A sporty but also practical car

[Jimmay]

I'm looking for a fast but practical family car. Budget 8k but I could stretch to 9k if absolutely necessary. I need 4 doors ideally and a large boot to fit a mountain bike inside fairly easily. Although I might consider a rear bike rack if necessary. I've been looking at hot hatches mostly as they seem to tick most boxes, but I'm open to any suggestions. Most coupes and saloons have tiny boots so I have avoided these for now. I would consider estates if the performance is good and its cheapish to run.

I've been reading reviews/articles, watching videos for about a week now but can't even come up with a shortlist to test drive! Just seems to be so much choice. Every car has its positives/negatives but I'm finding it hard to find a good compromise.

These are the cars I've looked at so far. I haven't ruled any of them out, but I'm leaning to some more than others for various reasons.

VW Golf GTI mkv
VW Golf R32
SEAT Leon Cupra
Focus ST-3
Mondeo ST220
BMW 130i
Subaru WRX hatchback or Sportswagon
Audi S3(old) Mazda3 MPS

[blearyeyedboy]

I'm going to do my usual trick of suggesting you add a Skoda Octavia vRS to that list. The hatch boots are enormous and you get something which is mechanically very close to a Golf GTi for a lot less.

[veevee]

3 series touring?

[Jimmay]

Anyone have experience driving/owning any of the cars I listed, and can comment on what they're like? Anything to look out for when viewing/driving any of the cars on the list?

[rallycross]

I would take a look at the BMW 335i.

Petrol, 310 bhp, twin turbo, 30+ mpg.

If you look for a while you will find a high mileage 100k plus one owner ex co' car within your budget of £9k.

[ben_h100]

Jimmay said:

I'm looking for a fast but practical family car. Budget 8k but I could stretch to 9k if absolutely necessary. I need 4 doors ideally and a large boot to fit a mountain bike inside fairly easily. Although I might consider a rear bike rack if necessary. I've been looking at hot hatches mostly as they seem to tick most boxes, but I'm open to any suggestions. Most coupes and saloons have tiny boots so I have avoided these for now. I would consider estates if the performance is good and its cheapish to run.

I've been reading reviews/articles, watching videos for about a week now but can't even come up with a shortlist to test drive! Just seems to be so much choice. Every car has its positives/negatives but I'm finding it hard to find a good compromise.

These are the cars I've looked at so far. I haven't ruled any of them out, but I'm leaning to some more than others for various reasons.

VW Golf GTI mkv
VW Golf R32
SEAT Leon Cupra
Focus ST-3
Mondeo ST220
BMW 130i
Subaru WRX hatchback or Sportswagon
Audi S3(old) Mazda3 MPS

I've owned two ST-3s, very nice cars, very reliable, cheap to service, good handling, great for cruising down the motorway (GT type car), but also good on the twisties if a tad heavy. They sound amazing and you can have 270+ BHP from a simple remap. The only downside I found was the fuel economy, expect high twenties average at best if you drive it enthusiastically. On the motorway if you drive it like a saint (eggshell under the pedal!) it is possible to get 40mpg. The interior (Recaro heated leather) is IMO excellent, especially on the facelifted models, very nice place to be and on a par with, if not better than, any of the other cars listed. You may be able to get one with keyless unlock/start for that price, not sure. Engine has character, exhaust burbles and pops on the overrun. Did I mention the engine sounds incredible? (Test drive one!)

My dad owns one of the S3s you mention (53/54 plate, can't remember). Again it's a very nice car, if slightly dated. For driving, it sticks to the road like glue and has decent performance for everyday driving. Again, a remap can give you extra horses for not too much wonga.

I test drove a R32 and the performance and overall feel of the car impressed me, however it is said to suffer from poor mpg for the performance, and I'm not sure if the tax is more due to the engine size. In the real world performance wise, it is similar to a standard ST. What mileages are you looking at for your budget?

