Are g40's actually "that" quick

[dannyb.G40]

Don't get me wrong before im crucified, i've had my G for coming up on a year on wednesday and I love her to bits. I can see the speed and satisfaction in terms of power delivery, not many cars can put their foot down and take off instantly in pretty much any gear.

But is it more a case of being fast for what they are, on paper there are plenty of things that should beat it, startlet turbos for example, civic EK9's (although rare). People talk of being quicker than type R's etc but my G was never quicker than my mates red top corsa and was left for dust by my mates Golf G60.

I was trying to catch a BMW 320D on the motorway the other day cause his bonnet was popped and I couldn't, it was neck and neck (I think he thought i was chasing him). My G isn't stupidly tuned with basically a 65mm pulley, 4-2-1 granny and chip to suit, but thats not what im saying (there are "T40's" with over 200 bhp).

I guess what im saying is you always hear of how quick g40's are... but quick in terms of what...

(this isn't intended to be a g40 vs.)

[supercharged spaniel]

this comes up loads and is a good topic...in my opinion they are... in typical standard/mild tune arent proper bonkers but just a good all round fun machine with a surprising amount of power...my 130bhp g gave a 160 bhp fiesta st a really good run for its money on the weekend and the lad was gobsmacked although took it really well and we had a really good bit of banter on the sideof the road...the usual 'what the fucks in that' words were said!

yes there are some stupid quick G's out there which will destroy a lot of things so yes they can be 'that' quick...ones like mine however...just a right good laugh...just know your cars and dont mess with absolutly everything otherwise you could end up looking like a bell end.

In my opinion i think they are really tremendous cars, sound great, drive reasonably well and give sooo much pleasure...and what i get a kick out of is the surprise factor and the fact now that they are becoming (all mk3's actually) a bit of retro vehicle rarely seen these days!

[Alex]

Honestly, not compared to modern stuff.

But I get to drive all sorts at work, and though I've driven plenty of faster cars there are few things I've driven which give the all round buzz of a G40. It's a sort of unnatural feeling, like this shouldn't be possible!

[hayesey]

try asking the guy in the audi rs4 who raced yoof at santa pod this weekend just gone    'im sure he'd say g40s are pretty quick.

In fairness though, you are talking about more standard ones.  For an 18 year old car wit a 1.3 8v engine they don't do bad at all.  Surprised you had trouble with that bmw, have you had your car on a rolling road? what power did it make?

[PeteG40]

even stock ones arent bad with new parts (not necessarily uprated) hayesey was quite impressed by the quiet nature of mine!

[quiksilver_jake]

cant believe you had problems with 2.0 corsas? 2.0 turbo yes but i cant see this maybe 100% std one? i more than happy with my G had a RR on my G60 mk2 197bhp and G40 was far quciker due to weight etc i think its nice to have something rare and plus im not into vauxhall or id have a 2.0 nova as i class that as vauxhall equivelent

[jimbugalee]

My current G40 is standard but my old one much much quicker.  At the time I thought it was the fastest car and earth and I drove it like it was!  It would surprise a lot of people and I remember racing a G60 who was very very close but the extra rev range on the G just gave me that edge and he hung his white hanky out of the window!!

Since then I've had a Mini Cooper S .... also modified (245bhp) which wouldn't pull on the G until they really got some speed.  I also had a BMW Z4 which wouldn't pull on the Mini until they really got speed. Neither the Cooper S nor the Z4, or any other car I have driven gave me the buzz and feeling of the G40.  The power and the noise combined I never found from another car which is how I ended up getting my second one.

Aside from that I always found that making the G40 quicker was fairly inexpensive (compared to modern cars).  I used to send it down to PSD with a couple of hundred quid, it would come back and I would really notice a difference.  I loved it!

I don't know what it is about them which makes people think they are fast (some obviously are). Maybe it's the way they put down the power, or the fact the body is so light and small and you're so close to the floor? Either way, I'm not letting mine go again!

Good topic!

[hayesey]

hayesey was quite impressed by the quiet nature of mine!

indeed, it had been a long time since I'd been in a standard g40!  I forgot how good they are just standard.

[dannyb.G40]

ironically I had a rangy sport (only the HSE but still...) riding me last night at the traffic lights, a quick cog down and i was leaving him up the dual carriageway, the next set of traffic lights prompted a few funny looks at the car and a bit less cockiness, i suppose having your 20grand car left by and "old banger" tends to bring you down a few notches...especially when you roll up in an RS4 expecting to kill an old banger.

I don't think its a case of them actually being "that" fast, maybe more a case of no-one expects them to be "that" fast.

Whatever it is I love it!

[Alex]

HSE could be a TDV6, TDV8 or a supercharged petrol V8, it's a trim level. If it had no other badges it's probably a diesel, and tbh most of them are V6 diesels, but you should've been able to crucify any of them in a drag race. I've driven the TDV8 and it's really really slow considering it does maximum of about 25mpg. Nice car though. You'll probably see off a supercharged one in a lightly modded G40.

[hayesey]

I don't think its a case of them actually being "that" fast, maybe more a case of no-one expects them to be "that" fast.

I like that, I think it sums it up pretty well.  No one at spring fest was giving yoofs car a second glance until he did his first run and got a 12.5!

[Robin]

Answers to this question all relate to how much power you are running i guess.

standard G's are quick but not as quick as they used to be compared to new hot hatches as the game has moved along way towards 200bhp in a small hot hatch.

Modified G's are quick but only when possible, what i mean is i am running 235bhp in the A3 and in everyday driving its faster than my G but come to a dual carrageway on a dry day the G will completely destroy it.

So yes the G is quick in the right conditions.

[Andy]

HSE could be a TDV6, TDV8 or a supercharged petrol V8, it's a trim level. If it had no other badges it's probably a diesel, and tbh most of them are V6 diesels, but you should've been able to crucify any of them in a drag race. I've driven the TDV8 and it's really really slow considering it does maximum of about 25mpg. Nice car though. You'll probably see off a supercharged one in a lightly modded G40.

The 3.6l TDV8 goes well given the weight it's hauling around - nicer to drive in RR Sport guise than RR, though you do look like more of a drug dealer!

[Alex]

Yeah, maybe I'm being a little harsh but it's not as entertaining as I expected. The TDV8 is a lovely engine, and as you say for something which weighs about the same as Africa it's not bad to drive. The power delivery gently presses you into the leather though, and I got sick of it just burning fuel all the time and not really raising a smile. I wouldn't own one.

[rocore]

Mines pretty nippy... its taken out a load of cars that on paper should whip it. only 200 miles of running in before i can start pissing off the local dickheads in the there clio 172's again....