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Comfortable, automatic hot hatch
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Comfortable, automatic hot hatch
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flatso

Original Poster:

1,360 posts

153 months

[report]
[news]
Tuesday 22nd October 2024
quotequote all
For the wife ( and myself once in a while) , 4 doors, automatic that has a good ride comfort. Decently roomy and reliable would also be nice as would a characterfull engine.

The Macan I consider more of a large hatch but its too expensive for the use case.
MK 7.5 GTI
S3

Any other suggestions?

samoht

7,006 posts

170 months

[report]
[news]
Tuesday 22nd October 2024
quotequote all

On the VW front the older R32 with the VR6 might fit well?
There's also the Toyota Blade Master-G, an Auris with the 3.5 V6 as per various Lotuses.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/toyota/auris/...

flatso

Original Poster:

1,360 posts

153 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
Ideally it should be up to 15 tsd. pricewise.
She had an Infiniti EX37s that she did not jive with very much. She would like something a bit more compact and easier to park, the Infinitis packaging was laugfhable (large outside, very small inside) with a horrible turning circle and stiff ride. She would like good visibility and talks about a slightly raised ride height but I cannot bring myself to buy any of these crossovers, although some of them look ok (Renault Captur, Mazda CX30).
I also use the car myself once in a while and I would like a bit of poke, so around 200 horses would be nice, especially if it has a good automatik transmission.


66HFM

800 posts

49 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
flatso said:
For the wife ( and myself once in a while) , 4 doors, automatic that has a good ride comfort. Decently roomy and reliable would also be nice as would a characterfull engine.

The Macan I consider more of a large hatch but its too expensive for the use case.
MK 7.5 GTI
S3

Any other suggestions?
If you're looking at the VAG family then the Cupra Leon and Skoda Octavia VRS spring to mind

EBRANDON1

636 posts

28 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
Golf R?

It may be a case of trying to find a non boy racer looking one though. But for the price, ticks the practicality boxes and has got a bit of go about it. If its too boy racer, a GTI maybe.

Gixer968CS

827 posts

112 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
I have a 2023 Audi S3 I bought new. We were driving around in 2 sports cars and Mrs 968CS volunteered to give hers up for something more practical, provided she still could get enthusiastic about it. We tested:

Macan (lovely, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money)
Mini Cooper JCW (really fun little thing. Loved it, but way too stiff and unpleasant for regular use)
Audi RSQ3 (stupid, hideous, ridiculous sounding blob)
Golf R (very nice but also, there's a lot of Golfs around)
Jaguar E Pace (really dull and best thing the sales guys could come up with to sway us was the mummy and baby jaguar puddle light!)

When we drove the S3 we immediately knew it was the right car. As an Audi, it's a nice place to be and as sports car owners (old 911 and Z4) it felt much bigger. In Dynamic it is pretty quick and tight, but we now almost always drive it in Economy where it is just a relaxing, smooth, luxury car! I know it's not everyone's taste (what car is?) but it really works for us. Difficult to fault except for one thing - no electric seat adjustment which is really annoying as we have very different driving positions! Also, the boot is quite small, but no worse than any similar type of car. Goes really well and is huge fun when you want it and the rest of the time, it feels like a pretty high quality relaxing place to be

SlowV6

706 posts

163 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
Gixer968CS said:
I have a 2023 Audi S3 I bought new. We were driving around in 2 sports cars and Mrs 968CS volunteered to give hers up for something more practical, provided she still could get enthusiastic about it. We tested:

Macan (lovely, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money)
Mini Cooper JCW (really fun little thing. Loved it, but way too stiff and unpleasant for regular use)
Audi RSQ3 (stupid, hideous, ridiculous sounding blob)
Golf R (very nice but also, there's a lot of Golfs around)
Jaguar E Pace (really dull and best thing the sales guys could come up with to sway us was the mummy and baby jaguar puddle light!)

When we drove the S3 we immediately knew it was the right car. As an Audi, it's a nice place to be and as sports car owners (old 911 and Z4) it felt much bigger. In Dynamic it is pretty quick and tight, but we now almost always drive it in Economy where it is just a relaxing, smooth, luxury car! I know it's not everyone's taste (what car is?) but it really works for us. Difficult to fault except for one thing - no electric seat adjustment which is really annoying as we have very different driving positions! Also, the boot is quite small, but no worse than any similar type of car. Goes really well and is huge fun when you want it and the rest of the time, it feels like a pretty high quality relaxing place to be
A 2023 S3 is more than double the price of the OPs £15k budget though.

For non-categorised cars £15k looks to get you into a 2017 car. Still very nice and a good suggestion!

flatso

Original Poster:

1,360 posts

153 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
Yes the S3 (basically a Golf R in drag) is interesting and it is on my radar. The new style interior is .ot feally my thing and the previosus one looks dated.
If there is an adaptive suspension option it would tick a lot of boxes.

A Klass Merc?
Hyundai N?

RichFN2

4,204 posts

203 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
I wanted something similar and opted for a late MK3.5 Leon Cupra. You get more kit as standard including DCC compared to the other VAG hot hatches and about 50bhp more compared to a Gti performance.

FWD saves you around 100kg if that isn't a deal breaker, I really wanted an I30N but the extra weight and less power was noticeable.

Good at everything, great at some things and class leading at nothing.(apart from maybe being a discreet all rounder)

wyson

3,925 posts

128 months

[report]
[news]
Wednesday 23rd October 2024
quotequote all
flatso said:
Ideally it should be up to 15 tsd. pricewise.
She had an Infiniti EX37s that she did not jive with very much. She would like something a bit more compact and easier to park, the Infinitis packaging was laugfhable (large outside, very small inside) with a horrible turning circle and stiff ride. She would like good visibility and talks about a slightly raised ride height but I cannot bring myself to buy any of these crossovers, although some of them look ok (Renault Captur, Mazda CX30).
I also use the car myself once in a while and I would like a bit of poke, so around 200 horses would be nice, especially if it has a good automatik transmission.
Toyota Corolla, the 190bhp version.

A new Toyota CH R comes in a 223bhp version. Not sure about the old model. I think it there was version with the same 2.0 190bhp hybrid set up as the Corolla.

Volvo XC40 T5 came with a 250bhp petrol, although that will probably be above your budget. It has a very comfortable ride, and was fun to drive in its own way. Its relatively compact, I think 4450mm long from memory.

The Macan is large, it’s a D segment car. Even if in budget, from what you said, I can’t believe your Mrs would be happy driving a car even larger than an EX37.

Edited by wyson on Thursday 24th October 00:05

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