molgrips – Member

It doesn’t matter how much torque it has, a sporty diesel will never be a sporty petrol

Could still be better though [/quote]

Yes, there’s definitely a time and place where diesels would be more suitable, but I think in the context of what the op is asking, it’s gonna be more petrol orientated.

There will always be exceptions though 🙂
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aR4Myr9QHI0[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYYY0VteK1Q[/video]

BMW 330D – I know it’s an oil burner, but it has more torque than the new M3/M4
Very nice, very quick cars. However, also very comfy, quiet and sensible so not exactly silly

I had knew last year for 4 months or so as a stop gap while I was waiting to take delivery of my new car. I loved it, lovely lovely engine. Not very silly at all though.

Came pretty close to buying a BMW 540 estate instead of the Octavia as the closest thing to an M5 estate (because they are as rare as rocking horse pooh).

I keep looking at abarth 500s. Not in the same league as a M5 but should still be a bit of a laugh.

Bought the 3.2 Quattro! Holy sheet it’s awesome! I think the silly category does fall into its mpg averaging around 26.. I’ve turned off the mpg on screen display now! It’s got a lot of comfort toys and is sline so I’m really happy with the choice – can’t believe how powerful it is but silky smooth delivery. Dsg is awesome!

Berlingo is for sale in the classifieds for anyone wanting a sensible car!

*prays that some one buys the berlingo and shoves a mahoosive engine in it*

Alexx, glad to hear you’re enjoying your toy, I only run with range left showing just so I never run out by accident 😆
And yes DSG is also great, best of both worlds……you got/ tried launch control yet?
I can thoroughly recommend the guys at VagTech down in Milton Keynes for servicing/any issues/upgrades etc.

Bit too North for mk but thanks for the suggestion! Launch control yep! The guy didn’t even know it had half the features! Happy boy! Do you run 98 or 95 ron (assuming you’ve got a petrol)?

test drove a golf GTI, 2.0 turbo 200 bhp standard(£500 ecu change for 250 bhp) reliable, cheap tax and 30-35mpg. feels very quick. really need an estate tho…

^ Golf R estate then.

NZCol – Member

^ Golf R estate then.

STW approved Progress Maker

VagTech

<Sniggers at the back>
😆

Not remotely fun / interesting or good looking enough to justify the fuel bills. They don’t even sound that great – the exhaust note is very muted compared to the R32. They’re also not great to drive – a mate had one and it was fairly swift but not in the least bit exciting.

There’s got to be loads more fun cars for that kind of money.

Sorry dude – just realised that you’ve bought it (commented before reading all of the thread as I’m at work).

The DSG ‘box is indeed pretty good – I really like it on the GTi that we test drove.

You’ll get immune to the sense of speed pretty quickly – our 330 felt like arocket ship when we first got it (compared to her Corsa and my nasty diesel Ford company car). It now feels adequate at best (or after driving my step uncle’s V10 RS6 totally inadequate).

I was in a vehicle recently that had nearly 1000nm of torque, and yes you read that right. Just under 700lbs ft. It was a diesel, and it felt like diesel

You can imagine the Le Mans drivers when Audi said you will be driving this

‘ahh but its a diesel it will never be sporty like a petrol car, we’ll never win now’ 😯

Alexx, I run it full time on She’ll Nitro+ too keep the engine clean but also if you have the handbook it actually recommends running it on 98 RON and above over the 95 RON. I’ve filled up ready to pointlessly kill some baby robins tomorrow for no other reason than I want to!

Congratulations on the purchase, everyone should get a quick car at some point. I thought I’d use this as an excuse to post a piccy of my current runabout.

alexxx Do you run 98 or 95 ron (assuming you’ve got a petrol)?

I’d be surprised if it actually made a difference. Most modern uk cars are mapped for 95 ron from the factory. Unless you get a remap or advance to the timing to take advantage of higher octane fuels then I doubt the engine will perform any differently.

I could be wrong, I guess the engine could have a different cam profile over a certain rpm that might necessitate a higher octane, I’m no Audi expert. Pretty much every car now will sample the fuel, and if your car generally runs on 99 octane you many notice the car running lumpy of a minute or two while the ecu checks the fuel. This is what most people are referring to when they tell you their Golf or whatever runs crap on supermarket fuel.

I’d be surprised if it actually made a difference. Most modern uk cars are mapped for 95 ron from the factory. Unless you get a remap or advance to the timing to take advantage of higher octane fuels then I doubt the engine will perform any differently

I thought it was the other way round – that the engine is optimised for higher octane fuel and will retard the performance if a lower octane fuel is used.

Our 330 manual says something along these lines.

I can’t really tell the difference if I’m honest, but still run it on higher octane fuel.

I had a 993 turbo as a stupid car. It was stupid, esp in the wet but it also went up in value which made it less stupid. I still cry a little bit when i remember selling it.

mindmap3

I thought it was the other way round – that the engine is optimised for higher octane fuel and will retard the performance if a lower octane fuel is used.

Our 330 manual says something along these lines.

