Looking for a new (to me) car. Suggestions?

[theador]

So, here goes another one.

I'm looking to replace the old shed with something a bit more presentable. The family wagon, a Subaru Forester 2.5XT (replaced my BMW e91 M-Sport which was recently written off by an HGV - thanks), will stay; but now as we have two rough and ready cars; I'm thinking of replacing the old 850R with something a little more presentable.

Although it looks completely standard, the 850R has had a few engine and suspension mods and sits around 290BHP with an LSD in it. So I'm looking for similar performance and handling; criteria:

• Must be at least 290bhp with good torque
• Fun to drive/good handling, ideally AWD or RWD but would consider FWD
• Must be big enough to easily get a road or mountain bike in and out with the back seats folded down.
• Must be able to get a dog crate in. (so probably another estate)
• I prefer European to Asia or Americas
• The clanger, I don't want to spend more than £7k

[TTwiggy]

Audi S4 avant (B6/7).

[theador]

TTwiggy said:

Audi S4 avant (B6/7).

Straight in with one of my favs! Which engine do they have? 2.7 twin turbo? I don;t know all the Audi engines.

Forgot to mention I also need manual gearbox.

My shortlist for what it's worth:
• Audi A4, with whichever models come with the twin turbo 2.7 and manual transmission (help???)

• BMW e46 (or e91 but it's just out of budget) 330i touring, but my e91 was a bit tight on space, and I think the e46 is worse.

• Alpha 156 Sportwagon with the 3.2V6 Busso engine; but it's a bit old and I don;t know what a newer Alpha equivalent would be.

[Ghost91]

theador said:

Straight in with one of my favs! Which engine do they have? 2.7 twin turbo? I don;t know all the Audi engines.

Forgot to mention I also need manual gearbox.

My shortlist for what it's worth:
• Audi A4, with whichever models come with the twin turbo 2.7 and manual transmission (help???)

• BMW e46 (or e91 but it's just out of budget) 330i touring, but my e91 was a bit tight on space, and I think the e46 is worse.

• Alpha 156 Sportwagon with the 3.2V6 Busso engine; but it's a bit old and I don;t know what a newer Alpha equivalent would be.

I think you could get a 159 estate with the newer, albeit less characterful 3.2 V6 engine. I loved my 159, but chose the wrong engine and got a diesel. Id probably still have it now if I went for the V6. They're beautiful looking things.

[tomsugden]

theador said:

Straight in with one of my favs! Which engine do they have? 2.7 twin turbo? I don;t know all the Audi engines.

The B6 and B7 both came with the 4.2 V8. You'd need to go back to the B5 for the 2.7 V6 twin turbo. I used to have an immaculate one, but I got the fear as the miles approached 90k on its original turbos, knowing that a £4k turbo relacement was imminent, and I sold it. Fantastic cars though if you can find one with the turbos already done.

[theador]

Thanks. I imagine at 4.2l they're NA rather than turbo?

tomsugden said:

The B6 and B7 both came with the 4.2 V8. You'd need to go back to the B5 for the 2.7 V6 twin turbo. I used to have an immaculate one, but I got the fear as the miles approached 90k on its original turbos, knowing that a £4k turbo relacement was imminent, and I sold it. Fantastic cars though if you can find one with the turbos already done.

[theador]

Thanks for that, how long did you have it and did you have much trouble with it?

Ghost91 said:

I think you could get a 159 estate with the newer, albeit less characterful 3.2 V6 engine. I loved my 159, but chose the wrong engine and got a diesel. Id probably still have it now if I went for the V6. They're beautiful looking things.

[Ghost91]

theador said:

I had it 6 months or so. I did have problems with it but only because of the Diesel engine - injectors, egr, dpf problems. Everything else was spot on, and a friend of mine has one without the diesely problems.

It was low mileage for a 2007 car so what I reckon happened was the previous owner bought a diesel for pottering round town, then I bought it just as the clogged up components were failing.

Not a glowing review then but keep in mind a petrol one wouldn't have these problems, and from what I've read, they're pretty reliable. It drove superbly, it was smooth and quiet, fast, handled very well. The blue & me system was great, and the Interior is a lovely place to sit.

[tomsugden]

theador said:

Thanks. I imagine at 4.2l they're NA rather than turbo?

tomsugden said:

The B6 and B7 both came with the 4.2 V8. You'd need to go back to the B5 for the 2.7 V6 twin turbo. I used to have an immaculate one, but I got the fear as the miles approached 90k on its original turbos, knowing that a £4k turbo relacement was imminent, and I sold it. Fantastic cars though if you can find one with the turbos already done.

Yes, N/A. I have also had a B6 S4 cabriolet, and it could be surprisingly frugal if driven sensibly. Day to day was around 24mpg, but low thirties was achievable. Not bad for roughly 360bhp.