Small car for motorway driving

[john west]

Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants to
be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.

Needs to be manual and petrol.

They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.

Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)

Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

[Abandoned_Trolley]

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants to
be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

A friend of mine recently had a Kia Ceed for a week as a pool car from
work, and reckons it performs better than my Ford Focus which she
occasionally abuses.

Costs nothing to take a look ...

[Theo]

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants to
be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

I've not driven the manual one, only the autos and hybrids, but the
post-2011 Yaris is fairly nice IMHO. The 2006-11 one is OK too.
The auto transmissions aren't brilliant but I think the manual would be
fine.

I'd try the 1.3 manual as I think the 1.0 would struggle. It's hard to say
what it's like on the motorway without trying it, but I doubt it'll be too
slow.

It's Toyota - parts aren't the cheapest but it doesn't break too often.

Also worth looking for one with cruise control - don't know which trims
that comes as standard. Parkers is good for looking that up:
https://www.parkers.co.uk/car-specs/

Although at the end of the day for a young driver I think the insurance cost
is going to trump everything else.

Theo

[John Henderson]

Post by Theo
I've not driven the manual one, only the autos and hybrids, but the
post-2011 Yaris is fairly nice IMHO. The 2006-11 one is OK too.
The auto transmissions aren't brilliant but I think the manual would be
fine.

I have a 2019 manual Yaris in Australia.

It's the hardest car to drive I've owned in my 55 years of driving.

The throttle is designed for an automatic. It resists pressure until a
certain point, and then yields.

Taking off from traffic lights often means either stalling or racing the
engine. Getting the throttle/clutch balance right is an art with this car.

If this was the only car I drove I might get used to it. But I regularly
drive other manuals too, and have always owned manuals.

[newshound]

Post by John Henderson

Post by Theo
I've not driven the manual one, only the autos and hybrids, but the
post-2011 Yaris is fairly nice IMHO. The 2006-11 one is OK too.
The auto transmissions aren't brilliant but I think the manual would be
fine.

I have a 2019 manual Yaris in Australia.
It's the hardest car to drive I've owned in my 55 years of driving.
The throttle is designed for an automatic. It resists pressure until a
certain point, and then yields.
Taking off from traffic lights often means either stalling or racing the
engine. Getting the throttle/clutch balance right is an art with this car.
If this was the only car I drove I might get used to it. But I regularly
drive other manuals too, and have always owned manuals.

If this had a throttle cable, I would have said that it needs
lubricating (or replacing). But the odds are it is "drive by wire", so
sounds like they have got the mechanics wrong.

[Theo]

Post by John Henderson

Post by Theo
I've not driven the manual one, only the autos and hybrids, but the
post-2011 Yaris is fairly nice IMHO. The 2006-11 one is OK too.
The auto transmissions aren't brilliant but I think the manual would be
fine.

I have a 2019 manual Yaris in Australia.

What model is that? The international Yaris range is really confusing -
I drove a 2019 Yaris in the US which is actually a rebranded Mazda 2, and is
nothing like the UK Yaris, which is also called Vitz in some markets. The
UK one is the XP130 - is that the Australian one too? (I think it is
according to wikipedia, but good to confirm)

Post by John Henderson
It's the hardest car to drive I've owned in my 55 years of driving.
The throttle is designed for an automatic. It resists pressure until a
certain point, and then yields.

Interesting. The 2020 one (XP210) in the UK is hybrid only, so there's no
manual option. It seems other markets get a 1.0 or a 1.5 manual/auto as
well. It seems the manual sold a lot better in the UK than the straight
auto, but there was a lot of interest in the hybrid (which is a lot nicer
IMHO). Since the manual is relatively expensive for its segment, seems they
decided to focus on the hybrid.

Theo

[John Henderson]

The UK one is the XP130 - is that the Australian one too?

That's the one.

When I bought it, the dealer had only the auto version to test drive.

The throttle issue was evident immediately when I took delivery of the
manual version. The service department claims the behaviour is normal.

It reminds me of those early diaphragm clutches. To say it's all or nothing
is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea if you've used one of
those.

[newshound]

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants to
be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

IME faster traffic on the outside lane is typically going at 80 - 90 mph.

I'd have said provided they keep to the speed limits more or less any
"proper" car should be fine. It's handy to be able to accelerate up to
80 or so to get clear of "bunches", IMHO young person should not really
be doing this.

[alan_m]

Post by newshound

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants
to be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

IME faster traffic on the outside lane is typically going at 80 - 90 mph.

It depends on the motorway and how many speed cameras:)

[Peter Hill]

Post by alan_m

Post by newshound

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants
to be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

IME faster traffic on the outside lane is typically going at 80 - 90 mph.

It depends on the motorway and how many speed cameras:)

The traffic cameras are getting better every year. Used to be grainy
black and white now decent quality colour. There was a TV item about
traffic control a few years ago and they said one day we will be able to
get number plates. Then every camera becomes an average speed camera by
using the time stamps on the video and measured distance between the
cameras.

[alan_m]

Post by Peter Hill
The traffic cameras are getting better every year. Used to be grainy
black and white now decent quality colour. There was a TV item about
traffic control a few years ago and they said one day we will be able to
get number plates. Then every camera becomes an average speed camera by
using the time stamps on the video and measured distance between the
cameras.

I wonder when they will link speed cameras for, say, 100 miles of
motorway? A few times a year I will do a 220 mile journey using the M25
and M42. You really do have to watch your speed on the M25* but the
section of M42 I use has no speed cameras for maybe 70+ miles and if you
pick the time right little traffic. On the M42 I find my speed is
probably 80+ matching what a lot of other drivers are doing.

*I used to work with a few people who commuted daily using the M25 and
even though they were aware of the cameras and constant variable speed
limits they got caught speeding :(

[Brian]

Post by Peter Hill

Post by alan_m

Post by newshound

Post by john west
Young person wants a small car for regular motorway driving and wants
to be able to keep up with faster traffic on the outside lane.
Needs to be manual and petrol.
They like: polo, yaris or suzuki swift.
Looking to keep the initial buying price fairly low. (also including
ease of spares and repairs)
Grateful for suggestions off the top of your head as to the one you
would choose please.

IME faster traffic on the outside lane is typically going at 80 - 90 mph.

It depends on the motorway and how many speed cameras:)

The traffic cameras are getting better every year. Used to be grainy
black and white now decent quality colour. There was a TV item about
traffic control a few years ago and they said one day we will be able to
get number plates. Then every camera becomes an average speed camera by
using the time stamps on the video and measured distance between the
cameras.

We’ve just bought a Toyota Aygo for Senior Management.

It is nippy enough for legal motorway speeds. Lots around second hand. We
bought new but we saw loads of good ones advertised. Senior Management
loves it. Lots of safety features - automatic collision avoidance, lane
warning, reversing camera, ….

I think they are all petrol. Ours is a manual.

Not got a feel for real mpg yet - we’ve only done 140 miles in it- but the
quoted numbers are impressive.