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I ALREADY HAVE A DIESEL SKODA, NOT HAVING 2! 🙄
The car needs to take 2 baby seats and be capable of holding a double pushchair. Also need something reliable, and only have on street parking which rules out MX5s, classics, 80'shot hatches etc etc.
Occasionaly it will get a blast when I go riding / fell racing etc
Seat Leon Cupra 1.8T 180bhp.
Had one for 2 years, great cars.
Seat Leon Cupra 1.8T 180bhp.
I thought of that but then the OP doesn't want in your face.
Plus the Golf's boot is small but have you seen the aperture to get anything in the back of the Leon!!!
Seat =
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Not that I am saying the interiors are dull, drab, dark or dismal or anything.
😉
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Can you spot the difference?
The Leon Cupra interior is the same as a Golf or Audi. Nice leather recaro seats, leather stitched steering wheel good quality finish on the dash etc. Not a bad place to be at all. The boot on them is one of the best in class too IMPO. Had everything from golf clubs, baby strollers, futons and bikes in the back of mine.
The picture above is a [b]NEW[/b] Leon interior which are far worse IMPO.
Well all the Seat's we looked at were very, very black inside. That's one of the reasons we (my wife) chose not to get one and got the Mazda Sport instead. This was three years ago so I don't know about older models than around that time.
Mazda 3 - still not an amazing interior, but much nicer than the Seat IMO.
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I particularly like the tunnel style speedo gauges - they look very 'Alfa'. And the blue backlighting is a nice touch.
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NZCol - anything you need to know about R32 Golfs, let me know - I had this for just over a year:
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Decently quick, gorgeous engine sound, seriously grippy and a very nice interior. It's also the only mk4 that handles - the rest are diabolical so avoid a mk4 TDI (or GTi) from your list. The R32 engine is bulletproof too - just watch for wheel thieves - I had major problems with mine.
To the OP - The ST170 is a superb car. Well specced, one of the best handling FWD cars out there, nicely made - the only let down is the engine which is a bit weedy but it's still rapid. £5k will get you a minter.
Skoda Fabia vRS - yes they are very good cars for the money but they just don't handle very well.
Only other car I'd look at is a mk5/H Astra 1.9CDTi 150PS - great handling, decently rapid, massive torque and if you want it, easily chippable. 150PS engine version is lowered and gets better brakes. I had the estate "Design" for four years (longest I've had a car!) and it really was very good. £5k should get you a reasonable one.
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The handling of Seats just irritates me and I've had two brand now hire Seats break down on me. The interiors are also offensive. Worse than the Astra which is quite some feat.
I don't want another diesel estate, shortlist is still Leon Cupra 1.8T and Focus ST170
If it was me I would take the Ford any day, even though it won't feel quite so gutsy as the S(h)eat.
Focus every time. As I mentioned, they handle brilliantly and £5k will get you a very good one.
Seat handling is ropey and that 1.8T engine is just dull and sounds like a food blender.
Yeah, I'm edging more towards the focus at the moment
A small consideration, but don't Ford actually design the acoustics of the exhausts so they sound 'right'? I always remember the lovely sound my MkII Fiesta XR2 made 8)
I don't think you can go wrong with either the Leon or the Focus. Just watch for signs of being thrashed. I think the Leon Cupra has a good exhaust note.
If you get the Focus there is a little bit of the airbox which you can remove to give it a really deep grunt sound under acceleration.
mf - the current ST has some sort of acoustic "tube" in it that helps make is sound just like a uR Quattro - a very good thing!
Shame they are utterly terrible on fuel for their bhp.
Shame they are utterly terrible on fuel for their bhp
Like all performance fords, cheap components = poor fuel efficiency.
LHS - indeed. I tested one and rather liked it but spirited driving was showing well under 20mpg!! Even a Scooby can outdo that.
Got a Focus RS on order and I'm not looking forward to the fuel-bill on that. 😥
LHS - isn't it the RS500 too?
Sod the fuel bills - that'll be a hoot to drive! Tested (against the Impreza Cosworth) this month in Evo and it kicks the Scooby's ar5e - they love the Focus!
Yes, I keep telling the wife its "an investment" 😉
Subaru versus Focus? I've never gotten the 'Ford' following. Japhead here 😀
Surf-Mat - Member
LHS - isn't it the RS500 too?Sod the fuel bills - that'll be a hoot to drive!
I can't believe you are typing this after your BP thread. Oh actually, I can.
We had a Seat Leon Cupra - previous style - was a great car...had a bit of poke about it and just went. Got replaced with a Megane 225 Sport - that was a better car in terms of performance but it also cost a lot more.
Wife likes fast cars but hates driving them fast - weird!
Before the Leon we had an Ibiza Cupra and that was a superb car - wee go-cart...if I had unlimited cash I'd have the Ibiza with a more powerful engine - maybe the Cupra R with a chipped engine - would be amazing (in my head!)...
