Thanks.
I have to admit that I agree.

If you're one of those people that chooses a car, rather than just
buying the first suitable thing you can afford, I'd be happy to advise.

Very Nice car, Though I still like my little turbo capri wrongness :p

I expect yours is quicker than mine. But even so,
fun is fun, regardless of the speed you're going.

This Capri is an absolute riot to drive.

that's the way my Civic is. (fun to drive regardless of speed). We don't get the hatchback civics that you do. Ours are more like your Civic Hybrids (sedan/coupe). But yeah, that's a beautiful classic.

Do you drive a lot of different cars?

heh, i wish. I've just got Grace for now. I've driven different cars but i don't own more than one. My dad has an 07 (i think) BMW 550i 6-speed, my mom has an '08 Merc E-wagon, my aunt has a T-bird (one of the ones they made before Ford dumped the model altogether), my uncle a Chrysler Crossfire with the god-awful shift-tronic (or whatever Chrysler called it) tranny. My dad's car is a beast on the freeway but there's an absence of the perception of speed. I'll look down and go "Holy ****! cuz i thought i was doing 60mph but i'm actually doing 80. There are any number of vehicles i wish i could try my hand(s) (and feet) in but alas, i have (almost) no money. I'm heavy into Rally though and was devastated when they stopped airing WRC coverage stateside. I've always wanted to look into that but i've never really been able to figure out how to break into the field (stupid, but true)

I figured as much.
My perceptions might perhaps be warped by driving a supercharged car with an old-school chassis (though I doubt it) but I don't think the Civic sedan is an especially fun car to drive. Even the new Type-R, though it's very nippy, still don't feel like the spikey little bugger the old Civic was. I'm not saying you can't enjoy driving a Civic sedan, but trying to have fun with it is a bit like trying to play a game with a microwave oven.

First off, i respect your opinion of course.

I suppose that the R18A1 (my car shares this engine with one of the euro-hatches) isn't exactly the peppiest engine to work with. I mean, there are PLENTY of cars that'll outstrip it easily. But in New Orleans, speed sort of takes a back seat since the supremely lousy streets demand alot of attention. I'm a bit nuts too so that helps. I'm a member of a local auto club that's mostly comprised of 8th-gen civics (and of those, most of them are Si models with the K20Z3) and i've had many people tell me that i have a way with my car to get more out of it than you'd think. I dunno...one guy (non-club-member) asked me once if she was an Si disguised as an LX! That coupled with my Rally addiction produced the mutual joke amongst everyone that if i ever made it big in life that i'd have the first 4wd civic since they discontinued the old 4WD wagon in the early 90's (i think) since i'd do a conversion.
Barnstorming in an FA also has to do with various tricks to handling the car. Steering is very sensitive to speed and you can almost turn on a dime at very low speeds. No VSA of course. The 5MT tranny isn't close-ratio like the Si's 6 so you have to really get used to it to get the most out of the car. Actually, the sedan Si is a better-driving car than the coupe Si in terms of weight distribution, braking, suspension(i think). Honestly, (no cynicism here either) given that the original vehicle chosen by my idiot father was going to be an '06 Focus (our focus' SUCK compared to yours) i'm just glad i got what i got.

What's interesting about that is even pedestrian family cars these days are often faster than many full-on sports cars were 20 years ago. Just goes to show you that raw speed isn't everything, I suppose.

I tend to like my cars simple and quirky.

In the reply beginning "I figured as much..." I was referring to fun, and not at all to speed. By weird coincidence, I was in another Capri like this one literally just a few hours ago, and had my arse handed to me by a Citroen hatchback with a smaller engine. Might have been a different story if I were driving, but probably not. The difference is, the Capri was fooking entertaining. The limits are so easy to find, and they're fun to go beyond. In front wheel drive, going beyond the limits just gets you boring understeer. Unless you're doijng Scandinavian flick drifts, which are pretty dangerous, or handbrake turns, which are slow.

I think a FWD car can be entertaining, but it does depend on the car. I've owned some of each. It also depends a lot on personal preference.

What I've found is I like cars that are light and responsive, which many small FWD cars are. At least here in the U.S., RWD cars tend to be heavy blunderbusses, great in a straight line but not much fun to hustle through curves. My Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor was a good example. It handled reasonably well for a full-sized sedan, and it was RWD, but it really didn't encourage quick driving. I could hang the tail out with the throttle, sure, but unless I really had my foot in it it would understeer relentlessly, and the rear suspension did disconcerting things on tight bends. I never really felt like I was fully connected to the car and knew what it was up to. While the Crown Vic was never meant to be a sporty car, even in police trim, its design and weight distribution are pretty typical for a RWD American "muscle car."

