Driving a euro diesel 6spd

[berettafan]

On vacation and the trains in Florence fell victim to some anarchist group who torched a control box causing massive delays/cancellations. We were due to head on to Verona right as this happened and so had to scramble last minute to find a car.

Wanted an Alfa Giulia. Got a Fiat Tipo SW with the 6spd.

Fast? nope.

Sporty? well not really.

Do I dig it? Hell yes! The driving characteristics of a relatively small car with a Diesel engine are really pretty darned cool. Very nice torque for hills and passing without downshifting. Clutch is pretty easy. It's not a car that will impress car people but I'm pretty stoked at getting to experience a euro diesel particularly with a manual where you can really appreciate the torque.

Not sure what the mileage is but we drove almost 3 solid hours Florence to Verona and the gauge barely dropped.

Much fun!

[aschen]

I reserved a basic alfa sedan at eurocar a few years ago and they gave me a small diesel Peugeot instead.

Cant say I liked the driving experience much, but we did get over 600 miles to the prepurchased tank.

[Jims5543]

Try a Skoda Superb, I drive one with a 4cyl diesel 6 speed manual and I could feel it sucking out my soul after every mile... sort of like a Minivan.

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[David]

We’ve had a Ford cmax 6 speed diesel and Nissan ( some type of suv) 6 speed diesel that were pretty fun considering. Contrast that with the Ford Focus 6 speed gasoline engine we recently had and I really have an appreciation for the diesels. I was really surprised when I got a second gear scratch out of the focus leaving a toll booth but it felt like the transmission bounced off the pavement. Like the old saying, “rental cars are the best handling cars in the world!”

PS: Skoda cars suck. They look like Mercedes so when a taxi or Uber pulls up you think you’re getting into a Mercedes until it starts creaking and rattled so that if you didn’t realize already, you quickly know you’re in a piece of ...

[petrolhead611]

Skoda and Porsche are closely related these days

[glewis80SC]

Years ago I rented a Ford Focus diesel wagon manual drove it all over Italy and Switzerland...loved it.

[HardDrive]

Different category of diesel, but I am always amazed at my dad's Ford F350. 3000lbs of camper and gear on the back, and the damn thing doesn't downshift going uphill.

[ian c2]

I’m from england originally , and in the years leaving up to my emigration little 1.3/1.4 diesels where coming on strong .
Sisters had them as you got free insurance ( a killer in the uk on top of fuel prices) and my mother was a professional driving tutor and used Peugeot 106 and Citroen diesels .

Disposable cars .
But cheap to buy , cheap to insure , and cheap to run . And pretty fun having that much torque in a barely clad shopping cart

A couple of things I remember :

1: One of mums cars had a burnt out clutch (erm ... ) I went with her to peeogeot , or may have been Citroen) dealers to talk about it .
While service manager was working out if it’s warranty covered or payed for , sales guy offered her a new car with better spec , for basically a strait trade ...

It seems if the ashtray is full or it runs out of diesel (whichever comes first) you just dump it and get a new one

2: a friend had a family car auction , and my buddies older brother wanted to take his son there for his first car .
Bear in mind at 17 , just passed , first car , cost of car would be about 25% of insurance costs if you’re lucky
Looked at fiat pandas etc (terrible car , only redeeming feature other than being cheap is the front screen is same as back screen . So you have emergency options should you hit something) and other cheap baked bean cans .
He made a list and we decided to go for lunch while he phoned for insurance ..
I directed him to Citroen where he got a brand new car with free warranty , servicing , and insurance for LESS than the insurance on an auction car would be .
30something dad was pi$$ed that he’d never had a new car and sons first car was new


3: me and my friend was going for a weekend in London with dodgy accommodation in Sheppard’s bush near the empire with street parking only .
I had a porsche , and iirc their option was a rangerover .
Used one of mums 106 oil-burners .
What a trip !!
Blasted there around 90mph and @300 miles later still had enough juice to get home

4: after I emigrated I went back to uk .
bought the cheapest car on autotrader on Sunday night to drive from Manchester to Great Yarmouth the next morning .
It was a Peugeot 106 derv ..
Cost me more in oil than diesel on the trip , and the cost of the oil was more than the car cost !!

[porsche4life]

We need more diesels, more stick shifts, and more wagons in the US! I love all three, and combined is even better!

[berettafan]

Ian you mention disposable cars; on our drive yesterday we noticed that we saw very few older cars. Most everything on the road was a newer bland compact car of some sort of a late model 3 series or smaller bmw diesel.

In Rome and Florence we saw tons of scooters and motorcycles. Those were ZTL areas though (limited car zone).

[ckelly78z]

I really like that red/white scrambler dual sport, but appreciate the picture so much more because of the prodigious side boob shown.

[berettafan]

a happy coincidence indeed! loose blouses/shirts seem to be a thing here.

[Otter74]

In France a few years ago I rented a diesel Citroen - C4 or C5, I think - and while it was not a particularly fun car to drive as far as C-segment hatchbacks go, the powertrain was really nice. There was torque everywhere, you could pretty much just let out the clutch from a stop without any throttle at all, and fuel consumption was great. 10/10 would drive again. Years before that, when I was an engineer at Chrysler, I drove a Euro-spec Chrysler Sebring (ugh) with a VW TDI and 6-speed and that *almost* redeemed the rest of the car. Drove it to Chicago and back at 80mph and still got 40mpg.

[john70t]

Be care of the Opal.
If you coast out of gear, the engine will stop and the steering wheel will become a rock.

[JeremyD]

I always look forward to renting a car in England. #1 it's typically always diesel - and always a 6 speed on the wrong side, so always a challenge!.

[berettafan]

Here’s the car. To my eyes it is a really nice looking wagon. I will definitely miss it.

[speeder]

That’s a good looking little wagon.

[petrolhead611]

The Tipo hardly sells in England , when I was looking for a new car a year ago, dealers were unbelievably heavily discounting the hatchback version

[berettafan]

I don't have much to compare it to other than the 3 series wagon I owned briefly about 6 or so years ago. that car was very nice and torquey. The Fiat is nice in that you don't quite feel like you're sitting on the ground when you get in. a bit easier for an aging fat guy.

[Googam]

Berettafan.......You don't have to miss that Opel. You can buy your own here. Buick
Tour X. Manufactured in Germany by Opel