1 litre car a good or bad idea?

Brian2011

I already have a 1242cc ford fiesta 2003, but am thinking of downgrading to a cheaper to run 1 litre 998cc 12V 3 cylinder corsa as I can't really afford to keep the fiesta.

So am I mad and are 1 litre cars too slow and powerless? I mean will I really notice a huge difference in power loss? I really just need a car to get from a to b and don't really go on long journeys, usually the longest is about 50 miles, and most of the time its usually only short journeys of a few miles. Maybe once a year I would drive to Dublin from Kerry and maybe a few times to Wexford and Mayo usually to visit family and thats really about it.

Are they really as bad as people make them out to be? Are they a bad idea? And what BHP does a 998cc car have? my fiesta is 75BHP (1242cc)

Thanks.

corkgsxr

Even when I was starting I refused to go 1L. About 1.4 min Imo

colm_mcm

To be fair, if you can't run a fiesta 1.25 then you can't afford to drive.
The only area I can you saving is in tax, but then the corsa might collapse on you and negate that saving

road_high

How is going to the expense of changing your car going to save you money though!? 1L Corsa is one of the nastiest and underpowered cars ever built. Not a car I'd like to be heading on any long journey even once a year

Voodoomelon

The only reason i'd change in your case is if you actually made a profit from changing cars.

Otherwise changing cars to a smaller engine will save you very little, if any money. The 1.25l Fiestas are heavy cars for the engine size and power output, you may even save money by getting a larger engine if you do longer trips.

But if you know your car and its good and reliable, there would be no sense in changing IMO.

cml387

Perfectly acceptable, and also lower insurance as well.
If you have no requirement to pose, and are not going long distances there's nothing wrong with a 1L.

Only thing I'd say is there may be no great saving if you're trading in for a second hand car you know nothing about.

colm_mcm

It's a 1.25 not a 5.21

godtabh

I've a 1.1l panda. Steep hills are a struggle. On windy days I get very worried!

CiniO

Brian2011 wrote: »

I already have a 1242cc ford fiesta 2003, but am thinking of downgrading to a cheaper to run 1 litre 998cc 12V 3 cylinder corsa as I can't really afford to keep the fiesta.

So am I mad and are 1 litre cars too slow and powerless? I mean will I really notice a huge difference in power loss? I really just need a car to get from a to b and don't really go on long journeys, usually the longest is about 50 miles, and most of the time its usually only short journeys of a few miles. Maybe once a year I would drive to Dublin from Kerry and maybe a few times to Wexford and Mayo usually to visit family and thats really about it.

Are they really as bad as people make them out to be? Are they a bad idea? And what BHP does a 998cc car have? my fiesta is 75BHP (1242cc)

Thanks.

According to my data you fiesta has 75BHP, while Corsa 1.0 has 58BHP.

0-100km/h is done in 14.5seconds in your fiesta and 17s in corsa.

So you will feel some difference allright.


What kind of savings you are thinking off, except from motortax?

CiniO

road_high wrote: »

How is going to the expense of changing your car going to save you money though!? 1L Corsa is one of the nastiest and underpowered cars ever built. Not a car I'd like to be heading on any long journey even once a year

My father has one.
I've recently done over 100km in it, and it's not that scary.
Surely it's bit slower than my 2litre mazda 6, but still possible to drive.
Cinquecento 0.9 was about the same, if not slower.

But hey - I started driving in Cinquecento 0.7 30BHP, so anything will suffice for me really.

road_high

I had a 1.2l Corsa company hire car in England there. I honestly thought there was something wrong with it, it was THAT slow. Was dangerous pulling out of junctions, especially on hills. Foot to the floor and it would barely respond.
I shudder to think what the 1.0L would be like. Horrific I'd say.

cml387

road_high wrote: »

I had a 1.2l Corsa company hire car in England there. I honestly thought there was something wrong with it, it was THAT slow. Was dangerous pulling out of junctions, especially on hills. Foot to the floor and it would barely respond.
I shudder to think what the 1.0L would be like. Horrific I'd say.

I find this very hard to believe. I was driving a Corsa in the UK a few weeks ago and found it perfectly safe. Your driving habits maybe?

dmc17

Well, what you save on fuel on any given trip may be cancelled out in the event you have to overtake someone as you will spend the savings on a new pair of underpants. It's basic economics

colm_mcm

I can't see there being enough of a saving given the description of the driving.

colm_mcm

What's gone wrong?

zenno

I dropped down from a rover 1.4 to a mitsubishi colt 1999 1.3 and i did notice a difference, but only a small bit but a 1.0 litre will be a good run-around for sure but stick with a 1.3 if you can.
I thought my motor tax was going to go sky high this month after the new tax charge but it only went up €7 for the 3 month one. Still a hike but i thought it would be a lot more for a 1999 model. 1.3 is not bad at all but i wouldn't be into any less imo.

