Shetland road trip - car suggestions

[rex]

I'm off on a road trip in May with 4 friends and need to get an interesting car to do it in. So far cars on the trip are a Cerbera, M3, Tuscan and a Mk 3 MR2.

I am looking for ideas on a car to buy just for the trip to probably sell on afterwards. Your ideas and input would be welcomed. Budget is ideally about £3000 but could push it up for something really interesting.

No restriction on age, body style or cylinders

My thoughts are
RX8
MX 5 (obviously)
Old school hot hatch
Alfa of some sort (not owned an Alfa yet)
90's Saab ( when they were interesting)
BMW 325ti

Any other suggestions welcome

[R8VXF]

The car you can drive 800 miles and still feel comfortable in. No point aiming for the Shetlands and hating every minute of driving by the time you get there because you are in agony

[HughG]

Fiat coupe, Toyota celica or mr2 with 2zz swap?

[rex]

R8VXF said:

The car you can drive 800 miles and still feel comfortable in. No point aiming for the Shetlands and hating every minute of driving by the time you get there because you are in agony

Exactly. Have been hunting in the bargain barge thread.

[R8VXF]

rex said:

Exactly. Have been hunting in the bargain barge thread.

Not particularly interesting and needs a bit of work at £4k is my E46 320cd MSport. Plenty of space for 4, but does the miles very comfortably and reliably.

[rex]

R8VXF said:

Not particularly interesting and needs a bit of work at £4k is my E46 320cd MSport. Plenty of space for 4, but does the miles very comfortably and reliably.

I am a big fan of BMW's. Have a track prepared e36 M3 (too uncomfortable for 100 mile road trip let alone 800 miles) and my e39 540 M Sport touring was written off a few weeks ago a diesel (although a great engine) is not for me on a road trip.

Just seen a S type R which I will add to the list myself.

[cml24]

I lived up there a couple of years ago, and used to do Aberdeen to Brighton in this...




Pick the one you think is most interesting, reliability wouldn't be a major concern for me, Scotland is not Siberia, so if you do break down it can be fixed / recovered.

Presumably this car will only carry you, as the other three have cars already. I'd go for a hot hatch, presumably you'll be taking the interesting routes, over a few days, rather than one slog on the motorway?

As you can see from the second photo, some nice little roads for a hot hatch.

[Hooli]

I'd get a big old Jag.

[Steve_F]

What route are you planning? Sailing from Aberdeen?

Never been to Shetland but been to Orkney plenty of times, to me a better road trip would be on the Scottish mainland round the north of Scotland possibly with a day trip to Orkney (hour or so ferry instead of overnight).

If it has to be Shetland though going fairly direct to Aberdeen I'd be looking at power to overtake rather than outright handling that I'd want touring the rest of Scotland - entirely depends on your route though.

[alangla]

Focus ST170? Loads available from around a grand, some really nice ones out there as well. If you were willing to punt £4k, you'd be in 2.5 litre Focus ST territory.

[alangla]

Steve_F said:

What route are you planning? Sailing from Aberdeen?

Never been to Shetland but been to Orkney plenty of times, to me a better road trip would be on the Scottish mainland round the north of Scotland possibly with a day trip to Orkney (hour or so ferry instead of overnight).

If it has to be Shetland though going fairly direct to Aberdeen I'd be looking at power to overtake rather than outright handling that I'd want touring the rest of Scotland - entirely depends on your route though.

Defo do the north of Scotland on the way there. If you were just rattling up the A90 to Aberdeen then you're missing the best bit. If you timed it right, you can do Thurso to Orkney, then go on overnight to Shetland some nights, you could then go direct back to Aberdeen. Have a look here - http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/timetables/ It doesn't look like there's a huge difference in fare either - http://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/fares/

[SteveSteveson]

Shetland seems like an odd place. It is a wonderful place to go, but hardly a drivers paradise. Mainland is only about 50 miles long. It's only 52 miles of road from Sullom Voe to Sumburgh, and driving to Aberdeen is not going to set your world alight. Having done it a fair few times in my life (I lived there for a while) I would recommend just flying if you have to go there for something, or want to enjoy the island, or finding somewhere else to go if it is about the road trip.

Otherwise, I would not worry too much about what car you get, as Aberdeen is not that great a place to drive too and Shetland is not a great place to drive. It all depends on where else you want to go on your road trip.

[rex]

Trip is being planned by others with their own reasons for going there. Im joining along with a couple of others as I can see no reason to turn down a road trip invitation no matter where it is to.

So shortlist has grown to
RX8
MX 5 (obviously)
Old school hot hatch
Alfa of some sort (not owned an Alfa yet)
90's Saab ( when they were interesting)
BMW 325ti
Jag S Type R
Focus ST 170
Focus ST
Mini – Not brave enough for this one
A big old Jag (off to look at XJR prices)

Keep them coming.

[Ryvita]

Well this is a slightly different suggestion that will probably get shot down.

Subaru Forester Turbo 2.5

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

or

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

200+ BHP, basically an imprezza under the skin. Not as quick as some of the others but fast enough to keep up and might just surprise a few. And you can become everyone's best friend by being the designated support vehicle, carry the trolley jack, carry the excess gear of the guys in the smaller cars. In fact, get it stickered up, "RAPID SUPPORT VEHICLE".