I can’t really tell the difference if I’m honest, but still run it on higher octane fuel.

The problem with that in theory is that if the engine is optimised for High octane, and you run lower octane then you run the risk of pre detonation and destroy the engine. If it’s optimised for 95 ron and you run 110 ron, nothing bad will happen. Hence the vast majority of cars come out of the factory mapped for the most common grade fuel wherever it’s being sold.

Your engine could well have a knock sensor to detect pre det, but I’d imagine if it did, it would throw up an engine warning light and perhaps put the car into limp mode or something.

I had a 993 turbo as a stupid car. It was stupid, esp in the wet but it also went up in value which made it less stupid. I still cry a little bit when i remember selling it.

993’s are lovely and currently very expensive – a family member is a Porsche geek and has two – one that he’s had for years and uses as a daily driver and another that is for ‘best’ / appreciating.

Your engine could well have a knock sensor to detect pre det, but I’d imagine if it did, it would throw up an engine warning light and perhaps put the car into limp mode or something.

Not really sure how it works if I’m honest – the manual recomends higher octane fuel and a quick google suggests that the car won’t make full power on 95-ron. No idea if this is true or not.

I would have said an Audi S8

Thanks for the advice on the fuel ect. I agree with most comments too – it’s not a “silly” purchase but silly enough for me now! I wasn’t after an all out demon on the roads but something that was the good side of 200bhp and comfortable and the audi ticks those boxes and it’s a really nice place to be sat. I’d be surprised if I could get more car for the cash.

I’m going to run 95 and fill it up with 98 every 4 tanks to give it a clean out – seems like a fair compromise?

I had a free coil recall that audi did the other day with a wash and a wax on the house… turns out they found some things that need fixing £2600 estimated bill! turns out I should have been a mechanic for £100 an hour! … anyway ordered the bits which came to a less sinister £300 and will sort it at the weekend!

Paid the first tax bill and winced a little!

You could get a small car and have a hoot

LUPO GTI
Twingo Cup
Skoda VRS remap

quite a few others as well

silliness is relative

Congratulations on the purchase, everyone should get a quick car at some point. I thought I’d use this as an excuse to post a piccy of my current runabout.

Thanks for that. Swapped mine for 3 kids an an S Max 😀

Your engine could well have a knock sensor to detect pre det, but I’d imagine if it did, it would throw up an engine warning light and perhaps put the car into limp mode or something.

The engine has a knock (det) sensor fitted to it, this can be anything from a simple piezo microphone that listens for it to far more complex systems that look at what happens as the plugs fire such as BMWs ion current system that can tell from how the spark jumps how close it is to det. If the sensor detects trouble the ECU simply retards the ignition timing a bit which will prevent the knock. It will gradually try to advance the ignition again if no further problems occur until it figures out where the limit is. However, on most cars the default map is safe on standard fuel and the ability to get more out of higher octane fuel is very limited or zero. It should, however cope with a bad batch of fuel without problems and then slowly recover to standard mapping once it’s running on good fuel again. The BMW system above is once of the few that can get more than the quoted stock engine output from better than expected fuel.

That VAG 3.2 V6 is a lovely sounding engine its a shame they are phasing it out in favour of four-pot turbos. Fair enough they are more powerful and efficient but when you have to play fake engine noise through the speakers to get a decent “engine” sound they are obviously missing something.

BMW 330D – I know it’s an oil burner, but it has more torque than the new M3/M4

I really wish people would stop wittering on about torque its pretty meaningless in isolation. More torque than an M3, but guess what 30% longer gearing so 30% less wheel torque and it makes about half the power.

BTW a routemaster bus makes 1800 ft/lb of torque. I wouldn’t call it sporty though!

Good call.

Just today I’ve decided one of these is on the radar

645ci

I will mostly be getting to work by bike or train, we need an extra car for the odd time one of us has to run the kids somewhere whilst the other car is in service.

I’m normally very sensible, save my extra money, but I always wanted the old 6 series (might still get one of those instead) and who knows, will be dead one day.

We have underground parking and I’ll be doing such little mileage the big engine doesn’t worry me too much.

Those 6-ers are so cheap these days and one of the reasons that I’m staying in my company car scheme! If I took the cash, I’d end up looking at them seriously. They’re not massively pretty (rear end in particular) but the interior is a nice place to sit and they’re a bit of a bargain.

Just seen a 650 cabriolet one….if you are going to go silly, might as well go the whole hog.

Growinglad, read up on valve stem seal wear on those engines before jumping in. It’s a lovely engine to drive but there seems to be a common / endemic issue with the valve stem seals wearing and it burning oil. At the very least, if you go to see one, let it have a long idle (5-10 mins) then give it a rev and look for smoke out the exhaust.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bmw+650i+valve+seals&oq=bmw+650i+val&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.22759j0j7&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

Thanks robinlaidlaw, appreciate it.

I’ve got a mate who’s a proper BMW nut, he does a fair bit of work with them too. I shall be badgering him on all the things to double check.

Just looked at the price of some of those 6 series. That is a LOT of car for the money