The perfect car

Fusion · 21 May 2006 at 11:01

Following on from a debate that briefly emerged in the 'Cars that are fun to drive' thread (which is, in itself, a follow on thread), which vehicles could be seen as the best all-arounders in today's marketplace?

It has to be quick, comfortable, practical, manouverable (no Konigsegg's, where it's literally impossible to see behind you when reversing), good on fuel, and doesn't cost the earth to maintain. My instant thoughts were, of course, the BMW 535d. 0-62 in 6.5 secs, 155 mph and 35.3 mpg combined. It'll seat your grandmother and aunty in the rear when you're off to the airport packed with luggage, and when you're alone you'll be able to tear round like your arse is on fire, enjoying every minute of the superb poise of the chassis and grunt of the 272bhp, 413lb ft twin-turbo straight six diesel.

But wait:

There's a problem. In order to be a perfect car, it'd be good if servicing cost less than an averages months' wages. That's often the trouble with these Germans, the cost of parts. We need a marque with a little less panache, that's a bit more forgiving in the real world. Maybe we need to come a little closer to home. Maybe we need...

Fusion · 21 May 2006 at 11:02

Axeboy · 21 May 2006 at 11:25

It should also sound good

-westy- · 21 May 2006 at 11:25

Fox, you're not allowed 2 accounts

Haircut · 21 May 2006 at 11:26

Somehow I knew it was going to be a Mondeo as I was scrolling down

Adz · 21 May 2006 at 11:28

There's no perfect car, only the car that's perfect for you

.

Personally, with ample funds, I'd have an M5 for cruising/general driving, an Elise for hooning about in and a Ferrari F430 for pulling, posing, polishing, stroking...

Stringy · 21 May 2006 at 11:31

Adz said:
There's no perfect car, only the car that's perfect for you .

Personally, with ample funds, I'd have an M5 for cruising/general driving, an Elise for hooning about in and a Ferrari F430 for pulling, posing, polishing, stroking...

And there's me thinking that the M5 would've fufilled all three of those roles

Scania · 21 May 2006 at 11:38

OCdt Stringy said:
And there's me thinking that the M5 would've fufilled all three of those roles

Pretty much my thoughts.....

Joe T · 21 May 2006 at 11:39

These Mondeo tongue-in-check threads crack me up!

Adz · 21 May 2006 at 11:41

R124/LA420 said:
Pretty much my thoughts.....

It would but then so would a Vauxhall Calibra to a certain extent. They're reliable for general driving, a little bit fun if you press on and you could conceivably pick up certain 'types' of girl in them

.

But we're talking about the perfect car - the M5 is close but it doesn't excel at everything (or even anything?). Whilst it's a mind blowing piece of engineering, it's still a compromise and thus not perfect IMO.

XsGSi · 21 May 2006 at 11:43

sometimes i think this motoring section is more a mondeo forum that anything else!

Scottland · 21 May 2006 at 11:43

Adz said:
But we're talking about the perfect car - the M5 is close but it doesn't excel at everything (or even anything?). Whilst it's a mind blowing piece of engineering, it's still a compromise and thus not perfect IMO.

And its butt ugly.

Bes · 21 May 2006 at 11:45

XsGSi said:
sometimes i think this motoring section is more a mondeo forum that anything else!

Don't be so stupid.....

.....It's a BMW 330i forum as well

Joe T · 21 May 2006 at 11:47

Bes said:
Don't be so stupid.....

.....It's a BMW 330i forum as well

That and 330ds

chrislusty · 21 May 2006 at 11:53

IMO a perfect car can never be a diesel, the noise has to be right too, and a diesel doesnt make the right noise.

Turbo Petrol > Turbo Diesel

Beepcake · 21 May 2006 at 11:57

Adz said:
But we're talking about the perfect car - the M5 is close but it doesn't excel at everything (or even anything?). Whilst it's a mind blowing piece of engineering, it's still a compromise and thus not perfect IMO.

Every car has to compromise something, be it speed, handling, weight, luggage capacity, passenger comfort etc.

If you meant the perfect car as in the one car that can do pretty much everything you want in a car, and it's the only car that you can have, then IMO the e39 M5, even with it's compromises, is the car that comes the closest. Good looking, a refined cruiser, enough space for 5 adults and luggage, lots of gadgets to play with, goes like stink when you want it to, and is actually fun to drive (even when it's not doing insane speeds).

Which is the main reason I am struggling to find a replacement for it; everything I've looked at involves a bigger compromise on one thing or another, which detracts from the overall package IMO.

Fusion · 21 May 2006 at 12:02

Adz said:
But we're talking about the perfect car - the M5 is close but it doesn't excel at everything (or even anything?). Whilst it's a mind blowing piece of engineering, it's still a compromise and thus not perfect IMO.

Perhaps I should clarify; afterall, it's surely impossible to construct a slab of automotive engineering that will completely excel in every possible area. Rather, I thought about which cars were apt at a great number of things. Think of the player stats graph in Pro Evo (if you've never played it, you won't know what the hell I'm on about). While no player completely fills the hexagon, a number get close. Some are fantastic at shooting accuracy, but useless at tackling (forwards). Others are merely competant all arounders, unable to massively impress in any particular area. I've seemingly digressed enormously, but it's a sensible way of thinking about it.

An F430 or Elise have obvious shortcomings, when we consider a vehicle that can do everything. I suppose technically, we should include off road ability- but hey- I'm imposing an arbitrary constraint. We'd miss out on too many amazing choices.

Fusion · 21 May 2006 at 12:09

chrislusty said:
IMO a perfect car can never be a diesel, the noise has to be right too, and a diesel doesnt make the right noise.

The sound that the engine produces can only be a minor factor, as we're considering things as a whole. From a purely performance orientated viewpoint, it may be a larger factor, though I suspect it would still be dwarfed by other considerations. 'Driver satisfaction' or 'Driver involvement' are broader areas, and here is arguably where a diesel would lose marks, not solely because of engine noise, but due to limited rev range, less in-gear flexibility, sluggish response etc.

The_Dark_Side · 21 May 2006 at 14:01

-westy- said:
Fox, you're not allowed 2 accounts

^
funniest thing i've seen posted in a long time.

hehe.

Matt82 · 21 May 2006 at 14:02

new Audi RS4 must be close to perfect