A small coupe or hatch that can take a mountain bike?
Discussion
If the knowledge of PH like a wide ranging discussion I would like to hear your views.
I am in a fortunate position where I could jump in a car and travel two hours and be within fabulous countryside basically anywhere south of Birmingham, alone riding my bike. The car to do it needs to be fast compared to its weight, comfortable, smallish but carry me and my bike.
I would look at any car from the last 40 years, have considered quite a few and rejected many but not absolutely.
in summary, carry a person and a bike in comfort over a long day with enough power/handling/brakes to make the day no effort, price other than real extravaganza is in a wide wide range please give me your thoughts.
I am in a fortunate position where I could jump in a car and travel two hours and be within fabulous countryside basically anywhere south of Birmingham, alone riding my bike. The car to do it needs to be fast compared to its weight, comfortable, smallish but carry me and my bike.
I would look at any car from the last 40 years, have considered quite a few and rejected many but not absolutely.
in summary, carry a person and a bike in comfort over a long day with enough power/handling/brakes to make the day no effort, price other than real extravaganza is in a wide wide range please give me your thoughts.
I suspect any hatchback would do the trick, maybe having to remove seatposts and/or wheels for really small cars.
For coupes, the Audi TT must be the most practical - big hatch and folding seats.
GT86 has folding seats but a small saloon style boot lid,
BMW and Merc coupes all seem to have folding seats.
The petrol turbo Lexus RC200t has folding seats but the hybrid RC300h doesn't.
I don't think you'd get a bike, no matter how many parts you dismantled it into, in a Cayman or 370Z.
The alternative would be a roof mounted carrier - which also keeps a dirty bike outside of the car on the way home.
For coupes, the Audi TT must be the most practical - big hatch and folding seats.
GT86 has folding seats but a small saloon style boot lid,
BMW and Merc coupes all seem to have folding seats.
The petrol turbo Lexus RC200t has folding seats but the hybrid RC300h doesn't.
I don't think you'd get a bike, no matter how many parts you dismantled it into, in a Cayman or 370Z.
The alternative would be a roof mounted carrier - which also keeps a dirty bike outside of the car on the way home.
summit7 said:
If the knowledge of PH like a wide ranging discussion I would like to hear your views.
I am in a fortunate position where I could jump in a car and travel two hours and be within fabulous countryside basically anywhere south of Birmingham, alone riding my bike. The car to do it needs to be fast compared to its weight, comfortable, smallish but carry me and my bike.
I would look at any car from the last 40 years, have considered quite a few and rejected many but not absolutely.
in summary, carry a person and a bike in comfort over a long day with enough power/handling/brakes to make the day no effort, price other than real extravaganza is in a wide wide range please give me your thoughts.
Some options could be Audi TT, VW Scirocco Renault Megane RS. Ford Focus ST. Just depends what you want from a car but there are plenty of options.I am in a fortunate position where I could jump in a car and travel two hours and be within fabulous countryside basically anywhere south of Birmingham, alone riding my bike. The car to do it needs to be fast compared to its weight, comfortable, smallish but carry me and my bike.
I would look at any car from the last 40 years, have considered quite a few and rejected many but not absolutely.
in summary, carry a person and a bike in comfort over a long day with enough power/handling/brakes to make the day no effort, price other than real extravaganza is in a wide wide range please give me your thoughts.
shalmaneser said:
I assume you'll be removing wheels. Silly not to if they're QR, even if they're thru axle it's only an allen key.
That's the important part. If you are looking for a car that you only need to remove the front wheel to sling the bike in then a hot hatch or coupe derived from one is the option. Worth noting how many rear wheel drive/designed from scratch coupes have fixed rear seats or raised floors to account for spare wheels/diffs/fuel tanks..
By removing both wheels and the bars I've fitted a 14" hardtail into a NB Mx5 with the boot shut, with the full sus I'd have to tie the bootlid down. Similarly it is just possible to fit a bike frame under the brace of a nissan 350z although a mega faff. In both cases the wheels end up on the passenger seat.
The Fn2 civic has quite a clever folder rear seat which makes it possible to remove front wheel and slide the bike in widthways.
Thank you for the help so far.
Yes the wheels will be taken off, I would like to carry the bike inside the car not on a bike rack on the outside.
The Z4 coupe would be perfect but I don't think a bike will go inside it.
An older 3.2 V6 TT would probably be good. I had considered an XK or even an F type but again I don't think the bike would go in. I have driven a Focus ST and it wasn't for me, I prefer larger capacity naturally aspirated cars but that doesn't necessarily rule out something like a Scirocco. I bought a Mk2 Scirocco new back in the day and that would have been perfect for this job, big hatch, fold down rear seats, three door coupe styling.
A Honda CRV would be just right if only it had a sensible and more powerful drivetrain, a modern Honda CRX if was made is the sort of thing I am thinking about upto bigger coupe's, I think a Monaro is booted not hatched, but if it was hatched that would be good for the job as well.
I hope this gives some ideas around what I am looking for and need peoples kind help in finding.
Many thanks.
Yes the wheels will be taken off, I would like to carry the bike inside the car not on a bike rack on the outside.
The Z4 coupe would be perfect but I don't think a bike will go inside it.
An older 3.2 V6 TT would probably be good. I had considered an XK or even an F type but again I don't think the bike would go in. I have driven a Focus ST and it wasn't for me, I prefer larger capacity naturally aspirated cars but that doesn't necessarily rule out something like a Scirocco. I bought a Mk2 Scirocco new back in the day and that would have been perfect for this job, big hatch, fold down rear seats, three door coupe styling.
A Honda CRV would be just right if only it had a sensible and more powerful drivetrain, a modern Honda CRX if was made is the sort of thing I am thinking about upto bigger coupe's, I think a Monaro is booted not hatched, but if it was hatched that would be good for the job as well.
I hope this gives some ideas around what I am looking for and need peoples kind help in finding.
Many thanks.
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