What's the slowest car you've owned?

[barefoot]

My T2 is slow, but when I read the thread title it didn't spring to mind, because it just potters gently along.

I normally find a lorry that's doing the same speed as me on a motorway and just tuck in behind that at about 57.

It doesn't accelerate that briskly, but driven with that in mind, it's never been a problem.

 

My old Trabant on the other hand...

It was the later model with 26bhp and although it was quickish picking up speed.

'Acceleration' is far too grandiose a word for it.

It did have an absolute maximum of 100 kph

What the bloke who sold it to me failed to mention, was that when you do that speed, you have to use the freewheel

and let the revs drop every 5 miles or so, in order that you can boot the revs back up again to get some oil circulating.

See if you can guess what happens when you don't do that.

Although the engine did fire up again a few minutes later, it was a little disturbing.

[lesapandre]

  On 27/11/2018 at 19:24, overrun said:

1.5D 106. Especially on a colder than expected morning when the veg oil had basically solidified.

Really. I have an AX version with the 1.5 diesel - goes really well but having owned a driven quite a few its surprising how different versions of the same car with same engine can be.

[Asimo]

Volvo 145E with a seized torque converter stator. Would not do more than 30 mph so was fine around town. (At about 10mpg)

Seriously though, speed and acceleration: you soon get used to the lack of them in something slow and old fashioned like an LDV Cub or a Minor. Just part of the charm, but it's the modern and otherwise capable cars with no go that are so hateful, like a recently rented Punto.

[I_am_Diesel]

Years ago I had a Fiesta 1.6D. It was glacial slow and couldn't pull the cock off a chocolate mouse. I used to be overcome by dread when I approached a hill. I ended up giving to my brother because I didn't like him very much.

[GeordieInExile]

75 2.0 KV6 with the auto box. Relaxing. No grunt whatsoever.

[dollywobbler]

Toss up between this:

 

And this

 

Mind you, I've only achieved 65mph in one of them, and it wasn't the H van. I guess that wins then.

 

Pretty painful, with just not enough gearing, so it is screaming by 50mph. Just makes long distance horrific.

 

In terms of power on the fleet:

Invacar = 16-20bhp (depending on who you believe)

2CV = 35bhp (estimate after 652 conversion)

Nippa = 40bhp

Matiz = 50bhp

Rover = 150bhp (but about to be replaced by 54bhp). 

 

The only one that feels scarily underpowered is the Invacar.

[clayts450]

Another Beetle, but this time the rip-snorting 1300cc model with 50 horses, most of which had long run off into the field. I didn't dare go over 50 in it due to the steering wheel vibration and death rings on it.

 

Echo the KV6 engine too - how can a 150 bhp 2 litre beast go so fucking slow ? Classy though, no denying.

[solid61]

Had a 6 cylinder Land Rover for a short while in the 1980s,max speed about 50 screaming it's nuts off,so slow it was genuinely funny.Engine was sweet as a nut but was just gutless,a 2.25 four pot would have left it for dead and 12 mpg didn't help,it would be dangerous these days.

[Frogchod]

  On 27/11/2018 at 19:35, dollywobbler said:

Toss up between this:

 

And this

 

Mind you, I've only achieved 65mph in one of them, and it wasn't the H van. I guess that wins then.

 

Pretty painful, with just not enough gearing, so it is screaming by 50mph. Just makes long distance horrific.

 

In terms of power on the fleet:

Invacar = 16-20bhp (depending on who you believe)

2CV = 35bhp (estimate after 652 conversion)

Nippa = 40bhp

Matiz = 50bhp

Rover = 150bhp (but about to be replaced by 54bhp). 

 

The only one that feels scarily underpowered is the Invacar.

Yes an H van needs one more gear. Mine topped out at 110kph, but I think you could climb Everest fully laden in one.

Single choke 602 2cvs are pretty grim, but bizarly I find 435 ones ok ?

Dw8 vans, mogadon on wheels..

[ChinaTom]

My old GreatWall Deer XLWB with the 2.2 petrol engine: electronically limited to 120km/h but never managed more than 110 even downhill. 0-100km/h 44 seconds. Loved that thing though. Managed a 1900km journey stopping only for fuel (3 drivers in rotation) without a single hitch (other than a side window on the back box popping out thanks to a pothole, and dented wing due to water buffalo disagreement.

 

Fragged due to China’s 8 year rule. Shed a tear that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dieselassist]

I had a SWB VW T4 1.9D 1X which was glacially slow; occasionally I used to choose to take the hard shoulder out of sheer pity for the folk who were caught behind me - on occasions where the road would narrow /hard shoulder would end, Id have to stop completely such was the convoy behind me, n rejoin the actual road when they'd all pass.... it mattered little how much it was loaded up in the back, engines/gearboxes/ welding equipment or completely empty it remained SHAMEFULLY SLOW!!...

