29th Mar 2008, 09:54

For your information, I'm not a Focus driver, I'm a Honda Integra Type R driver, which will easily beat your little GTi. I've driven a couple Saxo VTS's, and they are cheap nasty crap with terrible brakes, build quality, gear change, image... I could go on all day.

I've driven a 1.8 Focus that felt faster than the GTi, VTS brigade. Difference being the Focus WILL handle safer on the limit, it's quieter, better built, room for 4 adults, half the insurance costs, more reliable, better brakes, more torque, more power... Overall a MUCH MUCH better car than the crap little french tin can Saxos and 106's... girls cars!!

29th Mar 2008, 13:44

Focus will only be better after about 70mph for handling. Saxo's start bouncing around a bit after 70, whereas the Focus's weight and better suspension will keep it gripping. I had a Saxo, not a Focus. If you don't believe me, go and take your Saxo or Focus out on a lane at 70+ and you'll see what I mean.

29th Mar 2008, 14:05

I wish people would stop going on about that Top Gear episode. The Honda Integra is widely regarded as the best handling FWD production car ever built; but was it even on that episode? No. I'm not saying the GTI is a bad handling car, but it sure is not the best, by a long way! It hasn't even got an LSD, and any good handling car worth its salt has one.

5th Apr 2008, 06:42

I agree. It was just Clarkson being his normal idiotic self, trying to shock the viewer. Seriously, he comes out with his little twist in every single episode/review, and the Peugeot was just another attempt to shock us by saying something which really wasn't true. The Saxo/106 may handle well, but you cannot go around claiming they are one of the best handling cars ever built; they just aren't.

6th Apr 2008, 14:02

You seem to not know what you're on about with cars, Focus or Integra driver. That's why they put LSD in the things, because they just don't handle without them. What LSD means is limited slip differential to stop its erratic handling. Saxo all the way.

6th Apr 2008, 16:57

It's laughable for you to say they put limited slip diffs in the Integra and Focus because they don't handle??? Do you even know what they do?? I very much doubt it. A Focus (apart from the RS) doesn't use an LSD because the chassis is good enough to handle it without spinning up its wheels on cornering. The RS was given one to cope with the increase in power and torque.

The JDM Integra Type R has 197bhp (77 more than your little Saxo) so an LSD is needed to help maintain stability and grip at high speed through sweeping fast corners and tighter bends in the road, whereas the little Saxo is left feeling twitchy and dangerous and understeery.

7th Apr 2008, 03:03

Actually it's to improve grip, not handling.

Due to there being more grip overall with an LSD (except maybe in the rain where it can get a bit dicey in powerful RWD), with more grip it equals vastly improved handling.

8th Apr 2008, 13:42

6th Apr 2008, 16:57.

Can't say that I have experienced understeer when I had my VTR. Only if you floored round a roundabout in the wet. On fast bends it felt like it would oversteer rather than understeer, although it never did any of these. Looking back they are really easy cars to drive fast, amazing how many end up smashed up.

10th Apr 2008, 15:47

It's not that amazing really though is it? Just look at the people who drive them and how they are driven! And it's not really a fair comparison - Integra and a Saxo, they are a long way apart in every aspect - price, performance, reliability, looks, and the person sitting in the Integra actually has taste!

Saxos are just not good cars. I've had one when I first passed my test, and at the time the VTR felt brisk, but the constant faults and crappy body work just proves you pay for what you get - not a lot! There are far better nippy hatches out there for the money; even the MG/Rovers with the dodgy head gasket problems are far better cars, and for similar money you could now buy a Fiesta Zetec S or a Puma, and they are far superior in every way!

11th Apr 2008, 04:47

Well if you've had a VTR when you first passed your test, you should know they are a good first car; cheap to buy, cheap to insure, not because they have bad taste. Coming to that point they are not bad cars anyway, I think you should be diagnosed with Teg syndrome. Most people that own one think they are the best car in the world, and disappear up their own tailpipe in a cloud of delusion.

11th Apr 2008, 13:21

My VTR never actually went wrong. It had one problem, and that was that the fan didn't work on the first two settings.

11th Apr 2008, 15:06

The VTR/VTS in question aren't especially cheap to insure, and there are better alternatives, with on-par or better insurance premiums. They are cheap to buy, I will give you that, but there is a reason! They weren't reliable when new, so now they are 5 years old (or more). You may pay very little for the car, but could spend a great deal more keeping it running.

Oh by the way, I don't own an Integra; I had one in the past and loved every minute of it, but decided I needed something with a few more creature comforts for everyday use.

As I said; I don't think it is fair to compare these cars, as when new, the Integra cost twice as much as the Saxo!

26th Oct 2008, 15:36

Focuses are rubbish, the RS or ST170 are awesome handlers or even the new ST. The rest of them seem to be really slow considering their engine sizes.

Saxo VTRs are cheap to insure, but VTSs are the exact opposite.

Saxo's are great fun to drive, and it's fun to thrash them, and in a VTS there's not many FWD non-turbo cars that will keep up with you.

An Integra is in a completely different league to any Saxo, as it's one of the fastest and best handling non turbo front wheel drive cars ever produced, making the price of one astonishing, and also the price of labour put into building one, as each engine is hand built, making it even more desirable.

Ford Fiesta 16 valves aren't as quick as VTRs, as they weigh twice as much as one, and they don't handle that well TBH. Everyone who says they are faster than VTRs race grannies in 1 litre Saxos at traffic lights, and have never driven a VTR.

Saxo VTR/VTS = rapid lightweight rev happy fun box's + due to chavs crashing there are lots of spares, making them cheap to maintain (lots of second hand parts)

Fiesta Zetec = heavy slow but last ages + overrated

Honda Integra Type-R = the king.