New job, new commute, new car? Am I mad?

[Blanchimont]

My current Megane 250, whilst a great car to drive doesn't lend itself to a great daily driver. It's noisy, low, V stiff and after having 3 the blessed/cursed itch has come for a new car.
My commute is going from public transport, to a 27 mile a day commute of mainly A roads (no motorway)

Do I buy a cheap daily and go all out on the Megane, or do I sell the Megane and buy something more suited to daily/occasional track duties?

First and foremost in my head is an E92 M3.
I know with the rod bearing issues, the throttle actuators and their insatiable thirst it would cost the earth to run as a daily. However, does the V8 noise make up for it?

Realistically as I can be saty at 50-60mph for 50% of my commute, would circa 20mpg be reasonable?

[acme]

I can answer some of that having bought an E92 in the summer. Depending on if you use the performance I can get circa 22mpg, a few blasts on my 25 commute each way and it'll be 18-20. Perfectly comfortable as a daily and mine doesn't have EDC - though my daily is a Fiesta ST so Fred Flinstones car would seem comfortable in comparison.

One bug bear if I used it every day is the tank size, it needs filling at circa 250 miles and sometimes 220.

Any other questions let me know, cheers.

[ZX10R NIN]

My brother used his E90 M3 for 6 months he's now on his second Kia Optima for daily duties & he appreciates his M3 more.

I've gone down the route of having weekend toys & a daily for the mundane duties.

So yes keep the Megane, or if it has to be a V8 don't discount the IS-F.

[DUBS73P]

I've had 4 Megane's (230 F1, 250, 250, 265) to this point. Bought a Manual E92 M3. Really didn't appreciate it as a daily, was one hell of a car for the weekend though. I have a relatively short commute so it's probably worse for me but just warming it up every day consumed most of the drive for me so i just got the massive fuel bills without much of the fun really. It easily used 40-50% more fuel than the Megane 265. I didn't actually have any repair bills in the time i owned it, but occasionally would not rev past 3k rpm, forums said it was probably just another actuator issue (one had been replaced before I bought). I was worried about huge potential bills after 6 months so flipped for profit.

But V8 in a tunnel and I was just a huge kid.

I got the E46 M3 more recently and I would argue that's an even better weekend proposition than the E92.

I'm on the lookout for another Megane now though, probably the facelift 265 or 275 this time. Is the Megane really a no go as a daily for you?

[xjay1337]

Blanchimont said:

My current Megane 250, whilst a great car to drive doesn't lend itself to a great daily driver. It's noisy, low, V stiff and after having 3 the blessed/cursed itch has come for a new car.
My commute is going from public transport, to a 27 mile a day commute of mainly A roads (no motorway)

Do I buy a cheap daily and go all out on the Megane, or do I sell the Megane and buy something more suited to daily/occasional track duties?

First and foremost in my head is an E92 M3.
I know with the rod bearing issues, the throttle actuators and their insatiable thirst it would cost the earth to run as a daily. However, does the V8 noise make up for it?

Realistically as I can be saty at 50-60mph for 50% of my commute, would circa 20mpg be reasonable?

What a waste of an M3.

Buy an M1/2 35i or 40i. Perfectly capable of doing track duties.

When driving normally the M3's engine sounds broken.

Over 32k in my M135i including 8 trackdays my average MPG has been 31.8

Most of my mileage is motorway / long distance touring, I don't use it to "pop to the shops".

If you want to keep the Megane and that's fair enough then by a cheap Mk4 or Mk5 Golf TDI , Skoda Octavia, or some other kind of diesel shed that's cheap to fix and plenty of cheap parts.

[cerb4.5lee]

Blanchimont said:

First and foremost in my head is an E92 M3.
I know with the rod bearing issues, the throttle actuators and their insatiable thirst it would cost the earth to run as a daily. However, does the V8 noise make up for it?

I think if you haven't had a V8 before then you will more than likely fall in love with the engine for sure.

I'd had a couple of V8 engines before my E92 M3(I preferred both engines to the M3's V8), and I didn't get on with mine as a daily. I found it frustrating and my commute didn't offer much chance to enjoy it.

I'd have one as a second/occasional car in a heartbeat now though, and that way you can seek out the quiet roads and really enjoy what the high revving V8 engine does best.

[Blanchimont]

DUBS73P said:

I've had 4 Megane's (230 F1, 250, 250, 265) to this point. Bought a Manual E92 M3. Really didn't appreciate it as a daily, was one hell of a car for the weekend though. I have a relatively short commute so it's probably worse for me but just warming it up every day consumed most of the drive for me so i just got the massive fuel bills without much of the fun really. It easily used 40-50% more fuel than the Megane 265. I didn't actually have any repair bills in the time i owned it, but occasionally would not rev past 3k rpm, forums said it was probably just another actuator issue (one had been replaced before I bought). I was worried about huge potential bills after 6 months so flipped for profit.

But V8 in a tunnel and I was just a huge kid.

I got the E46 M3 more recently and I would argue that's an even better weekend proposition than the E92.

I'm on the lookout for another Megane now though, probably the facelift 265 or 275 this time. Is the Megane really a no go as a daily for you?

It's a fine daily tbh. It's sat on BC racing coilovers, and has Michelin Cup 2's on it so whilst its great for the track, and not too bad on the road. I want something different (I've had 3 RS Meganes now)


Wanna buy mine?

I fancy something different, I've never had a V8 before. I remember seeing them on TV when I was a kid and wanting one and now is the time I can justifiably afford one.

xjay1337 said:

What a waste of an M3.

Buy an M1/2 35i or 40i. Perfectly capable of doing track duties.

When driving normally the M3's engine sounds broken.

Over 32k in my M135i including 8 trackdays my average MPG has been 31.8

Most of my mileage is motorway / long distance touring, I don't use it to "pop to the shops".

If you want to keep the Megane and that's fair enough then by a cheap Mk4 or Mk5 Golf TDI , Skoda Octavia, or some other kind of diesel shed that's cheap to fix and plenty of cheap parts.

Had an M135i. It lasted for 3 months before I sold it.
The M3 will be the daily and occasional track day car. So whilst It won't be caged with slicks, It'll have sorted brakes, a seperate set of track wheels and so on, but won't be an all out track car as I still have to daily it.
The 2 car thing isn't an option really, due to lack of space where I live, and it having to be left out on the street. It was my first thought, and arguably the better option.