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Another budget “what older decent performance motor” ?
Hi another of those what would the STw massive do questions over car choices!
I have an aging 2011 diesel Passat estate that we’ve had for 8 years, that I will need to change next year!
we also have an aging 2007 transporter for holiday/bike/dog/camping trips that I plan to keep for as long as poss!
I have a window of 3 years before I have to teach my daughter to drive when I’ll get a lupo or similar small hatch and replace the Passat replacement! So for the next 3 years I fancy something a bit more fun! Not crazy license loosing fast but a good laugh when I’m driving! Rest of the time it would be for daily running around, small bit of commuting but as everything is very local we tend to not require a vehicle like that!
budget around £5-7.5k,
age immaterial
mileage immaterial within reason
4 doors hatchback or estate req! Or off roader
So far I’ve considered Skoda Fabia vRS normal hatch plus estate, land-rovers, golf Gtis etc, so hot hatch or fun off roader type vehicle!?
3years ish then sell on and get another sensible vehicle for the family and I’ll get a motorbike!
what would you lot recommend??
cheers
The best Swift GTI you can find.
Or this https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406180873263
Or some variety of mini with more doors.
Or a hot Legacy
Volvo T5R
There are a lot of options!
^^^ Anyone who blanks number plates on sale ads can do one.
And it will be full of rot you can't see! 🙂
https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/future-classic/future-classic-2007-11-honda-civic-type-r-fn2/
Super easy and pain free to run. All time epic engine. Punch anyone in the face who does their best nerd-adenoid-voice and tells you the EP3 had independent rear suspension and this one has a beam.
You'll not get another chance to run to 8 thousand RPM with a manual box, and retain everything that is so practical and easy to live with as a Honda Civic. Tonnes of them about, buy on condition, be picky.
https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/16701193
Super easy and pain free to run.
I had one for nearly 4 years - and I scrapped mine two weeks ago due to rot. On the outside mine looked fine with no visible rust. The rot was on the inside and you'd have to take the boot lining out to see it. Rear beams are of an age where they are failing now (mine had pretty much gone), and even a pattern beam would mean a bill of near £1k to replace if a garage did it.
Engines are bomb-proof though if you keep on top of oil changes and make sure the oil is topped up. And 8000rpm is addictive - I'll miss that engine!
But it never ran more than a couple of months without needing a couple of hundred spent on it.
And really not a great car for passengers as the ride was 'firm'.
...never let me down though! 🙂
Octavia VRS, surely?
Either the very best standard mk5 Golf GTI you can find or an ED30 (likely to be more leggy). Had a mk5 GTI before as well as a mk2 Octavia VRS with the same engine and you wouldn't believe it was the same underneath - the Golf was really well built and felt quick and fun to drive. The Octavia was good but awful build quality and never felt that quick. Mk6 has the TSI engine which internet hearsay reckons isn't as good as the TFSI in the mk5. I also really like the mk4 GTI Anniversary.
I'll chuck a Mini Clubman into the equation as well as a past owner. One of the few cars I REALLY miss. Plenty of Cooper S, post 2010 facelift cars with the N18 engine around for that price. 4/5 seats, reasonable boot and just really good fun.
Every box ticked
There are plenty of then but the m35 is just a bit of a dull estate with a thirsty engine. The RB is half the draw, so it's M34 or GTFO for me.
Whatever RS Mégane fits your budget.
You might just get into a BMW 135i M sport hatchback for that money. 6cylinder 335hp (without a map) and a manual or automatic to suit.
How about an Alfa 159 V6? Caveat that I’ve not owned one, but did drive a 159 Sportwagon rental on holiday for a few days and was impressed. A 147 GTA is also just about in budget, but alas is only 2 doors!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407061516005
Anyone who blanks number plates on sale ads can do one.
Seeing as auto trader is searchable by vehicle make model year & colour I'd think it a sensible precaution & if you are seriously interested you can phone* & ask, otherwise once you've had the pain of a cloned plate you'd understand.
