Discussion
As a 51 year old fairly serious gent, who can talk , say, politics and photosynthesis if needs be, when considering a new car, I still want some performance, and not a generic SUV which has pedestrian performance.
I thought I might like a fiesta St but having driven a 2019 ST-3 recently, which I liked a lot, and it would no doubt be great around the lanes the problem is, even in Somerset it just didn't gave enough poke for me say , entry to dual carriageway and overtakes.
I would say it felt a little slower or on par with my UK Impeza turbo that i first had 22 years ago.
For 17/18k, I want more so I am now looking at Leon Cupra, M140i and for an extra 3/4 k hoping for that missing shove of the ST but, some people say they're dull in comparison?
Maybe I can sacrifice some of that feel for the times you just want stronger acceleration,?
My brother calls me a boy racer lol but, I want the very strong acceleration , when you just want to cover that 2/3 car overtake or the guy in the car that wants to give you a hard time at lights or merges and I am not quite ready to drive like gran yet!
It would be much easier if I would be happy with a Quashqi or Tiguan tdi but not there yet!
I have no family considerations and could spend much more but, I am cheap so 20k max!
Any others around my age relate or am i unique, lol??!
I thought I might like a fiesta St but having driven a 2019 ST-3 recently, which I liked a lot, and it would no doubt be great around the lanes the problem is, even in Somerset it just didn't gave enough poke for me say , entry to dual carriageway and overtakes.
I would say it felt a little slower or on par with my UK Impeza turbo that i first had 22 years ago.
For 17/18k, I want more so I am now looking at Leon Cupra, M140i and for an extra 3/4 k hoping for that missing shove of the ST but, some people say they're dull in comparison?
Maybe I can sacrifice some of that feel for the times you just want stronger acceleration,?
My brother calls me a boy racer lol but, I want the very strong acceleration , when you just want to cover that 2/3 car overtake or the guy in the car that wants to give you a hard time at lights or merges and I am not quite ready to drive like gran yet!
It would be much easier if I would be happy with a Quashqi or Tiguan tdi but not there yet!
I have no family considerations and could spend much more but, I am cheap so 20k max!
Any others around my age relate or am i unique, lol??!
Not quite as old as you (44), but have definitely got a bit of boy racer still in me. Got an m140 last year having never really owned a decent car (just used bikes for my speed thrils). Have stage 1bm3 map and LSD fitted so far, got a set of new wheels and an under race to go on next week. Then I think it'll be more suspension mods, sports cat and stage 2+ tune 😁.
oceanview said:
As a 51 year old fairly serious gent, who can talk , say, politics and photosynthesis if needs be, when considering a new car, I still want some performance, and not a generic SUV which has pedestrian performance.
I thought I might like a fiesta St but having driven a 2019 ST-3 recently, which I liked a lot, and it would no doubt be great around the lanes the problem is, even in Somerset it just didn't gave enough poke for me say , entry to dual carriageway and overtakes.
I would say it felt a little slower or on par with my UK Impeza turbo that i first had 22 years ago.
For 17/18k, I want more so I am now looking at Leon Cupra, M140i and for an extra 3/4 k hoping for that missing shove of the ST but, some people say they're dull in comparison?
Maybe I can sacrifice some of that feel for the times you just want stronger acceleration,?
My brother calls me a boy racer lol but, I want the very strong acceleration , when you just want to cover that 2/3 car overtake or the guy in the car that wants to give you a hard time at lights or merges and I am not quite ready to drive like gran yet!
It would be much easier if I would be happy with a Quashqi or Tiguan tdi but not there yet!
I have no family considerations and could spend much more but, I am cheap so 20k max!
Any others around my age relate or am i unique, lol??!
The BMW is OK, but you'd find the Impreza much better to drive and can put the power down. Unless you get an x-drive, I wouldn't bother with the 40i spec BMW (speaking from experience).I thought I might like a fiesta St but having driven a 2019 ST-3 recently, which I liked a lot, and it would no doubt be great around the lanes the problem is, even in Somerset it just didn't gave enough poke for me say , entry to dual carriageway and overtakes.
I would say it felt a little slower or on par with my UK Impeza turbo that i first had 22 years ago.
For 17/18k, I want more so I am now looking at Leon Cupra, M140i and for an extra 3/4 k hoping for that missing shove of the ST but, some people say they're dull in comparison?
Maybe I can sacrifice some of that feel for the times you just want stronger acceleration,?
My brother calls me a boy racer lol but, I want the very strong acceleration , when you just want to cover that 2/3 car overtake or the guy in the car that wants to give you a hard time at lights or merges and I am not quite ready to drive like gran yet!
