1992 Conan Compact F
Performance - ★★★★
The Conan Compact comes with a rather sporty sounding and high revving 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine that produces 128 bhp @ 7000 rpm and 106 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm. Thanks to a almost completely flat torque curve and the fact 85%+ of max torque is available at 1000 rpm, the performance is pretty good from the word go. This also means that the engine is a very reasonable smooth performer, however it could do with being a little bit more responsive to throttle inputs as you can feel a slight delay between flooring it and actually performing. The gearbox is geared pretty well and there are no large jumps between the 5 gears that you have available. At motorway speeds it is more than happy to cruise along in top gear and although some speedy overtaking maneuvers make require a downsift, the car has more than enough welly to get accelerating if needed. The 0-62 mph time is 9.9 seconds and the top speed is 131 mph, similar performance to the MKIII Golf GTI.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
The suspension set-up of the Compact F is very firm. The front suspension is a bit more forgiving, however the rear suspension is overly firm. At low speeds the whole car shakes and fidgets about over the road surface, be it well surfaced or not, and it can become tiring. As speeds increase though, the car does begin to settle down and although it remains firm, the front suspension is capable of soaking up almost all bumps and the rear suspension is reasonable, and this is also helped by the fact that the tyres aren't too low profile. The suspension does do a good job at settling down after going over a large bump at higher speeds and it doesn't bounce around at all. The body roll is kept extremely well under control, keeping you from leaning over in the cabin around the bends.
Handling - ★★★★
Where the suspension is bad it is made up for with the handling. The handling was very almost given a 5-star rating however it wasn't quite worthy. The car grips on around bends very well and it takes an awful lot of pushing before it starts to run out of grip and understeer. The steering feels well-weighted, precise, responsive and gives a good level of feedback, boosting your confidence further around bends. The addition of traction control also helps keep the car more under control, however it would feel more and fun and more sporty if it didn't have any like most other cars in this category. As we know this car manages to corner very flat.
Refinement - ★★★★
The Compact F also does a rather good job at shutting the outside noises from getting into the cabin. The engine is quite at idle and the same goes for when it is cruising, however when travelling at motorway speeds it is doing 4000 rpm, which does spoil its ability to keep quiet. It also does a reasonable job at getting the volume levels just right for when you are accelerating. It makes noise but it doesn't make your ears hurt. The road and wind noise is kept pretty much silent up until higher speeds when it begins to intrude a bit, but it isn't enough to make you raise your voice or turn up the radio.
Equipment - ★★★
This car does have a reasonable level of equipment however it is lacking somewhat. All the basics come as standard on this car and it comes with a few other things you expect there to be, however it doesn't come with any more than that. It is fine for you to go from A to B, but you may find you will have found life with the car easier after doing a number of long journeys or having the car for a while. It does come with good safety equipment though
Quality - ★★★
The Compact F, as well as having a rather mediocre level of equipment, only has a rather mediocre interior as well. The materials used in the interior aren't very special but they are reasonable enough, especially those in the higher up and more visible areas. There are rather large areas of rather boring looking solid black plastic around the cabin and in the lower areas, as expected, these plastics become hard, rough, flimsy and cheap feeling and looking. It does feel very well screwed together, which is a bonus.
Reliability - ★★★★
This is another area where the Compact F does a very good job and almost got a 5-star rating. The engine has been through a lot of testing and it has proved to be very reliable and requires little servicing, however this may be down to the fact the Conan spend 175+ hours making the engine in this car making almost impossible for it to be unreliable and costs a lot to build. If it does go wrong, this may mean you will be facing a big bill. There aren't many electronics in this car which means there shouldn't be much to go wrong and Conan also spend a lot of hours working on them as well. That does mean, yet again, that if they do go wrong a large bill may be on its way.
Running Costs - ★★★
The Conan Compact F is only really considered acceptable when it comes to running costs. As mentioned previously, in the event that something does go a bit wrong with the cars components (which shouldn't happen) you could be facing large repair bills, which also means that you will also be forking out a lot more than the equivalent car when it comes to insuring it. This car is claimed to do in the region of 40 mpg, which is acceptable, but not much better than its rivals which also get around this figure as well. The servicing costs the Conan claim are reasonable.
Safety - ★★★★★
This is the one area where the Conan Compact F excels. This car comes with every single piece of safety kit you could imagine, some of which that are more at home in luxury saloons and not small hatchbacks. Everyting from airbags to crumple zones has been taken very carefully into consideration on this car and it does make you feel confident that when you do have a crash you are going to be able to walk out in a reasonably good state. The car also has the welcome addition of traction control which adds a further sense of security, however misses out on stability control.
