I’ve a  Bmw 330d e91 remapped to 320bhp, 42mpg. More torque than a ton of pork. 👍

But those 3’s aren’t big are they?

What’s the point remapping a 330d and then driving like a fanny in order to get 42mpg?  Just means you should have bought a 320d…….

I looked at these legacy’s before I bought my Leon. Fantastic cars especially if you can find a manual. They have the bullet proof 2.0. Getting a bit long in the tooth now though and the tax can be pricey. If you can live with the economy after the Mondy 20-28 mpg on a good day worse with the auto.

But those 3’s aren’t big are they?

By no stretch of the imagination. I too am puzzled that people keep posting them in a Big Fast Estates thread.

Same with the Audi A4…certainly big in terms of length, but not big in terms of load space…

What’s the point remapping a 330d and then driving like a fanny in order to get 42mpg?  Just means you should have bought a 320d…….

Really?

Okay…

loads of power and torque when you want to driving fast.

loads of MPGs when you don’t.

Several points in between

Lots of the cars mentioned on this thread have boots no bigger than a normal car. They should not count!

Dad had a Sierra 4×4 estate 2.8 v6. Was a great car to be insured on at 17. A customer has a Range Rover sport SVR. Now that’s a quick estate. And it sounds like a spitfire.

Point of order the TheDTs, a Range Rover whatever is not an estate, it’s an SUV in America or a 4×4 in Blighty.

Hobnob…the Skoda Superb in question is the 4×4 280 tsi estate ..which I put forward earlier in the thread .

Dirk was mentioning that the 220 also has a pretty brisk performance ..

The numbers above relate to the bhp….

I’m not sure what you are driving as engine sizes start at 1400cc..and if that’s what you have got I would agree it’s hardly going to be ” superb ”

The 2000cc tsi petrol engine with 280 bhp and a 0-60 time of 5.3 seconds will be a completely different beast ..and could very well be described as ” superb ” ..

Not all Skoda Superb’s are the same!

Oh I get that, and yes I’m aware what the numbers mean, but they still don’t make a perfectly functional car superb IMO. It’s nothing to do with the performance, it’s all to do with the quality of the interior Vs other premium brands it’s trying to muscle in on. But as I said before, for what it is, it’s exceptionally cheap to lease and give back.

Personally, even with the big petrol engine, I wouldn’t call any of them ‘fast’ either. Only a hot hatch with ~300bhp is fast. A massive estate, brisk.

For it to be fast to me, that bhp number needs to start with a 5.

5.3 seconds to 60 on an estate car that size isn’t fast ..?

Granted it isn’t going to fly around corners too well ..but in a straight line I would say that is pretty impressive

then driving like a fanny in order to get 42mpg

Better and less anti-social than driving like a dick (or being characteristically misogynist on here)

loads of power and torque when you want to driving fast.

When and where would that be on a crowded island with coast to coast traffic?

Granted it isn’t going to fly around corners too well

Well don’t then, there might me couple of people poddling along on bikes, one on each side of the road trying to avoid potholes or perhaps riding around a horse rider.

Both blindingly fast off the lights (which is what matters)

Really? Seriously? straight up not even a little bit tongue in cheek? You race at the lights. Jeeeeeeez.

Edukator…I get that you are safety conscious.. the whole point of the thread is in the title ..but thanks for the Sunday sermon …

Fyi..loads of near empty roads in certain parts of Northumberland ..

.loads of near empty roads in certain parts of Northumberland

Well if you have perfect line of sight, can stop in about a third of the distance you  can see to be absolutely clear and cool it the instant a vulnerable road user appears… .

But really tracks and motorsport would be a better place to play and you’d soon find that whatever your big estate is it’s lousy in absolute terms.

I was looking at  rs4 avant which I know is not a big estate but I figured it’d hold a bike or a labrador. In the end I sort of came to the same conclusion as Edukator (without as much sanctiomony) in that to actually drive it fast would need a trackday and then it’s not exactly a track car.  95% of the time it would driving very slowly and consuming masses of natural resources.

A big torquey diesel is perfect for towing my track car to the fun park.  If only I could afford a track car…  One day….

