Time for a 'new' car

[Grayskull]

Afternoon

I've spent the last 4 years doing 100 miles a day .. and had an appropriate diesel for that reason. Now i'm doing 30 miles a day and think its time i went back to a more fun car!

I used to Drive an MR2 Turbo before i had the vectra so i'm well versed in sub 6 second cars. I'd have another in a shot, but i play bass .. and i cant get my gear into a small car!

Cars on my list to look at are ... rear wheel drive is my preference .. but theres only one on the list!

Seat Cupra R (obviously) .. although the car probably isn't quick enough in its standard guise so would be looking to do a Revo or something similar .. the question is .. on an ECU remap like that would i get sub 6 seconds ... and could i get the power down ? (My MR2 was running about 260bhp and i could get the power down no problem)

Focus RS - I'm not a big ford fan.. would prefer better build quality, but there's no doubting its performance credentials

Focus ST - As above .. tho not at quick as the RS .. suffers similar 0-60 problems to the LCR and would need at least remap from the word go

Alfa 147 GTA - Lovely looking cars ... a lot of power .. could I get it all down on the road before it broke down ?

BMW M3 - Nuff said .. tho i'm relucatant to pay the price of servicing and problems should it go wrong

Dont want a scooby .. am not a burberry wearing chav and the Evo doesn't have the comfort factor i'm looking for.

Would be interested in your thoughts ... i've made no definate decisions at this point - am just looking really.

Cheers
Dave

 

[warren_cox]

Alfa 147 GTA gets my vote: like this one linky

 

[Grayskull]

oops ... forgot about the S3

how does the performance rate on the old 1.8 225 S3's after a Revo ?

 

[james walker]

looking at 260 bhp form a revo stage 1

excellent performance and running costs, handling need improving via arbs and dbm upgrades

all in all excellent vfm and a great car.

big boot for the bass also.

 

[lordgibbness]

It's the same engine so a stage 1 remap should take it to 260-270bhp.

 

[warren_cox]

oops ... forgot about the S3

how does the performance rate on the old 1.8 225 S3's after a Revo ?

not that good to be honest, wouldn't recommend it. LCR is better.

 

[JamJay]

I don't have a remap, yet, but from reading many different reviews on remaps, you should see 0-60 figures between 5.5 & 5.8 seconds.
Hopefully someone with a remap can confirm this for you.

 

[Grayskull]

That sounds promising - would like some real world figures if possible ? .. how do atmostpheric dump valves go with the Curpa's ... I haven't looked into it as yet, but I couldn't put one on my Rev2 MR2 Turbo due to the way the AFM was configured - it would overfuel .. with borewash being a likely outcome!

 

[JamJay]

They hate atmospheric DV's. the ECU picks them up as a boost leak & I believe the car will go into limp mode. There are a couple of 50% recirc & 50% atomos valves about that give a little noise while not throwing your car into a spaz. Have a look for a Forge Split-R if that's the route you want. Most people however do just go with a fully recirc DV (Forge 007p) as it keeps the engine happy and performs the best...plus, they can get quite loud with a remap, open cone induction kit/drilled air box and new turbo inlet pipe.

 

[Jonezyfr]

bmw 330ci msport would be worth a try

or the 130i msport definatly, a future pursuit of my own

 

[R69]

Alfa 147 GTA gets my vote: like this one linky

Mine too, a seriously cool car

 

[richard150]

What about an R32 golf with a Milltek exhaust? They a nice car especially in something other than blue.

 

[Markyboyt]

What model M3 you talking?

Not the biggest M3 fan in the world, not the biggest M power fan in the world actually, find most of them to be jerky difficult drives when driving normal. Also if your talking E46 M3 then the manuals have a horrifically heavy clutch, the SMG is jerky unless booted.

 

[Jonezyfr]

if you use bmw specialists and not the dealers makes servicing almost half the cost.

the price of the euro wont help much atm tho when it comes to parts

 

[Grayskull]

What model M3 you talking?

Not the biggest M3 fan in the world, not the biggest M power fan in the world actually, find most of them to be jerky difficult drives when driving normal. Also if your talking E46 M3 then the manuals have a horrifically heavy clutch, the SMG is jerky unless booted.

Just thinking along the lines of a 51/53 Standard M3 you can pick up a reasonably low mileage example for about 10k

I too think the Alfa is a seriously cool car ... but ... the question is - how reliable are they ?

 

[Markyboyt]

Just thinking along the lines of a 51/53 Standard M3 you can pick up a reasonably low mileage example for about 10k

I too think the Alfa is a seriously cool car ... but ... the question is - how reliable are they ?

I do have to add to my comment above that when driven on a day to day basis the jerkiness may be more controllable because you will be more familiar with the car.

You thinking full manual or SMG?

 

[Grayskull]

... You thinking full manual or SMG?

I'm a bit die hard .. and perhaps not as embracing of new technologies as i should be .. so full manual

 

[Markyboyt]

I'm a bit die hard .. and perhaps not as embracing of new technologies as i should be .. so full manual

Brave lol, as long as you don't drive in traffic jams its ok

 

[Grayskull]

I live in the northumberland .. there's no traffic jams up here .. unless you're stuck behind a tractor!

Interestingly enough ... not even a peep of a mention of the Ford offerings (not too fussed to be fair ... quite dull inside)

 

[sykesytdi]

what about a mark2 k1.... now there is a serious car!!