One last thing....the obvious question

[Midge]

Sorry to bore you with this but is there only one engine to have...the 5.0, or do the 4.0, 4.3 or 4.5 units have their advantages/disadvantages.....I want performance,flexibility,smoothness and reliability.

[M@H]

How much do you wat to pay.. get the biggest you can afford, but also buy a well cared for car... thats about the sum of it I reckon..

[Jason F]

What car do you have now?

If it is not a real fast one, the 4.0 is quick enough to cut your teeth on IMHO..

[ssc1]

well i think you should get one thing straight in your mind ,and that is that with a 4.0 ltr engine and weighing only 1060kg the 4.0 is going to be very fast compared to other cars and will do 150 mph 0 to 60 about 5 secs and the 4.3 and 4.5 are just a bit better at say 160 mph 0 - 60 about 4.5 secs and the 5.0 ltr about 165 mph 0-60 about 4.3 secs ,all very fast and powerfull machines compared to the usual euroboxes and all will put a big grin on your face ,the 4.0 seems to be the most popular and the 5.0 the real big muscle car but can be a bit rough ( not as smooth as the 4.0 ) the others sit in the middle .running costs are about the same for all ,just buy the best that you can afford and go in with eyes wide open. i bought a 4.3 and its the best thing a have ever done (cars that is).

[hbaumhardt]

Mine was a bit of a goldylocksesque decision making process;

Coming from an M3 the 4.0: not quite warm enough (but nearly)
The 4.3: is a bit (c)older
Driving in town the 5.0: a bit too, err ... lumpy ?
And finally the 4.5 was perfection

Its 100% personal; set a budget, try 'em all then choose the colour.

[hut49]

I decided that with 25k to spend any of the range would have more than enough poke to fulfill my need which was for a daily use car that I could drive through London, down my favourite B roads, along M-ways and across the Continent. So I set my standard on the quality I could get with the money and ended up with a 450. I drove 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 and within the scope of a dealer's test drive (and with no previous experience of driving cars with this level of power) frankly I would be telling porkies if I said I could really tell their performance characteristics apart. Basically I didn't explore their performance envelope to one fifth of what I now experience in the 450 whenever I get the chance. Respect for the beast is fundamental, critical and essential to smoothly grow up the learning curve. I don't agree that you need to start at a 4.0 to cut your teeth. I think you can get into just as much trouble in a 4 as in a 4.5 or 5 if you fail to understand what power and responsibility you have under your right foot.

So my advice is go for the best package of mechanical quality (independent assessment), in-use history (talk to the owner(s) if poss, service records, personal road test, price and warranty. If that happens to be a 4.0 - OK - buy it, use it and know that, for the vaste majority who only use their wheels on public roads, that you are probably maxing out at about 70-75% of the car's potential. Don't worry about what you think you might be missing if you'd gone for a 450 or 500 - there's more than enough performance, fun and ownership satisfaction to be had from a 400 (for most people).
Hutch

[yum]

bang on. Go for the right package and the engine is secondary. I'm not disappointed with the 4.

My driving ability is the limiting factor on the track, not speed down the straight.

An instructor driving my car amply demonstrated this at Mallory, happily cruising past Griff 500s & cerbs simply because he was a better driver.

R

[M@H]

100% correct... I had a budget of 13K and was looking for a 4.3 however found a well looked after 4.0 in super condition at 11k and bought it..

Also bear in mind, unless you don't have a job, you don't have time to see all the cars on the market.. I know that if I'd searched for the next 3 months I might have found a perfect 4.3 in my price bracket, but the costs (petrol and more imporatanly time) of driving round looking at them far outweighed scoring almost what I was after on day 2 of looking.

Cheers
Matt.

[rwalker1]

quote:
100% correct... I had a budget of 13K and was looking for a 4.3 however found a well looked after 4.0 in super condition at 11k and bought it..

Also bear in mind, unless you don't have a job, you don't have time to see all the cars on the market.. I know that if I'd searched for the next 3 months I might have found a perfect 4.3 in my price bracket, but the costs (petrol and more imporatanly time) of driving round looking at them far outweighed scoring almost what I was after on day 2 of looking.

Cheers
Matt.

That's why I used (and recommend) Rob Ingleby to do the leg-work. It's his only job now and althogh he's quite busy he will always help.

[M@H]

quote:


That's why I used (and recommend) Rob Ingleby to do the leg-work. It's his only job now and althogh he's quite busy he will always help.

Hmmm.. never heard a bad word against the man, I just didn't fancy the £500 fee either...

[scruff400]

The 4's rev more easily.
The 5's have more torque.

Drive them.

You'll fall for 'the one'. Bit like girls.

[neilbprater]

Agree with scruff. Tried 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0. Stupid ammounts of torque in the 5.0, 4.0 revs more easily, settled fo a 4.5 as I always tend to go for the happy medium! Performance from all 3 is phenomenal compared to 95% of stuff on the road. Had a MR2 turbo which is no slouch, 4.0 chim blows it awayyyyyyy!

[rct]

quote:
Agree with scruff. Tried 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0. Stupid ammounts of torque in the 5.0, 4.0 revs more easily, settled fo a 4.5 as I always tend to go for the happy medium! Performance from all 3 is phenomenal compared to 95% of stuff on the road. Had a MR2 turbo which is no slouch, 4.0 chim blows it awayyyyyyy!

Went through the same voyage of discovery and also went for a 4.5. Just felt 'right'.