City Dwellers: What runabout for petrolheads?

[Pennyroyal Tea]

jimmybell said:

Calling anyone that lives in a large city, commutes largely on public transport and when you do get in the car you end up spending time sat in city traffic doing daily tasks, yet you still aspire to own a special vehicle...

What's your idea of a daily runabout that's practical, comfortable, small enough for city life parked on a street - but still ticks the petrolhead box?

Things you or i might do in a runabout:

Drive to Sainsburys and do the weekly shop when hurricane imogen makes walking uncomfortable,
Buy some stuff in ikea,
Visit some friends or family out of town,
Drive to the golf course,
Bug out of the city for a quick b-road blast,
Go away for the weekend,
Chuck some mountain bikes in the back and find some trails,
Commute on a Friday when you can't face the tube...

Whilst we'd all love to do this in a V12 fezza, or the most favoured 911 GT3, this isn't the most practical and eventually you might want to carry something other than yourself - What's the best car for this job?

Simple answer?

1. A motorbike
2. A [insert preferred GT/Sports car]

End thread.

[Actus Reus]

jimmybell said:

Considering i currently drive a Z4 M Coupe, and that's considered not practical enough (although has done an admiral job over the years, ikea included) - i guess that counts out ideas on the MR2/MX5 scale, though appreciate the effort justifying a mk1 MX5.

I tend to find the main difficulty is the natural contrast between 'small city practicality' and 'visit family/friends long distances away in comfort', thus i'm settling on ideas like the latest RS3, M135i, Golf GTI/R etc - but they're all a much bigger commitment than some decent second hand bargains, so before i put my money down on an overpriced RS3, i'm wondering if there's any interesting alternatives.

In all seriousness I think a hot hatch with five doors is the car for you. How hot you decide (Fiesta ST or RS3) is up to you and your budget. For my money, in a city, I'd be looking at the Golf GTi, or, if you can manage with 3 doors, a 'Rocco. The new GTi with adaptive damping probably ticks the boxes.

[DonkeyApple]

Pennyroyal Tea said:

Simple answer?

1. A motorbike
2. A [insert preferred GT/Sports car]

End thread.

Apart from the minor issue that neither of those will meet even half the requirements listed, you are absolutely spot on.

[Pennyroyal Tea]

DonkeyApple said:

Apart from the minor issue that neither of those will meet even half the requirements listed, you are absolutely spot on.

On the contrary:

1. Motorbike for city-slicking
2. Car of choice for weekend jaunts

And IKEA do home delivery

As an ex-Londoner, I faced this same conundrum until I did my bike test. Thereafter I felt like I'd been reborn.

Edited by Pennyroyal Tea on Monday 8th February 11:18

[Shaoxter]

How often do you really go to Ikea? And do you really want all those cardboard boxes scratching the interior of a nice car and plants dropping soil everywhere? Either rent a van or just use their delivery service. Take that requirement away and you have a much wider choice!

I don't get the whole notion of a small city car, I'd happily drive a Phantom into central London.

[rejn]

2 cars we've had in the past to cover similar (but not bike) requirements were:

1. Panda 100HP (not sure you'd fit bikes in, but it's 5 door, practical, great to drive, and lugged everything we needed) - ours had roof bars so easy to put bikes on the roof
2. Golf GTI (a few years ago we had a mk5 - which still seems a pretty sweet spot for value for money; with more money get a mk7)

Cars we haven't had yet which would also work

1. E46 BMW - you might need an estate for bikes, I guess?
2. Clio 182/192/197 (I lose track of which ones which, but there seem to be some good options around for not much money)
3. M135i

[Captain Smerc]

one of these , full fat 451 Brabus with a S2Smarts remap , your grin will b wide .

[Prof Prolapse]

How many running hours between rebuilds on a smart car again?

[2gins]

I've done all that in a TT. Space is tight for rear facing child seats, you need an understanding mrs and not to be utterly dependent on the car for getting around. Worked in London, might not be same in Cardiff/Birmingham etc.

[anonymous-user]

Prof Prolapse said:

Then you've either never lived in one, only lived in a particularly nice part of one, or had off street parking.

9 times out of 10 if your car is going to be hit at the side of road the difference between a couple of CMs in Length or width is not going to make a world of difference. When my 205 was written off whilst parked at the side of the road first thought wasn't that I needed a smaller car .

[Captain Smerc]

I've run 3 over the last 12 years , 2 450's and the 451 in the picture, no rebuilds required on any of mine . The current car for 5 years , remapped at 5k , now on 30k & absolutely sweet . The earlier 450 cars did often needed a rebuild at 50k due to middle cylinder rings going . The 2007 451 model has a different engine and has proved very reliable. The Brabus is proper good fun , especially when mapped , sits on the motorway at 90 leptons all day long . I've got a C63 (remapped by Eurocharged ) as backup but I wouldn't b without my Brabby

[jimmybell]

Shaoxter said:

How often do you really go to Ikea? And do you really want all those cardboard boxes scratching the interior of a nice car and plants dropping soil everywhere? Either rent a van or just use their delivery service. Take that requirement away and you have a much wider choice!

I don't get the whole notion of a small city car, I'd happily drive a Phantom into central London.

Ikea? Way too often.

