MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
Is it wrong that I'm really tempted by this...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201091163508?atmobcid=soc3
can I sing the praises of taking ones dirty big estate car and booting it away from the toll booths on the M6 toll, redlining it in every gear and watching your MPG figure disappear into American pick up truck territory
I used to do that at the M4 one. Then I realised everyone did it and those poor sods who had to work there probably had the worse air quality in Britain on a daily basis!
Is it wrong that I’m really tempted by this…
Yes mate, it's nearly 20 years old with 150k, it's a manual and it's five grand?? Save up a bit longer and get this V6 bad boy
I still remember driving in torrential rain along a motorway, wondering why the Merc in front was only going 50mph through the standing water, where the legacy was cruising along at 70
Sounds like he was driving to the conditions. 4wd makes no difference to aquaplaning resistance, nor does it make a meaningful difference to the ~20bhp that's needed at the wheels to maintain 70mph
I used to do that at the M4 one. Then I realised everyone did it and those poor sods who had to work there probably had the worse air quality in Britain on a daily basis
Don’t be daft! People sat in an area where the traffic is sat nose to tail belching out fumes have it far far worse
No cos those cars are idling, the cars at the tollbooth are flooring it. That was my reasoning anyway.
I think we’re getting somewhat off topic but I’d rather be sat in a toll booth in the middle of nowhere with people flooring their cars outside than be in a city centre with nose to tail traffic all sat with their engines running
I always thought that tollbooth job was just about the shittest job going.
Press button, take money, breathe pollution. Repeat for your entire shift. Ugh. Thank F the M4 one's gone.
I’m not going to argue with that.
It must be bloody awful. I’m sure it’ll be fully automated before long
No reason to change it as it has so much life left in it which is lucky as other than a 340i which is similar but about £25k more expensive
@thegingerone
I was Looking at 340i touring, for my budget the milage was fairly high, and there’s not actually very many around.
I do like a fast estate. I loved my mondo ST220 but circumstance meant it had to go.
I’d happily have a Volvo T5r that are fantastic!
However the V10 M5 touring always struck me as a nice way of moving quite a lot of stuff, quite quickly, quite a long way!
My former boss had that Mercedes V6 CLS Molgrips posted above. He paid £125k for it, sold it 4 years later for £25k. That's serious depreciation! A lot of car at used prices though.
My fave estate was my Honda Accord Type S 2.4 iVTEC. 6 speed box in 2004 only seen on proper luxury cars then. Cavernous inside, could get 4 bikes wheels off (26ers then) stacked in the boot without putting the seats down for trips to Afan.
Used to cruise very easily fully loaded with family holiday stuff down French motorways. But give it a boot and that engine would just rev up and propel you like a dream. Had a company fuel card then too so used to make the most of it!
My former boss had that Mercedes V6 CLS Molgrips posted above. He paid £125k for it, sold it 4 years later for £25k. That’s serious depreciation! A lot of car at used prices though
Not a great deal, considering the list price was £55k
It must be bloody awful. I’m sure it’ll be fully automated before long
Massive sidetrack continues: they did automate it mostly, it went to card payment which most people did, making the job even more boring; then they made most of the booths automatic and only a couple were manned. And finally they removed the toll altogether, which was merciful for everyone.
I am hopeful of a Golf R estate as a future car for me, maybe.
There’s a red one in one of our storage areas at work, looks pretty tidy, no idea of the mileage, or it’s age, as it has plates from the IoM or somewhere, three digits, four numbers. Probably popping up on Cazoo sometime in the not too distant.
We had an Audi RS6 Avant in, which was rejected. Body and paint didn’t look too bad, but it needed a service and disks and pads all round, so that was probably roughly 5k off the profit.
There’s one in Heritage Audi in Salisbury, registered March 2019, they’re asking a shade under £98k, IIRC.
My fast estate desire has always been the Volvo 850 T5 R.
How about a 300C Touring SRT?
@northwind it sounds like you have my ideal legacy…
I had a fresh import 2007 twinscroll for a couple of years. Absolutely blinding car, until you want to do anything to it. I found that it’s pretty much impossible to run an import legacy without wanting to meddle a bit and that is where it started going wrong. The 2007 onwards had different wiring than previous years so the usual ash cruise control mod was near impossible for an average diy-er. It also has extra emissions gubbins in the engine that fail frequently, and are also very difficult to fix for the average diy-er. And expensive. I worked out I would need to spend a few thousand to solve the various issues and add lpg which means sadly it had to go.