My boss took his rs6 to a track day. Cooked his brakes pretty quickly…

Audi A6 Avant Black Edition Ultra…

Got one with all the toys, 200bhp, £30 a year to tax and get between 45 & 50mpg on my daily commute (80 miles cross country every day)

Plenty big enough, so much so that I’ve got an itch to swap it for a similar spec A4!

Lovely place to be on a long drive.

Edit.. Fast enough for the real world too

Personally, even with the big petrol engine, I wouldn’t call any of them ‘fast’ either. Only a hot hatch with ~300bhp is fast. A massive estate, brisk.

For it to be fast to me, that bhp number needs to start with a 5.

Think this comment illustrates something we all need to think more about.

We are now so used to big-torque diesels, high-capacity petrol engines and supercar-slaying prestige executive cars that we have forgotten what fast really is.  Fast doesn’t mean sub-5 seconds 0-60, 600nm+ of torque etc…  That really is the world of supercars.  An M5 or RS6 is not an everyday  ‘normal, car.  They are a performance machines.

In the real world, sub 7 seconds 0-60 and and more than c200bhp still makes a fast car.

So many of our mid-range cars are properly fast.  My last 3 cars have been 3.0 diesels – A4, A6, A4.  None of those have been more than 6.5 seconds 0-60 and my current car is 5.2.  In reality that is bloody ludicrous performance.

Lots of the cars mentioned on this thread have boots no bigger than a normal car. They should not count!

Just st a bit of fun innit, killjoy.

Didn’t say I drove like a fanny did I, idiot.

C5 v6 estate is a bit of a sleeper if not super car fast

But again, budget might prohibit such expensive frivolity. Definitely in the case of the RS6 – I was considering an older one some years ago until I started looking into the running costs. Big performance doesn’t come cheap especially in a big heavy estate car. Even if I was gifted one I’m not sure I could afford the running costs….literally. I don’t mean it would cost a lot, I mean it would be completely unaffordable.

The running costs oats are indeed brutal. My uncle had one and a trip to Audi for a brake issue (it needed discs, pads and callipers) plus a minor oil leak came to an astronomical sum that kind of killed the enjoyment of owning the car for him. The fuel didn’t really bother him, he just filled it up and tried to ignore the money asked for…

The ride wasn’t too bad at all if it was left in comfort mode. Anything else was a bit too much. It was hugely impressive but left me a bit cold really and when a corner arrived there was no denying or hiding its immense weight. Personally I much preferred his previous B7 RS4.

Personally, I’d be going for a current RS6. They’re brilliant looking things. But the AMG 63’s sound so filthy (the new ones less so, but they’re still mighty).

if the 3 series is excluded (and I did say that 14 years ago, mine was counted as big and fast, only a 5series was bigger). Then so is the RS4 and the C63, so really this is a thread about the M5 Touring, the RS6 Avant, the E63/55, the Panemera GT, but the latter, whilst a big car does not have have lots of space so should also be excluded…makes it a boring thread,no?

How about the Tesla estate?

I once had a bit of a joust with a RS6, I was in my mates Alfa 156 3.2 which I thought went a bit. To say I got humiliated would be an understatement, the Audi just vanished. Gone disappeared, out of sight 😂

a mate has a A6 3.0 diesel Quattro, very nice, as quick as you want to go and good on fuel. Drove up to Montrose and got out as fresh as a daisy.

Not especially quick just a 1.8 T but my old gorgeous A4 Avant with Votex kit

Soooooo since I’m the OP I make the rules and yeah A4s and BMW 3s are not big.

But then again, while this thread was going I nearly bought a restored 940 with a totally stock 2.3 LPT engine in it and the late manual gearbox and LSD, but that’s not fast, so what do I know.

