Slowest car you've ever driven?

[the Teuton]

Misfire!? Did you return it?

Sometimes it happens when the engine is bogging down from being overburdened or in the wrong gear.

[The Pirate]

Sometimes it happens when the engine is bogging down from being overburdened or in the wrong gear.

It shouldn't!

[2o6]

It shouldn't!

^^ 


There are plenty of slow, underpowered cars in Europe. I don't think a single one of them misfires.

[Rupert]

Sometimes it happens when the engine is bogging down from being overburdened or in the wrong gear.

Yeah, I don't think so.

[the Teuton]

Yeah, I don't think so.

Drive up a steep hill in fifth gear at 20 mph and tell me what happens. I did it for schnitz and giggles. My engine started bogging.

[The Pirate]

Drive up a steep hill in fifth gear at 20 mph and tell me what happens. I did it for schnitz and giggles. My engine started bogging.

And that is not a misfire.  A misfire is a spark plug not firing or firing out of order.  It will give a CEL.

[the Teuton]

Yeah, I've never experienced that in PlastiCar then.

[Laconian]

Probably this F-150 that I'm borrowing from my dad. 5.8 liters of thirsty V8, and yet it can barely get out of its own way. I do give it credit for not losing what little poke it had while burdened with 1600 lbs of gravel. It just chugs along like the Little Engine that Could.

[Rupert]

Drive up a steep hill in fifth gear at 20 mph and tell me what happens. I did it for schnitz and giggles. My engine started bogging.

Ha, yeah, bogging is a no shit of course it happens; that's how gears work. Misfire is a problem that no stock engine should experience.

[BimmerM3]

Probably this F-150 that I'm borrowing from my dad. 5.8 liters of thirsty V8, and yet it can barely get out of its own way. I do give it credit for not losing what little poke it had while burdened with 1600 lbs of gravel. It just chugs along like the Little Engine that Could.

How the hell do you have a 5.8L V8 that is that slow?

[2o6]

How the hell do you have a 5.8L V8 that is that slow?

If it's from the 1980's, I believe it. Gov't restrictions happened so fast that automakers weren't able to adapt. You ended up with large engines producing little amounts of HP.

[Eye of the Tiger]

If it's from the 1980's, I believe it. Gov't restrictions happened so fast that automakers weren't able to adapt. You ended up with large engines producing little amounts of HP.

Like 136hp from a 351ci V8. 

[Morris Minor]

My 1987 Citro?n 2CV Sp?cial. 602cc & 32hp. I had to sell it before I moved here.

The worst drive of my life was in the 2CV. I had to leave the work early one day with some kind of stomach flu. I had a blinding headache & urgently needed to throw up & allow an explosive bowel evacuation.  That five miles from the station to my house seemed like an eternity. I manage to hold it in though; it's bad form to shit oneself in a 2CV. If it had been the Volvo I would have let fly.

It looked very like this one - except the steering wheel was on the correct side & the headlights were red instead of chrome.

[Laconian]

How the hell do you have a 5.8L V8 that is that slow?

5.8L... making 210hp. Under ideal circumstances. It's probably much less than that, now.

[Laconian]

My 1987 Citro?n 2CV Sp?cial. 602cc & 32hp. I had to sell it before I moved here.

The worst drive of my life was in the 2CV. I had to leave the work early one day with some kind of stomach flu. I had a blinding headache & urgently needed to throw up & allow an explosive bowel evacuation.  That five miles from the station to my house seemed like an eternity. I manage to hold it in though; it's bad form to shit oneself in a 2CV. If it had been the Volvo I would have let fly.

It looked very like this one - except the steering wheel was on the correct side & the headlights were red instead of chrome.

OMG, awesome! How was it to drive? I've been promised a drive in one next summer. Can't wait, I hear the handling is "entertaining" in its own way.

[Laconian]

Weren't the headlights square for the 70's and 80's?

[Morris Minor]

OMG, awesome! How was it to drive? I've been promised a drive in one next summer. Can't wait, I hear the handling is "entertaining" in its own way.

It was very comfortable: the seats were well designed. The steering was heavy & the wheel was angled upwards - a bit truck-like.   The most daunting thing was the push-pull gear change that stuck out of the dashboard; it was like an umbrella handle that slid backwards & forwards - you can see it in the photo. IIRC, first gear was back towards the rear, out on a left branch on its own. Second was forwards, in the same plane as third, & fourth was out on another branch - in the same plane as reverse.

It was very slow, more than 30 seconds to 60, I think, and it topped out at just over 70mph. It had the aerodynamics of a barn & at speed the air resistance was like a brick wall. Once it warmed up, the only way to keep up with traffic was to floor the throttle when moving off then up through the gears. The engine was unburstable & would run all day at WOT. The suspension was incredible, super-long travel (linked front to rear), with a cushioned ride that would insulate you from any crappy road surfaces - It was designed for the primitive (or non-existent) roads of post-war France.

My wife drove it & did not find it much fun; the charming eccentricity was lost on her. But it was good training: she's undaunted by any manual shift car.

[Morris Minor]

Weren't the headlights square for the 70's and 80's?

They certainly were for the '70s, but at some stage in the 80's they went back to circular. I bought mine new & remember that the red plastic casings faded to a different color of red from the body. There was a knob under the dash which allowed you to adjust the headlight angle up or down to compensate for loads.

[Laconian]

Sounds awesome. I love that ugly little car. I even found a funky T-shirt featuring one in Barcelona.

[TBR]

1994 Dodge Shadow with the 2.2l and 3AT

Heaven forbid you turn on the A/C, it seems to cut the cars already modest 93hp in half. This is why I am always so high on the Neon; it was just so much better (no wonder they changed the name). Probably the most improved car ever.

[chevyguy06]

06' Aveo..I did get it up to 100...but took 10 minutes to do so :P

[The Phantom]

Either my mom's old '79 Fairmont wagon or my wife's old '95 Avenger.  Both just gasped for life.