I bet that car has about 65 horsepower.

About nostalgia, I'm not saying it doesn't play a (big) part sometimes, but look at it this way... in 40 years precisely NOBODY will care about some junker Mitsubishi Mirage like we don't care about this POS. I saw one of those today, I remember I rode in an Uber....3cyl, I felt like I could feel each piston hard to explain but yes, god-awful.

 

True, but, don't forget.....that 40-year-old Fiesta was burdened with less equipment and weight than today's subcompacts, and was significantly lighter. There simply wasn't as much pork for that small engine to pull. That lower weight also paid off in less work for the brakes and suspension.

 

Wrong. Most of them had in the 40's and 50's for hp and pulled 18 second 0-60 times.

 

yeah. No great. But I can find something interesting in almost any car

 

I swear to god I said 45 first but deleted it and said whatever I said, 65. Lol.

That's a RHD car, has to be a diesel. I'm guessing 50hp.

 

maybe in the 20s

 

No, you were pretty much spot on correct - Ford Fiesta S - 66bhp (85bhp per tonne), 0-60mpg in 11.5 seconds. I learned to drive in that exact car, absolutely brilliant little car and a smash hit for Ford in the 70s. It was so light it didn't even need power steering.

My mum had a silver 1.1 litre model - a whole 55hp and 0-60 mph in 15 seconds, although it felt a whole lot quicker as it was so nimble a sharp away from the traffic lights.

The one we all wanted was the 1.6 lire XR2 model which had all the sports addenda and a 0-60 mph of just over 9 seconds. They are classics now and it'd cost you a fortune to acquire one.

The interesting thing about the Fiesta is that Lee Iacocca was a huge fan of it and wanted to bring it to the US but realised it was a bit too small for American tastes. He worked out a slightly wider 'blown' version which was going to be called the Wolf but then US labour rates meant that making it in the US was going to be too expensive. He was still keen on the idea so went to Honda in Japan and did a deal with them to supply an engine and transmission in a crate for $711 and thought he was onto a sure-fire winner but Henry Ford overruled him declaring no Ford car would ever have a Japanese engine under the hood.

 

Hah! 11.5 seconds wasn't bad at all for the time.

We have to remember, everything was slow then so it wasn't as dangerous/painful/annoying/etc. Everyone was merging slow onto the interstates.

One thing about now, most cars have good pickup. People still pull out in front of me all the time but hey as long as they gun it and I don't have to slow down IDC, 90% of the time that's what happens.

 

Exactly. This was the time that GM was screaming from the rooftops, in every ad, that the 4th gen Camaro Z28 and Firebird Trans Am got to 60 in 6.7 seconds. Because it was SO much faster than the outgoing generation. "Normal" cars were still in that 10+ second range.

 

Oh I saw in some road test it was a mid to late 80s Camaro with an AUTOMATIC did 0-60 in about 6.5. That was crazy, but not too surprising bc GM usually overpowers their vehicles. Cheap interiors but good engines.

 

I just put 950 miles on a 2022 Nissan Altima I rented with the family as we drove through western Canada. I hadn't been to a Hertz location in a while where I couldn't pick my own car and this was truly my only option. A few thoughts:
- Our model felt wildly under powered, really noticeable in the mountains and when trying to pass someone. I'm sure we had the lowest end engine, 2.5L with 188HP I believe. It was sluggish.
- Seats were not comfortable. We took a 5 hour trip and everyone was complaining at the end.
- It didn't have keyless entry. I really can't understand this on new models. Having to fumble around for the keys, especially when you have things in your hands is truly a pain.
- The doors don't automatically unlock when you go from being in any gear into park. You have to manually unlock them (even double pulling on the door handle won't trigger it to unlock)
- I don't know exactly what kind of gas mileage we got, but I'm certainly glad I didn't have a big SUV there. Gas was $1.80 per liter... which is $7.20 per gallon. Factor in the favorable exchange rate and it is roughly $5.80/gallon for regular. I live in a pricey area for gas, and even here it's around $3.75/gallon for unleaded.

Maybe some of these gripes are addressed in higher end models, but I just found it odd that it lacked a couple of no brainer "features". Really made me appreciate our cars, especially the Tesla when you realize how much tech is poured into that.

 

Thats interesting, that 2015 Altima loaner I had last week I was surprised it wasn't a bad car at all, I thought it was comfortable and peppy...

 

Interesting, I haven't minded getting the most recent generation of Altima as a rental car. Mine weren't completely base models though. The unlocking the doors when going to Park thing definitely varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and I actually really like Nissan's "zero gravity" seats. They fit me perfectly.

 

Yeah I saw your review after I had it a couple of days and was wondering what all has changed between that model and the one I rented. In general, I've always liked Nissan's. One of my favorite cars I've owned was a 1999 SE Maxima 5 speed. I felt like this new Altima was a miss, but again perhaps it's better on the higher trims.

 

Sounds to me like he got a really cheap one. Those have CVTs too which don't exactly help a 188hp 4cylinder's case for any kind of powertrain satisfaction.

I still love keys. I'd rather still have keys with cars. Expensive ones at least, the insane ignition locks on high end cars are a pleasure to use. Just like grandpa's old knife.