Thinking about a change, budget £3k

MissChief

MissChief

MissChief

Caporegime
Joined
17 Jul 2010
Posts
27,072
I've had my '04 petrol Leon Cupra for about 4 months now and I don't seem to be gelling with it. Sure it's fast(ish) but I'm having difficulty finding it's limits and I have no confidence in it when pressing on. It needs new tyres so perhaps after i get the fronts replaced I might start to feel confident about it's abilities but at the moment I don't feel i can push it as much as I could with my old GTI-6. it feels, i dunno, sanitised? Like I'm removed from the car, detached and I can't tell what it's doing from one moment to the next. I know that's really how modern cars seem to be and I doubt any car will have that direct, mechanical feel that the GTi-6 had, but i don't want to go that old again as it was a bit of a money pit.

The car has had a front spring replaced along with rear pads, a new brake caliper and a service (consumables and maintenance really) and only has 70k on it. As such I reckon I could get £3k for it, which is actually the price I paid. I've only added about 3k miles in that time.

So, is there anything i could get that's similar in running costs, is a petrol (5 miles to my work, 5 times a week wouldn't work with a modern diesel i feel) and has similar performance? 5 Door preferred but not an absolutely essential thing, I only have the kids at the weekend but I don't want to lose performance if I can. I don't mind slightly thirstier but nothing too crazy. Any suggestions?
 
You could stick 3k into a car and be pretty certain you won't love I or a few hundred into buying a gti6 thenwhatever is necessary to make it really go well. As long as you've not completely outgrown a good hot hatch you should love it.
 
I went from (well I didn't sell it, but kept my Leon as a spare) my Leon Cupra R to an E46 330d.

The 330d was a far more dynamic drive (even though slower than the "R"), felt more engaging, more confidence inspiring in the twisties, and allowed me to have some tail-out fun to boot!

I'd imagine with £3k you'd be able to find a nice 325i (wouldn't push for a 330i as your budget would only allow for an older, more ropey one). Something like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...mw------------3-series-325i-sport-4dr/1042401 (A touch over budget granted, but you'd probably be able to get that down to £3.5k.
 
MissChief said:
it feels, i dunno, sanitised? Like I'm removed from the car, detached and I can't tell what it's doing from one moment to the next. I know that's really how modern cars seem to be and I doubt any car will have that direct, mechanical feel that the GTi-6 had, but i don't want to go that old again as it was a bit of a money pit.
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I enjoyed my time with an Octavia vRS but that was an underlying tone throughout my ownership and I only came from a 1.4 306. Getting a rear ARB fitted helped a fair bit but it always felt a little lacking in feel.
 
paradigm said:
I went from (well I didn't sell it, but kept my Leon as a spare) my Leon Cupra R to an E46 330d.

The 330d was a far more dynamic drive (even though slower than the "R"), felt more engaging, more confidence inspiring in the twisties, and allowed me to have some tail-out fun to boot!

I'd imagine with £3k you'd be able to find a nice 325i (wouldn't push for a 330i as your budget would only allow for an older, more ropey one). Something like this:

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifi...mw------------3-series-325i-sport-4dr/1042401 (A touch over budget granted, but you'd probably be able to get that down to £3.5k.
Click to expand...

Actually 3k and a bit of patience + looking around will get you a decent 330i.
+1 for this, I quite like mine and in terms of dynamics, feedback and performance while still being reasonably practical and modern-ish there isn't anything that will come close.
 
MissChief said:
I've had my '04 petrol Leon Cupra for about 4 months now and I don't seem to be gelling with it. Sure it's fast(ish) but I'm having difficulty finding it's limits and I have no confidence in it when pressing on.
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Surely the most sensible option is to go somewhere where you can safely push and find it's limits. I've booked myself onto an airfield track day as I'm having similar issues with my Saab. It's quick enough round bends but I've got no idea how much grip I've got left and I don't want to push beyond it on the road. For £99 it seems a good way to find out.
 
That might teach you where your limits are in that one specific situation, hardly a substitute for a communicative chassis.

If there's one thing I've learned after doing loads of things to my car, it's that the wrong tyre choice can ruin everything, they make more difference than all the other chassis mods put together, and then some.
 
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