Looking for feedback for a future ride - Page 1 - Car Buying

PistonHeads » Gassing Station » General Gassing » Car Buying

Looking for feedback for a future ride

My Profile My Preferences My Mates

Search My Stuff

What's New 3 12 24 72

OP Posts Only

Author

Discussion

John811

Original Poster

6 posts

70 months

[report]

[news]

Thursday 7th January 2021

Hi ! Happy new year to everybody ! smile

I’m looking for my next car, in order to replace my 2004 Peugeot 307 2.0 5drs running on E85 (almost cut by half my annual fuel bill).
I need 4-5 seats, 4-5 doors, a more involving driving experience, a manual handbrake & gearbox and the ability to work on it for basic maintenance (oil change and filter, brakes all round, etc.). It has to be 25000€ max. The current candidates are : 2016-2017 Seat Leon Cupra 290, 2017-2019 Hyundai I30N Performance, BMW 330i (any N/A 6-pot). I’ve only driven a slightly modified I30N Performance (BBS wheels, Michelin PSS, race brake pads) on the roads around Spa-Francorchamps and it was brilliant ! (Thanks for RSR Spa).

Any thoughts ? If you have other propositions, I’m looking for them. biggrin

Thank you very much.

ZX10R NIN

30,484 posts

153 months

[report]

[news]

Thursday 7th January 2021

John811

Original Poster

6 posts

70 months

[report]

[news]

Friday 8th January 2021

ZX10R NIN said:

Good evening !

Thank you very much for the answer. smile

The I30N is great : good all rounder and by a flick of a button, a track ready car. Engaging every time you drive it. My only gripes with it are the range (450km average, 500 on a good day) and the long term reliability (all those electronic stuff should be expensive if anything goes wrong).

I’ve driven the Mégane (RS 280 cup) for a few kilometres and been a passenger for multiples hundreds of miles. It’s very engaging (maybe a little bit more than the Hyundai) but is a pain to live with (and the same range problem than the Hyundai). The Trophy is out of my reach.

I tried a 308 GTi : a great all rounder (minus the infotainment/AC controls and the e-brake). The range can be very good for the performance available. However, it left me cold, the front brakes are expensive as hell (2000€+ !!), and the mundane 308’s have notorious rear axle problems.

The Civic could be a good one : on the FK2 generation (the FK8 is too expensive and I don’t like the styling). I must check that damping is a bit too extreme (for the B-roads around me).

The Seat, being the more “boring” one, must be, at least a great all rounder ? Does it have known issues (especially with adaptive dampers) ? I’ve seen weak clutches, the 2014-2015 turbos and water pumps but nothing else. Plus, being that old, all the problems must be solved and well documented. And, being a German based car, it must have ton of aftermarket parts to spice it up (the speed is good enough, just make the drive more engaging). But if it is possible, how much will it cost ?

In a other category, for the same budget, there the last Fiesta ST (a blue 5drs LSD equipped one would be great). It seems very engaging to drive good at the daily driven stuff (especially in fuel economy). Plus, being engaging enough, wouldn’t required a lot of work (and money) to make it involving enough to my liking (like the Hyundai).

Anyway, I must test drive a Civic, a Fiesta ST and a Leon to make my mind.

On a much wilder thought, what about the Mazda RX8 R3 ? It seems stronger than the 1rst ones, have 4drs, a big enough boot (I hope the rear seats folds), cheap to insure (4drs plus 10+ y. o.)and the greatest ones are 15000€ top. If the Renesis is that problematic, what about finding a cheaper one (with a weak engine) and try the Rocketeer V6 route ? Would it be a recipe for endless money pit ?

OP Posts Only

Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff

Posting Rules