Mitsubishi all the way, 126,000 miles on the clock and still flying.

CiniO

Brian2011 wrote: »

I guess petrol cost maybe?

I strongly doubt fuel consumption would be lower on 1.0 corsa comparing to 1.25 fiesta.

unkel

Brian2011 wrote: »

The fiesta I have has caused me nothing but problems and it only has 86k on it

That's interesting, what kinda problems? A Fiesta of that generation with the Yamaha engine is generally considered to be one of the most reliable (and nippy and driveable!) cars in its class

dgt

So talk us through what's gone wrong with the Festy. If you think a corsa is a better car you are in for a rude awakening

road_high

cml387 wrote: »

I find this very hard to believe. I was driving a Corsa in the UK a few weeks ago and found it perfectly safe. Your driving habits maybe?

Well that was my experience. Very underpowered car, foot to the floor and no response for ages. I'm average weight as well and only person in the car. Drive me mad if I had to drive one long term. And this is from a guy that drver a Bora SDI for years

0066ad

I actually got 100mph out of my 1.0l corsa on the M9, I was a bit shocked
myself, didn't even shudder or anything :eek:

Have it 2 years only thing I changed was the air flow meter with the infomation
I got here to pass the nct. Second class driving better than first class walking:cool:

wendell borton

Brian2011 wrote: »

well to be fair it was my fault for buying it in the first place and I accept that before anyone decides to have a go at me. Anyway sometimes it will lose power for a few seconds where I can't accelerate, I have changed the spark plugs but still same problem.
The Engine management light has come on and off and on again, was told it was lambda sensor. I had to buy 2 span new front shocks for it, There is a knocking noise that sounds like it is coming from the back left hand side when turning and switching from say 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gears which the mechanic has failed to diagnose or just couldn't be bothered and the timing belt had to be changed, even though was told by seller that it was changed by a previous owner, all lies, was never changed, but thats kinda my fault and some other smaller repairs, again which I never spotted when buying, again all my own fault. Also the speedo kneedle bounces around sometimes which is just annoying, :eek: Lessons learned though so not all bad I guess.

The fiesta rear suspension isn't very complicated should be fairly easy to find the fault, sounds like the bushing is worn.

Mint Sauce

road_high wrote: »

I had a 1.2l Corsa company hire car in England there. I honestly thought there was something wrong with it, it was THAT slow. Was dangerous pulling out of junctions, especially on hills. Foot to the floor and it would barely respond.
I shudder to think what the 1.0L would be like. Horrific I'd say.

I had a 1.2 corsa. Overtaking was an age some times, but that was about it.

dgt

Brian2011 wrote: »

well to be fair it was my fault for buying it in the first place and I accept that before anyone decides to have a go at me. Anyway sometimes it will lose power for a few seconds where I can't accelerate, I have changed the spark plugs but still same problem.
The Engine management light has come on and off and on again, was told it was lambda sensor. I had to buy 2 span new front shocks for it, There is a knocking noise that sounds like it is coming from the back left hand side when turning and switching from say 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd gears which the mechanic has failed to diagnose or just couldn't be bothered and the timing belt had to be changed, even though was told by seller that it was changed by a previous owner, all lies, was never changed, but thats kinda my fault and some other smaller repairs, again which I never spotted when buying, again all my own fault. Also the speedo kneedle bounces around sometimes which is just annoying, :eek: Lessons learned though so not all bad I guess.

What's listed there isn't overly dear to replace or fix.
Power issue could be a dirty tb, map sensor etc.
Shocks are a consumable
Timing belt not changed? Could have been told a pack of lies by the mechanic who's not bothering to do anything about that knocking sound!
That speedo issue won't be cured by buying alloys btw put your money in a new sender instead

road_high

irish-stew wrote: »

I had a 1.2 corsa. Overtaking was an age some times, but that was about it.

Was a hire car so maybe it wasn't 100% I dunno. Would struggle to get up past 40-50 mph on take off from junctions, a few times ended up with cars up my tail until it eventually got going. Was 2012 one though and allegedly the "sportier" SRI model

road_high

irish-stew wrote: »

I had a 1.2 corsa. Overtaking was an age some times, but that was about it.

Was a hire car so maybe it wasn't 100% I dunno. Would struggle to get up past 40-50 mph on take off from junctions, a few times ended up with cars up my tail until it eventually got going. With right foot welded to the floor I might add as well. Was 2012 one though and allegedly the "sportier" SRI model

akura

Get a 1.1 saxo nippy and you can easily get to 130kph before it start's to run out of steam

road_high

akura wrote: »

Get a 1.1 saxo nippy and you can easily get to 130kph before it start's to run out of steam

I wouldn't...2003 Fiesta has a decent safety record whereas the Saxo is one of the worst out there, in fairness it is a much older design (based on a 106).