Driving a phantom into central london? Sure, parking it on a modest street that isn't in Chelsea? No thanks. Nevermind the size/width/length of the thing dictating that you can fit in exactly zero spaces anyway.

Edited by jimmybell on Monday 8th February 12:36

[Prof Prolapse]

279 said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Then you've either never lived in one, only lived in a particularly nice part of one, or had off street parking.

9 times out of 10 if your car is going to be hit at the side of road the difference between a couple of CMs in Length or width is not going to make a world of difference. When my 205 was written off whilst parked at the side of the road first thought wasn't that I needed a smaller car .

The issue with size is whether your car will easily fit in a space.

Not the increased risk from someone crashing into you.

[DonkeyApple]

Pennyroyal Tea said:

DonkeyApple said:

Apart from the minor issue that neither of those will meet even half the requirements listed, you are absolutely spot on.

On the contrary:

1. Motorbike for city-slicking
2. Car of choice for weekend jaunts

And IKEA do home delivery

As an ex-Londoner, I faced this same conundrum until I did my bike test. Thereafter I felt like I'd been reborn.

Edited by Pennyroyal Tea on Monday 8th February 11:18

Ok, so the motorbike meets the single criteria for the occasional Friday commute. And that's if you can be arsed with all the dressing up etc.

I've also made the assumption that the reason he visits okra is because he is married as I cannot think of a single reason for a man to go there unless forced to by the other half.

Pretty sure that for a single vehicle to fulfil this range of criteria means heading to the 'uninspired verging on life is over' range of utility vehicles and at that point anyone who spends a £1 more than is absolutely necessary to buy something they don't really want is proper mental.

And when it comes to B road hoons, I suspect that navigating a Duster on full chat through a sections of twisties is infinitely more rewarding than any Lotus or Ferrari.

[LankyLegoHead]

Suzuki Ignis Sport? Apparently very fun. And I'm sure its shape will help with bulky carrying duties, despite its size.

[anonymous-user]

Prof Prolapse said:

The issue with size is whether your car will easily fit in a space.

Not the increased risk from someone crashing into you.

You can still find plenty of spaces for large vehicles with relative ease. While you may have to park on a side road rather than squeezing in on the high street sometimes life is about compromises.

I can count the number of times I've have to park an 'inconvenient' distance (3+ Minute walk) from a job on one hand in a year's worth of muti-stop driving in all areas of London driving a 5m+ VW Transporter in residential areas.

Unless you have a very specific issue such as a tight home/work car park or want something truly massive (I will concede that my LWB S-Class is as big as I'd be willing to buy) size itself isn't much of an issue if you're competent driver.

Collecting door dings, parking scrapes and general paint work condition is far more of a prevalent issue to me as someone who lives in a city. IMO trying to keep a car that lives on any streets gleaming and free of other people's idiocy is the most difficult part of 'interesting' car ownership.

That and getting a chance to properly stretch their legs .

Edited by 279 on Monday 8th February 13:45

[Looket]

jimmybell said:

Calling anyone that lives in a large city, commutes largely on public transport and when you do get in the car you end up spending time sat in city traffic doing daily tasks, yet you still aspire to own a special vehicle...

What's your idea of a daily runabout that's practical, comfortable, small enough for city life parked on a street - but still ticks the petrolhead box?

Things you or i might do in a runabout:

Drive to Sainsburys and do the weekly shop when hurricane imogen makes walking uncomfortable,
Buy some stuff in ikea,
Visit some friends or family out of town,
Drive to the golf course,
Bug out of the city for a quick b-road blast,
Go away for the weekend,
Chuck some mountain bikes in the back and find some trails,
Commute on a Friday when you can't face the tube...

Whilst we'd all love to do this in a V12 fezza, or the most favoured 911 GT3, this isn't the most practical and eventually you might want to carry something other than yourself - What's the best car for this job?

If I were you I'd be looking at something along these lines:


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C658314

[CS Garth]

Volvo 850R estate auto. Ran a saloon in central London for 12 years - perfect.

[alangla]

jimmybell said:

Calling anyone that lives in a large city, commutes largely on public transport and when you do get in the car you end up spending time sat in city traffic doing daily tasks, yet you still aspire to own a special vehicle...

What's your idea of a daily runabout that's practical, comfortable, small enough for city life parked on a street - but still ticks the petrolhead box?

Things you or i might do in a runabout:

Drive to Sainsburys and do the weekly shop when hurricane imogen makes walking uncomfortable,
Buy some stuff in ikea,
Visit some friends or family out of town,
Drive to the golf course,
Bug out of the city for a quick b-road blast,
Go away for the weekend,
Chuck some mountain bikes in the back and find some trails,
Commute on a Friday when you can't face the tube...

Whilst we'd all love to do this in a V12 fezza, or the most favoured 911 GT3, this isn't the most practical and eventually you might want to carry something other than yourself - What's the best car for this job?

Bit out of leftfield here but... What about a Transit Connect with the 1.0 Ecoboost? Ticks all your boxes & can be tuned the same way as the 1.0 Fiesta. Ford vans generally handle pretty well & the cabs are pretty well designed and comfortable.

[james_gt3rs]

Gary C said:

Mk1 MR2!

Don't laugh, it used to be my only car and did everything!

Only problem with those is the rust! Hence, I bought a mk3 instead (which actually handles a lot better and is faster)