 

I also had an ex-Gardaí 96 Nissan Alemera 1.5 Petorol - 280K miles; my mate reckoned it was a patrol car 'out in the sticks' in its previous life n rarely out of 2nd n 3rd gear...it was completely worn out when I got it; zero power - its 'get up n go', had long since 'got up n left'; 55mph was top speed - it was so gutless its progress could be instantaneously arrested with a strong gust of frontal wind, as I found out one dark night attempting to overtake a truck - I had to take drastic action n abort the manoeuvre  - DANGEROUSLY SLOW!!

[Yoss]

  On 27/11/2018 at 19:35, dollywobbler said:

Rover = 150bhp (but about to be replaced by 54bhp). 

 

 

 

So is this actually happening then? *Fingers crossed*

[Shep Shepherd]

My mark 3 Fiesta 1.1 LX, which would just about do 90mph flat-out in 4th gear. Strangely, it would only do 85mph in 5th.

 

Come to think of it, my well-shot Volvo 240 GL saloon was probably slower, but I never took it over the legal limit.

[Zelandeth]

Just remembered one I'd forgotten.

 

Our old works Escort van.  On an R plate if I remember rightly, and the 1.9D Endura engine.

 

It was just about passable as sluggish around town, but any journey on the open road was downright dangerous.  Always wound up with a HGV hanging on the back bumper wanting past.

 

Up the hill just past Kintore heading towards Aberdeen on the A96?  35 foot to the floor in third.

 

It also had a massively annoying habit of unhooking the clutch cable from the pedal randomly.

[Cavcraft]

Probably that Chevette 1256 automatic I had a few years ago. A very relaxed, steady drive but you wouldn't want to overtake anyone in a hurry.

 

The 306 n/a of veg oil was not sports car, either. Town work was ok, but motorways were a stress at times.

[Bren]

2.5 senator auto. Acceleration was on a par with continental drift. Laughably it had sports mode that was as much use as a cat flap in an elephant house.

[lisbon_road]

The Vauxhall Viva is very slow, but only noticeable on the motorway.  Around town it is ok as the gears are well chosen and it feels brisk, all the way up to about 50.  After that, more gears are needed, just like most cars of the era really.

 

My 1.4 spi Astra was painful sometimes.  You'd change gear and wonder why nothing was happening.  When I converted it to multipoint injection, the difference was hard to believe.

 

Not a car I owned, but one I drove, was a K reg Escort diesel estate.  It was so slow it was hard to believe.  We called it the fridge due to its colour and charisma.  I wonder if there are any of them left at all.  It was going rusty when only a few years old too.

 

Of course, the 1929 Dennis G open sided bus was quite slow too but that was neither mine nor a car!

 

Chinatom, be interested in what you refer to as the '8 year rule'?

[cort16]

Grande Punto 1.2 8v

 

There's no way a car of that bulk should be propelled by something with 65bhp

[rantingYoof]

The slowest cars I've owned...it's a toss up between these:

 

 

The first one was powered by a 1.0 four pot, 53hp.

The second one was a 2.0 16v naturally aspirated four pot, 136hp.

The third one was a 2.4 20v naturally aspirated five pot, 140hp.

 

As the first one was my first car, naturally it was the fastest I'd ever been able to propel myself independantly, and it was light enough to accidentally shove it a few parking spaces yonder with a strong sneeze. It felt fine for its size, I'm guessing much like Mr Hubnut's Nippa.

 

The second and third one both should have been turbocharged, and yet in both cases I found quite exquisite examples of a car fitted with an engine they must have only produced to meet targets or satisfy 5% of a stubborn market.

 

The Saab could move itself about adequately up to 30mph and could dart out of roundabouts fine, but forget any brisk acceleration above that, even in third gear. I once used over half a tank pursuing a variety of much more powerful and interesting cars across the countryside...around 60 miles. The engine didn't sound harsh or complain - it was wonderfully smooth - it just didn't have anything to give me that could shift its mass.

 

The Volvo was the strangled version of the lovely smooth wafty engine they relied on for around 20 years, and while you'd think a 2.4 five pot would come with a usable wave of torque...it didn't. And it generated peak power and torque at completely user-unfriendly RPMs, meaning you would get a very brief suggestion of thrust and it would then tumble off a cliff almost dangerously. It was thirstier than its turbocharged brothers and sisters because you needed to drive it so hard to get it up to speed. Also needed dropping to fourth while going on holiday up a hill on the motorway to maintain 70mph and get past things in lanes one and two.

 

The current steed makes up for it quite well, though! Only 10hp shy of the magic 300.

[Timewaster]

Mk3 Astra 1.4s came in spi or mpi flavour.

 

I asked my mate which his was and he replied:

 

I don't know but if this is the faster one then God help anyone with the slow one!