One of my current cars is a '72 Saab 95, which is a quirky little front wheel drive compact. Yeah, it understeers under power, but there's something about the way it handles that just makes me grin. It has manual steering with a really direct feel, and weighs about half what the Crown Vic did. Ironically, considering the powertrain layout, it also has better weight distribution than the Crown Vic. It responds quickly and predictably to every move I make and just begs to be pushed hard.

I do agree that a car that has limits that you can find at reasonable speeds can be a lot more fun than a car that's outright fast. Jay Leno once remarked, "driving a slow car quickly can be more fun than driving a fast car," and it really is true.

If you really want to get involved in rally, I'd start by seeing if there are any events near you. Volunteer to work as a road marshal or something (they *always* need volunteers). It's fun in its own right and you'll make some connections that way. While there isn't WRC-level competition in the U.S., Rally America runs a national championship series, and there are smaller local events sanctioned by other groups.

As far as actual driving goes, autocross and rallycross are relatively cheap ways to get started in competition driving. You don't need a roll cage or other expensive safety equipment, just a helmet, and there are classes to suit any street-legal car.

Can't drive underwater either.

awwwww i like this car :3

It's a close relative of the Mustang.

Nice one. I like how it looks.

1980s yeeeeah.

No clue. I don't know much about cars.

I had to comment,you are awesome.The Capri is one of the Ford legends that will be inside my heart.I've seen that car in racing and I gotta admit it's a real classic,so nice that you actually own that beast.
This should get fav'd

I've got two of them, but one is sadly beyond repair now,
sorry.

ow,I imagine the cost of the repairs being really expensive.Anyway the Capri is a car in which you can get fun by driving it,so I suppose that after getting it repaired,it will worth it.

Oh nice ^^ I like the old school Capri's :3

Me too, evidently.

I used to drive one of those, pretty peppy with just driver plus or minus one other. It was almost too small for me, but it ran like a top and was fun to drive.

How come Europe always gets all the cool Fords and North America gets all the crappy shit boxes?

Cause we suck >_<

You get the Mustang. We get the Ka.

Grass is always greener on the other side?

The Mustang suuuuuuuuuuuucks.. It handles like it's on ice, and the ride is a bit harsh. The Ka's are cool :p

The ride is "a bit harsh" in a Mustang?

It's one of the softest most roly-poly cars I've ever driven.

Well... Harsh may have been the wrong term. Not very well controlled.

That sums it up.

This Capri is a bit shit too.

Leaf springs. Aaaahahahacrap.

XD The Shelby GT500 is even worse. Ford gave it 200 hp more than the standard GT, and left the standard suspension on the car.. But it does great drifts/burnouts :3

I wonder what's going to happen to the Mustang. It's on a truly ancient platform, and Ford seems to have canceled every new RWD platform they had in the works now that their main focus is fuel economy. I fear its days may be numbered once the '60s nostalgia fad dies out.

Same here. I think the day and age of the V8 RWD musclecar is over for a while a least.

I wanna have a ride in your car. <3

Maybe one day.
Until then, when you're out on the roads, just imagine that I am driving.
Sit back, relax, and watch out for that fucking tree!

the ford capri is one of the best cars ever made why they stopped making them I'll never know

It's really not that good.

They stopped making them because the hot-hatch came along.
Peugeot 205 GTi, Renault 5 Turbo, Volkswagen Golf GTI, and so on.
All faster than the Capri, and far more practical and trendy.

god I remember that. the capri may have been a little outdatedand and a little underpowered but its still a great car and I'm a die hard fan of them plus all those other cars are frount wheel drive and the capri's are rear wheel drive the way all true sports cars are plus the nice looks of the capri what more could you want

That's a bitchen car!

Cheers!
I wanna bring it out of stasis for the winter, I love drifting in the snow, but... I dunno. Might turn to rust.

I'd do it in a car that's easier to replace things on x3 They don't make em like they used to

The car I aspire to own the most is the Capri 2.8i Turbo Technics. my 'sona though drives a Capri II 2000 S. I love drawing the cars but I'd love to see one in the metal but that's never going to happen in the area I live in.. & the fact I am a 17 year old who'll probably never get the chance to get behind the wheel of one. Really nice car, I am envious...

Cliff Richard owned a 2.8i don't you know

I didn't know!

I'm worried cars like this will be made illegal by new laws on safety or the environment or something.

Ugh, tell me about it. It's them fucking environmentalists who think they know all. In truth, they don't. They just enjoy creating misery