RE: Moment of glory: PH Blog
Discussion
epom said:
Krikkit said:
Impreza surely has to be the 22B, not perfect but the pinnacle of the nutter rally special imo.
I want a 22B always have and will do some day. By far and away my favourite. However it seems the best Impreza going by tests and group reviews etc was the RB5 WR.Mini 360 said:
Ferrari V8 has to be the 360CS. Just epic, no crazy computer systems when compared to 430 Scud or 458 Speciale and enough subtle styling cues to make it stand out from the rest of the 360 range. Dream car, regardless of price/performance compared to current cars. Ideal!
360CS is an epic car but I'm not sure where you got the idea of it having no computer systems doing their thing. It's got all the cutting edge systems of the day. If you want zero computers then an S1 Elise or Caterham fit the bill.
My 2p,
911 everyday: 997.2 C2S
911 motorsport: 997.1 GT3 RS (orange or green)
Mid engined Fez: 360 Challenge Stradale
Evo: VI
Impreza: 22B
Elise: S1 Sport 160 (has to be Scandal Green!)
Clio: Mk3 200 obviously!
M3: E46 CSL (or maybe the CS because of the manual box)
Skyline/GTR: Probably an R32. But as an everyday ownership proposition the GTR
Mini: R56 JCW
911 everyday: 997.2 C2S
911 motorsport: 997.1 GT3 RS (orange or green)
Mid engined Fez: 360 Challenge Stradale
Evo: VI
Impreza: 22B
Elise: S1 Sport 160 (has to be Scandal Green!)
Clio: Mk3 200 obviously!
M3: E46 CSL (or maybe the CS because of the manual box)
Skyline/GTR: Probably an R32. But as an everyday ownership proposition the GTR
Mini: R56 JCW
The E46 M3- whether in standard guise or CSL spec is the highpoint of M3's.
E30's have lovely balance, DTM noise and great touring car looks but aren't quite quick enough these days.
E36- again, great looks and attract some unfair criticism in terms of handling- I find them quite racy as they are very low slung and ride well.
E90 is too fast and capable to enjoy on the roads. You have to be doing mental speeds to challenge it, it feels a bit heavy on the limit and fuel consumption isn't acceptable for what should be an everyday car. Great noise, ride comfort and straight line speed though.
Haven't driven an F80 yet but the fact it is turbo does nothing for me anyway.
So the E46- its compact, nimble, enjoyable and exploitable at lower speeds, fast enough to trouble most things on the road and has great cross country pace. Fuel consumption is acceptable on a blat and good on a cruise. Room for 4, affordable to run, the noise divides opinion but I love the metallic rasp.
Best all rounder of the group and mega in CSL spec.
E30's have lovely balance, DTM noise and great touring car looks but aren't quite quick enough these days.
E36- again, great looks and attract some unfair criticism in terms of handling- I find them quite racy as they are very low slung and ride well.
E90 is too fast and capable to enjoy on the roads. You have to be doing mental speeds to challenge it, it feels a bit heavy on the limit and fuel consumption isn't acceptable for what should be an everyday car. Great noise, ride comfort and straight line speed though.
Haven't driven an F80 yet but the fact it is turbo does nothing for me anyway.
So the E46- its compact, nimble, enjoyable and exploitable at lower speeds, fast enough to trouble most things on the road and has great cross country pace. Fuel consumption is acceptable on a blat and good on a cruise. Room for 4, affordable to run, the noise divides opinion but I love the metallic rasp.
Best all rounder of the group and mega in CSL spec.
BMW M3 - Has to be the E46 for me. The E30's are lovely but have become "too precious" nowadays to be driven in anger without worrying about the investment potential. A nice common or garden manual E46 has the right engine, enough power, the looks and no dodgy SMG box or again worrying about the mileage effecting value's as with a CSL. Someone mentioned the CS, perfect sweetspot IMO.
GT-R - Has to be the R34 for me, preferably in last of the line NUR spec. The last evolution of the great RB26 engine and the best looking IMO. The new R35 is nice but not in the same league in terms of cult status IMO.
911 - Has to be the 993. Modern enough to cut it in today's world in terms of performance but old enough to still have the driving characteristics of a "proper" Porsche (both good and bad). The cream of the crop being the fantastically outlandish GT2 RS Evo 2, nothing else comes close.
Evo - Has to be the Evo 6 Tommi Makkinen, the best version of the best evolution and it actually won races. Anything afterwards became too big and fat and lost that classic butch stocky stance of the classic Evo
Subaru - Has to be the classic, pre 99 cars. I prefer the two door shape in the P1\Type R mold, the ultimate incarnation of which is of course the 22b but any of the classic Subaru's from that era are decent. Plus like the Evo this was a proper homogolation car and actually won races. Everything that came after has been a disappoint in greater or lesser degrees due to less character, more weight and uglier styling.