I like the Ibiza drive but found the Leon suffered from some understeer on some occasions...might even have been a loss of grip but it was pretty consistent. Apart from that, it was a nice car to drive...I also drove a Golf (although not as powerful as the Leon) and I actually prefered the Leon's drive...even though they are the same floorplan...couldn't explain why.
Seat handling is ropey
That's tosh that is. I went from an Elise to the Leon and still thought it very capable (after I'd adjusted to my first front wheel drive ever).
Suspension must have been shagged on the one you drove or something.
Like Mr Barton, I preferred the Leon to the Golf drive at the time.. the interior was like an Australians nightmare, but the car itself was better.
sirf-mat : very nice, yep thats the one. Borrowed one for a few days and was mighty impressed. Theres a few knocking about with 60k kms on the clock which is alright, one looks very nice. Newer shape just doesn't do it for me.
Hora-have driven but not owned a bi-turbo, we have a legacy GT already, had WRX STi but common and not great inside.
This is an everyday car, for wazzing around in , must be able to put a bike in the back. I have a 911 for fun days 🙂
I've had a Corolla T-Sport from New 54plate just done 80,000 miles in it...
The powerband is quite small 6200-8500rpm.
But the beauty of this is pretty good fuel consumption i average 35-40mpg for around town use.
its nice to drive slowly and awesome when pushed, comes with a good spec as standard.
Its as quick as a type R (raced a few) and a Clio 172 Cup (mate owns one regularly have a dice on the way to Afan) can fit 2 poeple and 2 bikes in the back, poss 3 with a squeeze...
And since Sept 2004 and 80,000 miles other than tyres and brake pads nothing has gone wrong or needed doing, best car i've owned by a country mile...
Someone bumped it about 8 months ago while it was in getting a new rear bumper i was given a 2.0Ltr focus Turbo Diesel which to be honest i hated, gutless below the turbo kicking in and then when it did it was pretty rapid until it should start to go then just died.
Guess its what your used too but i ride motorbikes too and for me the more you rev the quicker the thing should go, and the T-Sport is exactly that.
performance when you want it, economy and pretty quite/pleasant when you don't...
Goalposts have been moved for me-needs to be able to fit a pushchair in and have 5 doors. Excellent news. RS4 avant it is then 🙂
needs to be able to fit a pushchair
Forget an RS4 avant then, they are tiny on the inside.
R32 does come as a 5 door - I have fitted a pushchair in one. But if you can get an RS4 then GET ONE!!
I looked at them but none were under £35k even a few years old. Amazing motors though.
It's the excuse I need. A practical family wagon that can take bikes albeit ****n quickly ! Almost got one before but baulked at the price. Might need to do some negotiation to get this one across the line methinks. Company car though 😉
Seriously the RS4s are tiny on the inside. We looked at one when our nippers were born.
Had an old RS6 for a year, great motor and a load bigger. Wouldn't mind one of the new V10 versions.
Yes the RS4s are smaller than many big estates but there's still room in there. Our Bimmer is very slightly bigger and we fit tonnes of clobber in it. Anything that doesn't fit goes on the roofrack!
RS4 is a lot lighter and more "fun" than an RS6 - yes the 6 is ultra fast but it's very heavy. They struggle on twisty stuff - I know because I annoyed the hell out of one in my mk4 R32 Golf - RS6 is MUCH quicker in a straight line but this was windey B roads where it was as agile as an oil tanker. The RS4 is a much better drivers car.
Renault Clio V6
no rear seets so the lack of an extra 2 doors to get at them isn't an issue, leave the kid at home :-p
Mk5 Golf GT Sport 1.4TSI
The RS4 is a much better drivers car
Completely agree on that.
So its ok to annoy the hell out of RS6 drivers but you can not annoy BMW drivers if you are in a T5 🙂
He was trying to keep up with me on the road to Newton Ferrers - I wasn't driving up his ar5e pretending my van was a supercar...
A van on this road would be all over the place anyway 😉
Nah don't fancy an rs6 especially the extra 40 grand ! Too big as well. Skoda vrs is a cheaper alternative albeit inferior in many ways 🙂 This is to replace my T5 which has been quite frankly utterly sh1te-spent more time in the garage than out and just not good enough for me every day.
Right well after some exhausting research its like this, the RS4 is probably out on budget grounds (100K basically), RS6 is min 140K, i can maybe do 50K which means Skoda VRS td thing, S3 is in there, R32, not many other hatches I like. No alfas thanks, no scoobs either, we have one already. Could get away with a golf or a S3 probably as can chuck bike in back. Mazda MPS could the outside bet but would pref 4wd/awd as it will be going up some steep unsealed roads quite a lot.
I think you'd enjoy an S3/R32 a lot more than a vRS which is FWD.
How about a powerfulish non RS or S Audi? The 3.0TDI or a biggish petrol?
Discount BMW on the grounds of cr4p off road ability!
Leaning towards a manual 2008 s3