I am arbitrarily discarding anything fwd. Or rather I’m putting them all in the pile marked “good ideas” whereas this thread is about the pile marked “buyer’s regret”

My autotrader and ebay is still full of turbo Legacies and Stageas, but now some BMWs which I didn’t really “get” before, especially since all the recent ones look like well used bars of soap. And I have an on-off thing with A6s. I’ve always loved the Legnum’s looks even before I had a driving licence, I think they’re gorgeous but tbh it just loses out for not being as easy as the Lecacy or as ridiculous and fugly as the Stagea, and seems to have some extra living-with issues.Budget is £6000 absolute tops so, sadly no porsches. And I am uptight about boots, as far as i’m concerned if it doesn’t have a flat entry (ie no lip on it) it’s not a proper estate so that rules out a couple including I think the glorious Chrysler 300

That CX7 is actually pretty awesome, I’m not going to get one but I do like it. Boot doesn’t look that big? I absolutely love the 2 stupid-engined Zafiras but… no.

For it to be fast to me, that bhp number needs to start with a 5.

As with penis size, it really needs to start with at least an 8. Probably 9.

Therr’s yer dinner……

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201804095375774?onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&advertising-location=at_cars&price-to=7000&radius=50&body-type=Estate&fuel-type=Petrol&sort=sponsored&zero-to-60=TO_8&postcode=eh12aa&page=1

I’m in the same boat as the OP at the moment – I have a 135i that’s been modified to the point of being useless and I’ve just sold my M6 after it nearly ruined me financially. So I’m on the look for something else with a big boot and plenty of poke (and that won’t break).

Have considered a 335d estate and also the v6 A4 avant but having had a 3 series touring before I know how bobbins they are on space. Also had an RS4 which had terrible rear leg room (not helped by the massive seats admittedly) so I’d count either of those out.

Rs6 avants are lovely but still pretty expensive and personally I’d avoid the cheaper fragile v10 engined one. E63’s have a bloody awful interior (unless it’s the brand spanking new one) and are still pretty pricey.

Im at a loss and I’m sick of looking on pistonheads. For a 6k budget I’d probably look at something Japanese – can’t remember if Mazda did the 6 MPS in an estate but they’re always much cheapness. Or maybe consider a Mondeo 220st – they’re MASSIVE in the back..

ISTR that a V10 RS6 was more expensive to run than a V12 Lamborghini – in fact at the time it was the most expensive car to run <Clarkson>in the world</Clarkson).

Wifey has an F31 335D xdrive estate and whilst it’s an impressive piece of kit, it’s not that big (can’t get my 29er in the back without removing a wheel) and as she does a lot of short journeys, not as good on fuel as I had hoped. Buying again I’d probably look at a 330e or 340i if space wasn’t an issue.

It’s nice to drive and goes well, but you can feel the weight of the engine when you push it hard, but at 7/10ths or less it rarely feels 4wd and sounds pretty good too.

Avoid Audi and BMW, obviously.

Certainly A4s and 3 Series. Pitifully small boots.

Is the V10 Torag acceptance’ibble??

It is an environmentally enviable place to sit, after once you floor it you are way ahead of any particulates discharge and so high up all the smog is way below you killing only small aminalz and ikkle kids..

My C63 estate goes tomorrow, trading it against a C250 diesel. The £400 per month fuel bill is not worth it, sadly blimmin crazy silly car though!!

I’ve got the bug again.

Had an e91 335i with enough work done on it to pull 520ish at the crank, but sold it in a fit of sensibility.

Now I want a b8 S4 with the intention of a pulley, remap and intercooler.

Not all that expensive at the moment.. what’s the competition for 15 grand?

The other half wants me to get a 330/530d but I’m using ‘new diesel legislation’ as an ominous justification.

What about a seat cupra st or golf r estate? There were some fairly decent lease deals about for either and second hand prices for the cupra st aren’t too bad. I’ve got a cupra hatchback and averaging just over 30mpg which isn’t too bad for a 300bhp, sub 5s 0-60 car (which can easily be remapped to 354 with stage 1 tuning)

I think if I were after an estate, it would be a seat st or possibly a 335d BMW. RS6 would be the ultimate, even an old one for that V8 rumble but as above, running costs are ludicrous.

The boot on the Leon ST isn’t that big. Looked at getting one a while back and was disappointed with the boot – great fun to drive though .

Bikebouy, That is an SUV. I got told off for mentioning a RR Sport SVR! 😉