OVERALL - ★★★★
For: Good handling, lots of safety tech, good reliability, quiet cruiser
Against: Poor ride, stingy equipment, mediocre running costs
The Conan Compact comes with a rather sporty sounding and high revving 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine that produces 128 bhp @ 7000 rpm and 106 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm. Thanks to a almost completely flat torque curve and the fact 85%+ of max torque is available at 1000 rpm, the performance is pretty good from the word go. This also means that the engine is a very reasonable smooth performer, however it could do with being a little bit more responsive to throttle inputs as you can feel a slight delay between flooring it and actually performing. The gearbox is geared pretty well and there are no large jumps between the 5 gears that you have available. At motorway speeds it is more than happy to cruise along in top gear and although some speedy overtaking maneuvers make require a downsift, the car has more than enough welly to get accelerating if needed. The 0-62 mph time is 9.9 seconds and the top speed is 131 mph, similar performance to the MKIII Golf GTI.
Ride Comfort - ★★★
The suspension set-up of the Compact F is very firm. The front suspension is a bit more forgiving, however the rear suspension is overly firm. At low speeds the whole car shakes and fidgets about over the road surface, be it well surfaced or not, and it can become tiring. As speeds increase though, the car does begin to settle down and although it remains firm, the front suspension is capable of soaking up almost all bumps and the rear suspension is reasonable, and this is also helped by the fact that the tyres aren't too low profile. The suspension does do a good job at settling down after going over a large bump at higher speeds and it doesn't bounce around at all. The body roll is kept extremely well under control, keeping you from leaning over in the cabin around the bends.
Handling - ★★★★
Where the suspension is bad it is made up for with the handling. The handling was very almost given a 5-star rating however it wasn't quite worthy. The car grips on around bends very well and it takes an awful lot of pushing before it starts to run out of grip and understeer. The steering feels well-weighted, precise, responsive and gives a good level of feedback, boosting your confidence further around bends. The addition of traction control also helps keep the car more under control, however it would feel more and fun and more sporty if it didn't have any like most other cars in this category. As we know this car manages to corner very flat.
Refinement - ★★★★
The Compact F also does a rather good job at shutting the outside noises from getting into the cabin. The engine is quite at idle and the same goes for when it is cruising, however when travelling at motorway speeds it is doing 4000 rpm, which does spoil its ability to keep quiet. It also does a reasonable job at getting the volume levels just right for when you are accelerating. It makes noise but it doesn't make your ears hurt. The road and wind noise is kept pretty much silent up until higher speeds when it begins to intrude a bit, but it isn't enough to make you raise your voice or turn up the radio.
Equipment - ★★★
This car does have a reasonable level of equipment however it is lacking somewhat. All the basics come as standard on this car and it comes with a few other things you expect there to be, however it doesn't come with any more than that. It is fine for you to go from A to B, but you may find you will have found life with the car easier after doing a number of long journeys or having the car for a while. It does come with good safety equipment though
Quality - ★★★
The Compact F, as well as having a rather mediocre level of equipment, only has a rather mediocre interior as well. The materials used in the interior aren't very special but they are reasonable enough, especially those in the higher up and more visible areas. There are rather large areas of rather boring looking solid black plastic around the cabin and in the lower areas, as expected, these plastics become hard, rough, flimsy and cheap feeling and looking. It does feel very well screwed together, which is a bonus.
Reliability - ★★★★
This is another area where the Compact F does a very good job and almost got a 5-star rating. The engine has been through a lot of testing and it has proved to be very reliable and requires little servicing, however this may be down to the fact the Conan spend 175+ hours making the engine in this car making almost impossible for it to be unreliable and costs a lot to build. If it does go wrong, this may mean you will be facing a big bill. There aren't many electronics in this car which means there shouldn't be much to go wrong and Conan also spend a lot of hours working on them as well. That does mean, yet again, that if they do go wrong a large bill may be on its way.
Running Costs - ★★★
The Conan Compact F is only really considered acceptable when it comes to running costs. As mentioned previously, in the event that something does go a bit wrong with the cars components (which shouldn't happen) you could be facing large repair bills, which also means that you will also be forking out a lot more than the equivalent car when it comes to insuring it. This car is claimed to do in the region of 40 mpg, which is acceptable, but not much better than its rivals which also get around this figure as well. The servicing costs the Conan claim are reasonable.
Safety - ★★★★★
This is the one area where the Conan Compact F excels. This car comes with every single piece of safety kit you could imagine, some of which that are more at home in luxury saloons and not small hatchbacks. Everyting from airbags to crumple zones has been taken very carefully into consideration on this car and it does make you feel confident that when you do have a crash you are going to be able to walk out in a reasonably good state. The car also has the welcome addition of traction control which adds a further sense of security, however misses out on stability control.
OVERALL - ★★★★
For: Good handling, lots of safety tech, good reliability, quiet cruiser
Against: Poor ride, stingy equipment, mediocre running costs