Yes, it's back doing the rounds. The understeer is all but gone and the sounds of tyre on bodywork is a distant memory. Our trusty Charade is back in the fold and we're taking full advantage of its newfound agility and roadholding.

First there were new rims and tyres for our silver midget. The reasoning behind this was to hopefully negate some of the horrendous understeer we were experiencing, which cause more than a little consternation on more than one occasion.

But that only led to another problem. Because the tyres were now a lot wider, we discovered that even the smallest of dips or bumps would cause the tyres to rub against the bodywork. Needless to say, this did nothing for the condition of our brand new Yokohamas and we had to make a tough decision. Go back to the standard "understeer king" tyres or do something a little more drastic.

Yup, if you guess the reason why we opted for the more drastic approach you would be right. We couldn't help but feel sorry for our diminutive little Charade, not to mention whoever was driving it at the time, so we decided we would try to help. The only alternative left to us was to flair the rear wheel arches and boy, what a difference it made. Not that you would be able to tell that anything was done just by looking at it.

The changes have been so subtle and yet so effective and piling myself and three mates into our resurrected Charade is now a pleasure.

We did get a call earlier this month from a reader stating he, like us, had fitted his Charade with a wider rim and tyre combination. He too suffered from body-scraping tyres but had another way to solve the problem. He simply inserted a tennis ball into each of the rear springs on his Charade and voila, problem solved.

Now we're not entirely convinced that this is the right way to go as it will probably result in an extremely bumpy ride and there are obviously some safety implications to consider, but we thought it quite ridiculous the lengths that some Charade owners have had to go to in order to get a car that performs as it should from new.

But let's not take away from what the Charade does have to offer. Roomy as ever, our little 998cc runabout is now a pleasure to drive, especially in and around town. With enough space for an entire month's groceries and a nippy little engine under the bonnet, the Charade makes for the ideal student or bachelor car.

This is especially true when you look at the diminutive engine's fuel consumption figures. At just 5.3l/100km, the ever increasing fuel price becomes much less of a problem.

Unfortunately, we are expecting to relinquish control of this interesting little car so look out for our long-term wrap next issue to relive all of our experiences over the last year.

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