What Car, fun, turbo, refined? £14k

[okie592]

Time has come for a new car, cheaper insurance opens up more options. have a van for work but not adverse to owning a derv although i cover less than 10k a year. my wants are :


anything up to £14k
Turbocharged
xenons
refinement, minimum wind/road noise
not older than 8 years
low miles
good stereo

good to drive

as much kit as possible.

so far ive been thinking

335i /330i or d ( hard to find with pro nav and extended light package)
130i le mans ( although not turbo)
focus st3
Scirocco
Saab 9/3 turbo x

what else should i be thinking of?

Edited by okie592 on Tuesday 18th June 22:10

[MissChief]

Nissan Silvia S15? Import though.

[schmalex]

Volvo S60R?

[Gtom]

2.5t mondeo titanium x sport?

I think they look better in estate form but that might just be me. Same engine as the focus st.

[rallycross]

335i fits the bill and is amazing value when compared to 335D, 330D, M3 .
Take a manual with sports suspension for a drive and see how one feels... 300+ bhp, good on fuel on long trips and very refined but firm enough chassis to be fun when you feels like it. £14k will get you a very nice 335i twin turbo petrol.

[Rocco83]

I had almost the exact same criteria, went for the 2 litre petrol Scirocco. Fantastic car, although it's hard to find one with xenons.

[JeS10]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Unfortunately not, otherwise I would be £14k worse off sharpish.

[Ali_T]

Giulietta QV? 235 bhp, better built than expected and a great GT car by all accounts. Not to mention affordable.

[Red 4]

Renaultsport Megane 250.

It'll out-steer all the cars you've listed but not as "refined" as the beemers, etc.

[Legacywr]

Red 4 said:

Renaultsport Megane 250.

It'll out-steer all the cars you've listed but not as "refined" as the beemers, etc.

Extremely coarse in the real world!

[james280779]

Go slightly older and get yourself an Esprit.

Awesome cars!

[philmots]

Buy a 3 series without the Idrive..? Chances of finding any of the other cars on your list with Nav is even slimmer!

[300bhp/ton]

Maybe I'm getting old and grumpier, but I truly don't understand threads like this.


Lets see:

okie592 said:

What Car, fun

Sounds simple enough, but then there's this:

okie592 said:

not adverse to owning a derv although i cover less than 10k a year.

Which sort of puggles my brain a little. Even more so as the thread title also says:

okie592 said:

refined

Which isn't really a diesels strongest suit.


But wait we then get:

okie592 said:

my wants are :
xenons
refinement, minimum wind/road noise
not older than 8 years
low miles
good stereo

So basically nothing to do with fun or a fun car. To think I was puggled earlier, now I'm just

okie592 said:

as much kit as possible.

Is this what fun is these days?

And to top it all there's then a list of fairly average mundane commuting vehicles:

okie592 said:

330i or d ( hard to find with pro nav and extended light package)
130i le mans ( although not turbo)
focus st3
Scirocco
Saab 9/3 turbo x

Not that I'm saying these aren't good cars, they are. But if someone said name a fun or a refined car, not a single one of these would even be close to being listed.

okie592 said:

what else should i be thinking of?

I really don't know, mostly because what you ask for and then describe are almost at complete odds with each other.


When I think "fun" cars (within a £14k budget to do less than 10k a year in), I think sports cars, coupes, maybe even an out landish 4x4. And if pushing the bounds for the need for practicality maybe an M or an R saloon or racier hatch, but without need for these it's hard to justify in a "fun" car list.

For refinement, well I wouldn't consider any hatchback, nor lower level BMW's. For this it would be Jags, 5 or 7 Series BMW's, Lexus or some other prestige vehicle.


????

[okie592]

300bhp/ton said:

I really don't know, mostly because what you ask for and then describe are almost at complete odds with each other.


When I think "fun" cars (within a £14k budget to do less than 10k a year in), I think sports cars, coupes, maybe even an out landish 4x4. And if pushing the bounds for the need for practicality maybe an M or an R saloon or racier hatch, but without need for these it's hard to justify in a "fun" car list.

For refinement, well I wouldn't consider any hatchback, nor lower level BMW's. For this it would be Jags, 5 or 7 Series BMW's, Lexus or some other prestige vehicle.


????

So are you saying I just get a mx5?

[aeropilot]

okie592 said:

Time has come for a new car, cheaper insurance opens up more options. have a van for work but not adverse to owning a derv although i cover less than 10k a year. my wants are :


anything up to £14k
Turbocharged
xenons
refinement, minimum wind/road noise
not older than 8 years
low miles
good stereo

good to drive

as much kit as possible.

so far ive been thinking

335i /330i or d ( hard to find with pro nav and extended light package)
130i le mans ( although not turbo)

Err, why not a 135i on the list?

You might struggle to get one for 14k with a good spec, such as Nav & xenons etc., you'd probably need to stetch that budget a couple of k for that.
Otherwise, a 135 fits the your criteria perfectly.

[hondafreek]

135i is my next car when I sell the DC5. That would be my suggestion.

[joe_90]

135i or a new Megane Sport (chipped to 300+bhp)

[Dracoro]

300bhp/ton said:

Maybe I'm getting old and grumpier, but I truly don't understand threads like this.


Lets see:

okie592 said:

What Car, fun

Sounds simple enough, but then there's this:

okie592 said:

not adverse to owning a derv although i cover less than 10k a year.

Which sort of puggles my brain a little. Even more so as the thread title also says:

okie592 said:

refined

Which isn't really a diesels strongest suit.


But wait we then get:

okie592 said:

my wants are :
xenons
refinement, minimum wind/road noise
not older than 8 years
low miles
good stereo

So basically nothing to do with fun or a fun car. To think I was puggled earlier, now I'm just

okie592 said:

as much kit as possible.

Is this what fun is these days?

And to top it all there's then a list of fairly average mundane commuting vehicles:

okie592 said:

330i or d ( hard to find with pro nav and extended light package)
130i le mans ( although not turbo)
focus st3
Scirocco
Saab 9/3 turbo x

Not that I'm saying these aren't good cars, they are. But if someone said name a fun or a refined car, not a single one of these would even be close to being listed.

okie592 said:

what else should i be thinking of?

I really don't know, mostly because what you ask for and then describe are almost at complete odds with each other.


When I think "fun" cars (within a £14k budget to do less than 10k a year in), I think sports cars, coupes, maybe even an out landish 4x4. And if pushing the bounds for the need for practicality maybe an M or an R saloon or racier hatch, but without need for these it's hard to justify in a "fun" car list.

For refinement, well I wouldn't consider any hatchback, nor lower level BMW's. For this it would be Jags, 5 or 7 Series BMW's, Lexus or some other prestige vehicle.


????

Also why does the car "have" to be turbocharged?

[Captain Muppet]

MissChief said:

Nissan Silvia S15? Import though.

Fun, turbocharged and fun.

Sadly too old and the wrong headlight technology, so probably not the diesel Audi/BMW that the OP really wants.

Althtough there are a number of Skylines (R32 and R33 GTRs and some R34 GTTs) that might be tempting, if there weren't also too old and had the wrong headlights.

[DanielJames]

It doesn't, he clearly doesn't know what he wants and is looking for inspiration.

I say Civic FD2