It would be much easier if I would be happy with a Quashqi or Tiguan tdi but not there yet!
I have no family considerations and could spend much more but, I am cheap so 20k max!
Any others around my age relate or am i unique, lol??!
They will still leave you wanting in stock form, as it runs out of puff after 5500 rpm, but that is easily solved with a remap.
Either that or a Focus ST for more shove than the Fiesta.
stuart-b said:
The BMW is OK, but you'd find the Impreza much better to drive and can put the power down. Unless you get an x-drive, I wouldn't bother with the 40i spec BMW (speaking from experience).
They will still leave you wanting in stock form, as it runs out of puff after 5500 rpm, but that is easily solved with a remap.
Interesting perspective. I owned a modded Impreza turbo and now have a standard M140i (having gone via a Focus ST among other things). The BMW imho is much better to drive than the Scooby and is more rewarding to go fast in. Traction isn’t really an issue.They will still leave you wanting in stock form, as it runs out of puff after 5500 rpm, but that is easily solved with a remap.
I think you’re also the only person I’ve heard saying in stock form the engine leaves you wanting and runs out of puff. Mine feels like it’s pulling strongly all the way to the red line.
Focus is nice enough but if the M140 is too slow, the ST isn’t going to cut it
Chris
GR Yaris is a good shout- i know they're phenomenal and likely to have minimal depreciation, so maybe worth the greater initial outlay.
The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
Alex_225 said:
Definitely need to give up on POWWWEERRR! haha
Personally I like a V8 and for £20k you have a lot to choose from in that category.
I know, i need to grow up!Personally I like a V8 and for £20k you have a lot to choose from in that category.
I had a V8 SL500 years ago- the old R129- and that was a fantastic, made of granite piece of kit. Around 2011, i tried out a new SL, and that felt like an Aygo in comparison to the R129 build!
Have thought about one of the 5.5 Mercs from the mid/late 00's but just want something more "alive" for now, so might come back to that in 10 years+.
Thinking about it, a couple of years ago, i test drove a Mercedes C350 CDI estate(261 bhp), for a completely different use of car but, also wanting some oommpph!
I read previous test drives of these and so was looking forward to the "Searing pace" but itfelt a bit of a let down to be honest.
Test drove this as a replacement for my Galaxy 2.0 TDCI, that i use for loading Kayak/bike - the Merc didn't feel like or perform four times the value of the Galaxy, so binned that idea. Didn't feel massively short-changed afterwards, getting in and driving the Galaxy!
I thought at the time, i hope the BMW 6 cylinder diesels are better than this!
I read previous test drives of these and so was looking forward to the "Searing pace" but itfelt a bit of a let down to be honest.
Test drove this as a replacement for my Galaxy 2.0 TDCI, that i use for loading Kayak/bike - the Merc didn't feel like or perform four times the value of the Galaxy, so binned that idea. Didn't feel massively short-changed afterwards, getting in and driving the Galaxy!
I thought at the time, i hope the BMW 6 cylinder diesels are better than this!
I’m 52, I have a tuned Fiesta ST, I loved the car and I ended up owning it in an unusual way, but after previous ones it wasn’t fast enough, so when it came into my possession it’s been treated to a fair few changes.
Upshot, just over 300 bhp and it’s plenty fast enough, fast enough that a local Cayman GT4 owner was left wondering what happened the other day, so it covers the buy racer angle.
Had an M135i before, found it fast but woolly, plus it was an auto, got bored of it.
Upshot, just over 300 bhp and it’s plenty fast enough, fast enough that a local Cayman GT4 owner was left wondering what happened the other day, so it covers the buy racer angle.
Had an M135i before, found it fast but woolly, plus it was an auto, got bored of it.
Edited by J4CKO on Saturday 6th May 22:21
J4CKO said:
I’m 52, I have a tuned Fiesta ST, I loved the car and I ended up owning it in an unusual way, but after previous ones it wasn’t fast enough, so when it came into my possession it’s been treated to a fair few changes.
Upshot, just over 300 bhp and it’s plenty fast enough, fast enough that a local Cayman GT4 owner was left wondering what happened the other day, so it covers the buy racer angle.
Had an M135i before, found it fast but woolly, plus it was an auto, got bored of it.
Yes, i l know they can be remapped/tuned for bigger power- maybe i should go that way but, i do think that perhaps it's too much for engine/drivetrain- particularly as yours must be stage 3?
How does that cope in the cold/damp/wet conditions common to UK?
Is yours a MK7? I don't know if the mk8 are as tuneable/reliable with maps?
Upshot, just over 300 bhp and it’s plenty fast enough, fast enough that a local Cayman GT4 owner was left wondering what happened the other day, so it covers the buy racer angle.
