Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)
  • Find me a car challange
  • Lakes_Puma
    Full Member

    I’m looking for a new/nearly new car that fulfills the following requirements

    small/smallish
    65+ mgp extra urban
    0-62 sub 12sec
    5 door
    co emissions < 120g/km
    reliable for high mileage
    motorway cruiser

    suggestions please

    willard
    Full Member

    Audi A3/VW Golf sort of thing I guess, but even they are going to be pushing 65+ mpg on the extra urban figures. In reality, I’d expect 40-45 tops and only see the best mpg on long runs.

    The trouble you are going to have is trading off the economy and the economic engine it requires with the need for performance. A Prius might be able to get you the economy, but there is no way it will do the performance. Nor is it a superb motorway car because the petrol engine is a bit weedy for the size/weight of the car.

    Maybe one of the later diesel Seats or Skodas might work as they tend to be cheaper and lighter than the respective VW/Audi counterparts. Cupra or Leon maybe?

    cbmotorsport
    Free Member

    moon + stick

    You need to knock a few things of your list.

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    tonyg2003
    Full Member

    You really need to put low depreciation on top of your list. It’s the biggest cost of motoring.

    hora
    Free Member

    65mpg is a diesel

    Focus Diesel
    Golf diesel

    CaptainFlashheart
    Free Member

    You want to be careful if buying a second hand golf, especially from a private seller. Lots of dodgy ones out there…..

    Smudger666
    Full Member

    Skoda rapid?

    Edit: just done the A9 north to Inverness – 62mpg indicated (probably 57-59) from experience and doing the maths, so not too far off the 65 asked for. No suicidal overtaking to report 🙂

    engineeringcowboy
    Free Member

    BMW 116d

    small/smallish

    check

    65+ mgp extra urban

    64.2 mpg Combined

    0-62 sub 12sec

    10.2s

    5 door

    check

    co emissions < 120g/km

    118g/km

    reliable for high mileage

    check

    motorway cruiser

    my old 116i was great for cruising

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Honda Civic 1.6 Diesel

    Not the most exciting car on the road I’ll grant you but 120 bhp and 78mpg looks good based on your criteria, plus zero VED as emission are below 99

    Lakes_Puma
    Full Member

    Hmm, moon on a stick?

    This is what my current car does

    Maximum Speed: 106 mph
    0-60 acceleration 11.9 sec
    Urban fuel consumption: 54.3 mpg
    Extra Urban fuel consumption: 67.3 mpg
    Combined fuel consumption: 61.4 mpg
    Co emissions 119 g/km

    I thought it would be easy to beat.

    zilog6128
    Full Member

    If you’re anywhere near Preston there’s an ultra-reliable 4 year old Golf 1.6TDI going cheap.

    Lakes_Puma
    Full Member

    Civic, BMW 1 series, yup that’s what I was kind of thinking.

    Was hoping for some surprise recommendations also. 🙂

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Civic, BMW 1 series, yup that’s what I was kind of thinking.

    Was hoping for some surprise recommendations also

    SEAT do an ultra cheap to run 1.2 diesel Ibiza but it has about 14 horsepower so misses one of your criteria

    hora
    Free Member

    Was hoping for some surprise recommendations also.

    Seat Altea? Size of a Golf yet abit more practical?

    engineeringcowboy
    Free Member

    already been mentioned, but bmw i3, but only good for about 250mile with the range extender

    richmtb
    Full Member

    Seat Altea? Size of a Golf yet abit more practical?

    I had an Altea as a courtesy car, bizarrely it was smaller inside then my Leon. Pointless car unless you really need a sit up an beg driving position

    Lakes_Puma
    Full Member

    I was also thinking, Skoda Fabia, Kia Rio, Audi A1, Seat Ibiza.

    Any experiences with any of the above?

    simon_g
    Full Member

    A Prius might be able to get you the economy, but there is no way it will do the performance. Nor is it a superb motorway car because the petrol engine is a bit weedy for the size/weight of the car.

