Seat Leon FR or Ford Focus ST3

giraffe69

I have a Leon FR. Before it I had a Focus (but not an ST). The FR is a much better car in terms of comfort, drive and economy. I'd certainly consider another. My only gripe is the SATNAV which is slow to respond and unhelpful in operation.

loskie

The V40 D4(had one as a courtesey car) is an understated fast car very comfy.
Seat interior feels plasticky (had one as a hire car)
Ford I have no knowledge.

motorguy

gilberto wrote: »

Either way, a BMW 340i is far superior in practically everyway.

And so it should be, given its 50% more expensive and 50% more power than whats in the O/Ps budget.

Also, the O/P is looking for an economical car, NOT a petrol drinker.

Moto2

loskie wrote: »

The V40 D4(had one as a courtesey car) is an understated fast car very comfy.
Seat interior feels plasticky (had one as a hire car)
Ford I have no knowledge.

I looked again at the Volvo after another poster mentioned it above but the boot looks too small for me.

Clive_Woody

gilberto wrote: »

I'll assume you're talking about the top of the range 2.0 TSI Octavia VRs with 217bhp with a 0-60 time of 6.8 seconds. Compare that to a twin turbo in-line six cylinder engine that is in the 340i, churning out 322bhp, doing 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. No doubt the 340i M Sport will easily out handle the Skoda Octavia VRs round a track.

I suspect the OP wasn't planning on annually doing 30,000 of track racing in his new car or maybe he would plump for the german rubbish you are promoting.

neilmcl

Moto2 wrote: »

Cheers

I have £430/month 100k miles over 3 years, 9p mile maximum excess mileage charge

The Leon and ST3 are pretty much on the limit

The Mini is a bit small and I don't particularly like them

With that sort of mileage are you looking at diesels or does it matter to you. If going for petrol then how about a BMW M240i or M140i if you need the practicality of a hatch, if diesel then the 125d or 120d M Sports. All the above with BMW's 9 speed auto box. This is coming from someone who actually has experience of driving these cars.

I wouldn't bother with the Volvo, it does have great seats but the rest of it feels a bit plasticky and cheap, you'd soon get bored.

Mercdriver

gilberto wrote: »

I'll assume you're talking about the top of the range 2.0 TSI Octavia VRs with 217bhp with a 0-60 time of 6.8 seconds. Compare that to a twin turbo in-line six cylinder engine that is in the 340i, churning out 322bhp, doing 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. No doubt the 340i M Sport will easily out handle the Skoda Octavia VRs round a track.

Where does the OP say he wants to drive the car around a track? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

neilmcl

gilberto wrote: »

Aren't we being a little too far-fetched here. A BMW M240i? That's a twin turbo 6 cylinder petrol engine that does 0-60 in sub 5 seconds with 335bhp at your disposable. It will be very expensive to run doing 20-30k a year. It's essentially a sports car.

It isn't that expensive to run and as the OP was mentioning Leon FR/Focus ST3 i assume he's looking for something in the hot(ter) hatch stakes. Clearly it'll be much more expensive than a diesel to run, which is why I asked the question and gave him alternatives.

Mercdriver

gilberto wrote: »

Blimey, we might as well suggest the OP gets a Nissan 370Z like me!

Except that the OP is in the real world not playing scalletrix.

neilmcl

gilberto wrote: »

Firstly the OP was looking for a diesel car that has a sport body kit - which happens to be "FR" trim for Seat and "STX" trim for the Focus. The BMW M235i or M240i nonsense cars are petrol RWD sport cars and further to that, they also cost more than the actual hot hatch equivalents Ford Focus RS and Sean Leon Cupra R

You haven't a clue, do you. Yes, they are more expensive than his first choices but still within the budget. But, as I've already mentioned, there are diesel alternatives.