Haven't driven any of the other cars but the 1 series might be a bit small for carrying your bike about and general practicality.

[Kurtcobain]

E39 m5

[Liam79]

Mazda 6 mps would be worth a look

[Golaboots]

The Mondeo and Octavia boots are plenty bigger than most of those. Have you seen a 1 series, they're tiny.

[Somnophore]

Cupra R

[spogxy]

Honda S2000....

This is a 2 1/2M bit of timber I brought back from b und q! Now that's practical, no?

edit: Ooops, I didn't read the OP properly I just saw, practical, sporty and 9K - by which I thought you meant 9000RPM



Also I can fit a bike rack to the boot, so not an entirely ridiculous response...

Edited by spogxy on Wednesday 29th February 19:31

[Jimmay]

ben_h100 said:

I've owned two ST-3s, very nice cars, very reliable, cheap to service, good handling, great for cruising down the motorway (GT type car), but also good on the twisties if a tad heavy. They sound amazing and you can have 270+ BHP from a simple remap. The only downside I found was the fuel economy, expect high twenties average at best if you drive it enthusiastically. On the motorway if you drive it like a saint (eggshell under the pedal!) it is possible to get 40mpg. The interior (Recaro heated leather) is IMO excellent, especially on the facelifted models, very nice place to be and on a par with, if not better than, any of the other cars listed. You may be able to get one with keyless unlock/start for that price, not sure. Engine has character, exhaust burbles and pops on the overrun. Did I mention the engine sounds incredible? (Test drive one!)

My dad owns one of the S3s you mention (53/54 plate, can't remember). Again it's a very nice car, if slightly dated. For driving, it sticks to the road like glue and has decent performance for everyday driving. Again, a remap can give you extra horses for not too much wonga.

I test drove a R32 and the performance and overall feel of the car impressed me, however it is said to suffer from poor mpg for the performance, and I'm not sure if the tax is more due to the engine size. In the real world performance wise, it is similar to a standard ST. What mileages are you looking at for your budget?

Haven't driven any of the other cars but the 1 series might be a bit small for carrying your bike about and general practicality.

Great post. Thanks for that.

I only do about 30 miles a day(commute) and then about 50 at weekends. So not much really.

The Focus has been one of my favs from the start. Hopefully I can get a drive this weekend.

And the more 1 series BMWs I see the more I realise how small they are. I'm sure their performance is amazing, but I can't help think if I got one I'd wish I'd got something bigger.

[WeirdNeville]

Do you have to spend all 8k and What do you mean by "cheap to run"?

It just seems odd that someone wanting economy has £8k to burn on a car.

FWIW, I'd look at BMW Estates and test drive an Impreza Estate to see if you can live with the comparatively "raw" feel (rod noise etc), in exchange for a bit more performance and B-Road pace.

But the default option is a nice 6 cylinder engines BMW estate. Very, very hard to beat at what they do.

[Fat Albert]

<AHEM>
Shopping:

Mountain Bike:

kids & Dog:


'nuff said

Edited by Fat Albert on Wednesday 29th February 23:28

[rob.e]

blearyeyedboy said:

I'm going to do my usual trick of suggesting you add a Skoda Octavia vRS to that list. The hatch boots are enormous and you get something which is mechanically very close to a Golf GTi for a lot less.

+1

VRS estate will easily swallow your bike.

[Matt UK]

Audi S4 4.2 V8

Or an Audi RS6 V8TT if you can afford to run the bugger

[blearyeyedboy]

rob.e said:

blearyeyedboy said:

I'm going to do my usual trick of suggesting you add a Skoda Octavia vRS to that list. The hatch boots are enormous and you get something which is mechanically very close to a Golf GTi for a lot less.

+1

VRS estate will easily swallow your bike.

My hatch swallows mine. With careful placing and a tarp to stop getting mud everywhere you could get two in with the seats down.

Edited by blearyeyedboy on Thursday 1st March 00:32