Cars with good "chuckability"

Dord

For the best part of the last week I've been driving the latest model Opel Corsa. It's a nice car and a bit of a step up in comfort from what I normally drive. It's missing one thing that my gen2 Fiat Panda has; chuckability. It lives for bendy roads, whereas the Corsa was genuinely scary at times. Neither cars have much power so it's nothing to do with that.

What other cars would have good chuckability?

Note: this isn't a "what to buy" thread.

cml387

I still miss the ability to fling cars around the bend an power on at the apex .

But you need rear wheel drive for that, and those are few and far between apart form those German things.

ianobrien

Small French Hot Hatches, like the 205GTi, AX GT/GTi, hot Clios, etc.

Small Italian hatchbacks, the smaller the better.

'90's Ford Ka/Fiesta

I'm struggling now for more......

Special Circumstances

Mini Cooper. You don't even need the S for chuckability, only for extra torque outta the corners.

Supergurrier

Something something lsd

afatbollix

My 197 clio had oversteer when you throw it in and under steer on exit of the roundabout.

Most times it just gripped and was amazing at all time.

Such a pity it was French.

Indricotherium

My first car. 1996 Renault Clio. 1.4.

It was wicked for chucking around.

congo_90

205gti was a great one to throw into a corner
Bit big but had a 94 Celica and was like a spaceship but never lost itself in bends

jimgoose

Actually my two-ton behemoth is surprisingly chuckable for a lardy old Petunia. Much of this would be down to the quality of the (now seventeen-year-old) suspension.

Veloce

Alfa GT with Vredstein Ultrac Sessantas was very good fun on the twisties. It isn't a light car on paper but certainly didn't feel heavy.

350z- brute of a car but the rwd makes it good fun. Up around the Wicklow gap it's great fun. It wouldn't compete against some of the light fwd cars on a wet road.

Latest car, a 118d M Sport - surprisingly good fun. The steering ratio is very good.

pred racer

Alfa 159, poly bush the front and then let rip. A hot hatch would be more nimble but for high speed cornering, I've never driven another fwd car that touches it.
Maybe explains why I still have mine, despite the amount of suspension parts it goes through

endacl

Read thread title. Thought the OP was looking for advice on a disposable car...

Notch000

I have a new ish 306 1.4 '00 reg and it handled like it was on rails. amazing craiic, I got a 306 gti later in life and it just didn't live up to my expectations, still great tho, luckily the 205/306 GTI lift off oversteer never killed me

I have an MX5 now and it as 'chuckable' as you could dream, in any circumstances

Mycroft H

Indricotherium wrote: »

My first car. 1996 Renault Clio. 1.4.

It was wicked for chucking around.

I cooked the brakes on my one down the Sally gap.

Tried to stop at the junction of the hellfire club and nothing happened.

The 1.4 had plenty of power too I thought. It weighed nothing too which did help.

Indricotherium

Mycroft H wrote: »

I cooked the brakes on my one down the Sally gap.

Tried to stop at the junction of the hellfire club and nothing happened.

The 1.4 had plenty of power too I thought. It weighed nothing too which did help.

Brakes were the end of mine as well. Cooked them one day and the front right wheel burst into flames.

The 1.4 was brilliant. Mine had the whole lot extras wise as well. Sunroof alloys remote central locking.

Harry Palmr

Just get an late 80s-early 90s Peugeot.

Mycroft H

Indricotherium wrote: »

Brakes were the end of mine as well. Cooked them one day and the front right wheel burst into flames.

The 1.4 was brilliant. Mine had the whole lot extras wise as well. Sunroof alloys remote central locking.

Mine too! Sunroof that leaked water onto your trousers going about a corner and central locking that only worked when standing right in front of the car.


But yea, very fun little car. Did your's have the comedy wobbly speedo?

Mycroft H

It was a 1.2 with a longer stroke afaik. Think it was pushing ~87bhp? In the Clio which weighed less than a ton it was fine. Surprised a few laaaads in golfs that's for sure.

MetzgerMeister

Out of all the cars I've had, the RX8 was the best for chuckability.

Indricotherium

Mycroft H wrote: »

Mine too! Sunroof that leaked water onto your trousers going about a corner and central locking that only worked when standing right in front of the car.


But yea, very fun little car. Did your's have the comedy wobbly speedo?

It had a little door over the radio which i thought was cool.

