Cars you wish they'd make or had made?
Discussion
Mr Tidy: Our lists overlap quite a bit. On 3 and 7:
Mr Tidy said:
7) A new Z4 with a Coupe model so it has a proper roof! (And no 4-pots or turbos)!
I always liked the idea of a stiffer and lighter chassis, and I owned a Z4 Coupé a few years ago, but I had no idea just how much stiffer and how much lighter they were compared to the Z4 Roadster until someone posted some figures recently - the torsional stiffness was quite shockingly higher!Mr Tidy said:
3) Manual gearboxes in Sporting Jags (like 3 litre XE and all F-types) and AMG Mercs.
I thought the F Type came with a manual gearbox? https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en-GB&sourc... Sorely missed on the ZE and AMG Mercs though...Edited by RobM77 on Tuesday 7th July 14:45
te!
First thought when I saw the thread title, but OP beat me to it! MR-S should absolutely have got the 2ZZ (190hp) rather than/ as well as the 1ZZ (140hp). Have owned both engines, and the difference was night-and-day from what appeared to be identical lumps. Most people do love the car as it is, but the 2ZZ would have elevated it to another level, a little closer to the mk2 turbo models that preceded it. Wouldn't have required much extra investment to do Id imagine, wonder what prevented Toyota pulling the trigger?
Terribly predictable, but a 'hot', turbo GT86/ BRZ. Again, hard to imagine it would've been particularly expensive or implausible for them to do. Supercharge the bloody thing for all I care...
I suppose that both cars 'pull off' their relatively modest powerplants on account of their sweet chassis'/ lightness etc, but surely there are enough potential buyers for such mainstream cars to warrant 'performance' versions? I for one would be happy to pay afew £K premium for a BRZ with a 'Turbo' badge and an old-Impreza-esque boot spoiler (blue with gold wheels ofcourse).
I really admire Mazda for NOT going the turbo route in the new MX5, so it feels quite contradictory to say that an FI new MX5 would be interesting.
While I'm on Mazdas, a 'hot' RX8 with a bit more RX7 about it would've been nice. RX8 was always a car that did so much right, but fell just shy of the mark for me. Can't imagine turbos would have helped the less-than-stellar reliability/ running costs though...
A full-fat first-gen Cayman would have rocked at the time, although I get why Porsche didn't do it. When I look at what they've done with the latest performance Caymans it makes me wish there had been even a limited number of no-compromise early models, which would no doubt be ready to rocket in value due to being so 'analogue' amongst other cliches.
A proper performance 'Quattro' coupe would've done Audi many favours in the last 5 years. Something to sit above hot TTs and below R8s, and share mechanicals with eg the RS4. A properly handsome coupe to tempt buyers out of AMG/ M coupes, and legitimately carry some DNA of the original Quattro. That recent-ish concept car wasn't a million miles away.
New Z4 is missing a proper fixed roof M car that the previous generations got.
Toyota is conspicuously missing a Supra (what's the crack with that definitely 'won't-make-production' concept anyway?). I'll even accept a hybrid if it has a reasonably exciting internal combustion engine too...
I get that most of the cars I mention are 'old-fashioned', traditional coupes/ GTs, which are a dying breed anyway, but I just wonder if this is genuinely due to lack of consumer demand. I'm sure the big manufacturers have plenty of market research to back up their current/ future model ranges, but I do lament the death of the properly quick performance coupe.
Terribly predictable, but a 'hot', turbo GT86/ BRZ. Again, hard to imagine it would've been particularly expensive or implausible for them to do. Supercharge the bloody thing for all I care...
I suppose that both cars 'pull off' their relatively modest powerplants on account of their sweet chassis'/ lightness etc, but surely there are enough potential buyers for such mainstream cars to warrant 'performance' versions? I for one would be happy to pay afew £K premium for a BRZ with a 'Turbo' badge and an old-Impreza-esque boot spoiler (blue with gold wheels ofcourse).
I really admire Mazda for NOT going the turbo route in the new MX5, so it feels quite contradictory to say that an FI new MX5 would be interesting.
While I'm on Mazdas, a 'hot' RX8 with a bit more RX7 about it would've been nice. RX8 was always a car that did so much right, but fell just shy of the mark for me. Can't imagine turbos would have helped the less-than-stellar reliability/ running costs though...
A full-fat first-gen Cayman would have rocked at the time, although I get why Porsche didn't do it. When I look at what they've done with the latest performance Caymans it makes me wish there had been even a limited number of no-compromise early models, which would no doubt be ready to rocket in value due to being so 'analogue' amongst other cliches.
A proper performance 'Quattro' coupe would've done Audi many favours in the last 5 years. Something to sit above hot TTs and below R8s, and share mechanicals with eg the RS4. A properly handsome coupe to tempt buyers out of AMG/ M coupes, and legitimately carry some DNA of the original Quattro. That recent-ish concept car wasn't a million miles away.