Another massive fan of big fast estates here. If I could only have one car and someone else was paying it would be an rs6 every day.
When I was in the market for a cheapish car to replace my beloved 9-5 3l Saab estate ( which was by no means fast but nor was it particularly slow) I was so close to buying an ancient Rs6 for under 10k. What could possibly have gone wrong!!😬
Is 8 years old old? Old enough for this thread? 🙂
335d touring here. It's awesome on the short stuff, the long stuff and the Twisties. It was all fun and games until it some cooler broke outside Inverness ( I live in notts) and black smoke started pouring out the back and into the air vents. Oh and it's eaten a completely unreasonable number of tyres. Edges worn, bulges and just plain worn down. Ive put a full set of non runflats on to see if this cures its rubber addiction. If i was drifting about and wheel spinning everywhere that would be fine. But I'm not!
A mate had an S4 estate. It sounded AMAZING but got half the mpg.
Neighbour went from a Granada (the later ugly one that is sure to be a classic) to a Rover 75. Again, another likely classic in V6 guise.
Oh and it’s eaten a completely unreasonable number of tyres. Edges worn, bulges and just plain worn down.
Have you had a proper 4 wheel alignment done? Sorted mine out.
Have you had a proper 4 wheel alignment done? Sorted mine out.
I have now! Now it goes into kwick fit every three months on their 2 year alignment plan.
Neighbour went from a Granada (the later ugly one that is sure to be a classic) to a Rover 75. Again, another likely classic in V6 guise.
v8, probably (and already is to some extent). V6, no. It'll just be another anchient "BL" product that is kept by grandads and worth nothing. See the prices of almost anything british from the 60s/70s/80s vs almost anything german or japanese
I would touch a SAAB with a barge pole - at least not a GM era one. My 9-3 was one of the worst cars I had. Terrible to drive and awful build quality - I am amazed there are any left on the road.
BMW 5 series will serve you well - as would an Audi A6 ( but you might want the Quattro). The BM is nicer to drive.
There must also be the Mercedes equivalent - but I wouldn't know that is!
Anything big and Japanese will do the job
Ive put a full set of non runflats on to see if this cures its rubber addiction. If i was drifting about and wheel spinning everywhere that would be fine.
Switching to non-run flats fixed this issue for my 335D, I got on really well with Goodyear Eagle F1's, much cheaper than the OEM Michelin but offered more grip as they're not stupid run flats!
Passat Bi-turbo !! Fairly new though but 240hp stock and over 300hp with stage 1. Future classic ?
Try these guys (Nottingham Wheel alignment services - basford) if you get fed up with Kwikfit, they stopped my Galaxy eating tyres
We are fans of big fast-ish (OK the current Merc is fast) estates having had 3 Merc eclass estate, two V6 diesels and 2 Honda Accord estates. The current Honda Accord Mk8 estate is a 2.4 petrol, around 200bhp so just about fastish, and by no means huge inside. It's now 14 years old and everything works and has just had routine servicing the whole time.
Somewhere my old E320cdi, with Brabus tuning, might be running around. That was a great car!
I've always like d a fast estate. I've had 2 x 335d tourings E and F series and I'm now on a G31 540i with the M performance power and sound kit. I've had it 4.5 years and it's been an excellent car. More stealthy and not as aggressive as the RS6 and E63's I looked at but plenty fast enough for our roads. Although saying that, now it's out of warranty I might get the ecu remapped to take it from 360 to 400+bhp. It'll happily lug the family and 4 bikes to the alps every summer or pootle to the local dump with a massive boot full of rubbish and returns about 35mpg. I think I'll end up keeping it until the world has sorted out exactly what it's going to do with electric cars and how to cope with mass uptake of them.
I've had a few of these, Alfa 156 and 157, Saab 93 aero, Mk3 Mondeo ST155, Mk4 Mondeo Titanium X Sport, now an F31 330d.
I've never wanted anything faster than the current car really.
The other day, I saw one of those lottery/draws for an Abt-tuned RS6, about 700bhp and probably 150 miles to a tank of fuel. It was quite a sight and i'd certainly stare if i saw on in a carpark, but i ended up thinking "oh come on, it's 2022". Strangely, they called it "the car of the moment".
I had an Omega saloon.
