Personally I’d get something like this and retire 2 years earlier with the rest!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010084771707

Thank you for pointing that out Boardman 👍. That’s my next car plan scuppered.. I already have all the kit for atop our 320i but my search will need to continue. I’d probably have changed my mind a 100 times before then anyway.. and AT searches are a hobby of mine.

I’d be going for an Alpine A110 if you can haggle them down a bit (£42k starting on Autotrader).

Guy who runs my local Renault specialist owns an A110. Its a lovely little thing but theres no way I’d personally drop £40k on one.

Flat six.

they’re not even the last of those either, the current GTS (and spyder, if its still around) are both flat 6’s, and nicer ones at that.

Thank you for pointing that out Boardman 👍. That’s my next car plan scuppered.. I already have all the kit for atop our 320i but my search will need to continue. I’d probably have changed my mind a 100 times before then anyway.. and AT searches are a hobby of mine.

M340i ? Quicker than an M3 with the Xdrive.

With that amount to spend personally I think you’d be nuts not to go electric. If you haven’t test driven one yet, even the most basic of electric cars are massively fun to drive.

Yeah the 340i is really nice and available in touring as well which is useful for bikes/camping, as is the 540i. I’ve also been looking at more sensible things.. I love the look of the Volvo V90 but they don’t do a proper 5 cylinder T5 anymore.

Not sure how much fun it’d be but this for £27k is both rapid and useful for the long journeys and bikes – 4wd, 335d 300hp, over 600nm and all the toys.

Fun and dieseasel…🤪

I’d send a little more and buy an I-Pace.

It’ll be worth more in the long run.

Yaris GR4 0-62 under 5.5 seconds and Toyota tend to be conservative. £33500 so a bit left over for flat cap, gloves and a tartan blanket.

If I was spunking the thick end of an imaginary forty grand on a car to have fun in it’d be a Jaguar XJR.

I’d have much more fun in that than in any Mini.

if I HAD to spaff £40k on a vehicle..deffo a posh t6, maybe caravelle, with lots of seats and bike space. and air con.

DrP

Rock and/or Roll

Decent R-spec Jaaaag for that kind of money.

…XKR, XFR, XJR

Fantastic machines

I love how the OP’s previous posts are being dissected. Perhaps he’s got £40K to spend on a car because he’s careful not to spend too much on gym membership.

this is the second thread in two days where references to people who are short have been used in a derogative way. i’m offended and i’d like the mods to do something about it, please.

anyway, fun car. difficult question. most are too fast to be ragged about and the ones that are not fast are too grippy and isolate the driver from the sensations of driving.

why not test drive an mx-5 in 1.5 and 2.0 versions and see if you find those fun.

it is also fun driving a diesel car with lots of torque. a 3 series with a 6 cylinder engine would be good for that.

I would get a new Civic Type R Sport Line (toned down version without the huge spoiler but same performance)

I have a C63 wagon that was in that sort of price range. Added a decent exhaust, upgraded the air filters and had a basic ECU tune so my insurance and warranty aren’t screwed. There’s a real sense of occasion every time I fire it up from cold. Its a bit frisky in the wet but a sticky set of tyres made a huge difference. If you want fun and practical load carrying its perfect. I am, however, consuming a significant proportion of OPECs annual output. Next car is likely to be electric though because I have significant guilt about my environmental impact, but, the V8 was on my bucket list.

Spent less than that on a 340i Touring which is a fantastic car. Replaced the S3 which was more fun but sadly not very practical. Still have a hankering to own a loud V8 before it is totally unacceptable to run such a thing.

E63 Estate without the turbo maybe?

perchypanther

A JCW Mini that you took delivery of, brand new, still in the plastic in June 2017?

It’s still good, running 305 bhp and is a bit too noisy on my commutes but overtaking lorries and queues of slow cars stuck behind lorries when safe to do so.

Looking at a Clubman JCW this weekend. Similar power but 5 doors and a bigger boot. 4 wheel drive up to 75 mph.

Will check out some of the suggestions thanks.

