What is the best compromise car for a petrolhead MTBer?

I was thinking about this on the way into work today. What would tick both boxes if you could only have the one car.

A petrolhead would want something that is fun, handles well and has a decent turn of speed.

A MTBer would want something that is easy to get their bike in or on and can carry a fair amount of luggage for day trip or even a week away in the alps. Presumably the bigger the better.

For me this compromise is most likely reached with a quickish petrol estate. I would prefer RWD but budgetary constraints hold that back at the moment.

Chris Harris took it to the extreme with going to BPW in his Ferrari FF with his Orange 5 in the boot. I saw a bloke squeeze a bike into the front of his Lotus Exige, god knows how.

So what in your opinion is the best compromise car for a petrolhead MTBer.

Audi RS6 / E63 AMG Wagon / Jag XFR Sportsbrake. Or if they ever make it, the Dodge Hellcat Shooting brake.

800BHP supercharged v8 hatchback.

Renault Twizy

F250 Velociraptor

Focus ST estate?

Relatively unlimited funds (probably involves selling first-born into slavery)? Deffo an Audi RS6 (the V8 version as is sounds awesome).

Reality? I’ve found myself looking at Prius’s.
I think I’ve got to that point in life where I realise I’m never going to own an exciting car 😥

Following in the great STW tradtion of mine-is-bestest:

Not quite sure it ticks all the boxes though 😛

Skoda octavia vrs estate. The diesel is quick enough but the petrol has the same engine as a golf gti.
This might be my next company car or a Leon estate FR.

Subaru Forester XT

Loads of great fast estates either out or coming soon. “Compromise” includes on price IMO so relatively affordable.

Seat Leon ST has a Cupra 280 version (including the Sub8 pack if you want it)
Ford Focus ST estate
Golf R estate
Octavia VRS Estate (now getting the 230bhp map from the Golf GTI)

All under £30k new if you allow a bit of discount.

jimjam what is that, a Challenger breadvan? Looks amazing!

simon_g – Member

Loads of great fast estates either out or coming soon. “Compromise” includes on price IMO so relatively affordable.

Considering the OP mentioned Farrari and Lotus I took the compromise to mean it has to fit a bike, money no object.

I_Ache – Member

jimjam what is that, a Challenger breadvan? Looks amazing!

I think it’s a prototype/concept based on the Challenger Hellcat. Looks awesome alright.

If petrol money wasn’t an issue, Id quite fancy one of these…

This?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201503041427298/sort/default/postcode/pe301db/make/skoda/keywords/vrs/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/fabia/radius/1501/page/2/fuel-type/petrol/usedcars/transmission/automatic/quicksearch/true?logcode=p

180BHP, more space in the back than a 3 series touring…

Rachel

Ariel Atom.

It’s basically made of scaffolding, you could easily keep bolting bike racks and roof boxes all over it.

If it was to be a nice petrolhead type car, the bikes would be kept on the outside anyway, which does away with the cavernous interior requirement.

At the moment, I’d quite happily make do with a Porsche Cayman of some sort with roof bars.

Realistic money would be a Skyline 350GT. Similar performance and driving style but with 2+2 seating, decent boot space and 1/3rd of the price.

Loving the Evo estate and the Challenger FF-alike.

Saw an M3 estate the other day, not official but it had been done to a very convincing standard.

I am currently weighing up getting rid of my 2013 A4 2.0TDI avant and swapping into a 05/06 S4 avant, I need a V8 in my life!

Looks like most people agree with me on the estate factor.

I already have a Focus St Estate which is one of the reasons I was thinking about this.

Personally I wouldn’t want something too big especially if it was being used for fun and traveling down narrow country roads. Otherwise I would pick something like the M5 Touring. I think for me the non existent M3 Touring would be just about perfect. In a world where I have to choose a real car I think the 335i Touring would be the one I went for. Sadly I don’t have £50k to buy the one I want.

The Flying Ox – Member
If it was to be a nice petrolhead type car, the bikes would be kept on the outside anyway, which does away with the cavernous interior requirement.

I don’t like having the bikes on the outside and much prefer to put them in the boot. This also means I can take one to work and go for a ride straight after.

IIRC an RS6 isn’t as useful as you might think – you can’t fit a towbar for a rack as the rear bit is different to all the other A6’s.

