MX5 1.8 Sport

Advantages: Dead easy to drop the top (and put it up again)
Disadvantages: Fuel economy coulld be better

...For the Summer I purchased a second hand MX5 1.8 Sports. It was 4 years old and had the matching hard top as well as the permanently fitted cloth soft top. I had done my home work and this was the one that every review was recommending. It is one of the limited edition Sports and as such comes with leather heated seats. First things first, off came the hard top and into storage until winter. The hard top was very simple to remove and the soft top just flips up and down. However neither my wife or I can pull the soft top up when sitting in the seats. One of us has to get out. Both the hard top and soft top have a heated rear window which is essential and in a two seater cabin. The fold up rear wind deflector is not that good so long hair still gets blown forward. Top Gear did an effective demonstration of the difference...

ForlornHope 23.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Mazda MX-5 1.8i

Passat 1.8t 20v Sport.

Advantages: Big boot, Good motorway cruise missile, suprised in how cheap parts are.
Disadvantages: A bit thirsty, ride quality a bit soft. keep grouding on speed humps.

...is quite good on the motorway, very quiet, smooth but it gets a bit wishy washy on the back roads. I do find that on the sport models the ride hight is low and i am forever scraping over speed humps and kerbs causing a bit of damage to the nappy under the engine which does come loose if you don't keep an eye on it, and is a part of the cars aerodynamics. So make sure it's got one before you buy. Also check the suspension bushes on high mileage one's this can be expensive and there is a lot of them on the passat. The engine is a 1.8, 20 valve, Turbo charged unit which develops around 150bhp, its the same engine the Audi TT which runs at 225bhp. So the engine isn't under to much stress. The power is good, but i do find that it needs a bit of reving to get it goin...

spankyham 22.01.2007 · Read review
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Review of Volkswagen Passat 1.8T 20V

Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC Sport i-Shift

Advantages: Bold looks and nice features
Disadvantages: Disturbing spoiler

......

JudgeIronFist 05.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC Sport i-SHIFT

2002 1.8 VTec Sport 5 door ? Is it Jekyll or Hyde?

Advantages: Comfort for 4 or 5, good sounds, great engine and feels planted.
Disadvantages: Tyre noise magnified into a bass boom at speed on some roads.

...Bought 2.50 years old with 22,750 miles showing, it cost £16,450 new but I paid £8,450 OTR from main dealer. I love my cars (and motorbikes) and it was time to replace the RAV4, the question was ? with what? I will admit that the Accord was not an obvious first choice, but I am a happy man. Firstly, I found a Sport model in Ferrari red (that?s not what Honda call it, but IT IS, believe me). Secondly, the engine ? it?s great, a real Jekyll and Hyde piece of engineering. Lets start on the outside. With the sport that means you get a front air dam below the bumper, side skirts/mouldings to visually lower the car and a small spoiler/wing on the rear boot/door with alloy wheels an low profile tyres (Michelin Pilots). It?s not exactly exciting to look at but it?s a sight better than the bog standard version (which is a motor that...

rav_rider 04.12.2003 · Read review
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Review of Honda Accord 1.8

98 Audi A3 1.8 Sport.

Advantages: Reknowned build quality and reliability, sporty handling.
Disadvantages: It's the wife's not mine.

...The hunt for the Audi A3 we now own began after we decided the escalating petrol prices were no longer for us. Running a 2.6 V6 tends to get expensive at todays prices. The only replacement to my wifes exceptionally well behaved V6 Vectra had to be an Audi A3. Something small and fun for the adults to drive, but also well behaved, safe and with an air of prestige about it for when the kids are on board. We picked up an 98 (R), one owner, 90k mile with FSH example which could only be described as near immaculate. In stunning silver with 15" 6 spoke light alloy wheels. To drive the car feels as tight as I imagine it did when new, and handles exceptionally well thanks to Audi's many years experience in the rally field. Although the car does hold the promise of "sport" at best it is a warm hatch as opposed a hot hatch producing 125...

