New family car

[Furiokid]

Just looking for a bit of advice on here really hopefully.
I’ve currently got a BMW E92 330D as my daily which has been a great car for me however i’ve just become a dad for the first time and have 2 dogs so looking for a bigger family car at the same time as not wanting anything boring.

My current shortlist is a Subaru Forester STI or an Audi S4 Avant. The S4 Avant is the favourite for me due to the appeal of the refinement and V8 noise the only thing putting me off is the horror stories of the timing chains on them?
I’m already aware the MPG isn’t going to be anywhere near the 34MPG I get in my 330D. I don’t drive my cars hard all the time, but nice to have that power on tap.

I had thought of a 330D or 335D M Sport Tourer but just nothing out there that’s appealing to me in the same way as my E92 does.

My budget is going to be around £7-9K roughly.

Any opinions are welcome

[TheVole]

-Volvo V70R and some change

-Saab 9-5 Aero estate and a lot of change

-Skoda Octavia VRS

-Ageing Audi RS6 - but the bork factor could be a worry

Personally, I'd be looking for the best V70R I could find.

[colinrob]

My S4 struggled to ever get above 24mpg on a run and regularly returned 20-22mpg on a run with a couple of jams round town 15mpg never used to rag it, on a track day got 10 mpg was an excellent car never had a problem with it but it was only 3 years old with 22,000 miles when I sold it

[Furiokid]

I had looked at the Volvo and Saab but don’t like the interiors/cabin that much, but too boring for me.
The VRS has been appealing, but not really enough power I think for me. My 330D has been remapped to 270bhp and 500Nm so looking for something similar or more.
Do the RS4’s/RS6’s suffer the same on the engines as the S4/S6 as read somewhere they're supposed to use stronger tensioners?

[SiT]

Have a lot of time for the Forester STi, such good value for money and being Subaru it's 'old fashioned' mechanical and will just go on and on and on.

That's where I would put my money, also got rareity factor
!

Si

[Furiokid]

That’s what I find appealing about the Forester STI, lower tax and similar MPG to the Audi range and easily tuneable if decide to as had impreza’s in my past but thought i’d get opinions as said

[Cpt Flashhard]

Forester STI all day-about to import one myself if you need some links?

[SiT]

Cpt Flashhard said:

Forester STI all day-about to import one myself if you need some links?

Oh I would be interested in a look.....

[ZX10R NIN]

VXR Vectra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Legacy Estate

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

C55 AMG

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Alfa 156 GTA

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Furiokid]

I am currently torn between a forester STI and a legacy BP5 spec b wagon? I’m interested to see which is better for space and also which has the more reliable engine out of the 2.0 and 2.5?

[ZX10R NIN]

The 2.0 is the stronger of the two but you can get Legacy with the 2.0 I think there are two links above.

[Furiokid]

The legacy spec-b is the 2.0, whereas the Forester STi is the 2.5. I’d go for the manual in either of them

[Furiokid]

Looking at these, but as mentioned as a manual

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2018...

[Dapster]

You'll be able to get one of these in budget. Not this specific one - try and find the later LCI facelift.



https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Furiokid]

Funnily enough I had looked at that one, but suspect the running costs will be similar to that of the RS6 which just isn’t practical enough at the minute