspensions cruel: s soft very stiff and rigid shock absorbers, the ride is certainly not comfortable. But this is definitely effective: even with bus old and unmarked GT-Four he has a lot of grip and this steering Scaled is precise and communicative. Some old owner must have installed a shortened linkage on Speedwhich now has roughly two centimeters of travel between one gear. On these roads, it is definitely the fastest of the contenders.
The origins of the rally Toyota they also appear in one of his tricks, as impressive as they are unexpected: the beautiful oversteer authorities. In slower corners, the unbalanced weight distribution at the rear transfers more torque to the rear, where limited slip differential he seems determined to throw as much of him to the ground as possible. This is alarming at first, but you will soon learn to trust the system. four-wheel drive which will help you steer the car in the right direction.
As the cars around us relax under the setting sun, a common thought arises in our minds: Perhaps this generation of cars was an absolute pleasure to drive, a product of an era when dynamics could still affect emissions and NCAP ratings. Since then, cars have become greener, faster and safer, but few have made them even more fun to drive. This is a real shame.
But if we cannot change the future, we can at least enjoy what the past has left us. I like these cars. There is a whole generation of powerful cars with good performance at real prices. Buy them while you have time.
Despite the fact that this is more of a celebration than a race, it seems like the right thing to pick a winner. If I had a garage, I would be more than happy to put any of these five cars in it. But if I have to choose one of them every day to drive my car, I would bet on Cleo 182, which may be more lively and fun than the new Clio Turbo, the successor to the 182.
