What car do you drive and why?

Soldato
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- The key fob is undeniably annoying at times, it is the diamond key shape with the boot release button on the back of it EXACTLY where your thumb would rest so naturally as you open the door and begin to sit down you will find you often open the boot by accident or when you've gotten out at night, come to the house door, fumble to open the door to get into the house and another key presses the boot button and the boot opens so you have to go all the way back to shut it....

Yep annoying that.

EDIT : Already posted my car :p

Snows Portsmouth are quite helpful at pointing out repair options on servicing stuff I find :)

Of course they are, they're a main dealer ;)

I fear in a few years time even those will look dated like the E39 does now from the front and side (Sport E39 included!).

Fox, Fox. ATTACK!!
 
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Associate
Joined
11 Dec 2003
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2,452
Location
Heysham, Lancs
Current Car : Honda Civic 1.4
Why? cheap to insure and run, plus its got Honda's reliability. I know it will start every time i go out to it, plus i fit in Honda's better than any other car ive tried. Probably why this is my 4th civic.

Next Car: Civic 1.7i CTDi. Pick this up on friday. This will be the main "run around car", saves the wife's CRV from consuming vast quantities of petrol for no other reason than it can!

Honda ergonomics are what do it for me, 6 honda cars and 5 honda motorbikes, guess i have a thing for them.
 
Soldato
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4 Jan 2004
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Current Car: Pug 205 TD

Why?: Nice to drive, easy to fix when it goes wrong, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to run.

Next Car: Something a little bigger as I need extra luggage space, 406 estate or similar
 
Soldato
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18 Nov 2007
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Deepest Darkest Essex!!
Toyota Corrola 1.4T2 03 plate.

Reasons?
Basic - less to go wrong.
Reasonable MPG around town, bulk of my car driving is to & from work about 50 miles a week.
Bomb proof reliability - Most important thing in my book.
Common car - It'll blend in, disappear & no one takes any notice of them. less attractive to joyriders.
Cheap to insure on fully comp & service once a year.
Plenty of them around so a good chance of getting spare internals from a scrapper.
 
Soldato
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You haven't driven many cars have you? :(
I have actually. :p It doesn't have the poke of GTI, but it has the same suspension as the GTI and it's ideal for country lanes... It's even done a few laps of Castle Combe! :D

I'll admit on the motorway tho it's noisey and rattley, but I don't spend much time on the motorway, if I did I'd probably get some sort of German milemuncher. ;)
 
Soldato
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Bristol
Same suspension as a GTi....hmmm, not sure on that one, but not really paid any attention to the diesels as the petrols are rattly enough. :p

I found the engine in a 1.8D to be horribly noisy and inefficient, especially in a car with lots of...urm...character. :p
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
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3,803
Location
Bristol
Current Car: Mk1 Clio 2.0 16v
Why:Had owned 2 clio 1.8 16v's before, wanted a bit more grunt so stuck a williams engine in. THen went nuts and bought inidivudal throttle bodies, catcams, titanium valve springs and retainers, high compresion pistons (along side full rebuild), standalone management, for about 230 insane french ponies.

Next Car: Something turbo diesel lol
 
Associate
Joined
30 Jun 2007
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2,361
Location
Norwich
Current car: '96 Megane Coupe 16v
Needed a change from my previous car, '91 Renault 19 16v. It had served me very well but was coming to the point where it was going to cost more to fix than it was worth. Some might say its a dodgy piece of french pap, but like the 19 before it Ive had no breakdowns, bits fall off or faint wiffs of garlic. It has electric everything, its economical (45 on a run), looks good, reasonably quick and it has 6 settings for the heater fan and another 6 for the intermittent wipers! My only gripe is the lack of leather which I miss from the 19. Best of all it looks like the crap 1.6 8v and like any other megane to most road users which makes the traffic light GP amusing at times.

Next car:
Would love a 172 or similar but part of me says its time to grow up abit and get a bigger car. Admittedly it will have a decent size engine, whats the point in a big fat car with a pathetic engine under the bonnet.
 
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Associate
Joined
9 Nov 2002
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1,070
Location
Surrey, UK
Current car: BMW Alpina B5 saloon

Bought this after I read this article M5 vs B5 review and the following day out of the blue I got a call from the guy at the BMW garage who I'd bought my 330d Sport and 530d Sport off. I told him I wasn't really interested in changing just yet and jokingly said: "unless you've got a B5 in I can drive". He replied: "We have" as they had recently become a Sytner dealership, so I drove it the following day never thinking I would buy anything that expensive. The rest as they say is history. If you've ever driven a car that puts a huge grin on your face you'll know what I'm talking about. Power, poise, presence, superb suspension for such a big car and reasonable mpg for what it is. It'll outdrag an M5, keep your fillings in place and your flexible friend wont be worn out in petrol stations like the M car. I took it and the family down to the med over the Massif Central last summer and it was a joy to drive.

Next car: honestly don't know. Nothing else I'm aware of has as good a blend of performance and practicality. I couldn't live with a car that empties it's bladder before I do, and anything smaller and more nimble just isn't big enough for the family.

If you're hankering after an M5 you should take one of these out for a test drive too ;)
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
Joined
31 Aug 2007
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20,106
:eek:

why are there no photos of this?!
i'd take a B5 over an M5 any day. i love alpina, but i know i'll never be able to afford one :(
the closest i got was the Alpina stand at the frankfurt motorshow, and i suspect it will stay that way..
 
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Associate
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Surrey, UK
[TW]Fox;13358393 said:
I love Alpina's. I really fancied a B10 next but I can't get on with the SE based styling, i'd miss the M Sport look.
I do like the Sport styling, but they are a bit common now. You don't see that many B5s and they're different enough from a vanilla SE that people do notice the difference (usually the wheels LOL).

MyB5sml.jpg


P
 
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mjt

mjt

Soldato
Joined
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Posts
20,106
[TW]Fox;13358393 said:
I love Alpina's. I really fancied a B10 next but I can't get on with the SE based styling, i'd miss the M Sport look.

i think the alpina looks better, it's much more understated than the aggressive look of the M cars..
plus it's only in the UK where you get an 'SE', everywhere else the M-pack is just an option thats not really all that common.
not sure where i'm going with this, but Alpina > M :p

darkman, get some pics up asap! the interior too, the leather is lovely..
 
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