upto £3000. Decent turn of pace, 4/5 seats, petrol

upto £3000. Decent turn of pace, 4/5 seats, petrol

Author
Discussion

rolo0151

Original Poster:

260 posts

170 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Looking for something to commute to train station, bit of weekend driving etc

Would love another Corrado vr6 but feel it might be a bit of a problem being the age they are.

4/5 seats
Nice sounding (petrol)
Decent turn of pace 0-60 under 8 sec
Preferably manual

Been considering these........

Saab 9-3 aero
Jag x type 3.0
Bmw 330
Alfa gt
Mercedes clk 320
Leon cupra
Audi TT 225

Anyone that can think of anything else interesting?

Cheers

Edited by rolo0151 on Tuesday 6th September 22:27

smn159

13,418 posts

224 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Volvo V70R.

I loved mine smile

CountZero23

1,288 posts

185 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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X type's are awfull cars and no fun at all.

Why not an early Mini Cooper S?

NickM450

2,637 posts

207 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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SAAB 9-5 AERO

Noobtune Stage 1 map
Quality air filter and Forge DV008 dump valve.

Circa 280Bhp and, as far as I'm concerned, a nice sounding car. I can really hear the turbo spool and a proper woo-tish - 90's style cool

Should also see a nice bit of change from your budget... or go Stage 3 and see 300+Bhp thumbup

Johnny 89

827 posts

159 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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How about an RX-8?

Digby

8,284 posts

253 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Volvo T5 - Despite having had two 'R' versions, you don't gain much over a T5 but tend to pay a lot more.

Find a decent V70 or S70 for a grand to 1.5k and map it for a few hundred quid and 280+ bhp, or spend all the rest of the dosh on mods and turn it into a real flying machine with a fantastic burble.

Potatoes

3,572 posts

177 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Is a Clio 182/Civic Type R too small?

You'd get a lot of car for the money!

rolo0151

Original Poster:

260 posts

170 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
The Volvo is a bit on the big side & just not something I like the look of.

Would be interested in a 9-5 though.

Wouldn't touch an rx8. To many horror stories.

I like the idea of a Clio, mini, type r but not sure if at 38 years old they have passed me by.


Never got how people rave about mondeo st220 but the x type gets a battering. Not drove either personally but think the 3.0 x types look good on paper.


Digby

8,284 posts

253 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
rolo0151 said:
The Volvo is a bit on the big side & just not something I like the look of.

Would be interested in a 9-5 though.
Not sure about phase 2's, but I would think the phase 1 volvo's (estates and saloons) are smaller than a 9-5 seeing as they were about the same length as my booted Mondeo.

I love a Saab, but don't get one if you think a Volvo is big!

Zeemax_Mini

1,222 posts

258 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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MG ZT 190? Bought mine as a short term tool whilst I was doing up a flat a couple of years ago, having sold my Cerbera, and have actually really ended up bonding with it. Comfy, fairly nippy, handles well and isn't worth anything so doesn't matter where I leave it or if it gets scratched etc. Hasn't cost me anything bar front tyres and alot of fuel, but bearing in mind I paid £1500 for a 2005 car with 35k miles on it, it's just not worth changing!

Dom

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
rolo0151 said:
The Volvo is a bit on the big side & just not something I like the look of.

Would be interested in a 9-5 though.
The V70 and 9-5 are more or less exactly the same size. They are the best bet for a clean car with decent performance and the size you need for a £3k budget though, most of the German stuff you have mentioned has enough chav appeal that £3k gets you a proper shagged out one. 9-5 is probably the best bet, the V70 holds it's value better and getting a clean T5 for less than £3k can be a challenge. Don't discount the low pressure turbo 2.5T V70, it has 200bhp and can be easily remapped to 250bhp.

I understand any image concerns you may have about a Volvo, but having begrudgingly bought one it was quite surprising how much I came to like it, they really are excellent. The 9-5 is far too General Motors for my liking, and I find the four pot engines effective but ultimately characterless. Their party trick back in the early 2000s was mid range torque, and now everything is turbocharged it's not in the slightest bit impressive.