Devon22 30.08.2006 (01.09.2006) · Read review
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Review of Audi A3 1.8

Focus 1.8 TDCi - a great not so little car

Advantages: Fantastically economical for its class
Disadvantages: High torque from engine can be expensive on tyres

...I've had a Focus 1.8 TDCi for a little over a year, following a two year stint from a Fiat so I may be a little over enthusiastic about the Focus! However, I've been driving for over 20 years (Oh God that long...) and have driven a silly number of cars over this time. I think I've found a car I finally can settle with for at least the rest of the finance term!!! Which is unusual as I get bored very quickly! The feel of the car overall is one of comfort but without the disconnected feel you can get in some larger cars and you really can have the confidence in the motor to pull hard when you need it. Inside, the car feels roomy for its class and the seats seem to hug you quite nicely. I used to have to sit at a slight angle in many of my older cars to reach pedals and steer yet in the Focus I can sit in a relatively normal position...

S1monPage69 12.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi Hatchback

The nikon 50mm 1.8 - a fantastic portrait lens

Advantages: great quality, low price, prime
Disadvantages: none

...As anyone interested in photography will know - lenses don't come cheap, especially quality lens, except this one. The 50mm 1.8 has a reputation for quality at a reasonable price and it's a reputation well deserved. Yes the 50mm is a 'small' lens but it's a prime lens. Some may find that the need for them to move forwards or backwards to get the correct composition for a photograph is too irritating to make the purchase worthwhile over that of a zoom lens but the increase of quality combined with the price makes that an opinion that I beg to differ. If you shoot portraits, or are looking to start then the 50mm 1.8 will prove an invaluable piece of equipment, but it's uses are not limited to portraits only. At 1.8 the 50mm is a fast lens however it dies have a counterpart - the 50mm 1.4. The 1.4 is, by comparison, alot more expensive...

Huomenna 23.09.2009 (24.09.2009) · Read review
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Review of Nikon Nikkor lens - 50 mm F/1.8

MGF 1.8 - REWRITE

Advantages: Good looking, fast, good handling
Disadvantages: Requires careful maintenance

...This was my very first opinion on Ciao, and I thought that now I have had a touch more experience writing I would take a chance and re-write. So here goes… My husband convinced me to buy an MGF when I was looking for a new car in October 2000. Well he didn’t have to twist my arm that hard, but having always been quite ‘sensible’ in my choice of car, it was a big step for me to even consider being behind the wheel of a little sporty number! I had in mind another small car to replace the Vauxhall Corsa I had at the time, and was considering a Ford focus, Renault Clio or similar. I reconsidered and decided that it was about time that I had a fun car, and we bought a 4-year-old MGF from a car supermarket in Birmingham. We had the choice of three MGFs. We eventually settled on the Red 1.8 model, which suited...

Shufflebum 02.10.2001 (24.02.2002) · Read review
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Review of MGF Roadster 1.8

My little MGF 1.8 VVC

Advantages: Looks great, quick!
Disadvantages: Can leak, back window can be 'cloudy'

...therefore we go by what we have. We saw an R reg basic 1.8i for 12,500. WHAT! The Parkers price guide suggested around £10,000 for A1 condition - this certainly was not! Dodgy paintwork & the seals around the window were coming of slightly (something you must check). You have to know there are 3 different models. The 1.8i, the 1.8i steptronic and the 1.8i VVC. What does the VVC have that the others don't? Well for a more expensive model you would expect some extras. With the VVC you get 5 spoke alloys instead of six. PAS as standard rather than an option, ABS as standard rather than an option. Leather seats, and of course the Valve system, this is similar to a V-Tech engine (if you know what one of those is!) I'm not too techie with cars and don't really know what that means apart from where the standard 1.8i starts tailing off...

Redhead 27.06.2002 · Read review
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Review of MGF Roadster 1.8

Vauxhall Zafira Elegance 1.8

Advantages: Roomy, easy to drive and fairly economical
Disadvantages: Horrible blind spot and electrically unreliable

...I have owned my Zafira (elegance 1.8) for coming up to 3 years. It is a V reg. and has been a lovely vehicle to drive, comfortable and easy to get passengers in and out. Children love it due to the height and added visibility for them. The 7 seats have been a godsend at times, but having to remove the boot cover bar each time and store it at home can be a pain in the proverbial. The boot space with 5 seats is very spacious, but minimal with 7. I do have a huge concern with the visibility from the windscreen ,on each side, due to the roof support blocking a significant amount at certain times, e.g turning out from a junction. I've only had one near miss (that was one to many for my liking) and the experience taught me to be even more vigilant when checking the coast is clear. This is a common complaint from others I know who...

007addict 16.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Vauxhall Zafira 1.8i