Discussion
I don't think I've ever done a Readers Cars post before, so given that I have a new car I thought I should. So before we get to the latest steed, I think it's only right to let you know where I've spent far too much money in the past!
My first car was a Renault 5 TL (brilliant), followed by an Escort 1.8i Ghia (pretty good) and then we're up to the ones I have photos of:
left front by cloud34.com, on Flickr
Seat Ibiza Cupra 20VT. This wasn't a great car, typical VAG, rode too hard, corrupted by the power it had and seemed to fight the road rather than flow with it. I was unaware of this as it was my first hot hatch. I was taught a lot by the next car
98e0d156 by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Clio 182 with both Cup packs. To this day the best FWD car I've driven, at utterly brilliant point and go hatch, so good I sold it and bought this:
Pug2copy by cloud34.com, on Flickr
Again, a brilliant car a rare 306 Rallye in black and one that I still regret selling. I bought it as a track day toy and ran a shed alongside it. I sold it as I wanted something faster, which ended up being this:
PICT3892 copy by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Boxster S. Call it a hairdressers / girls car if you wish, but the fact is that it's an utterly brilliant sports car. One that will sit on the motorway and then be utterly brilliant on a backroad. I did 3 massive roadtrips in this, each one of them was great fun. I actually owned this very car twice. However, getting old and starting a family meant I bought this:
VW Golf Edition 30 by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Golf GTI Edition 30. I thought it would be the perfect family car, a good turn of pace, good looking, tunable and should hold it's value. Hated it. The ride was way too firm, the power corrupted the control and I just found it uncomfortable (should have learnt from the Seat!). So, now I have this little one sitting on my driveway
M135i by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A BMW M135i, I hoped it would be everything that I wanted to Golf to be. A car that has a split personality, it can be comfy and easy to drive for 90% of the time, swallow the wife, little man and everything that he brings with him but when pointed at the right road it can be a good fun car...
So the first thing to address is the looks. It's not a stunning car to look at, but in the flesh it's a lot better than a photo will ever show. It's not DB9 or Eva Green, but it's good enough, plus I spend most of the time on the inside!
One thing that's run through my car history is that they have good steering feel. The 306, Clio and Boxster all excel in this category and it's maybe the weakest part of the BMW, the lack of feel does sometimes get in the way of things. You get just about enough to know where you are, but it really could do with a lot more. I'd read this in reviews and it's not wrong, it's the biggest downside to the car, I don't really consider the looks to be neither here nor there, so I will be happy to live with that. As for the rest of the inside of the car, the seats and the leather don't amaze me, they seem a little on the cheap side, but everything else is good enough. It's a nice place to be, the seats are comfy and everything that you need is to hand. The iDrive is overly complex though.
As for the spec, I ticked adaptive suspension (instead of a 'colour'), heated seats, cruise control and black grilles as I don't think silver works with the white paint. With that in mind, I don't think the wing mirrors work with the white paint. However, the other option I ticked was the auto box. I've never bought an auto before, again I felt like it removes you from the driving 'experience', a view I still hold, but by god is the box a work of art. 8 speeds is too many when in manual mode, but in auto the seamless changes in both directions, the way it holds the engine in the sweet spot is utterly brilliant. I'd like to try the manual as I do miss that long 3rd gear that you I had in the Boxster. Find a good road and leave it in 3rd and enjoy. This doesn't have that, the manual mode is good, but too busy for everyday driving. However, in auto mode, the idea of being in a gear is almost irrelevant, the shift happen quick enough and there is enough power to just put your foot down and head off.
It's quick, very quick. I drove a mates 911 (996 C4) just after picking up the M-Lite and to be honest it wouldn't have kept up, or it certain didn't feel like it could. The delivery of power in the M is just silly, it doesn't seem to relent, and with the gearbox it's a very Playstation like experience. Is this 'better' than the 911 / Boxster experience? I don't know, but I honest don't think it matters. The M135i is a very good execution of what a modern performance car can and should be. It annoys me when people compare them to a 911/M3 style of car, it's not that. It's not a balls out hardcore performance machine, it's a £30k (ish) small family hatch that happens to crack 62 in under 5 seconds. You should compare it to the latest Golf / Audi etc of the same sort of money, and in all honesty I don't see how they can stack up to this.
The adaptive suspension was well worth the money. Sport mode is nice if you are pushing on, but it's also nice to have comfort mode to slip back into. Interestingly I spend about 90% of my time in comfort and full auto, I don't feel like I'm missing out when I'm pottering along by doing this, it's nice to know that you can just flip the car into another mode instantly.