X-Type 3.0 has a bit too much bork risk for £3k for my tastes - at £1k you can throw it away and not feel too sad, but when the car owes you £3k you're kind of committed to fixing it when it throws up a £800 bill for the AWD system. They also give away their shared Ford and Jaguar heritage by suffering from quite serious rust issues. Lovely when they work though, and quick in 3.0 manual form. Would an S-Type suit? A post 2004 facelift model is a much less hideous car than the early models, and the 3.0 is reliable and brisk.

To get a decent car for £3k you need to be thinking leftfield and unfashionable I'm afraid hehe

Edited by dme123 on Tuesday 6th September 22:46

Meridius

1,608 posts

159 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Civic Type R, Megane 225

rolo0151

Original Poster:

260 posts

170 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
More the looks of the Volvo that puts me off.
The 9-5 is very appealing. Prices seem pretty low & as has been said, they don't seem to fall into the wrong hands.

Seems to be mostly autos for sale. Any experience of the auto?

egor110

17,365 posts

210 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
I'd rethink the clio 182 , mini cooper s idea .

Yes there hot hatches but there ideal for what you want , driving to the station and hooning at the weekends.

Hot hatches are so easy to drive, park and the clio's don't look that lairy provided there not plastered in stickers.

I've got a saab 9-5 aero and i did have a clio cup , the saab's party trick is loads of mid range torque what ever gear your in you can plant your foot and off you go however it's a big old thing around the b roads i mostly drive on.

The clio doesn't have loads of torque so you have to rev it and you have to use the gears properly ie rev match , blip the throttle when changing down , the handling of the clio was awesome though i lost my nerve before the car lost grip around corners it just gripped dragged you out and spat you out to the next corner.

Very good on fuel and pretty reliable as long as the clutch isn't on it's last legs and the cambelts been done.

anonymous-user

61 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
quotequote all
rolo0151 said:
More the looks of the Volvo that puts me off.
The 9-5 is very appealing. Prices seem pretty low & as has been said, they don't seem to fall into the wrong hands.

Seems to be mostly autos for sale. Any experience of the auto?
It's a 5 speed Aisin Warner gearbox, same one used in the Volvo, various Vauxhalls, FWD Toyotas and God knows what else. It's a perfectly decent 5 speed auto, not as good as the RWD ZF 5 speed box in a BMW/proper Jaguar perhaps. They need fluid changes, despite the sealed for life claims, but if they get them then big mileages are not a problem. If it changes fine from cold and during a 30 odd minute test drive then there is no reason to expect problems if you stay on top of the fluid changes and don't mercilessly abuse it.

Digby

8,284 posts

253 months

Tuesday 6th September 2016
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Just seen that on retro rides. Not a million miles from you?

http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/191932/saab...

Joe5y

1,530 posts

190 months

Wednesday 7th September 2016
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Surely the 330 would be the pick of that bunch?

mark.c

1,090 posts

187 months

Wednesday 7th September 2016
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325Ti ?

sjc

14,308 posts

277 months

Wednesday 7th September 2016
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Zeemax_Mini said:
MG ZT 190? Bought mine as a short term tool whilst I was doing up a flat a couple of years ago, having sold my Cerbera, and have actually really ended up bonding with it. Comfy, fairly nippy, handles well and isn't worth anything so doesn't matter where I leave it or if it gets scratched etc. Hasn't cost me anything bar front tyres and alot of fuel, but bearing in mind I paid £1500 for a 2005 car with 35k miles on it, it's just not worth changing!

Dom
I've done exactly the same,at same money ( twice ) with a V6 75.

PomBstard

7,110 posts

249 months

Wednesday 7th September 2016
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Can you get Legacy 3.0 for that money over there? The Volvos wouldn't see which way it went and its a v nice engine in a very well engineered car. A bit thirsty, but then turbocharged Swedes have also been nominated...