Had an M135i before, found it fast but woolly, plus it was an auto, got bored of it.
Yes, i l know they can be remapped/tuned for bigger power- maybe i should go that way but, i do think that perhaps it's too much for engine/drivetrain- particularly as yours must be stage 3?
How does that cope in the cold/damp/wet conditions common to UK?
Is yours a MK7? I don't know if the mk8 are as tuneable/reliable with maps?
Edited by J4CKO on Saturday 6th May 22:21
oceanview said:
GR Yaris is a good shout- i know they're phenomenal and likely to have minimal depreciation, so maybe worth the greater initial outlay.
The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
Lots of people crashed their new TVRs doing that manoeuvre. It's not the car. Electronics now covers it up most of the time but you don't boot it until the car is straight. Pull out then boot it. Most people boot it while pulling out and then wonder why in the wet the car keeps heading in the direction they just told it to go. The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
Short list of nice hot hatches for under £25k that I drew up recently but they then all failed a single criteria that was pertinent to me:
The Golf R. Great car. VW have banged out millions of Golfs, they just work whether as your mother's church car, someone's commuting or shopping box. The Germans, seemingly unlike the French, also make smaller cars without assume their customer is shaped like a gibbon with short legs and long arms so a Golf is simply comfortable. The Golf R is a really nice drive and plenty lively. No one is going to Nick it if you live in a nice area and don't leave it on show for the world to admire. I suspect you could rebadge and fit lower spec wheels easily enough if the Kevin image of them is a bit too difficult to stomach.
Merc A45 AMG. Pile of tacky, plastic crap. Sitting inside is like being in an 80s Dixon's looking at the discount, non brand stacking stereo units. It's just about the most gopping absence of taste from a manufacturer in the 21st century. It's like a prize from Bullseye. It could be the best steer of the lot but paying £25 notes to sit inside that gopping mess all day? And it farts a lot like the sort of person who sits in a sofa all day tabbing. And you're buying used, so can you really ever be sure you've disinfected that space sufficiently. Should be awesome but the Katie Price interior is too much to cope with. Maybe it jars so much because it's fallen out of Merc's gusset and while they're no stranger to caravan bling this is their masterpiece of blending shiny plastics with hollow switchgear, flashing LED lights and stuck on tat.
Audi RS3. Golf with a slightly different flavour. Nice car, nice drive. Not a massive fan of the 2015 interior but the TV goes away if asked which is a huge win. Switchgear a bit hollow and plasticy, Audi does trip into caravan bling a bit too easily at times. I suspect between this and the Golf I would opt for this as it's exterior is a bit more staid and the interior a little nicer.
M140. Probably the most grown up. Again can be debadged and other wheels fitted to tone down. Interior is nice and inline with other models so you get nice switchgear opposed to Grundig type junk. BMW struggle a bit with putting odd coloured bands inside their fake M cars but overall of all the top of the range bottom of the range cars in this list I think they have the best quality interior. The leather feels a better quality, the switchgear has more heft to it. I6 just nicer than an i4, especially as you demand more power and the farty , fart fart of an i4 becomes more and more prevalent.
In reality, they are all absolutely superb cars and to have a choice of 4 or more family hatchbacks with super car performance and all with subtle to stark differences makes the 2020s one of the best moments ever for these types of car. And they will go sooner than others as it's the generic, cheap car they're all based on that their manufacturers will be pushing to EV the quickest so losing the donor vehicle to shove the silly engine into.
It's going to boil down to personal choice. How much of an oik you wish to be, how much you personally favour particular engines or drivetrains, which interior you find the most pleasant. But it's never been harder to decide such is the depth of quality on offer.
oceanview said:
GR Yaris is a good shout- i know they're phenomenal and likely to have minimal depreciation, so maybe worth the greater initial outlay.
The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
Traction can be an issue as I just have cross climates on as my winter tyres. New wheels are getting Goodyear asym6 which should change things. With the lsd fitted loss of traction is more predictable anyway, less sideways steps, more just the TC kicking in.The chap with the M140I, i know the XHP mods etc are great and can easily stage 1 map for an extra 80bhp but, i do worry about traction issues.
Same as even a standard Leon Cupra 300 with its fwd drivetrain, but at least the Leon will just understeer rather than spin the other way- when i had my Z4 Coupe with a lowly 265bhp, that caught me out one time, when going for an overtake on damp, cold roads, and it immediately threw me sideways, nearly hitting the car i was overtaking- that was on half throttle and decent Goodyear AS non run-flats!
Need to get some other drives in of the other cars mentioned , or settle for something slow and dull, and go for comfort/spec instead!
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