Scrapped at 285,000. 🙂
Would have been cruel to keep it going, but a lovely place to be.
I would love a nice, clean, fastish petrol estate.
8, probably (and already is to some extent).
Yes I thought so too, wrote V8 and edited it for the advert. Tempted. Although Mrs TiRed lusts after a Maserati GT. My stepfather runs a lovely XJS and a Mark 2 (and an XF estate). A 156 GTA Sportwagon would be wonderful. Already a classic - just see how many are available. But the decline in numbers of the Rover 75 is a marker.
A mate had an S4 estate. It sounded AMAZING but got half the mpg.
I've been idly window shopping for S4 Estates on Autotrader for a bit.. the (really very first world) problem for me is I think the early B9 S4 doesn't have the right 'tech' for Carplay, the later facelifted once does, but apart from the fact they're really very expensive, they're also Diesel.
I'm not anti-diesel, and the current DEF diesel are, well, no worse than Petrol cars, especially comparing a 3.0 TDi with a 3.0 Turbo Petrol, but it doesn't seem very "Audi S model" to me, more like a S-line with a hefty price tag.
Anyway, now I've discussed the merits of £50k Audis, I'll go back to organising a Service for my Skoda.
I have an '01 V70 T5, which is quite amusing in a straight line, really cannot get the power down in anything other than bone dry weather. And the steering is akin to a yacht - zero feedback, but super comfy heated seats for plopping into after wet rides, and cost £1400 3 years ago, so no complaints here !
£1,400, 2001 and T5...... where do you think the oil is leaking from at the moment? 😉
I have an ’01 V70 T5
just checking it's not metallic green is it? 😆
I used to have one of that vintage around 2003/4. loved it, but for some reason the passenger side was always freezing, and the turning circle was more of an orbit.
had the bixenon headlight jobs, they could burn holes in hedgerows. The turbo lag/fun was great - coming up a slip road out of Ikea with the car absolutely rammed with stuff, and booting it to get up to speed with the motorway was great fun
it doesn’t seem very “Audi S model” to me, more like a S-line with a hefty price tag.
That's the beauty, you can have a decent performing car, with oodles of smooth awesome torque, and get 45mpg, or 35 if you want even more torque.
I appreciate that people like noise from their cars, but they're wrong. Quiet and smooth but still quick is best.
ones that I enjoyed driving
Audi RS4 Avant- quick in straight line, not exactly spritely in the corners due to a massive lump of engine and very hard front suspension. Also an inverse tardis in that outside it was fair sized estate, inside it was a fiat panda.
Passat W8 estate- awesome noise, real sleeper of a car, could fit loads in it.
ooo one for sale !
Subaru Forester STi, totally bonkers for a car that looked like it was drawn by an 8 year old.
(bloody hell, they have gone up in price!)
Neither particularly big or fast by modern standards, but 18 years old and still looking (to my eyes at least) good.
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I don't approve of most of the cars on this thread but that Passat made me chuckle because it's an oddity, an example of daft but complex engineering and the fact it looks more or less exactly like a normal Passat.
Ok so it's not old, and its a bit more thn fastish but this is my bike transport. The worlds most impractical estate car. Noisey, unbelieveably inefficient, won't take a towbar, gets through tyres faster than some cars get through fuel and I love it, but the eco guilt is hitting me these days, now I've scratched the V8 itch I think I need to go electric.
When MG Rover went bust I went shopping. Came away with a ZT-T 260. Then I got it supercharged. 400bhp.
Didn't keep it for long. Did drive to Italy and back in it. Great in tunnels.
My 2009 E91 325i might just qualify:
It’s getting on and reasonably rapid.
It’s only 217 Bhp but a rare manual and the engine sounds wonderful when you give it some revs. Very practical too.
I can’t face selling it, despite buying its replacement (Cupra ST 4drive) 2 years ago! I am far too emotionally attached to it for my own good!
My old Nissan Prairie bike bus - Stanza turbo engine swop, 'race lightened' (removed) interior trim and carpets. Used to speed weave when ragging it up the M74.
Had a sticker on the boot "Dont laugh - your daughter may be in here"
Awesome old fast bus/estate/MPV/Grandad mobile.
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Lots of love for the old 3 Tourings on here! My remapped 08 325D manual is approaching 250k and still going strong.. can't see me getting rid until it needs scrapping.
