First Impressions

I've always liked the Swift GTI. I'm not sure why, but even before I drove one I thought they were a pretty cool pocket rocket.

Then again, back then I had close to no idea about cars so my opinion didn't mean a great deal.

A friend of mine let me drive his just after he had full Whiteline suspension installed. I adored the steering feel and response.

I was driving a stock Pulsar SSS at the time. The car didn't feel any stronger once you got a few revs on board, despite the 50% larger engine, and in terms of handling this little shopping cart was miles ahead.



Fast forward to now. I've got a greater understanding of cars, and a general dislike of front wheel drive. My current car isn't all that shabby either.

Still, when I first drove The NUB63T, I adored it. My current car isn't light (it weighs practically twice as much as The NUB63T) and I've missed the kind of chassis response that can only come from a lack of inertia. The steering, not being power assisted, has loads of communication. The lack of torque negates my usual issues with FWD, being the torque steering the car and corrupting the steering feel.

The car has clearly had a hard life, and its still going strong regardless. The engine is a willing little thing, despite its 12 years of age and ownership by people who I am sure were not allergic to the upper third of its rev range. The chassis, dulled with age and neglect, still shows a playfulness that makes me wish I'd gotten one earlier.

I also haven't been much of a hands-on kind of guy when it comes to running the car. I've always let mechanics or mates do work on my cars, and stuck with a theoretical knowledge of how cars work. I was always more interested in driving the thing, and letting other people fix my fuck-ups.




Still, doing what little work I have done so far on the car has been surprisingly fun. The shithouse condition of the car means I've got little fear of breaking it (only breaking it more), and unlike my previous cars I didn't sink a year's income into the buying it.

This car could be, to quote Leno on the R35 GT-R, a car to build a relationship with. Which wasn't quite in the original brief, but a great thing nonetheless.