I can imagine why you’re hankering over 4wd when your spinning 305bhp through a Mini’s fronts, how’s the torque steer on that, fiesty? Mini hatches are cool, anything bigger from the Mini range is highly dubious..even Mini are aware of that.

The correctly driven wheels for that amount of power- in a suitably light car, are the ones behind you.

Please have a go in a Cayman, Alpine…do it for us.

Minis have equal length driveshafts so I dont think torque steer is an issue. Understeer is another story..

I have a C63 wagon that was in that sort of price range. Added a decent exhaust, upgraded the air filters and had a basic ECU tune so my insurance and warranty aren’t screwed. There’s a real sense of occasion every time I fire it up from cold. Its a bit frisky in the wet but a sticky set of tyres made a huge difference. If you want fun and practical load carrying its perfect. I am, however, consuming a significant proportion of OPECs annual output. Next car is likely to be electric though because I have significant guilt about my environmental impact, but, the V8 was on my bucket list.

Nice 👍 W205 wagon here, fits a bike quite happily in it too, although was stressing about the mud so got a bag for the bike. Nothing like a V8 after a ride 🤣

Nothing like a V8 after a ride

That’s why I bought my RS5 while you still can

Had a Dragy box delivered today and a GoPro Hero 9 Black (to stick to the inside of the sunroof). I’ll post some videos on here of the results to upset a few snowflakes 😂

There was a very similar thread not long back.

OP – you need to decide what you want in a car.

Your money will get lots of ‘very nice’ but ultimately dull cars and some ‘fun’ cars.

Pick any brand at £40k and it will be nice.

At your budget I would be looking Porsche 981 Cayman / Boxter S, or 718 if you can stomach the engine.

Also Lotus Evora. Alpine A110 is prob just outside budget. BMW M2 competition is also top end of budget. I looked at one last week. What put me off was the fact it’s certainly fun to drive, but the same cabin as any BMW, and a bit boy racer, and certainly not special. Get in a Cayman/ Boxter and turn the engine and you know your in something special.

Things like BMW 340i are just ‘nice’ cars, very fast but just a bit dull. I currently drive a 330e. Which is very fast, very quiet, very nice inside. You can have fun with it with the traction on limited or off, but you just are never quite part of the car unlike a true sports car.

Speak to Titusrider on here he just recently bought a lovely Boxter 981 GTS

Agree with FD:

I bought a New Cupra ST 4drive last year. Hugely competent car, very rapid, but leaves me somewhat cold. My old 325i, whilst not as fast, is more engaging to drive, being fully manual, RWD and the last of the N/A 6. I won’t get shot of the it until it dies. Then I’ll probably get a small hot hatch.

Might get rid of the cupra for a van however…

Very good point MT. I actually drove my E90 325i to test one of those 335d Xdrive’s linked to up there ^^^ and it left me a bit underwhelmed. Hugely fast, and it would have absolutely roasted my 325i in any circumstance you care to name.. but it was just a bit cold. I got back in my car and had a more enjoyable drive home having decided it wasn’t for me. TBH I just don’t get the whole ‘performance diesel’ market. Or ‘performance SUV’ but that’s a whole other thread..

I think this ^^ is a very good point.  I like that coldness in my 320d NRFLT because I just want a long journey for work / from a 4-12 hr mtb race to be easy on me, it’s point, shoot and cosset.   For the same thing a proper sports car would likely be horrible for my middle aged body at that point.

A few posts in I thought the OP wanted a car he could also journey to work in, so it depends on how long and free those journeys are.  20 miles in the right Boxster could be very pleasant, 2 hours in the wrong one may not be.  IMO performance diesels are mostly for middle aged people like me, who wanted the ease and frugality of a cruise but whose main expression of fun might be limited to a fast overtake/nice looking exterior.   If you want have fun for a couple of years then The Artist probably has the right middle ground, extend that to an RS4/6 if you need carrying ability.

