Thread: Cropley autode: "tasakaalustatud" kontrolli rõõmu

Paljud tootjad näiliselt saada kontrolli kaalu valesti nendel päevadel, kuid MG mootor pole üks neist teisipäev-Driving kodu Autocar MG 6 bensiin eelmisel õhtul, raadio välja, lihtsalt nautida auto, ma kukkusin ei tea, miks see tavaline masin, liiga-kiiruga lükkas enamiku turul, tundus nii kuradi hea tegutseda.
Me sõitsid läbi tavalise välimise London liiklus, pesemata ja rutted välimine London teedel, koos autode alati teha, kui soovite neid ja on täiesti tuttav tööstiili korralikult vilgas nii toimides MG.
6 tehtud erilist, otsustasin ma tehti jõupingutusi magusalt tasakaalustatud kontrolli. Suur kolme autojuhtide — roolisammas, gearchange ja seguklapi reageerimist — oli omal moel, kuid combo klassi parim oli eeskujulik. Balancing tõrjega seotud jõupingutusi on peaaegu uus. Nagu ammu 1920 mδδruse tarkus oli, et rohkem jõudlust auto oli, juht oli vaja teha minna rohkem jõudu.
Mis aretatud sõjajärgse põlvkonna karvane chested sportautode — Triumph TRs ja Healeys — isegi täna mõned autod, tavaliselt Saksa on mis jämedam ja vähem hästi tasakaalustatud, kui nad võiksid olla, sportlikkus saavutamiseks. Lotuss Colin Chapman oli üks esimesi ümber lükata kiirus vajab tugevus filosoofia kooskõlastatud viisil. Algusest tema autod olid kerge ja lihtne kasutada. Algne Lotus Elans peatamine oli uljalt nõtke, kui teised olid liiga jäik.
Kuid tõsi koordineerivate liikuda tuli kuna Chapman & Co käivitas lameekraaniga Esprit ja selle Elite 1970. Kui teil lähitule sidur pidite üsnagi mida itd olla nagu liikuma ning gearlever. Ma omandis Excel, maksakoe magus auto pikaajalise veo eest Porsche 944 enamik ostjaid klassis valis.
Tänapäeval, on kõik autotootjaid omaks idee. Jac Nasser, Fords suurim juustu 90s, rääkisime palju käepigistus, arusaam Ford uste avamiseks tuleks lubada, nauditav sõit paar minutit aega.
Paljud praegu teevad sama nõude, kuid parim ikka silma paista. Tänapäeval on ühine miss gearchange kvaliteediga. Isegi peaaegu täiuslik Ford Fiesta ST on sõmer, pigem annab majapidamisfooliumile vähe gearlever action ja vähendatud ratta-mähise jaoks vajalik uusima põlvkonna Peugeot 208s ja 308s teeb pikk viskab oma manuaalkäigukasti tundub selgelt veider.
Samal ajal road testijad rääkisime palju autosid (pehme peatamise ja naljakas kontrollseadised Prantsuse mudelid; parimaks endy mootorid ja brio itaallased) tunnusjooni aga see kraam on internationised välja olemasolu.
Briti autod, elab vaid üks oluline dünaamiline tunnus: hoolikalt tasakaalustada tõrjega seotud jõupingutusi. Tunnen seda mis Aston Land RoverLotus, Jaguar — või MG6 — ja uhke.
Esmaspäev – Sõber kutsus täna natuke äri teha. Ajab 2002 Smart Roadster – nagu teeb Gordon Murray, nagu Jenson Button. Vastavalt sõber, hinnad korrusel olnud aga hakkavad omakorda ülespoole nagu need veidrad, alandatud hinnaga vähe taga asuva mootoriga roadsters saagi silma inimesed, kes teavad oma autosid.
Nupp Tale (tuntud praeguste omanikega) on McLaren star ei ole Bugatti Veyron aga vahetaks ta Smart, pärast seda, kui ta haigestus Bug hooldus arveid. Ja kuna ta lihtsalt meeldis Smart.
Ei näe paljud selle Roadsters-valikloendist abiga sa võiksid kulutada ligi 20k üks, nii et nad ei ole täpselt kõndida välja salon — et sa unusta armas ja ruumi tõhus nad on. Aga kui minu sõbrad kogemus on midagi minna, nad kindlasti saada kasutada. HES teinud 90 000 miili ilma nii palju puhub suitsu õli.
Kohandatud käigukastidele tunduvad kuulikindel (ma kindlaks seda ise, aastaid tagasi, kupee) ja kui sa mäletad, et selle Roadster on galvaniseeritud kere ja plastist keha sulle saab näha, miks see kaasaegne auto oodata elada täielikult eluiga, mitte ära kriibitud enne esimese mootori tööd, nagu tegin nii palju Spridgets ja triumf Spitfires, mis olid vähe Saksa two-seaters esivanemad 30 aastat tagasi.
