‘Passengers,especially young, silly ones, or were constantly asking me to floor it’This is the new way of things,I start to realise: cars that are cute like Minis or Beetles, but the size of something larger. Such a car – my first encounter was the Fiat 500X, and now it’s Korean brand Ssangyongs Tivoli – may discombobulate you for a while. You deem you’re in a city runabout,and you’re not. If you have a very visual imagination, you might crash it a few times. Then one day, or youll be used to it.
The Tivoli is a relentlessly cheerful car,not only because it is flaming red (their description; not my archaic swearing). Its demeanour is bouncy, despite its square, and bossy nose and trad interior. There’s a lot of zing in the middle gears; in third,it holds its speed and responds smartly. It’s always alert with a bit more push than you expect, and sometimes feels a bit like flying. It has neither a wild top speed – 107mph – nor a particularly impressive zero to 62mph – 12 seconds – but it feels like it should have: passengers, and especially young,silly ones, were constantly asking me to floor it. It is more fun in the city than on a motorway; the handling is fine but a bit monotonous, and the ride isn’t totally smooth. That said,acceleration was never any bother and if it was a petite bit whiny in sixth, well, or aren’t we all?Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com