The speedo in mine was a sagem unit. Not sure if it was aftermarket or what. I've never seen that since, a branded dial in a car.

It was also upholstered in ridiculously plush grey velour. Which always smelled a bit musty due to the leaking sunroof.

Maybe I am remembering slightly fuzzy because it was my first car, but I remember it being really fast.

Renegade Mechanic

I had a Punto ages ago. 97 sx model. Not the sporting, but it had the front and rear anti roll bars fitted. Stuck a set of new shocks and new tyres under it and had an absolute whale of a time. That 1.2 was very lively for its size aswell, as long as you kept on top of hg issues and such.

Drilling a small hole in the thermostat removed notorious bleeding issues while still maintaining 100% of the engine's quick heat up and heat maintenability for the interior fan in cold weather.

Class little yoke in fairness.

jimgoose

Indricotherium wrote: »

It had a little door over the radio which i thought was cool.

The speedo in mine was a sagem unit. Not sure if it was aftermarket or what. I've never seen that since, a branded dial in a car...

PSA use a log of Sagem gear, instrument binnacles and suchlike.

MAJJ

Indricotherium wrote: »

My first car. 1996 Renault Clio. 1.4.

It was wicked for chucking around.

Yep, I totally agree great fun and handled surprisingly well until timing belt snapped

Veloce

LIGHTNING wrote: »

And by that you mean chucking wads of cash at the nearest fuel pump right :pac:

Or chucking wads of cash for an engine rebuild!

Class cars though - I like them.

MetzgerMeister

LIGHTNING wrote: »

And by that you mean chucking wads of cash at the nearest fuel pump right :pac:

yes

ianobrien

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Mini Cooper. You don't even need the S for chuckability, only for extra torque outta the corners.

Forgot about the Bini. They're quite good. The Mini is on a different level though. God that's fun to chuck down a twisty road. There's one way to drive a Mini. Don't take your foot off the throttle!

Ferris

106gti / Saxo VTS has to be the daddy here. Light weight and a good engine and available for pennies if you can find one. A friend had one when we were young and it was an epic car. 106 rallye did it better apparently but they're probably quite rare now.

Dord

ianobrien wrote: »

Forgot about the Bini. They're quite good. The Mini is on a different level though. God that's fun to chuck down a twisty road. There's one way to drive a Mini. Don't take your foot off the throttle!

I've driven a few Bini's (Cooper S & SD) and they were good fun alright. I'd love to drive a real Mini though!

quadrifoglio verde

166mans 156 although lacking in speed is great fun to chuck into bends.

I'll probably get an angry phone call from America now :pac:

Dord

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

166mans 156 although lacking in speed is great fun to chuck into bends.

I'll probably get an angry phone call from America now :pac:

Yeah it's a weird one. It's not about power or speed but the handling of the car in general. It seems I need to drive an Alfa or two.

colm_mcm

Toyota ayho. think the dials in clios were usually Jaeger?

Indricotherium

colm_mcm wrote: »

Toyota ayho. think the dials in clios were usually Jaeger?

Plus 1 on the aygo!! You can get it the whole way round on a handbraker!!

wendell borton

Pug 306 was great, even the 1.9d.

JohnBoy26

A late 90's civic, especially the performance oriented versions, are one of the best handling fwd out there.

landmarkjohn

when the rest of us were ordering family saloon rep mobiles, Passat, Mondeo, S40 etc one guy ordered an Alfa 146 1.6 120 bhp. I used it for a couple of months after he left.... man you felt ALIVE driving that!

Lellostag

Many moons ago I had a '96 Pug 106 Rallye, fantastic fun to drive with a free revving engine and awesome grip with the P4000 tyres! It was fabulous to chuck around corners, it drove like it was on rails, I really would like another one some day again.

LostTazMan

My Alfa 147 is great fun on the twisty bits, except when I hop it through a pothole and bend a few suspension parts. I usually behave for a while after that happens!

Red Kev

Mazda MX-5 is excellent as are MG Midgets and the original Mini. All have superb chassis.

I had one of these, not fast though they are easily tuned, especially if you get the later Dyane engines. Insane in corners and on roundabouts and more fun that cars with 5 times the power.

Ferris

LIGHTNING wrote: »

VTS+Saxo's will be pricey for what they are. The only VTS is 2.2k on DoneDeal, you can get a 225bhp TT for that money.