Võtsin ka peep Auto Trader ja kiiresti kindlaks, et saab osta ka Roadster veidi üle 2000 ning leida tervislik Brabus 4500 või nii. Maailma parim hilinenud mudel Brabus seab teid tagasi 7000 – enne haggling algust – ja see on lihtsalt 22000 miili kella. Enne mu semu oli oli edestas autoparki välja tõrjuda, et tuttav vist have one kiirustada, eriti pärast seda, kui ta mulle palju parandusi olid juba ammu kättesaadavaks naljakas gearchange ja liigse valguse roolivõimendi (lähete mõeldud käsiraamat).
Lihtsalt ei suuda uskuda, väike suurepärases elektriautod jäävad odav, palju kauem – tegelikult Im võttes raske mõista, miks Smart peaks on tapnud neid esimese koha.

Many manufacturers seemingly get control weights wrong these days, but MG Motor isn't one of them Tuesday – Driving home in the Autocar MG 6 diesel last night, radio off, just enjoying the car, I fell to wondering why this ordinary machine, too-hastily rejected by most of the market, seemed so damned pleasant to operate.
We were driving through ordinary outer London traffic, on greasy and rutted outer London roads, with the MG proceeding in that neatly brisk way cars always do when you like them, and are perfectly familiar with the way they work.
What made the 6 special, I decided, was its sweetly balanced control efforts. None of the drivers Big Three — steering, gearchange and throttle response — was class-leading in its own right, but the combo was exemplary. Balancing control efforts is hardly new. As long ago as the 1920s the ruling wisdom was that the more performance a car had, the more strength a driver needed to make it go.
That bred a postwar generation of hairy chested sports cars — Triumph TRs and Healeys — and even today some cars, usually German, have controls that seem coarser and less well matched than they could be, in pursuit of sportiness. Lotuss Colin Chapman was among the first to overturn the speed needs strength philosophy in a co-ordinated way. From the beginning his cars were light and easy to operate. The original Lotus Elans suspension was daringly supple when others were unnecessarily stiff.
But the move to true co-ordination came in the 1970s when Chapman & Co launched the flat-screen Esprit and the new generation Elite. When you dipped the clutch you had a pretty good idea what itd be like to move the gearlever. I owned an Excel, an uncommonly sweet car on long journeys even against the Porsche 944 most buyers in the class chose.
In modern times, all car-makers have embraced the idea. Jac Nasser, Fords biggest cheese of the 90s, talked a lot about the handshake, the notion that opening a Ford door should promise enjoyable driving in a couple of minutes time.
Many now make the same claim, but the best still stand out. The common miss nowadays is with gearchange quality. Even the near-perfect Ford Fiesta ST has a gritty, rather unsophisticated gearlever action, and the reduced wheel-winding needed by latest-generation Peugeot 208s and 308s makes the long throws of their manual gearboxes seem distinctly odd.
At one time, road testers talked a lot about the national characteristics of cars (soft suspensions and funny controls for French models; top-endy engines and brio for Italians) but that stuff has been internationised out of existence.
For British cars, only one important dynamic characteristic survives: carefully balanced control efforts. Feel it in an Aston, Land Rover, Lotus, Jaguar — or MG6 — and be proud.
Monday – A colleague called today to do a bit of business. Drives a 2002 Smart Roadster – as does Gordon Murray, as does Jenson Button. According to my friend, prices have been on the floor but are starting to turn upwards as these quirky, underpriced little rear-engined roadsters catch the eye of people who know their cars.
The Button Tale (well known to existing owners) is that the McLaren star did have a Bugatti Veyron, but swapped it for the Smart after he became sick of the Bug maintenance bills. And because he simply liked the Smart.
You dont see many of the Roadsters about – with the help of the options list you could spend nearly 20k on one, so they didnt exactly walk out of the showroom — so you forget how cute and space efficient they are. But if my friends experience is anything to go by, they certainly get used. Hes done 90,000 miles without so much as a puff of oil smoke.
The gearboxes seem bulletproof (I established this myself, years ago, with a Coupe) and if you remember that the Roadster has a galvanised chassis and a plastic body you can see why this modern car can be expected to live a full-life span, rather than rusting away before the first engine job, as did so many of the Spridgets and Triumph Spitfires that were the little German two-seaters ancestors 30 years ago.
Took a peep in Auto Trader and rapidly established that you can buy a Roadster for just over 2000, and find a healthy Brabus for 4500 or so. The worlds best late model Brabus will set you back 7000 – before the haggling starts – and thats with just 22,000 miles on the clock. Before my pal had driven out of our car park I was overtaken by that familiar gotta-have-one rush, especially after he told me various fixes had long since become available for the funny gearchange and the over-light power steering (you go for a manual).
Simply cant believe such prime little cars will stay so affordable much longer – in fact, Im having trouble understanding why Smart should have killed them in the first place.