It does feel a little synthetic, the noise doesn't feel that natural, it's nice though. It does have a nice bark to it and there is a lot of texture to the noise when you lift off and the acoustics allow you to hear it. The wing mirrors are massive and the space in the back isn't great. None of these ruin the car though, I'm happy to live with the minor issues that it seems to present.
So, after 500 miles or so, it's proven to be everything and more that I wished for and a little bit more. I'm getting mid-30s with it still being run in, the Golf managed high 20s!
I will try and take some more photos soon, but with it being white it's already dirty! In the meantime, if you've made it this far thanks for reading
My first car was a Renault 5 TL (brilliant), followed by an Escort 1.8i Ghia (pretty good) and then we're up to the ones I have photos of:
left front by cloud34.com, on Flickr
Seat Ibiza Cupra 20VT. This wasn't a great car, typical VAG, rode too hard, corrupted by the power it had and seemed to fight the road rather than flow with it. I was unaware of this as it was my first hot hatch. I was taught a lot by the next car
98e0d156 by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Clio 182 with both Cup packs. To this day the best FWD car I've driven, at utterly brilliant point and go hatch, so good I sold it and bought this:
Pug2copy by cloud34.com, on Flickr
Again, a brilliant car a rare 306 Rallye in black and one that I still regret selling. I bought it as a track day toy and ran a shed alongside it. I sold it as I wanted something faster, which ended up being this:
PICT3892 copy by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Boxster S. Call it a hairdressers / girls car if you wish, but the fact is that it's an utterly brilliant sports car. One that will sit on the motorway and then be utterly brilliant on a backroad. I did 3 massive roadtrips in this, each one of them was great fun. I actually owned this very car twice. However, getting old and starting a family meant I bought this:
VW Golf Edition 30 by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A Golf GTI Edition 30. I thought it would be the perfect family car, a good turn of pace, good looking, tunable and should hold it's value. Hated it. The ride was way too firm, the power corrupted the control and I just found it uncomfortable (should have learnt from the Seat!). So, now I have this little one sitting on my driveway
M135i by cloud34.com, on Flickr
A BMW M135i, I hoped it would be everything that I wanted to Golf to be. A car that has a split personality, it can be comfy and easy to drive for 90% of the time, swallow the wife, little man and everything that he brings with him but when pointed at the right road it can be a good fun car...
So the first thing to address is the looks. It's not a stunning car to look at, but in the flesh it's a lot better than a photo will ever show. It's not DB9 or Eva Green, but it's good enough, plus I spend most of the time on the inside!
One thing that's run through my car history is that they have good steering feel. The 306, Clio and Boxster all excel in this category and it's maybe the weakest part of the BMW, the lack of feel does sometimes get in the way of things. You get just about enough to know where you are, but it really could do with a lot more. I'd read this in reviews and it's not wrong, it's the biggest downside to the car, I don't really consider the looks to be neither here nor there, so I will be happy to live with that. As for the rest of the inside of the car, the seats and the leather don't amaze me, they seem a little on the cheap side, but everything else is good enough. It's a nice place to be, the seats are comfy and everything that you need is to hand. The iDrive is overly complex though.
As for the spec, I ticked adaptive suspension (instead of a 'colour'), heated seats, cruise control and black grilles as I don't think silver works with the white paint. With that in mind, I don't think the wing mirrors work with the white paint. However, the other option I ticked was the auto box. I've never bought an auto before, again I felt like it removes you from the driving 'experience', a view I still hold, but by god is the box a work of art. 8 speeds is too many when in manual mode, but in auto the seamless changes in both directions, the way it holds the engine in the sweet spot is utterly brilliant. I'd like to try the manual as I do miss that long 3rd gear that you I had in the Boxster. Find a good road and leave it in 3rd and enjoy. This doesn't have that, the manual mode is good, but too busy for everyday driving. However, in auto mode, the idea of being in a gear is almost irrelevant, the shift happen quick enough and there is enough power to just put your foot down and head off.
It's quick, very quick. I drove a mates 911 (996 C4) just after picking up the M-Lite and to be honest it wouldn't have kept up, or it certain didn't feel like it could. The delivery of power in the M is just silly, it doesn't seem to relent, and with the gearbox it's a very Playstation like experience. Is this 'better' than the 911 / Boxster experience? I don't know, but I honest don't think it matters. The M135i is a very good execution of what a modern performance car can and should be. It annoys me when people compare them to a 911/M3 style of car, it's not that. It's not a balls out hardcore performance machine, it's a £30k (ish) small family hatch that happens to crack 62 in under 5 seconds. You should compare it to the latest Golf / Audi etc of the same sort of money, and in all honesty I don't see how they can stack up to this.