Theres a rough 106 for 780 and this with engine work done although needing a couple of bits. I've driven a Mk1 TT, fast but inert but not 'chuckable' imo.

ba_barabus

MGF are great for throwing around with the mid mounted revvy engine, very light and great steering.

MidMan25

Always felt my VW Up! was very chuckable. Wheels on four corners = chuckability! :pac:

It had the sports suspension too! :cool:

Nekarsulm

Bought a 97 Polo for parts, turned out to be too much fun to break. It's a 1.4 and quite nippy and chuckable
Only wanted the power steering system and a few body parts, but might NCT it and have as a second car. Needs a patch on the door sill, that's about all.

antodeco

I've proper minis (not binis) and heading up the Dublin mountains on a summers day! I've actually scared myself a few times with how well it corners. Running 10" - 13" on them and they all just crave for more driving. Helps one is a 1275GT so lots of low end power with revs that never end.

pheelay

ba_barabus wrote: »

MGF are great for throwing around with the mid mounted revvy engine, very light and great steering.

Came to post this. I'm driving a TF135 at the moment and rebuilding a 160. With a good set of tyres, the thing feels like it wants to be thrown around. Voices in my head sing 'Welcome to Mario Kart' every time I hop in

Daaryl

Toyota MRS, Mazda MX5, Renault Clio 172, Toyota Celica, They're all good fun cars to drive with good chuckability

MetzgerMeister

THe MG TF must be a very rare car these days. I remember when I had my ZR (also a great handling car) back in 2006 I envied owners of the TF. Such a nice, sharp looking car.

Titzon Toast

A gen7 Celica with Super Strut suspension.
Great craic on back roads.

Duke O Smiley

1995 (mark one) Peugeot 106 1.1 5 speed gets the nomination from me. I had one, it was a scarily fantastic car for throwing around. Absolutely nothing in the way of options or equipment (not even a clock) - it felt feather light.

Lancia Y10 has gets a nomination from me too but it felt a bit heavier than the 106. Still a great car

dr.fuzzenstein

MX5 of course, the steering is so direct, i could swear it starts to turn before I even start turning the wheel and it doesn't so much as turn like another car, but it simply goes from driving in one direction to driving in another direction instantly.
Aside from that, I had an 04 MKI Ford Focus van, 1.8 TDCI (Oh god, I'll get stick for that), but it was a mad thing. On a large, empty roundabout you could pick up speed until the front started to lose grip and then take your foot off the gas and traverse the roundabout sideways. On backroads it was immense fun. What kind of made it better for me is the fact it had absolutely no power below 2k rpm and above 4k rpm, but it delivered what it had in one big shunt between 2-4k rpm. I had that car from 04 to 09 and it never went wrong once. I know, diesel Focus van, doesn't sound like much, but it was very good.
Aside from that, a 2005 Ford Fiesta 1.6 diesel (more stick...). It was far more fun than a daysil Feshty has any right to be.

Renegade Mechanic

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

I had a MKI Ford Focus van (Oh god, I'll get stick for that)

Really? As someone who drove one (non van, but I assume the suspension is the same) - and immediately lifted and looked underneath to see just how a car that cheap could handle so surprisingly well - I can honestly say you probably won't get more chuckability for less.

Ford were serious onseriously the ball with their "control blade" system. Bit of a git to work on when a bushing or three needed doing, but good god the mk1 focus was a class drive.

dr.fuzzenstein

Renegade Mechanic wrote: »

Really? As someone who drove one (non van, but I assume the suspension is the same) - and immediately lifted and looked underneath to see just how a car that cheap could handle so surprisingly well - I can honestly say you probably won't get more chuckability for less.

Ford were serious onseriously the ball with their "control blade" system. Bit of a git to work on when a bushing or three needed doing, but good god the mk1 focus was a class drive.

At that stage I hadn't mentioned it was a diesel yet.
But it has to be said that if your choice is the 1.8 diesel or 1.4 petrol, go for the diesel. The petrol is so slow, you'll die of boredom.
I miss that car. I currently have an '06 Cmax (as everyone undoubtedly knows by now) and it certainly is planted and solid on the road, but I wouldn't dream of trying to get it to go sideways anywhere. :pac:
I think I tried once, but the reaction could only be described as trying to get your Granny to do parkour through church.