RE: Vote for the best saloon of the last 25 years!

[bilo999]

Gecko1978 said:

Trophy-GTA said:

Alfa 156 GTA
Maserati Quattroporte
Alfa Giulia QV

That's it close the vote we have a winner.

totally agree

[CrippsCorner]

I thought this would be a harder one for me, as actually saloons are probably my least favourite type of car (despite owning at least off that list)

But it was easy when I saw the list!

Love a B7 RS4 so that was straight on there (do prefer the estate, but maybe that'll get its own list at some point)

Alfa Quadrifoglio had to be on there as that's my current favourite, above any German offerings.

Finally, it was tough between an Impreza (which is the one I owned) or an Evo... but tbh I've always preferred an Evo, so Evo 9 was my third choice.

[dinkel]

lotus116tornado said:

Surely the M3 (E46) is not a saloon, it was only sold in coupe and convertible format and therefore is irrelevant. If it's in you would surely have to add other coupe's.

Fair point: a saloon is a sedan... a two-door saloon is a coupe... all pics show a four-door...

C63 for me: what a car!

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Not much love for the E60 V10 M5?

Best saloon since 1998 is a big claim, but driving one made me giggle like a school boy.

[Hereward]

Does the B7 RS4 have the FSi direct injection V8 that cokes up and the timing chain guides that fall apart with no easy access, or I am muddled up as usual?

[Robertb]

Fiestapop11 said:

It would have been interesting to see a Tesla Model S Plaid in there to see how many votes it would have got on being a PH type car as the vanguard of the next 25 years

And no. I would not have voted for it

I voted for the Taycan in my top 3 on the basis it is the first properly desirable EV for people that like cars, and is a class-leading supersaloon in its own right as well as among other EVs.

I applaud Tesla for the model S as it so nearly did the same, but just doesn't have the 'want' factor, for me at least.

[cerb4.5lee]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Not much love for the E60 V10 M5?

Best saloon since 1998 is a big claim, but driving one made me giggle like a school boy.

I love the engine in the E60 V10 5.0 M5 big time(I've always loved bigger engines), but rightly or wrongly I'm put off it because pretty much everyone says that the gearbox is crap in it though. I haven't been in one though in fairness, and worse case you can get someone to swap the gearbox for a 3 pedal manual now I believe anyway.

[TameRacingDriver]

Robertb said:

I applaud Tesla for the model S as it so nearly did the same, but just doesn't have the 'want' factor, for me at least.

I'm sure PH will have a "best white goods in the last 25 years" category soon enough

[Robertb]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Not much love for the E60 V10 M5?

Best saloon since 1998 is a big claim, but driving one made me giggle like a school boy.

I hit my highest ever UK road speed in my brother's E60 M5. Not big or clever, but I've never driven a saloon (or indeed any other) car that gathered speed like that thing did, accompanied by that fabulous noise!

Voted for the E39 though, because V8 manual and classic BMW styling. Baaaaaaaaa!

[cerb4.5lee]

Robertb said:

I hit my highest ever UK road speed in my brother's E60 M5. Not big or clever, but I've never driven a saloon (or indeed any other) car that gathered speed like that thing did, accompanied by that fabulous noise!

Voted for the E39 though, because V8 manual and classic BMW styling. Baaaaaaaaa!

I can only imagine how epic the E60 M5 is on its top end for sure! I remember the E92 M3 being at its best at 100mph plus as well, and obviously the E60 M5 is in another league performance wise to the E92 M3.

[brillomaster]

Voted. My total cylinder count was 20, all bmws...

[E90_M3Ross]

Hereward said:

Does the B7 RS4 have the FSi direct injection V8 that cokes up and the timing chain guides that fall apart with no easy access, or I am muddled up as usual?

Yes it does. A friend of mine had one from new (Avant). Nice car but I wouldn't pick a saloon over the E90 M3 (and I didn't...). It's very good to drive but just not quite as sharp or as playful. Both very good though.

[Court_S]

That’s a fab list and it was hard to choose.

The E39 M5 was my most obvious choice. Love them.

B7 RS4 was next; still live the way they look and they hold a special place for me given that it was the first proper performance car that I got to drive properly (a family member had one and let me drive it).

I also went for the E90 M3 because I love them too; that engine, those rear arches and it was the last NA M engine.

[braddo]

bilo999 said:

Gecko1978 said:

Trophy-GTA said:

Alfa 156 GTA
Maserati Quattroporte
Alfa Giulia QV

That's it close the vote we have a winner.

totally agree

Only if the 156 had been RWD.... Otherwise I'm afraid a torque-steering FWD is never going to be the best saloon of the past 25 years.

So many great cars in this poll, I had kind of forgotten how much I like sports saloons until I saw how many of these cars I really like!

[David-Austin]

Its hard to pick one out of all the last 25 years.....perhaps easier by 5 year bites....though i have C63 AMG and E60 M5 i would put these and similar to those mentioned in super saloon category

but lest we forget the likes of the X308 XJR......certainly a saloon

[bodhi]

cerb4.5lee said:

I can only imagine how epic the E60 M5 is on its top end for sure! I remember the E92 M3 being at its best at 100mph plus as well, and obviously the E60 M5 is in another league performance wise to the E92 M3.

We went out in my friend from works' back in the days when the M6 Toll was very empty and very lightly policed, and I can confirm that the way it picks up speed in license losing territory is obscene. Most cars will pull well up to 90 or 100 then feel like they hit a bit of a brick wall - in this there was no wall, it just carried on going.

He also had an Eisenmann exhaust fitted and the noises it made were frankly rude. Remember the V10 F1 cars? It sounded exactly like one of those. When he left work you could still hear him joining the motorway and heading for the fast lane from over a mile away.

[BrotherMouzone]

I’m torn between voting for my ‘teenage’ hero’s cars (EVO, Impreza, Accord type R, E39 M5 etc), or cars that I actually would buy today / suit my use case the most (W204 C63, B7 RS4, E60/1 M5, XJR etc).

Great list of cars.

[cerb4.5lee]

bodhi said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I can only imagine how epic the E60 M5 is on its top end for sure! I remember the E92 M3 being at its best at 100mph plus as well, and obviously the E60 M5 is in another league performance wise to the E92 M3.

We went out in my friend from works' back in the days when the M6 Toll was very empty and very lightly policed, and I can confirm that the way it picks up speed in license losing territory is obscene. Most cars will pull well up to 90 or 100 then feel like they hit a bit of a brick wall - in this there was no wall, it just carried on going.

He also had an Eisenmann exhaust fitted and the noises it made were frankly rude. Remember the V10 F1 cars? It sounded exactly like one of those. When he left work you could still hear him joining the motorway and heading for the fast lane from over a mile away.

Awesome!

[cerb4.5lee]

BrotherMouzone said:

I’m torn between voting for my ‘teenage’ hero’s cars (EVO, Impreza, Accord type R, E39 M5 etc), or cars that I actually would buy today / suit my use case the most (W204 C63, B7 RS4, E60/1 M5, XJR etc).

Great list of cars.

I found myself torn in the same way too. Back in the day I absolutely loved stuff like the EVO/Impreza/Accord Type-R etc as well. Just too many great cars to choose from on this list I reckon. The other 2 lists were a doddle to choose a favourite car in comparison to this one for sure.

[JordanM200]

Impreza STI (Blobeye). Or any Impreza in fact, I'd personally go hawkeye.

When new back in 03, not much would keep up on a damp back road. Even now 20yrs on it would hold its own against modern day fast hatchbacks. The gold standard.