Senna

Get the lambda sensor replaced asap, that will save you money straight away.
If money is such an issue that a 1.25 is too expensive and you are having problems, then if I was you i'd be looking at the cheapest to run and most reliable car, a yaris or micra would be the only cars i'd consider.

JohnBoy26

well going from a fiesta to a corsa is one of the worst things you could do. Those corsas are rough and troublesome money pitts, and aren't worth the tiny amount you'll save in tax and on fuel. My advice to you is stick with what you've got. Your fiesta is light years ahead of any corsa and much much more reliable too.

If you must have a 1 litre though, A yaris or a daihatsu sirion are about the only two cars worth considering imo.

166man

I could understand if you wanted to change from a 2.5 V.6 to a smaller car as there are significant savings to be made there, however going from a 1.25 to a 1.1 won't make anything like the savings you might like. A Corsa is such a sh1t little car the Fiesta is streets ahead.

I reckon if you're set on a Corsa drive one first, methinks that might change your mind...

r3nu4l

I owned a 1.0L three-cylinder Corsa when I first learned to drive. I had it for three years and apart from some rust on the exhaust I never had an issue with it and it never once let me down.

The car is 14 years old this year and my parents now own it. It has passed every NCT and had only rudimentary service each year. They also haven't had a single problem with it, it has been extremely reliable.

Now as for the car being 'dangerous', that's hogwash. Anyone who sits at a junction and expects their 1L Corsa to be able to race out into the traffic like a GT86 or even a 1.9L TDI is a very poor driver. That said, I know a driver who had just passed his test many years ago and tried to overtake a truck on an incline...:o New underpants were required

If you understand that the 1L Corsa requires a lot more time and space to overtake an articulated truck than a bigger engined car and then drive the car accordingly, then you won't have a problem.

As for the economics aspect, I'm not sure where the saving is going to be.

Indricotherium

cml387 wrote: »

I find this very hard to believe. I was driving a Corsa in the UK a few weeks ago and found it perfectly safe. Your driving habits maybe?

Or ability to start from standing maybe!?

dlofnep

godtabh wrote: »

I've a 1.1l panda. Steep hills are a struggle. On windy days I get very worried!

I have a 1.1L Panda too. Never had a problem with it. I've drove it up and down the motorway from Waterford to Belfast a few times - Cruises fine at 120kph. Panda's are actually quite nippy to take off as they are so light. Cheap tax, insurance and cheap to run. I sold my 1.4l Polo as it was too expensive to run. I see a big difference now with the Panda.

kirving

The speedo bouncing around may be caused by the speed sensor - about €30 if that's the problem.

Senecio

I don't understand this country. There is something seriously wrong when 1.3L is considered to be too big.

dlofnep

Senecio wrote: »

I don't understand this country. There is something seriously wrong when 1.3L is considered to be too big.

Petrol + tax is too high. That's the problem.

166man

dlofnep wrote: »

Petrol + tax is too high. That's the problem.

Hardly petrol in fairness, its more or less along the lines of EU averages.


The tax over 2.0 is just the killer really.

Senecio

dlofnep wrote: »

Petrol + tax is too high. That's the problem.

Compared to what?

Petrol & tax are what they are. They don't change the fact that 1.3L is a small engine.

ironclaw

The 1.0 litre petrol Yaris (99 Body) ain't bad. Really comes down to where your going to be driving. It ain't going to set the world on fire in terms of acceleration or top end but its perfectly suitable for a jaunt down the M50 or city driving. Long mileage however forget it as its not up to it comfort or fuel wise.

Having driven that and the 1.4 diesel Yaris (08 Body), the diesel is vasty more fuel efficient. Really is a great engine. A high spec Yaris Diesel however is hens teeth but in my opinion is a great little car. Very comfortable and has good go when needed.

Joe 90

Fact is that in terms of getting from A to B ther should be no real practical difference. I'v got an Exige, the wife has a Ka. If I wre to drive from her to Liverpool, a couple of hundred miles I would not expect any major difference in journey times. The same speed limits and how much you reckon you can get away wit above them apply to both cars. The Exige would burn a bit more fuel, 20-25% more at a genuine 80mph or so.
The major difference would be that going that distance in the Ka would be something that had to be done whereas goint the distance in the Exige would be sheer pleasure.

Make it a couple of hundred miles of twisty roads and of course the Exige would be there a lot quicker.