*Baduns will just move onto the next unblanked sucker
Suzuki Swift Sport from around 2018 (before they became hybrids). The 1.4l turbo engine is bombproof and in a car that weighs less than a ton is just bonkers fun without having license losing levels of power.
Maybe wait to see if this one comes down in price a bit over the next month.
And 8000rpm is addictive – I’ll miss that engine!
I know what you mean. In 1996-8 I had a 1994 Civic Vti saloon, 1600 cc 158 hp no torque to speak of but the VTEC transition to the hot cam at 6000 rpm was lovely. But 4000rpm at 70 on the motorway got a bit tiring after a while. It was sold to a guy locally who kept it till it was scrapped in 2017 with 145000 miles on the clock.
There even appears to be one for sale. Seems expensive though
https://www.parkers.co.uk/honda/civic/saloon/16i-vti-4d/for-sale/usedcfs-878744563259194/
There's loads I can think of which haven't been mentioned. Once on social media the desperate for likes (think they are a brand) cock noses will make videos and hype prices to silly levels so I'm out.
Mazda RX 7 or mx 5?
Can't you just look at the hundreds of other threads like this or bugger off to petrol heads to look for cars.
Or better still actually think for your self.
Sorry , Are you new here?
Can’t you just look at the hundreds of other threads like this or bugger off to petrol heads to look for cars.
Or better still actually think for your self.
Who shat in your cornflakes? That was a lot of effort for a post that would have been better spent not being a dick to the op.
Most powerful newest 4 door BMW you can find. They're all pretty good, hold their cash and for that time period the big bill dice roll is more likely to fall in your favour.
*it also might not, but, you probably know that...
Audi s3
BMW 135i
Subaru Impreza WRX
Golf r32
Volvo V50 T5
BMW 335 touring
Ford Focus st
Renault Clio 182
I am not a dick I am a person who does not want to be hit by a pillock driving their Penis extension to fast for the road.
I am sick on close passes and poor driver behaviour on the roads and want to be left to ride my bike in peace
No one buy performance cars to drive slowly.
Being able to walk or cycle on the road is a basic right which is now scary to do thanks to cars.
Rule 1 grow up.
Growing up as a teenager with a m reg MK1 Mexico I used to spin the wheels , opposite lock on damp roundabouts and listen to the Janspeed exhaust play the tune especially from 4000 to 5500 rpm
Nowadays my 3.0i z4 I never break the speed limits and have a clean licence for 35 years but do often hang on to the revs in maybe 4th gear just for that intake growl but never spin wheels as the 255 Michelin cost a lot and no desire to go above 80 on a motorway
Average mpg is 32 long term
Yup, deffo smells of wee.
Most options already been mentioned but…
Focus ST - full chav spec but the 5 pot turbo makes such a good noise you won’t care. Also should be able to have plenty of £ left over to run it.
335i touring - fast, proper wheel drive, understated, good luck finding a manual though.
Alfa 159 SW - best looking estate you can buy imo. 1750 tbi is the one, the v6 is slow, thirsty, stupid tax bracket and isn’t a Busso.
No one buy performance cars to drive slowly.
Thus is not entirely true, whilst many might do there are some who buy them for other reasons. I have a car that would be considered a performance vehicle but I stick to speed limits and I don’t close pass cyclists or any other user of the roads. I’ve never had even so much as a parking ticket in 43 years of driving. The reason I bought mine was I wanted a petrol four wheel drive manual gearbox car that wasn’t a SUV for my particular circumstances. At the time that rather limited my choice ( it’s even more limited now). It’s comfortable, practical and very relaxing to drive.
I am sure some would argue that I am simply self justifying what many would regard as an irrational purchase and there almost certainly an element of that. But not everyone who has a powerful car ignores rule 1.