Not new not particularly big but 220bhp Stage 1. Had it 2 years so far so good
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I really like the thought of another BMW estate and I'd be leaning towards a 3 series this time. Aren't they quite small in the back though? I'm 6ft 2 so tend to need the drivers seat quite far back. Also electrical gremlins put me off after what happened with my old 5 series estate. Whoever thought running the wiring through the boot hinges was a good idea?!
RNP: Is there a modern version of that Prairie? Looks epic for MTB!
@frogstomp mine is a nipper at 166k…think it’ll hit 200k no problem. 😎
@painey, they’re not huge, no. And yes, mine hasn’t had a radio in years thanks to the boot lid-aerial wiring….!
RNP: Is there a modern version of that Prairie? Looks epic for MTB!
Closest I've found is a M59 (MK2) Berlingo/Partner for a cheap doesn't take itself seriously fun little bus thing. Otherwise it's Nissan Elgrans / Honda Stpwagon / Honda Odyssey / possibly Mk1 VW Sharon Ford Galaxy.
Many is the time I've swooned over the timeless wonder of a Legnum and their relatively low purchase price... however, the prospects of the running costs and the associated environmental catastrophe have always just about tamed my desires
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They are just gorgeous cars. Face like a clenched fist, beautiful lines all the way to that slightly retro japanese rear end, still manages to be muscular without being cartoonish. I particularly like how just about everything you can possibly do to them cosmetically makes them worse
I have had 5 3 series,
2 x 320
330 CSI M sport
330d touring M sport
330i touring M sport.
The Tourings were lovely - fast , comfortable - just about big enough - and rapid if you wanted them to be.
If you want space, they are not huge - the 5 series seems much bigger for some reason ( I ahem had 2 of those).
The Audi A6 Avant is like taking a basketball court for a drive in size terms , unfortunately, it drives like one as well.
Ok I'll chip mine in
MY12 Mercedes C350 petrol 301bhp 3.5 V6 and an astounding 38mpg
Looks like any other dull diesel C class TBH, goes quick in a straight line at least.
Try and find another, I dare you.
Try and find another, I dare you
You should probably avoid Autotrader….
The Merc 350 petrol are great engines. Powerful and economic. Although they can suffer with balancer shaft issues. Still used in the merc 400/43/450 engines with turbos.
I really want something more pokey than my f31 320d,and would love a 335d or 340i but the cheapest way is to remap my current car but I’m wary of the insurance costs and safety of RWD and more power - this mornings 5:30am London-Gloucester on a near freezing wet A40 being a point in hand.
(Re reliability, It’s been utterly reliable until the l/h front brake seized onto the disc today just outside Cirencester after i stopped in garage. A bit of reverse/forward slam on brakes freed it but I had a squeaky bum journey back to London).
What do I need to know about remaps…?
If you can find one - Passat R36, 300bhp V6, 4wd. I had the Sport 140bhp 2wd diesel flavour and that was a dream to drive
Loving my F31 335d. A remap won’t give you the feeling you get from a twin turbo straight six diesel. It’s so smooth & linear in its delivery. A pleasure to potter about in and relentless when you want it to be.
I’ve still got my 2009 E91 335i Touring with 81k on the clock. I think it’s plenty big enough (as long as you don’t want 3 in the back) and way faster than anyone needs. It’s a lovely car to drive and feels like a new car to me. Will be sold for an EV at some stage.
I’d post a picture but dont know how.
Woody
Regarding remaps and insurance, they don't make that much of an impact on the cost in my experience. My somewhat standard looking '09 S4 Avant costs me £330 a year, not much more than my wife's Honda 4x4, and mine is putting out 170bhp more than it had from the factory.
A remap won’t give you the feeling you get from a twin turbo straight six diesel. It’s so smooth & linear in its delivery.
Yeah, I kind of knew this when I posted it goes without saying really - I owed an e46 330i previously. I’ve soon to choose a company phev/electric so the BM will remain for the weekend, so I probably need to choose a toy car replacement - a 335d or something else - hence watching this thread closely 🙂
Loving my F31 335d. A remap won’t give you the feeling you get from a twin turbo straight six diesel. It’s so smooth & linear in its delivery. A pleasure to potter about in and relentless when you want it to be
Slight hi-jack
On the subject of remapping , I would like to get my x3 35d done. Who is a reputable reaper to go to?
