So farewell, 405...

[Milford Cubicle]

I love most Japanese cars but I have to concede that a lot of them aren't ideally set up for the UK/Europe.

One example is the 1993-on European Honda Accord, they are ok to drive sensibly, but if you push them they are dreadful. No travel in the front double wishbone suspension (which has been installed to play on motorsport connections, no other decent reason) so the front wheels pick up over bumpy roads that wouldn't bother many of the better European cars travelling at twice the speed. The steering is so light and inert that you have no idea what the wheels are doing until just before it's too late.

Later cars and the almost identical Rover 600 were an improvement, but not by much.

 

A bit of appeasement...

Nissan Primera P11s are pretty good to drive if you don't mind putting up with quite a harsh ride, my old lady's one seems really keen with sharp steering and roll-free handling. I believe they were one of the first to make publicity of the fact that their car had been fine-tuned around the Nurburgring.

P10s had a finer ride/handling balance I think, but surprising lift-off oversteer because of limited travel in the IRS. I've been drifting in both 1.6 MPi (went off the road here) and non-turdo 2.0 diesel Primeras.