Have we accepted fuel prices and started having fun again??

[anonymous-user]

ajb85 said:

My problem is I'm still loathed to accept 20mpg after running a diesel for so long. Similarly to the people who have motorbikes for their commute and leave something tasty up the drive for the weekend, I have been trialing similar by running two cars. Having done so for a couple of weeks I'm struggling to see how fellow PH'er is able to leave his 944 at home and take the C1 even down to the shops..

The 530d auto is useless for small trips, whilst the engine is cold as I hop up the road I get 25mpg. I can hardly bang the 'buy a diesel' drum with a return like that. In this instance I'd much prefer it to be a 540 and pay less for the pleasure! So I've kept hold of an old A4 tdi avant I took in p/x to use as the daily hack. Much better on juice but it's noisy and crude; it's a snotter by all accounts and gives me no pride behind the wheel. Leaving the 'nice wheels' at home and stepping into a snotter feels like a punishment that you've oddly inflicted upon yourself. If this worked in practice I'd ditch the 530d and get something that I really want, like an AMG Merc. Something of a guilty pleasure that otherwise I couldn't afford to run every day. However it just wouldn't work, would it? As car nuts we like the cream of the crop; should there be a choice, and so naturally you'd gravitate towards the tastier car rendering your new V8 motor a rather expensive replacement 'hack'.

So back to the drawing board with the 'Running a V8 on a budget' idea..

Out of interest; how many of us here actually have 'weekend cars' per se? The type of car you use just for pleasure and one that would be crippling to put fuel every day? I'm talking about the average Joe here and not the chaps with Ferrari 360s in their central heated garage they take out for weekend jaunts...

I'm about to get a wrx for the weekend. The bike for my commute is cheap as chips. I don't think running two cars can be compared to running a car and a bike.

My bike does 55+ mpg, is £50 to tax, £70 to insure and £56 for a yearly service. It only has 2 wheels so tyres are at least half price and there isn't much that goes wrong with it that can't be sorted in my garage. It's also probably faster than many sports cars!

[Welshbeef]

How about the new Vauxhalls Ampera? Seems to be superb.

Or the plug in Prius means zero fuel cost for your commute then a huge V12 for weekend fun.

[vsonix]

I'm pretty happy with my 328i as a fair compromise between MPG and performance, 28mpg round town, 33+ on a run is pretty good considering. However, one thing I have noticed is I don't do as many long trips away or jump into the car for a 30 minute hoon so often these days. Saying that downsizing to a 1.2 or something wouldn't really be that useful for me - they're no cheaper to buy than a straight-6 BMW and since at least 80% of my miles are long-distance runs I don't think having a 'little' car would be all that advisable. However I am lucky enough to work from home and not need to commute or use the road network during peak hours more often than once or twice a month; if I had to do more than that I would get 320d or something equally dull but frugal.

[okie592]

you cant spend it when your dead, would rather be skint with a smile on my face than sat in a derv ecobox

[Welshbeef]

okie592 said:

you cant spend it when your dead, would rather be skint with a smile on my face than sat in a derv ecobox

I don't consider commuting to be fun in any way you cannot dictate rate of flow so comfort reliability safety and efficient are key aspects of a commuting vehicle.

I'd rather spend the cash on a car you cannot use to commute something silly fast or classic. Or Carribean holidays tagged with a month or so every year in Banff Saville row suits and shirts platinum Rolex

[HustleRussell]

ajb85 said:

Out of interest; how many of us here actually have 'weekend cars' per se? The type of car you use just for pleasure and one that would be crippling to put fuel every day? I'm talking about the average Joe here and not the chaps with Ferrari 360s in their central heated garage they take out for weekend jaunts...

Alongside my 1996 BMW snotter/tow car I have a Caterham racing car which is currently MOT'd but SORNED. It does simular MPG to the BMW driven normally but it does about 13MPG when racing and probably 20-ish when hooning on the road.
When I had the Diesel Mondeo I couldn't stomach driving a car which used twice as much fuel but for some reason now my road car does simular MPG I'm considering un-SORNing it for some fun on the road. It'll sit idle in the garage until the 2013 season kicks off otherwise!

[TameRacingDriver]

Welshbeef said:

I don't consider commuting to be fun in any way you cannot dictate rate of flow so comfort reliability safety and efficient are key aspects of a commuting vehicle.

I'm quite lucky in my commute, goes against the normal direction of traffic, so luckily I get to have some fun. However, once or twice, I do have to go into town and then make my way out, its easy to forget how bad commuting can be when you do have a "fun" commute. I am totally with you, if I had to sit in traffic, it wouldn't be any more fun in something with a huge engine. In fact, less, because you can literally watch your bank notes catching fire in front of your very eyes, to go nowhere fast.