An 'auto' for track and town - Am I dreaming?

[xjay1337]

C70R said:

Hmm. The TT is winning me over, albeit with some (slight) reservations about image. The same weight as a GT86, the potential for an easy ~200bhp/tonne, the best choice of autobox, plenty of modcons.
I might have to get out and give one a try...

The TT is a very nice car.

A friend has one. It certainly feels a little bit tighter than an equivalent Golf. Mainly due to the stiffer chassis.

Yes they are "understeery" but what FWD car isn't - Nothing that <£500 spent on roll bars and a few other small tweaks wouldn't completely transform.
My Scirocco will go sideways on a steady throttle lol

[C70R]

james_gt3rs said:

Garage rental an option, to keep your existing car?

Garages in Central London are upwards of £200/mth, which is frankly ridiculous. Hence the need to consolidate.
I'm also not the kind of selfish sod who would park two (permit-paid) cars in the very limited spaces.

[TroubledSoul]

I've owned a MK1 S3, and that bored me to death on the road so didn't stay very long despite it being another one of my wrecks/projects and getting all its suspension etc. replaced

Not directly comparable to anything other than a MK1 TT, but fundamentally very similar. Haldex IS better on later cars and you CAN buy a Haldex race controller, which will bring the rear wheels into play faster and earlier, based on throttle input rather than purely on detection of slip.

If you do insist on going the VAG route then you should definitely look into this.

[Big E 118]

I have a RS Clio EDC (the turbo/DCT one) as my daily car.

It has a great chassis (mine has the "cup chasis") and handles well, it's certainly softer than the older RS Clio's and has all the toys to make it a suitable commuter. It's quite fun on track.

I picked one up with just over 2k miles on it, a few months old for £13k (ex demo).

[C70R]

Big E 118 said:

I have a RS Clio EDC (the turbo/DCT one) as my daily car.

It has a great chassis (mine has the "cup chasis") and handles well, it's certainly softer than the older RS Clio's and has all the toys to make it a suitable commuter. It's quite fun on track.

I picked one up with just over 2k miles on it, a few months old for £13k (ex demo).

That's a great shout that I hadn't thought of at all - thank you.
Just taken a look on AT, and I'm pretty impressed. However, the French really do have a monopoly on designing minging interiors - who on earth thought that a massive 'piano black' centre console was the right answer?

[CedricN]

How about giulietta qv, the later ones with the 4c engine also have the tct gearbox. Could be worth a try, loads of torque at least

I had a scirocco with adaptive dampers as a loaner, it felt like a wobbly boat compared to the ibiza cupra i had back then. Would need some work with the rocco, most understeery fwd can be set up to be really good with some suspension work.

[Rob_F]

C70R said:

I was about to say "really?" until I noticed that you said "my DSG Golf". That is high praise indeed.
However, most of the reviews I've found seem to suggest that the GT86's lack of torque is even further exacerbated by the autobox, so that's likely to be a killer for me. In an ideal world, ~200bhp/tonne (and plenty of torque) is where fun starts to happen.

I can kind of see that, i think at most UK tracks a BRZ would feel outgunned and get frustrating. I know it's all delightful at the limit, but I think it's a better B road car / sideways on wet roundabouts car than track car. Also, as another poster mentioned rear legroom is totally none existent so no passengers. Someone said M135i but I found them a bit bloated and wobbly compared to the Golf. Overall to have max fun with minimum modifying I think you want a Leon Cupra 280 DSG. I want to try a Leon next because I think the lighter weight (2WD) will make it even more entertaining than the Golf when really gunning it.

Rob

[C70R]

CedricN said:

How about giulietta qv, the later ones with the 4c engine also have the tct gearbox. Could be worth a try, loads of torque at least

Doesn't look like the budget gets me that far, sadly.

Rob_F said:

I think you want a Leon Cupra 280 DSG

Ditto.

Edited by C70R on Wednesday 10th January 21:50

[Kuji]

Anything automatic with flappy paddles for manual shifting on track, in your budget will be fine, to be honest.

[C70R]

Kuji said:

Anything automatic with flappy paddles for manual shifting on track, in your budget will be fine, to be honest.

Erm, thanks...?

[51mes]

Slightly off the wall, but different to most of the cars already listed - though maybe not as home on track as some

How about a Jag XK of some derivative XK-R's are in budget - with a 2+2 you shoudl have enough rear seat for pet carriers and you may even be able to find a convertible ...


S.

[C70R]

51mes said:

Slightly off the wall, but different to most of the cars already listed - though maybe not as home on track as some

How about a Jag XK of some derivative XK-R's are in budget - with a 2+2 you shoudl have enough rear seat for pet carriers and you may even be able to find a convertible ...


S.

Eisch... I'd like to hope I could do better than a 1800kg convertible with a slushbox...

[CubanPete]

With 12k to spend our be looking at two cars. Any reason why you can't do this?

[C70R]

CubanPete said:

With 12k to spend our be looking at two cars. Any reason why you can't do this?

As mentioned, parking is going to be at a real premium, being central London. Plus, I only do about 6k miles a year.

[C70R]

This video interested me greatly... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LROqVLz4z8M

VBH (someone whose opinion I value) rated the standard (un-remapped) DSG on track, and managed to hustle it around in almost the same time as a manual car. Also, for those considering the TT to be dull, that looks like an absolute hoot to me...

[C70R]

Interestingly, the standard TT 2.0 is also as quick as an S2000 or an NSX around the Nurburgring according to these numbers...
http://fastestlaps.com/tracks/nordschleife

(as well as being quicker than an Integra Type R or GT86)

Edited by C70R on Tuesday 16th January 22:27

[TroubledSoul]

Sounds like you’ve made up your mind, so get cracking

[vanman1936]

BrotherMouzone said:

CLK55 coupe.

But you have obviously made up your mind about getting the E46 M3 already, you just wanted validation from internet strangers

FWIW I test drove an auto GT86 when it first came out; nice enough drive but manual would be my first choice. Also forget about carrying passengers as the rear legroom is pitiful.

Ha, I tracked a CLK55 a coupl of times....loved to eat pads &#128521;

[C70R]

TroubledSoul said:

Sounds like you’ve made up your mind, so get cracking

I guess I'm holding out for the input of a unicorn who has driven both E46 with SMG and TT with DSG, both having the updated software. I'm probably not going to get this opportunity, so I'm sort of jumping in at the deep end...

[TroubledSoul]

C70R said:

I guess I'm holding out for the input of a unicorn who has driven both E46 with SMG and TT with DSG, both having the updated software. I'm probably not going to get this opportunity, so I'm sort of jumping in at the deep end...

Yeah it's probably a tough ask as they cover different demographics generally. I think the TT gearbox would be a better car for daily use, the M3 gearbox far better on track.