[djim]

+1 for 1.6 VW T25's being punishingly slow.  This ugly bastard was my only form of transport between '02 and '06 and driving it around would have been pretty punitive even without the way too big high top and about half a ton of tatty chipboard masquerading as a camper van interior. I'd say max speed of 50 or 60 and forward planning definitely needed for any manoeuvre. Plus it was LHD just to keep everyone guessing.  

 

 

 

I still miss the old girl though. She's still on the road somewhere and I keep a couple of eBay searches going in case she comes up for sale while I'm feeling weak and nostalgic.

Looking at the MOT history someone has done a lot of welding in the last few years so she might be well sorted now. 

[pandamonium]

Slowest cars I've owned :

 

In last place -

1986 Suzuki Alto 2 spd auto. 

Followed by:

1986 Chevrolet Celebrity 2.8 V6

1987 Lada 1200 (Hungarian Import) 

1981 Talbot Horizon 1.1LS

1992 Lada Samara 1.3

1988 Nissan Bluebird with a diesel conversion of some description. 

 

Dear me, I've owned some shite. 

 

 

 

 

[sierraman]

Slowest I’ve driven was a Corsa Diesel or possibly a 1.0 Micra, fine round the houses but dangerously short on ooomph on the motorway.

[lanciamatt]

there is a few that spring to mind .first been a A reg 1.6 sierra  , that couldnt even do a donut on grass , and the other was a 1985 cadillac fleetwood with the 4.1v8 engine . a bloody fiat 126 was probably quicker .it sounded good 

[artdjones]

A B2 Passat 1.6D hatchback I took from 177k to 238k back in the 90s.54hp moving a ton of car.I did a fair amount of overtaking in it.You just hung back behind whatever it was you needed to get past,then floored the throttle.Once you're doing 10mph more than the car in front,you get by quite quickly.

My friend had the estate,which he drove for about 220,000 miles,and he was notorious for making quick times on long journeys.

[PhilA]

1996 Fiat Cinquecento 0.9 - 0-60 in 17 seconds. Very willing little car though. Another one that would go faster in 4th gear than 5th. Placed first due to the complete lack of torque the engine had.

 

1951 Pontiac Chieftain 4.4 - 0-60 in 19 seconds but enough torque to make it feel much more lively. Top speed purportedly somewhere around 90, where the 124 horses run out of breath.

 

1994 Ford Escort 1.8D - 0-60 so long as you weren't going uphill. Put it in a gear, hold the pedal to the floor, wait until you hit the governor some 10-15 seconds later and change up. Top speed maybe.

 

1984 Ford Transit 2.0 - With the low-performace engine specially fitted to reduce power output, the screaming Pinto struggled empty and loaded struggled some more. Only bonus is it sounded quite nice when the exhaust fell apart.

 

1965 Hillman Super Minx 1.6 - nicest 4 pot engine I have ever owned in terms of refinement and quietness. Did not like being hustled along, was much happier pootling. 0-60 was somewhere in the low 20's but rarely was full power called for. Huge flywheel meant it was more fun to drive the torque band than rev its knackers off.

 

1972 Vauxhall Victor 3.5 - It ran on 7 at best. Twin SU's were leaky around the spindles, two pots blew oil and greb out of the hole filled by part of a sheared head bolt and the distributor would not give it enough advance. 0-60 in about 12 seconds but it sounded nice trying. Guessing somewhere in the 60-70 hp range tops.

 

Phil

[rusty998]

1965 Ford Anglia 997cc

Probably not helped by the carb that was a little bit worn

[STUNO]

The slowest and possibly the least power. My first car, a 1939 Ford Prefect, Nuff said but it was never meant to be anything other than transport.

In the same vein a 1991 Nissan Bluebird 2.0D with auto box. That literally could not get out of it's own way. A friend got pinged because she could not get out of the way of Mr Plod who wasn't in a hurry. It was fine on the highway though.

[RED2stroke]

I don't know if this really counts, but my claim to fame in this instance was a TATA LOADBETA  1.9D OMG what a machine..... it must have weighed a couple of tons, it would do 55mph all day but took an eternity to get there, I drove from Portsmouth to Great Yarmouth once many years ago I remember constantly pulling over to let the queue of cars behind me pass. I managed to kill it by reaching the dizzy heights  of  60mph, where upon it blew its head gasket and knocked the big ends out on the M27 I coaxed it home and drove it straight into my local breakers yard, gave them the keys and fled before anyone recognized me.

[Lacquer Peel]

 

 

  On 27/11/2018 at 21:04, pandamonium said:

1988 Nissan Bluebird with a diesel conversion of some description.

They were fitted with diesels at the factory.

 

The Primera 2.0D with the same engine was mentioned up thread, I had one too and that was a slog to drive, I got so sick of losing speed on corners I gave up slowing down much for corners, Primeras handle well but are tail happy in extremis, accidental drift y0 going under a railway bridge is quite scary.

 

My Xantia 1.9D was just as underpowered but the XUD is more refined and willing than that dour forklift engine in the Nissan.