Thanks
I like estate cars. My 3 previous cars were all estates
- 3.0 V6 diesel Vauxhall Signum. Strange car, was trying to hard to be german and not pull it off. Very barge like. I suppose it was a big hatchback than an estate really
- BMW 525d, but most importantly it was a rare manual. Took me a while to find one. Was strangely nice to drive
- E class estate after that. That was huge inside, much bigger than the BMW. The only thing that was more practical on the 5 series was the rear glass opening separately. I loved that feature on it
With 3 kids and a dog even the biggest estates are too small for family life. That's a real shame. You're generally left with MPVs (I still have self respect 🙂 ) and SUVs, which we really don't need. We ended up with a T6 Kombi, more practical than an estate and I love it. But estates are still so cool! Funny how saloons are less of a thing now than they were, particularly at the smaller end of the spectrum
I always loved the idea of an
@mrmoofo there are loads of places around the country that will do it, probably easiest to go to one near you in case you have any issues. Or if you're IT savvy you can get bootmod3 and do it yourself. I've used Evolve in Luton to get my cars remapped and have not had any issues on previous cars.
Prefer it to the 320D which it replaced and cost less than a bike.
i honestly cant tell what that is.
Avensis of bland?
Absolutely! Bland XS Mk 3 GT Turbo.
You should probably avoid Autotrader
Haha sods law, they do come up for sale once on a blue moon.
Re remaps, they're so common now that they usually barely hurt your insurance (I think also this is a result of how invisible they are, if they charged more then less people would declare it). Varies a lot from car to car, with my mondeo i only got a little more power but the difference in drivability was phenomenal (they'd basically gimped the stock map to make it "easier to drive" because it had a bucket of torque and no traction control). But it was 100% benefit- more power, better economy when cruising, better drivability. Don't think it even paid for itself but that's a bit beside the point.
Not all cars will take to it as well- on a standard car it's more or less a case of "how good is the stock map" and these days that largely means "is it intentionally less good than it could be", for emissions or reliability or ease of driving or model differentiation.
budgierider67
Full MemberA remap won’t give you the feeling you get from a twin turbo straight six diesel.
True but then almost nothing else will except from sitting on a Falcon 9. I love that about fat diesels, even if they're not actually spectacularly fast- like my old mondingo- it still feels like being shoved forward by the hand of god, because it just feels like it never ends or changes.
I forgot to comment earlier. Big sleeper barge - W8 passat estate
It's just a boring old passat to most people
True but then almost nothing else will except from sitting on a Falcon 9. I love that about fat diesels, even if they’re not actually spectacularly fast- like my old mondingo- it still feels like being shoved forward by the hand of god, because it just feels like it never ends or changes.
I'd love this. Looking around today I've found a couple of 335d Xdrives of the same vintage - 2017 - that could replace my 320d albeit they are higher mileage. But thats 7-10k of cost, vs £450 for a remap from 187 to 235bhp / 400 to 550Nm (all approx.) Plus of course the drivability issue.
But it was 100% benefit- more power, better economy when cruising, better drivability.
Probably worse NOx emissions.
isnt there a forum member who has some actual expertise in engine mapping? i'm sure he's been on here and scathing in the past about the aftermarket remaps.
maxtorque?
just avoid the tiprontic auto thing in the w8 passat, I went manual and its loads better and more useable
I wish I never started reading back up on remaps - my engine can be mapped to 821 torques and recieve 100 extra horses for less than the cost of a base SRAM groupset. Saying that when it goes bang and the warranty is invalid or more likely I boot it in the wet and end up in a ditch.....
I think @maxtorque (or whoever it was) was the one working for an OEM on stock engine maps.
My car has 204bhp from 2.1l. People on forums say 'wow I wonder how much power I'd get if I remapped it!' and the answer is not much more. The reason it's such high specific power is that it's already had its balls tuned off and Merc have fitted two turbos.
That said I think it's an air-air intercooler so there's still room for physical mods.
molgrips
Full MemberProbably worse NOx emissions.
Still had all the emissions gear functional- no EGR delete or anything- so I'd be suprised if it made much difference. As a non-city car it's not really a big concern.
Saying that when it goes bang
I've a concern about the auto box / drivetrain, is it designed for the extra stress?
Still had all the emissions gear functional- no EGR delete or anything- so I’d be suprised if it made much difference
As far as I can tell the only way a remap would increase fuel economy and engine response is by advancing injection timing and reducing the amount of EGR. Which would increase emissions.