New Z4 is missing a proper fixed roof M car that the previous generations got.
Toyota is conspicuously missing a Supra (what's the crack with that definitely 'won't-make-production' concept anyway?). I'll even accept a hybrid if it has a reasonably exciting internal combustion engine too...
I get that most of the cars I mention are 'old-fashioned', traditional coupes/ GTs, which are a dying breed anyway, but I just wonder if this is genuinely due to lack of consumer demand. I'm sure the big manufacturers have plenty of market research to back up their current/ future model ranges, but I do lament the death of the properly quick performance coupe.
For Volvo to do a proper successor to the 850R wagon. The current V70 only demonstrates how far from that ideal they've shifted. As its based on the S80, slot in the V8 for those that want to waft, and then go back to what made the 850R fun. Use a decent 6-sp manual box, plenty of 2.0-2.5-litre turbos out there to chose, loose about 400kg, and give it 300-350bhp. Then we'll have a decent size wagon that's not German and is a bit of fun.
And for Subaru to offer the new Liberty as a wagon with a manual box and turbo-charged engine. Levorg is based on the Impreza, and is too small, as well as not available over here yet.
And for Holden to offer the current VF Commodore V8 wagon with a manual box - the mechanically identical sedan gets one, but the wagon is auto only.
Will think of some more soon - those are just thoughts from my recent car dabblings...
And for Subaru to offer the new Liberty as a wagon with a manual box and turbo-charged engine. Levorg is based on the Impreza, and is too small, as well as not available over here yet.
And for Holden to offer the current VF Commodore V8 wagon with a manual box - the mechanically identical sedan gets one, but the wagon is auto only.
Will think of some more soon - those are just thoughts from my recent car dabblings...
Edited by PomBstard on Thursday 9th July 06:10
daveofedinburgh said:
While I'm on Mazdas, a 'hot' RX8 with a bit more RX7 about it would've been nice. RX8 was always a car that did so much right, but fell just shy of the mark for me. Can't imagine turbos would have helped the less-than-stellar reliability/ running costs though...
I suspect the MPG would not be much worse and could even improve (not unique to the rotary, after all diesels are turbocharged for economy as well as power) as the rotary wastes a lot of energy as heat which would nicely be recovered to spin a turbo (I saw an interesting article once on turbo-compounding the RX-8 which would give an extra 20% range *and* 20% power). An additional e38 facelift roughly in line with the last e39's: Celis rear lights, angel eyes, updated sports steering wheel, maybe the engine from the e39 M5.
An e39 535d with one of the more recent engine revisions.
As mentioned previously on this thread, a RWD Alfa GTV (doesn't need supercharging).
An Alfa 4c with a GT-pack interior that's a nice place to sit in.
An Alfa 159 GTA, Brera GTA.
An e39 535d with one of the more recent engine revisions.
As mentioned previously on this thread, a RWD Alfa GTV (doesn't need supercharging).
An Alfa 4c with a GT-pack interior that's a nice place to sit in.
An Alfa 159 GTA, Brera GTA.
RobM77 said:
Mr Tidy: Our lists overlap quite a bit. On 3 and 7:
Actually I found that out before I bought mine, but I never wanted a roadster anyway! Living in the UK I would expect more days when it leaked than days to go topless, Coupes are much rarer and sooo much better looking. Mr Tidy said:
7) A new Z4 with a Coupe model so it has a proper roof! (And no 4-pots or turbos)!
I always liked the idea of a stiffer and lighter chassis, and I owned a Z4 Coupé a few years ago, but I had no idea just how much stiffer and how much lighter they were compared to the Z4 Roadster until someone posted some figures recently - the torsional stiffness was quite shockingly higher!I know it was decades ago but the only convertible I have ever driven was a Triumph S*itfire and it felt like it had a rubber floor! I know a 10 year old BMW is going to be better but having a metal roof as well as a floor to hold the front to the back is always going to make a car drive better!
Mr Tidy said:
3) Manual gearboxes in Sporting Jags (like 3 litre XE and all F-types) and AMG Mercs.
I thought the F Type came with a manual gearbox? https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en-GB&sourc... Sorely missed on the ZE and AMG Mercs though.../quote]Oops, I forgot they have now addressed that, but I think it's only the V6 F-types not the V8; but that makes it harder to understand why they aren't offering a manual on any of the petrol XEs, even the one using the V6 out of the XE..?
One more I forgot (again with a personal bias!) Why no 330i E46 Compact? They did 330i in every other body style, i.e. saloon, coupe and tourer! If my 325ti ever goes bang I would love to try to rectify that oversight by BMW!
Edited by RobM77 on Tuesday 7th July 14:45
Mr Tidy said:
One more I forgot (again with a personal bias!) Why no 330i E46 Compact? They did 330i in every other body style, i.e. saloon, coupe and tourer! If my 325ti ever goes bang I would love to try to rectify that oversight by BMW!
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