Fast & Economical Car

[OliRose1994]

Hey, guys.

So, the story is: I've recently changed jobs, and the job I have now is 27 miles away from where I live - meaning just over 50 miles per day, five days per week. I'm currently driving a 1.6 Mégane Coupe - and it gets about 43 to the gallon (mixture of driving styles on the way to work: For anyone who knows Stoke-on-Trent/Stafford/Cannock - I take the A500 from Stoke town to the A34 exit; take the A34 down to jct. 14 of the M6; jump on the M6 to Cannock; then take the A5 to work). I've managed to get 51.1 mpg once - but this was with the fans off, driving at 50 mph on the motorway, etc. - really not an enjoyable drive at all.

So, the smart option is to sell the Mégane and go for a three-cylinder, non-turbocharged diesel, right? Well, the only problem there is that I like to be able to give it a hoofing when I can. Not above the speed limit, obviously (I'm far too paranoid of cameras and vans for that!) - but I like to be able to have fun whilst driving. Also, I'm on a budget of whatever I can get for the Mégane and a little more (£5,000 absolute maximum).

Any ideas what I could consider? Due to the mileage, reliability is a massive factor - so no Fiats (only kidding!). Just something that I can have a bit of fun in, whilst getting 45 mpg+ without it being a crap drive.

Thanks very much!

Oli

[Strudul]

I'd immediately rule out anything German if you want reliability.

How about a Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart? They are supposed to be a right laugh and not all that slow.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[ZX10R NIN]

I'd say stick with what you've got you're managing over 40mpg so stick with it, it also depends on how much you want to spend?

If you enjoy your driving depending on budget if you want a fun diesel you'll either have to go & hunt down either a:

Megane RS dci

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or a Focus S-3 185

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or an Alpina D3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

But as I said at the start I'd stick with what you've got.

[Strudul]

OliRose1994 said:

Also, I'm on a budget of whatever I can get for the Mégane and a little more (£5,000 absolute maximum)

Just to clarify, does this mean £5000 total budget, or is £5k the "little more". If so, how much is your car worth? 1.6 Megane coupes range from £500 to £10k+

(My initial recommendation was based on a £5k total budget)

Edited by Strudul on Sunday 17th September 01:59

[aaron_2000]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'd say stick with what you've got you're managing over 40mpg so stick with it, it also depends on how much you want to spend?

If you enjoy your driving depending on budget if you want a fun diesel you'll either have to go & hunt down either a:

Megane RS dci

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or a Focus S-3 185

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or an Alpina D3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

But as I said at the start I'd stick with what you've got.

The only thing there even close to his budget is the Megane

[Willy Nilly]

So, you've moved jobs and are doing more miles so you want a cheaper to run car, orr have I miss-read again?

For a start you won't get a naturally aspirated diesel, so rule that out. If your car is doin 43mpg, that's pretty good. It's very unlikely you will save any more at all by swapping the car you have. Just look after it and keep running it until it is uneonomial to do so. Then start looking at cheaper to run cars.

[PaddyPadsPat]

VW Golf GTD. Fast, fun (for a diesel) and extremely good fuel economy.

[PaddyPadsPat]

Sorry just saw the £5k limit. Probably not a GTD then.

[GrumpyTwig]

aaron_2000 said:

The only thing there even close to his budget is the Megane

and iirc the dci isn't that frugal, be lucky to get it to do 50mpg so not saving that much.

Stick with what you have OP imo

[InitialDave]

I agree with Willy Nilly. I think spending £5k to try and significantly beat mid-40s MPG is a hard one to come out on top of financially. If you like the Megane, I say keep running that until you actively need to change.