    You know a current Prius will do 0-60 in 10.4s? Better than the 1.6 TDI eco cars. It’ll cruise quite happily on the motorway as you’d expect something with a 1.8 petrol (plus a load of electric assistance when you want it) to. Even the weedier Yaris Hybrid is sub-12 so in spec.

    Granted, for long motorway runs and no traffic or short hops, the diesels will be more economical.

    I thought it would be easy to beat.

    What are you looking to “beat”?

    More economical on a 70mph cruise? Tricky, as you always need a certain amount of energy to push through the air, and there’s only small gains to be made now.

    Lower CO2? Most of the eco-diesels have been pushing to get below 100g/km, but that’s more from optimising for EU tests that emphasise urban driving.

    Quicker for the same economy? Maybe a little, for the same reasons.

    Sadly, no-one has yet made a 200mpg, 0-60 in 6 seconds, 150mph car that they’ll sell for the price of a diesel golf.

    If you’ve got somewhere to charge it and normally do less than 50 miles per journey, then an Ampera would do nicely. Implication of long motorway trips kind of rules that out though.

    turboferret
    Full Member

    I had a 116d as a hire car over Christmas, and I wasn’t particularly impressed with the fuel economy. OK, I wasn’t driving like an old granny, and I didn’t do any sums to work out what it was doing, but it was more like low 40’s than mid 60’s mix of urban and longer journeys.

    It was a nice drive though and relaxing on the motorway, but don’t be surprised if the fuel figures aren’t what you expect.

    Cheers, Rich

    stumpy01
    Full Member

    Seat Ibiza with the 1.6Tdi engines,or any of the other VAG group cars of a similar size with that engine, to be honest.

    The only place it might fall down is ‘motorway cruiser’, although I use my older Ibiza for an 80 mile/day round trip and used to do 120 miles/day in it and it’s fine.
    My wife has the new Ibiza FR with the 2 litre TDi and that is also fine on the motorway.

    VanMan
    Free Member
    hora
    Free Member

    Sure? I owned an Altea and it wasn’t as claustrophobic as the Leon.

    treaclesponge
    Free Member

    New A-class?

    Nobby
    Full Member

    Giulietta?

    al1982
    Free Member

    ive got a 118d done 92k miles in it now and very impressed with it,

    i dont drive slowly by any means but it returns 52mpg on my commute (110 miles a day) and i do 85mph on the motorway where possible :wink:.

    its possible to get 60+ if i stick to 65-70mph on the motorway.

    0-60 in 9sec approx and its less than 120g/co2 so £30pa road tax.

    not huge, but can fit a fair bit on the book and 2 bikes in with the seats down should you need too.

    while ive had it nothing has gone wrong, only expense is servicing, fuel and tyres etc

    jwt
    Free Member

    How about one of THESE?
    Ticks the boxes, and surprising fun to drive.

    Bimbler
    Free Member

    Prius

    Rockape63
    Free Member

    Has anyone bought a white car recently? They do look very spangly and smart, but far too loud for me. Quite like the look of the Jag XF Sportbrake in white but don’t think that fits your criteria.

    Well, 0-60 it does!

    codybrennan
    Free Member

    CaptainFlashheart – Member
    You want to be careful if buying a second hand golf, especially from a private seller. Lots of dodgy ones out there…..

    zilog6128 – Member
    If you’re anywhere near Preston there’s an ultra-reliable 4 year old Golf 1.6TDI going cheap.

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    Firstly I wouldn’t agree that a Golf/A3/3 series/Leon etc fall into the small/smallish car catagory. A modern day VW Polo is larger than a Golf mk1.

    if you’re serious when you say small car what about a Polo/Ibiza/Fiesta etc?

    ericemel
    Free Member

    My wife has a 116d Efficient dynamics

    0-60 in 10
    99g Co2
    Average with a lot of London driving over the last 18k miles is 62mpg and she gets 70+ regularly on her 30 mile a-road commute.

    Great car.

    bails
    Full Member

    Ibiza fr 2.0 TDI.

    70mpg, 0-60 in 8 seconds. Co2 is 123g though, the 1.6tdi is 112g and meets the other requirements.

Viewing 33 posts - 1 through 33 (of 33 total)

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