Best performance car for the money

miniyazz

miniyazz

miniyazz

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As the title says - really what's people's opinions on the most car you can get for the money?

Focus on the cheaper end of the market (say <£7k), and priorities are not so much on good track day cars as good everyday cars with a turn of pace. Thus handling should perhaps be equally important as gadgetry :p

Value guesstimates should also take into account running costs (bills, not tax/insurance/fuel) but let's also say <10yrs old.
 
Not sure why you omit fuel costs from your criteria of running costs. :confused:

ST220 offers good value but the fuel consumption is v. high and therefore a significant variable which you surely have to factor it into your running costs?
 
Impreza for me also, can be had as cheap as you like, a remap on an STi will have you at 320-330bhp, goes without saying its amazing in the corners! Also no annoying FWD-ness on putting the power down if its damp or tugging at the steering wheel as it finds and loses grip. Very practical car with 4 doors and a big boot and pretty cheap to run apart from fuel as parts are pretty cheap and don't go wrong that often (as long as its a 2.0 engine...).
 
Despite me telling myself for years that I'd never, ever get a loan to finance a car I am having a very hard think about the later aluminium bodied Jaguar XJRs/Super V8s that are available for around and below the £7k mark.

Yes, in terms of raw statics they aren't the quickest you'll go for the money, but then neither is something like an Impreza or an Evo (that honour would go to a kit car of some form) but in the terms of an overall package of luxury, style and out and out pace I don't think they can be beaten for anywhere near the money. I mean in terms of competition for the cash you have the E39 M5, which while being a fantastic car is a full generation old and is looking a bit tired in comparison.

From all accounts the Jaguars seem pretty reliable, have reasonable parts prices too and being a good deal lighter than you'd expect for a car of that size they even return impressive fuel economy. Oh, and for those of us who think 400BHP isn't quite enough, an extra 50 or so horsepower can be extracted from the supercharged V8 with very little effort.

However, for the ultimate Bang-to-Buck ratio I still maintain that a grand's worth of Soarer with £6k of spent in the right prices will still trash most things this side of a Veryron ;).
 
Joshy said:
Despite me telling myself for years that I'd never, ever get a loan to finance a car I am having a very hard think about the later aluminium bodied Jaguar XJRs/Super V8s that are available for around and below the £7k mark.

Yes, in terms of raw statics they aren't the quickest you'll go for the money, but then neither is something like an Impreza or an Evo (that honour would go to a kit car of some form) but in the terms of an overall package of luxury, style and out and out pace I don't think they can be beaten for anywhere near the money. I mean in terms of competition for the cash you have the E39 M5, which while being a fantastic car is a full generation old and is looking a bit tired in comparison.

From all accounts the Jaguars seem pretty reliable, have reasonable parts prices too and being a good deal lighter than you'd expect for a car of that size they even return impressive fuel economy. Oh, and for those of us who think 400BHP isn't quite enough, an extra 50 or so horsepower can be extracted from the supercharged V8 with very little effort.

However, for the ultimate Bang-to-Buck ratio I still maintain that a grand's worth of Soarer with £6k of spent in the right prices will still trash most things this side of a Veryron ;).
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I think that era of Jag has aged badly - my money would go on an E39 if I required a 'luxury' 5 door with pace for around £7k
 
mike gunnz said:
Not sure why you omit fuel costs from your criteria of running costs. :confused:

ST220 offers good value but the fuel consumption is v. high and therefore a significant variable which you surely have to factor it into your running costs?
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Fuel consumption will be high on any performance car mentioned here today. And anyone looking to buy a similar car would not be buying one if they cared much about fuel costs. Essentially, mpgs is pointless here.

Bills such as servicing and likely maintenance costs, however, are obviously something worth considering or many would be driving 20yr old Ferraris.

Impreza is actually a pretty good shout so far, the M3 would possibly need budgeting a couple of hundred quid a month for bills (probs the Jag too). Shame about the image of the Impreza :p
 
AndrewNR said:
I think that era of Jag has aged badly - my money would go on an E39 if I required a 'luxury' 5 door with pace for around £7k
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How has the XJR, a design that was still being sold until 2009 with only a slight facelift aged badly in comparison to the E39 shape that was designed nearly two decades ago? :confused:
 
Gen 1 Coopers s works (210bhp) has the power and handling with the addictive supercharger whine, but likes a drink if you drive like a nutter.
They are also cheap to insure.
 
Depends how dedicated to performance you are - if practicality doesn't matter you wont get anything better performing for £7k than a Westfield.
 
Joshy said:
How has the XJR, a design that was still being sold until 2009 with only a slight facelift aged badly in comparison to the E39 shape that was designed nearly two decades ago? :confused:
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He's right, the Jag has aged badly. If it didn't why didn't JLR continue its iconic design?
 
It all depends if running costs are added into the equation.

there are many awesome 8K cars but a lot of them have the potential to ruin you. Also age, a lot of awesome cars for this price can be older cars so that has to be considered too.

Off the top of my head these are some awesome cars for 8K:
- 350Z relatively modern, higher than average running costs
- EVO 7/8 relatively modern, expensive running costs
- Supra TT, old car, expensive running costs
- R33 GTR, old car, very expensive running costs
- Blob eye WRX WTi, relatively modern, expensive running costs
- FN2 type R, modern, average running costs
- Clio RS200, modern, avergae running costs
- RX8, modern, very expensive running costs

There are just a few. It all depends on how you wanna spend running the thing!
 
Does a 350Z just have "higher than average"? I thought it would be on par with the imprezza and Evo for running costs?
 
rossk26 said:
Does a 350Z just have "higher than average"? I thought it would be on par with the imprezza and Evo for running costs?
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Better MPG on average, cheaper servicing, less frequent servicing and longer tyre life in general. Lack of things to go wrong, e.g. AYC in the EVO, also no turbos on the 350z. Impreza's generally cost more to work on due to the engine layout.


Also insurance is cheaper, believe me, EVO 8's were tempting so I checked em out! Although not directly linked to running costs, 350z's aren't owned by as many of the "wrong type" of owners such as imprezas and EVOs which generally means they are better looked after.
 
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