Get a van instead. Bikes fit nicely in the back and it goes like stink:

In a world where I have to choose a real car I think the 335i Touring would be the one I went for. Sadly I don’t have £50k to buy the one I want.

Does it have to be brand new? £8500 buys you a fully-specced iDrive ’56 plate: http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/bmw/e90-3-series-05-12/bmw-3-series-e9x-335i-m-sport-touring———–2006/3671488

EDIT: If you have up to £20k, you could have this magnificent specimen:

Audi RS2?

Or maybe the V8 RS4 avant?

M5, C63, E63 maybe?

If money was no object I’d go for a Holden HSV Maloo R8 Ute [/url]

Does it have to be brand new? £8500 buys you a fully-specced iDrive ’56 plate

No but I would prefer to have the ‘new’ car to be newer and have less miles than my current one. Currently a 13 plate with about 16k on it. The milage will likely more than triple by the time I come to sell it.

I had a B7 RS4 Avant, the V8 one. It was bought as an answer to the OP’s question. Not very economical though, so not ideal for long distances. Roof bars were there if I wanted to carry lots of bikes but I could get a couple in the back with the seats down. No (approved) towbar option.

Replaced it with the V6 supercharged S4 (B8). Saloon but seats fold so a bike fits in easily. I could fit a towbar if needed. About 50% more economical than the RS and practically speaking just as quick 98% of the time. Much more comfy too.

For a money no object replacement? Dunno. XFR Sportbrake?

i have a 520i. pretty good for getting bikes in, handles well, not that quick.

so m5 touring.

5 Tourer driver here too, the M5 would tick all the boxes (apart from fuel costs….which is ticked by the diesel version, but not very ‘exciting’)

335d touring.

next!

As plenty of people have said AMG/RS/M5 estates can’t have tow bars fitted easily or with compromising insurance hence not for me. 535d/ E350 / A6 bi-turbo cdi for me or one of the new turbo petrol look good to me.

beej – Member

I had a B7 RS4 Avant, the V8 one. It was bought as an answer to the OP’s question. Not very economical though, so not ideal for long distances.

Can I just pry for a quick second (feel free to not answer here). When you buy something like that, and tax and insure it (presuming you can afford it) how or why do you worry about fuel costs? Is it just the realisation that occurs after owning it that it’s wasteful or is it that you didn’t factor in running costs?

I can’t see me affording something like an RS4 in a hundred years, but my Legacy is probably is every bit as thirsty and uncompromising.

I didn’t get rid of it because of the fuel costs – I do less than 5K miles a year (and cycle 8K!). I got rid of it because one of the DRS struts went and cost £1K to replace – and the other three would need doing at some point. It was 6-7 years old when I sold it, so more expensive bits likely to go wrong. I owned it for 2.5 years.

You are right (if I get where you are coming from) – fuel costs are minor compared to the rest, especially if you don’t drive much.

Insurance was pretty cheap though – £500 per year. I live in a safe area, limited mileage, not used for work or commuting, no points on licence, don’t crash. VED was about £460 I think.

Fair enough, thanks for answering. Just curious about running something like that, and fuel costs are often mentioned when people get shot of their expensive toys. Legacy is £600ish to insure which seems okay for NI rates. Tax is £230 pa. I was cycling 130 miles a week and bought it just to be “my car” for weekends and biking trips. i didn’t anticipate my wife deciding two cars was a luxury and selling hers, and the legacy shitting an engine. So now it’s time to go, cost of petrol is just the nail in the coffin i suppose.

Why not just combine both and you can do away with the car to get you there?

It’s a reasonable question. I once did some sums comparing two cars – the cheaper one was much less economical but the £3K difference in purchase cost would cover a lot of petrol.

I think people notice fuel costs when they own cars because you’re reminded at fairly frequent intervals. I’d fill up the RS4 maybe once every 3-4 weeks, maybe £60-70. At the point of paying you think “Jeez, £70 for petrol!”. You don’t ever think “Jeez, £3K a year depreciation!”.

EDIT in response to your edit – the two cars I were comparing were a Legacy Spec-B (cheaper one) vs a newer UK spec 3.0.

Real petrol head? Has to be the 3.2 159SW