Clio - The 182 is a good shout but I am going to go further back and go for the Clio Williams. That was the era when hot hatches were proper hot hatches. The 182 isn't a bad car but it just isn't as iconic for me. Oh and navy blue with gold wheels
GTI - Tough one, it's a toss up between the Mk2 16v big bumper version (in Oak Green with BBS alloys) or the VR6 for that fantastic engine and noise. The newer cars are competent enough but just soooo boring in comparison.
Ferrari - V8, flip a coin between the stunningly gorgeous 355 which hasn't been beaten for looks yet or the 360 CS for the noise alone. Anything after has got progressively uglier and less relevant to the real world IMO.
V12, surely the Enzo. It might look a bit odd and gawky from some angles but it looks like nothing else on the road and we won't see it's like again. Still the ultimate incarnation of the V12 Ferrari imo.
GT-R - Has to be the R34 for me, preferably in last of the line NUR spec. The last evolution of the great RB26 engine and the best looking IMO. The new R35 is nice but not in the same league in terms of cult status IMO.
911 - Has to be the 993. Modern enough to cut it in today's world in terms of performance but old enough to still have the driving characteristics of a "proper" Porsche (both good and bad). The cream of the crop being the fantastically outlandish GT2 RS Evo 2, nothing else comes close.
Evo - Has to be the Evo 6 Tommi Makkinen, the best version of the best evolution and it actually won races. Anything afterwards became too big and fat and lost that classic butch stocky stance of the classic Evo
Subaru - Has to be the classic, pre 99 cars. I prefer the two door shape in the P1\Type R mold, the ultimate incarnation of which is of course the 22b but any of the classic Subaru's from that era are decent. Plus like the Evo this was a proper homogolation car and actually won races. Everything that came after has been a disappoint in greater or lesser degrees due to less character, more weight and uglier styling.
Clio - The 182 is a good shout but I am going to go further back and go for the Clio Williams. That was the era when hot hatches were proper hot hatches. The 182 isn't a bad car but it just isn't as iconic for me. Oh and navy blue with gold wheels
GTI - Tough one, it's a toss up between the Mk2 16v big bumper version (in Oak Green with BBS alloys) or the VR6 for that fantastic engine and noise. The newer cars are competent enough but just soooo boring in comparison.
Ferrari - V8, flip a coin between the stunningly gorgeous 355 which hasn't been beaten for looks yet or the 360 CS for the noise alone. Anything after has got progressively uglier and less relevant to the real world IMO.
V12, surely the Enzo. It might look a bit odd and gawky from some angles but it looks like nothing else on the road and we won't see it's like again. Still the ultimate incarnation of the V12 Ferrari imo.
PaulsM3 said:
E30's have lovely balance, DTM noise and great touring car looks but aren't quite quick enough these days.
Is that question though? Whether they are quick enough these days or not isn't really relevant, it's how it compared to it's contemporaries. I think that the M3's biggest moment of Glory was the original. Every version since has to a greater or lesser extent been playing on the motorsport heritage of the original.
I reckon the S series really put them on the map to start with and then the models did start getting more and more sexy and more powerful mostly. PaulsM3 said:
E90 is too fast and capable to enjoy on the roads. You have to be doing mental speeds to challenge it, it feels a bit heavy on the limit and fuel consumption isn't acceptable for what should be an everyday car. Great noise, ride comfort and straight line speed though.
That is a very good sum up I think. 
cerb4.5lee said:
Leins said:
E-class:
I have never been able to put my finger on why I love the 500 E so much because it looks a dogs dinner to me and woefully uninspiring to look at but it strikes a cord with me big time. 
)At the polar opposite, I love the idea of the 190 EvoII, purely because it would garner utter disgust from the same casual observer. I know this as I once heard someone at Silverstone, circa 1995, comment how they believed one particular owner had no taste due to what they had done to their Mercedes
Edited by Leins on Friday 17th April 14:48
Devil2575 said:
Is that question though? Whether they are quick enough these days or not isn't really relevant, it's how it compared to it's contemporaries. I think that the M3's biggest moment of Glory was the original. Every version since has to a greater or lesser extent been playing on the motorsport heritage of the original.
That's a fair point, however if we are saying 'which is the best M3 of the lot' we are comparing them to each other. Therefore, for me, if I drove them all back to back now (rather than just using memory recall) it would be a close run thing between the E30 and an E46 but the E46 will leave me feeling more satisfied.
Especially if we extend that to the ownership proposition too.
PaulsM3 said:
Devil2575 said:
Is that question though? Whether they are quick enough these days or not isn't really relevant, it's how it compared to it's contemporaries. I think that the M3's biggest moment of Glory was the original. Every version since has to a greater or lesser extent been playing on the motorsport heritage of the original.
That's a fair point, however if we are saying 'which is the best M3 of the lot' we are comparing them to each other. Therefore, for me, if I drove them all back to back now (rather than just using memory recall) it would be a close run thing between the E30 and an E46 but the E46 will leave me feeling more satisfied.
Especially if we extend that to the ownership proposition too.
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