What car. Up to 4.5m

[DoubleD]

Hi all,

My commute is shortly due to change to 45 miles each way, most of which is motorway and the rest is B roads. I would like a car that can do this on 2 gallons a day, but i would also still like decent performance. A few important features for a long commute to me are reliability, comfort, decent headlights, decent stereo and good handling, but im happy with a manual. I would like something thats not too old or too many miles on it.

One problem, due to my parking space i can only look for cars that are up to about 4.5 meters long.

My budget for all this is up to about £6k ish

So what would you buy?

[gmasterfunk]

Thread title disappoints. I thought a billionaire was doing a what car.

[Slow]

Ah, from the title I thought £4.5m and was awaiting you to say it was in some odd currency

[clowesy]

The title had me thinking this was the biggest ever budget for a "what car?"

[poing]

Disappointed, thought you were shopping with £4.5 million.

Back in reality I think the default answer is a Volvo or Skoda of some sort but who cares when it could have been so much better.

[DoubleD]

Ha ha yeah looking at it now it does read like I'm after a rather expensive car! Unfortunately I'm after something a little bit cheaper than that.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

DoubleD said:

Hi all,

My commute is shortly due to change to 45 miles each way, most of which is motorway and the rest is B roads. I would like a car that can do this on 2 gallons a day, but i would also still like decent performance. A few important features for a long commute to me are reliability, comfort, decent headlights, decent stereo and good handling, but im happy with a manual. I would like something thats not too old or too many miles on it.

One problem, due to my parking space i can only look for cars that are up to about 4.5 meters long.

My budget for all this is up to about £6k ish

So what would you buy?

Get whatever car you want, then shorten it....

[SWoll]

A above, though it was going to be a £4.5 million budget and only checked in to see what 300bhp/ton had suggested.

[DUMBO100]

4.5 million Nigerian dollars. I will put a pigeon in your bank account

[DoubleD]

Thanks for all the useful advise. I will buy an angle grinder.

[poing]

Just because I was curious I checked and found this useful site: http://www.automobiledimension.com/car-comparison....

Seems you're looking at Golf/Focus size.

[DoubleD]

I was thinking about a 2.2 Civic type s GT.

[caelite]

DoubleD said:

I was thinking about a 2.2 Civic type s GT.

Dude... type R or bust.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say the Focus ST-3 would be a good call but it would be 3 gallons a day.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Or more sensible

Clio GT
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

[MrBarry123]

gmasterfunk said:

Thread title disappoints. I thought a billionaire was doing a what car.

[DoubleD]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say the Focus ST-3 would be a good call but it would be 3 gallons a day.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Or more sensible

Clio GT
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Thanks for the ideas. But an ST3 is going to use more fuel than i would like. The clios are a bit slow and possibly not very comfy.

[300bhp/ton]

DoubleD said:

Hi all,

My commute is shortly due to change to 45 miles each way, most of which is motorway and the rest is B roads. I would like a car that can do this on 2 gallons a day, but i would also still like decent performance. A few important features for a long commute to me are reliability, comfort, decent headlights, decent stereo and good handling, but im happy with a manual. I would like something thats not too old or too many miles on it.

One problem, due to my parking space i can only look for cars that are up to about 4.5 meters long.

My budget for all this is up to about £6k ish

So what would you buy?

First up, on many levels you seem to be asking the impossible.... and then want it new and at a bargain price.


I think a true 45mpg a day is going to be the biggest hurdle. Very few petrol cars are really going to do this. And ones that can are going to be small, so likely not fitting for your comfort requirement. Which means diesel is the only real option. But even then I think it'll be a tall order.

I'm currently running an X-Type Jag diesel. Which probably still falls short on some of your requirements (although it's actually quite a nice car). But I can only get it do 42-44mpg over 8000 miles doing circa 75 miles a day. Close, but not quite and it's not what I'd call speedy.

A more modern BMW diesel 1 Series might see the speed and performance. But probably not the most comfy offering.



But I would say I've been looking for some other ideas. Jag XJ6 TDV6 2.7, but they are only rated at 35mpg.... The same engine in an S-Type can be had with a manual, but still only 39mpg rated.

Freelander 2 TD4, probably not your thing exactly. But probably a nice all round vehicle. They seem to be rated at around 40mpg.


One that does take my interest is an Alfa Brera JTD with the 2.4 diesel. But only rated at 42mpg and plenty of claims that it actually returns less.

[ZX10R NIN]

More sensible with more grunt

2012 Megane GT Line (this looks like a good car with enough power to not feel slow, whilst hitting your MPG target) 130bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Focus Titanium 135bhp
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Monday 10th October 23:27

[Spuffington]

Sounds like a really conflicting wish list.

Slightly biased recently, but I'll throw a Skoda Yeti into the mix since it's a hoot to drive, does >50mpg on pretty much every longish journey I do and at the very least 45mpg on EVERY journey, seemingly regardless of where I go and how I drive it and should fit the bill on the dimension size too.

Whether the performance on offer is enough for you, I don't know. But in my experience, the greater the Performance envelope, the more likely you are to exploit it and therefore the fuel economy always suffers. And although lots of cars can achieve the 45mpg you're targetting - in theory at least - there are few that actually manage it in the real world.

[funkyrobot]

MrBarry123 said:

gmasterfunk said:

Thread title disappoints. I thought a billionaire was doing a what car.

One is after a snotter. Budget is £4.5m.