Where you live may have a bearing.  Locally I couldn’t have any “fun” under a speed limit.  I’d have to drive out the the Essex /Herts rural areas at a point I’d be enjoying myself well under the speed limits, without going bonkers.  I’d really have to love my car though, because I’d be driving it for driving’s sake – the last time that happened was 1981 in a mint, black, twin choke XR3 in deepest Sussex.  If you live rurally maybe that helps justify something older like a 147 GTA or S2000 project that you could play with alongside a more “long mileage friendly” vehicle for weekdays.

Actually re my last para, no, I’d want one car that does both. Personally an RS6 would be my perfect vehicle, albeit with a financial headache alongside.  I’d love to own one.

I’ve had all sorts of cars in the past but lots of the modern super hatches,combined with modern rubber are just too competent for the roads, especially when combined with DSG etc. I do love my Cupra with 380 bhp, it’s a chilled commuting car but also monstrously quick (under two minutes at Oulton for the long circuit which is seriously impressive for a road going shopping trolley), you overtake on a national speed limit road and you are deep into three figures unless you feather the throttle, which is a little bit silly nowadays. The car suits me and it does lots of trackdays, but it would not be my choice as a “fun” car on the road.

Older AMG would be my fun choice, something that demands attention and caution even in the dry… or VW van and older mini or MX5.

I have to commute 250 miles a week and my job is challenging.

Depending on how tired you are when you drive, consider looking at a superficially more boring car that’s loaded with driver assistance packages. I frequently have to do a 3 hour journey when I’ve been up all night and it would be a struggle without the computer handling some of the boring bits.

Volvo do the T8 Polestar, used ones are just in your budget I think. 384hp combined petrol / electric.

Audi / Volvo / BMW / etc all have roughly equivalent semi-autonomous talents now. Volvo has the advantage IMHO because it’ll happily pass on the left (ahem) while the others are a bit more law-abiding.

I am not sure what happened in the last 30 years where people now ‘need’ over 300bhp in a hatchback. I had plenty of fun in hatchbacks with just over 100bhp and the increased power doesn’t make them any more fun for me, just more a danger to others.

If,if I had that kind of cash I’d get the best S2000 I could find and a box fresh, brand new 2CV.

I’d be looking at an RS4 or M3 for that money if it’s the swan song for combustion you’re after.

I’d send a little more and buy an I-Pace.

They’re a lot more but by hell they’re fast.

I had plenty of fun in hatchbacks with just over 100bhp and the increased power doesn’t make them any more fun for me

I suppose that since modern cars are roughly twice as fat as older models, more power is needed to shove them around.

I frequently have to do a 3 hour journey when I’ve been up all night and it would be a struggle without the computer handling some of the boring bits.

What’s your route? I just want to make sure I’m not on my bike near you whilst you’re driving half asleep.

I am not sure what happened in the last 30 years where people now ‘need’ over 300bhp in a hatchback.

Can you not read? You need it for driving whilst tired. 300bhp is actually safer than pulling over & having a kip. Up it to 400bhp and you can also safely drive drunk 🍺 👍

What’s your route? I just want to make sure I’m not on my bike near you whilst you’re driving half asleep.

I would argue that if you’re riding your bike on the M1 then you have bigger problems than me. 😉

It’s probably the future, I see the latest cars coming out have the ability to connect to the 5G network which will be able to inform the cars systems of the upcoming environment. So when paired with all the active autonomy in the car, your average driver on the road would probably be safer anyway if they just joined a controlled 5G train on the motorway and nodded off after their challenging job…Volvo will be the first to get you all the way home and tuck you up in bed, on the left hand side.

I think the thread has drifted somewhat.

This is about fun whilst driving. And yes, you can do it whilst staying within the law.

Automated systems, whilst useful, deskill drivers and make life boring on the road. My Cupra, with auto-box, auto handbrake, auto everything quite frankly makes for a cosseting, but duller drive than my older fully-manual BMW. My conundrum is that the Cupra is perfect for my 130 mile cross country commute, being relaxed when you need it, but fast too when you need it and very stealthy. But it aint what I’d call ‘fun’.

Perhaps my commute doesn’t lend itself to such a car.

Going back to the OP’s query, a late M140/240i with full Bird treatment (LSD etc) might be a stealth alternative to an M2/3….