Clio 197 or....?

[Quhet]

Sorry to do a what car

I currently drive a sheddy 2001 93 diesel. It's not much fun but has plenty of space, is comfortable and eats up motorway miles. I'm bored of it and fancy getting myself something else. I've got about £5 to £6k to spend at the very most and don't want finance etc.
I've not owned a hot hatch before and I like the idea of a small little car that I can chuck about. My annual mileage is pretty low (about 5k) but a lot of my driving time is spent on the motorway. Been thinking about Clio 197s and test drove one the other week. It's a nice little car but I'm worried that it would be too raucous at cruising speeds.
E46 330s appeal but I wouldn't be especially confident about getting a decent one privately and the ones at dealers look to (to me at least) to be overpriced.

Any suggestions?

[Quhet]

anyone?

[Tiger or lion]

Rx8
Boxer
E46 3series
Mitsubishi 3000 gt
Mondo st
Focus st
Ford Granada (!)
Jag1988 xjs
Skyline r32 http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/n...
Cooper S
1995 m5
Mazda mx6
Mgb gt
Subaru
350z
Toyota altezza
Austin Healy sprite
Alpine b3
S2000
Accord type r

Or this! http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...


All of these cars have been found on the classifieds for 7,000 or under!

Edited by Tiger or lion on Tuesday 3rd December 20:47

[anonymous-user]

Mx5?

[Quhet]

Um yeah.
I'd like the ability to fit roof bars (or to carry my bike in the boot), something vaguely insurable for a 24 year old, reliable and have be able to carry more then one other person on occasion...

I did think MX5 was the answer but rust is an issue and I'm not sure a 2 seater is my thing yet

[Troubleatmill]

Motorway + 5K mileage = Shed.

Spend the money on something else for the weekend.

Westfield or similar


Fun car + Motorway = Boredom.

[GHW]

I did slightly higher mileage for a couple of years in an earlyish 197 (which apparently had lower gearing than the later models). It is relatively noisy on the motorway, but it's quite bearable if you're happy to just switch on the cruise control (definitely buy one with cruise control if you're doing motorway miles) and dawdle with the majority of traffic at 70-75mph. Mine would be doing a shade under 4krpm at 75mph.

[MinuteMan]

I was in a similar position to you and bought a Mk1 Seat Leon Cupra R, which would be well under your budget.
I spend quite a bit of time on motorways as well, and wanted a hot hatch which wouldn't be too tiring - the LCR sits at just over 3k at 80, and has plenty of torque.

They are quite old now though, but are very good all-rounders!