Warm/Hot hatch for under £7k.

sebdangerfield

Exactly!

It's when stood in the pits at Donnington looking at the beauty infront of you with oil dripping out the sump and shards of piston sticking out the side of the head you remember why you love cars!

I just think to be a real petrol head you must have owned a car that has a little more. Forget reliability, performance and all that, some cars are just a bit more and Alfa tend to produce alot of them. I don't count my 147 in that either, it's far to reliable. My old GTV, Landie series 1, TVR Chimera they all did something more, I was passionate about those cars, I just so happend they were !!!!! and unreliable!

pinkneonmartini

so.... do we have a verdict? what have you gone for?

gord115

. (the VRs Octavia isn't even fast!)[/QUOTE]

197bhp, 149mph -not fast?

gord115

BillScarab wrote: »

Depends which VRs you rcolleague used to drive. The Mark 1 Octavia VRs was mor of a hot hatch than the current one. The current one is more refined and heavier so even though it has more power it's not as nippy or responsive.

Old Octavia 180 bhp,146mph 0-60 7.9secs, 173lbs torque

New Octavia 197bhp,149mph 0-60 7.3secs, 207lbs torque
have you thought about checking your facts before posting...

maniac886

pinkneonmartini wrote: »

so.... do we have a verdict? what have you gone for?

Not as yet have been busy this weekend so hoping to test drive a Alfa GT and BMW 325i at some point this week.

Whilst the Alfa isn't quite amazingly fast I will make an exception as it looks awesome. Just need to try one out now.:money:

sebdangerfield

Is it the V6 you're trying?

gord115

sebdangerfield wrote: »

Is it the V6 you're trying?

If it's the v6 Alfa it will be very thirsty,go for the Beemer...Just my opinion!

maniac886

gord115 wrote: »

If it's the v6 Alfa it will be very thirsty,go for the Beemer...Just my opinion!

Hmmm yeah I think its just the diseaseal model that has decent economy.

BillScarab

gord115 wrote: »

BillScarab wrote: »

Depends which VRs you rcolleague used to drive. The Mark 1 Octavia VRs was mor of a hot hatch than the current one. The current one is more refined and heavier so even though it has more power it's not as nippy or responsive.

Old Octavia 180 bhp,146mph 0-60 7.9secs, 173lbs torque

New Octavia 197bhp,149mph 0-60 7.3secs, 207lbs torque
have you thought about checking your facts before posting...

Yes, I have. Go and post on the Briskoda forum and ask them which one is better and most will agree that the Mk1 felt more like a hot hatch than the Mark 2. At no point did I claim the Mk1 was faster.

AdrianHi

Having browsed the thread Mazda 3 2.0 Sport 35mpg 0-62 8.8 seconds and available for you original £6K budget and upwards seemed the best fit, I've driven it and give it a definite thumbs up.
Very nice car to drive.

BMW 1 or 3 and you are finding your way into a different level of (RWD) driving dynamics that you may well love but £6K-£7K is not going to be enough to get a younger model and the older E46 318i in your fuel consumption target isn't particularly warm. An E46 320i is 170bhp and 6 cylinders which means under 30mpg quite often, may be you will get over 30mpg with your motorway driving.

Later 120i and 320i had a 4 cylinder 170bhp engine getting closer to 40mpg but they are more money again. Your looking at 150bhp in the older ones and 30-35mpg range fuel consumption.
As for run flats, well you can always fit standard tyres if you don't like them. Lots of people have, including me, though back on better Michelin run flats now.

Try a Mazda 3 2.0 Sport and an E46 320i. The Mazda will be cheaper to own regardless of purchase price. Routine servicing on the E46 320i is very reasonable for a "family" car but repairs out of warranty can get expensive.