The adaptive suspension was well worth the money. Sport mode is nice if you are pushing on, but it's also nice to have comfort mode to slip back into. Interestingly I spend about 90% of my time in comfort and full auto, I don't feel like I'm missing out when I'm pottering along by doing this, it's nice to know that you can just flip the car into another mode instantly.
It does feel a little synthetic, the noise doesn't feel that natural, it's nice though. It does have a nice bark to it and there is a lot of texture to the noise when you lift off and the acoustics allow you to hear it. The wing mirrors are massive and the space in the back isn't great. None of these ruin the car though, I'm happy to live with the minor issues that it seems to present.
So, after 500 miles or so, it's proven to be everything and more that I wished for and a little bit more. I'm getting mid-30s with it still being run in, the Golf managed high 20s!
I will try and take some more photos soon, but with it being white it's already dirty! In the meantime, if you've made it this far thanks for reading
dm46 said:
Good car history, I'm interested on how you'd compare the 306 and the Clio? In comparison I think the r32 is a better match to what you want than the vw gti.
The Clio was more accomplished that the 306. Everything about it was just that little bit better, as you would expect from a more modern car. I did love the 306 as it was about 90% of the Clio but didn't cost me anything and with a few upgrades was a handy little car on the twister tracks. Given the choice, I'd take the 182 again though, I have very fond memories of it.I drove the R32 before I bought the E30. I didn't feel it was special enough to justify the addition costs (tax and fuel), plus I'd just come from a 3.2 6 pot in the Boxster and the R32's engine didn't match up. The E30 drove really well on the test drive, and I liked the turbo shove, but it didn't have any depth to it's character and the ride was dismal.
Lovely. Re missing the long 3rd gear, just put the auto in manual 4th or even 5th which will take you up to similar speeds that 3rd would of in one of your older cars.
I won't have another manual in a hurray. Like you say 95% of the time they're the better car. I can cope with losing out that last 5% of the time.
I won't have another manual in a hurray. Like you say 95% of the time they're the better car. I can cope with losing out that last 5% of the time.
philmots said:
Lovely. Re missing the long 3rd gear, just put the auto in manual 4th or even 5th which will take you up to similar speeds that 3rd would of in one of your older cars.
I won't have another manual in a hurray. Like you say 95% of the time they're the better car. I can cope with losing out that last 5% of the time.
Really? I've tried that. It doesn't have the same effect, the power and speed doesn't swell like it does in a Porsche, the ratios are so short it's too quick to have it in just one gear. I'm sure they could engineer a long 3rd gear into a box like that, what's 9 gears when you have 8 already...I won't have another manual in a hurray. Like you say 95% of the time they're the better car. I can cope with losing out that last 5% of the time.
theboyfold said:
The Clio was more accomplished that the 306. Everything about it was just that little bit better, as you would expect from a more modern car. I did love the 306 as it was about 90% of the Clio but didn't cost me anything and with a few upgrades was a handy little car on the twister tracks. Given the choice, I'd take the 182 again though, I have very fond memories of it.
I drove the R32 before I bought the E30. I didn't feel it was special enough to justify the addition costs (tax and fuel), plus I'd just come from a 3.2 6 pot in the Boxster and the R32's engine didn't match up. The E30 drove really well on the test drive, and I liked the turbo shove, but it didn't have any depth to it's character and the ride was dismal.
Thanks for the reply. Of the clio's I also prefer the v6 over the 4pots. The 1 series will be a great car no doubt, I do like the idea of the active suspension too.I drove the R32 before I bought the E30. I didn't feel it was special enough to justify the addition costs (tax and fuel), plus I'd just come from a 3.2 6 pot in the Boxster and the R32's engine didn't match up. The E30 drove really well on the test drive, and I liked the turbo shove, but it didn't have any depth to it's character and the ride was dismal.
astirling said:
Very nice. I'm 7 months into ownership - as an everyday compromise it's just brilliant.
Enjoy it!!
How did you deal with the 'running in' process? The manual says that you shouldn't take it above 4.5k rpm for about 1200 miles or something like that... I'm 500 or so in and getting a little impatient Enjoy it!!
theboyfold said:
astirling said:
Very nice. I'm 7 months into ownership - as an everyday compromise it's just brilliant.
Enjoy it!!
How did you deal with the 'running in' process? The manual says that you shouldn't take it above 4.5k rpm for about 1200 miles or something like that... I'm 500 or so in and getting a little impatient Enjoy it!!
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