written by pimp d. on 14/03/2003
Good Points
A quick and nippy car. Good equiptment. Roomy enough for a nice ICE install
Bad Points
heavy, understeers.
General Comments
The 1.4 16valve sport ecotech is an alright first sports hatchback car for the young driver. The car has good torque power, but lacks in top end.
They tend to understeer when pushed hard and performance does not really pick up until about 3000rpm. for good performance look to change gear between 3500-4500rpm otherwise i found the car will suffer to pick up speed. Through some bends at a moderate speed (30-50 mph), the car can be pushed and rear grip is very good. To improve handling do go out and buy a strut brace to improve chasis handling and get wider wheels and have the car lowered. For increased performance, also look to have your ECU remaped because i learned that the ecotech is restricted and this can be undone by carrying out the above modification. Apart from that the sport is a great little runabout that would have got 9/10 for overall rating if the weight was lost and handling improved.