Plus it has enough offroad chops to go exploring once you're up in the wilds. And you get cruise control, air con, heated seats, a panoramic sunroof and scooby burble to keep you company. What's not to like.

Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 13th October 14:30

[TTwiggy]

Audi S8 of the 'Ronin' variety?

edited to add: I couldn't find an S8 in budget, but this might be good...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

Edited by TTwiggy on Tuesday 13th October 14:33

[rex]

Ryvita said:

Well this is a slightly different suggestion that will probably get shot down.

Subaru Forester Turbo 2.5

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

or

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

200+ BHP, basically an imprezza under the skin. Not as quick as some of the others but fast enough to keep up and might just surprise a few. And you can become everyone's best friend by being the designated support vehicle, carry the trolley jack, carry the excess gear of the guys in the smaller cars. In fact, get it stickered up, "RAPID SUPPORT VEHICLE".

Plus it has enough offroad chops to go exploring once you're up in the wilds. And you get cruise control, air con, heated seats, a panoramic sunroof and scooby burble to keep you company. What's not to like.

Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 13th October 14:30

Shot down. Not with a great left field suggestion like that. Could see me through the winter and then the road trip. How much can these tow as could use it to tow the M3 to the track now that the 540 is in the great scrapyard in the sky. Could be a keeper

[HughG]

rex said:

Ryvita said:

Well this is a slightly different suggestion that will probably get shot down.

Subaru Forester Turbo 2.5

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

or

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

200+ BHP, basically an imprezza under the skin. Not as quick as some of the others but fast enough to keep up and might just surprise a few. And you can become everyone's best friend by being the designated support vehicle, carry the trolley jack, carry the excess gear of the guys in the smaller cars. In fact, get it stickered up, "RAPID SUPPORT VEHICLE".

Plus it has enough offroad chops to go exploring once you're up in the wilds. And you get cruise control, air con, heated seats, a panoramic sunroof and scooby burble to keep you company. What's not to like.

Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 13th October 14:30

Shot down. Not with a great left field suggestion like that. Could see me through the winter and then the road trip. How much can these tow as could use it to tow the M3 to the track now that the 540 is in the great scrapyard in the sky. Could be a keeper

2000kg apparently

[Ryvita]

rex said:

Shot down. Not with a great left field suggestion like that. Could see me through the winter and then the road trip. How much can these tow as could use it to tow the M3 to the track now that the 540 is in the great scrapyard in the sky. Could be a keeper

I'm not entirely sure, some googling indicates values between 1.8 and 2 tonnes as the limit. Should be torquey enough for it though.

Glad you like the idea. I have a nasty habit of pushing Subaru as the solution to all car needs of family and friends.

In your price range you've got some options with the 2.0 turbo or the 2.5 turbo. Particularly if thinking of towing, the more torquey 2.5 will be better.

You have pre- and post- facelift options. They're largely the same except for the different front bumpers. If you were spending more you could look for lower mileage, optional extras etc.

Pretty solid mechanically, only common issues are self-levelling rear suspension messing up. Some people say the 2.5 engine is fragile but that's overstated. They like regular oil changes like all jap turbos, so service history is important.

If modifying is an option, a standard XT turbo with exhaust, inlet and a remap will happily make 260BHP ish. There are also a few factory Prodrive PPP kitted foresters but they are rocking horse rare.

If you really want to push the boat out, you could step up to the Forester STI. 280+ BHP, STI suspension, 6-speed transmission and Brembos... http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds?Category=us...

Edited by Ryvita on Tuesday 13th October 16:40

[MK1RS Bruce]

SteveSteveson said:

Shetland seems like an odd place. It is a wonderful place to go, but hardly a drivers paradise. Mainland is only about 50 miles long. It's only 52 miles of road from Sullom Voe to Sumburgh, and driving to Aberdeen is not going to set your world alight. Having done it a fair few times in my life (I lived there for a while) I would recommend just flying if you have to go there for something, or want to enjoy the island, or finding somewhere else to go if it is about the road trip.

Otherwise, I would not worry too much about what car you get, as Aberdeen is not that great a place to drive too and Shetland is not a great place to drive. It all depends on where else you want to go on your road trip.

Firstly shetland is the worst place in the world, I would rather go to war torn Afghanistan than to shetland if I had the choice.

Secondly drive to Aberdeen will not be very impressive but once you pass aberdeen most of the country roads north and west are awesome, having said that the west coast is meant to be where it is at for driving roads and scenery, would also recommend the ISLE of Skye if you are set on going to an island for a few good reasons

1. it has a bridge
2. Accomodation in Shetland in May will be terribly expensive and difficult to come by (offshore season in full swing)

Another cool place to go if you are set on a ferry trip is stornoway as they have a bit of a car following over there.

I really can't tell you how horrible Shetland is!!! Just thinking about the midges alone puts the shivers up me!

[rex]

/\/\/\ made me chuckle regarding opinion on Shetland. It's availed on destination for reasons other than just driving.

Thanks for all the info on the Subaru. 2000kg is enough for the car and trailer.

Going to spend a while on the classifieds this evening.