It's funny how some people cannot possibly imagine being a cyclist, and also a car enthusiast simultaneously. Been out in my 330hp roadster this morning for some fun, on the same backroads I also cycle on for fun - I am pretty confident that I will have been the most considerate towards all the cyclists of any motorist that passed them this morning.
Rule 1? Look into the mirror mate.
it might be biger than you need or want but I am still fully in love with my JDM Subaru Legacy GT. 280 claimed horsepower (245 at the tarmac on mine with just an exhaust and map), handling is a little soft as they gimped it slightly to make it understeer but that's easily fixed (they NEED a rear ARB, the stock one is a bent paperclip), comfort is excellent, practicality is huge. Basically it's a fat, respectable WRX hatch. Can do an awd skid or waft along all day on motorways in comfort or absolutely murder b-roads or equally bimble comfortably and effortlessly or do a trackday then pick up an ikea wardrobe on the way home, go to a chavvy car meet in an industrial estate and get attention for being jay dee emm and odd then get completely ignored by the police when they turn up to give everyone else asbos, or pop the back seats down and roll my size large enduro bike right in with both wheels still on, or get itself out of a muddy race field or make driving 600 miles in -15 degrees a doddle.
Also cheap to tax and insure. Albeit a little ruinous on fuel especially if it's been mapped for 99 on import as many are. And most of all, any recent import will be pretty much rust free. I mean, mine is 20 years old but underneath it's in better condition than some cars that haven't made it to their first MOT. And compared to most imports parts availability is dead easy because it's 90%+ the same as the UK car and the rest is well supported, and standard subaru legoness largely applies.
(being a grey import you don't have to pay the normal punitive emissions; if you get a UK spec B 3 litre, that's a really good car too with many of the same traits and the lovely flat 6 making a little less power but feeling absolutely effortless and sounding amazing... but the tax is £710 from 06 onwards and they're almost all rusty as ****.)
It's good enough I bought another one
Thanks everyone some good options there to consider, I knew you lot would have some options I’d never even considered.
to @Bruce ….. really? A bit unnecessary given I posted on the chat part of the forum where people with all kinds of interests ask all kinds of random weird questions like this and seek alternative ideas or opinions from a group they like and have something in common with. That’s the point of a forum! And we’re all actually cyclists who know quite a lot about sharing roads so your comments were a bit unnecessary, misplaced and personal. If you don’t like the title of the thread don’t look at it just to chastise people. Exactly like I avoid threads I’m not interested in or disagree with but don’t feel the need to wade in and slag people off. Go and join pistonheads yourself and tell them what you think.
Mk6 has the TSI engine which internet hearsay reckons isn’t as good as the TFSI in the mk5
The Mk5 engine has bad issues with blocking oil pickups killing hydrodynamic cam bearings, and that's just the start of the list. There is a reason you don't see many about!
There's quite a few of these within budget
Much classier than an M5. A bit thirsty but if you aren't doing big miles it doesn't really matter that much
Who shat in your cornflakes? That was a lot of effort for a post that would have been better spent not being a dick to the op.
I am not a dick I am a person who does not want to be hit by a pillock driving their Penis extension to fast for the road.
I am sick on close passes and poor driver behaviour on the roads and want to be left to ride my bike in peace
No one buy performance cars to drive slowly.
Being able to walk or cycle on the road is a basic right which is now scary to do thanks to cars.
Rule 1 grow up.
Oddly enough, most of the close calls I had when out riding a bike were caused by people driving perfectly normal econoboxes, who, by and large, don’t seem to get out much, and have bugger-all situational awareness.
Or else it’s someone in a van who thinks they’re entitled to the entire road because they’ve got 300 parcels to deliver, or it’s some stupid little twonk in a cheap motor with ‘performance’ add-ons from Halfords, which have added 100kg and 10hp, and an audio system from ‘World of Doof’ ™ © ®, along with a few dozen empty nitrous oxide canisters rolling around on the floor.
A word to the wise - let he who is without sin throw the first stone…