Is the grass greener?

[Jcp045]

I have a BMW 635d 2010 286bhp and an Audi TTS 2009 stage 1 320bhp.

Are there any better bang for buck options to replace these or do I have the holy grail of cheap fun motoring with good mpg for daily driving?

Give me your suggestions

[Mad Maximus]

No it isn’t greener unless you spend more money. You want what you want though so don’t try and justify it, if you want something different get it.

[MikeM6]

That is a pretty good 2 car garage if daily usage cars to be honest. If you need MPG, both of them will be hard to beat.

[BlackTank]

Most of us on here go through this regularly. For me the grass is ALWAYS greener until I have a really good drive in one of our 2 "fun" cars and think about the fact that they're completely paid off and completely sorted and maintained perfectly. Why in the world would I give that up?

[Belle427]

Probably not to be fair, maybe the TT could be chopped in for something but what is the question.

[Mr Tidy]

That's a pretty good combination.

I don't want a diesel as I don't do enough miles to justify one, and I need to go into the ULEZ now and again as my sister now lives in it.

Mine are both N/A straight 6 petrols, the 2005 330i has 258bhp and the 2006 Z4MC has 343bhp. The 330i is pretty economical for a petrol 3 litre but I bought the other one for fun with no thought about economy!

[MikeM6]

Mr Tidy said:

That's a pretty good combination.

I don't want a diesel as I don't do enough miles to justify one, and I need to go into the ULEZ now and again as my sister now lives in it.

Mine are both N/A straight 6 petrols, the 2005 330i has 258bhp and the 2006 Z4MC has 343bhp. The 330i is pretty economical for a petrol 3 litre but I bought the other one for fun with no thought about economy!

Have you got BMWs? I never knew that!

[AnhBanhBao]

I think, OP, that the first few replies have answered your question.

Whether that’s the answer you wanted to hear is another thing!

[popeyewhite]

Audi TT/ Leon Cupra Stage 1 380 bhp. Don't know the BMW.

[Robertb]

I suppose you could px the BMW for a 535d Touring, so you have sporty coupe and cruiser wagon.

What is it on the other side of the fence that appeals?

[Roboticarm]

I'd say the BMW would be hard to beat unless you swapped it for the Alpina equivalent.

The TT fan easily be bettered of course, it's based on a Golf platform so something built as a purpose built sports car, Porsche for example will handle better, but of course might not be as quick since yours is presumably (sorry but this "stage X" stuff is nonsense) heavily modified you might have a way to go unless you modify the new one too.

[biggbn]

John Lennon once quipped the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but when you get there you discover it's just grass...

[ITP]

I guess there are many cars with better mpg than a 635d and also many cars that are more fun to drive than a TT. Depends what else you want from your car. You could have a polo blue motion and a lotus Elise for example.

[Jimjimhim]

MikeM6 said:

Mr Tidy said:

That's a pretty good combination.

I don't want a diesel as I don't do enough miles to justify one, and I need to go into the ULEZ now and again as my sister now lives in it.

Mine are both N/A straight 6 petrols, the 2005 330i has 258bhp and the 2006 Z4MC has 343bhp. The 330i is pretty economical for a petrol 3 litre but I bought the other one for fun with no thought about economy!

Have you got BMWs? I never knew that!

Squeezes it in to every thread.

[popeyewhite]

Roboticarm said:

sorry but this "stage X" stuff is nonsense

Mind explaining why?

Lets say entirely hypothetically a car has a possibility of exchanging it's turbocharger for 1 of 3 others, all differing in power. Isn't an easy classification stages 1, 2 or 3?

[MikeM6]

popeyewhite said:

Mind explaining why?

Lets say entirely hypothetically a car has a possibility of exchanging it's turbocharger for 1 of 3 others, all differing in power. Isn't an easy classification stages 1, 2 or 3?

I think some talk about stages in a meaningless way and get a bit silly, but for a basic stage one = remap, stage two = basic hardware and remap and stage 3 = more extensive work, it is a helpful way to provide some insight the extent of the modifications done.

[popeyewhite]

MikeM6 said:

popeyewhite said:

Mind explaining why?

Lets say entirely hypothetically a car has a possibility of exchanging it's turbocharger for 1 of 3 others, all differing in power. Isn't an easy classification stages 1, 2 or 3?

I think some talk about stages in a meaningless way and get a bit silly, but for a basic stage one = remap, stage two = basic hardware and remap and stage 3 = more extensive work, it is a helpful way to provide some insight the extent of the modifications done.

I agree, and the stages (map/hardware mods) you describe also apply cross-marque, ie they denote similar modifications for a BMW M2 Comp as they would Ford Focus.

[Roboticarm]

popeyewhite said:

MikeM6 said:

popeyewhite said:

Mind explaining why?

Lets say entirely hypothetically a car has a possibility of exchanging it's turbocharger for 1 of 3 others, all differing in power. Isn't an easy classification stages 1, 2 or 3?

I think some talk about stages in a meaningless way and get a bit silly, but for a basic stage one = remap, stage two = basic hardware and remap and stage 3 = more extensive work, it is a helpful way to provide some insight the extent of the modifications done.

I agree, and the stages (map/hardware mods) you describe also apply cross-marque, ie they denote similar modifications for a BMW M2 Comp as they would Ford Focus.

It's entirely meaningless and confusing, if you've had a remap say you've had a remap, don't say my car is stage 1. It's not even comparable across cars, a remap might be 10% bhp and 7% torque on car a and 15% and 15% on another.
Stage 3 is the worst, there seems to be no limit and no clear requirement for items, some cars can run a stock intercooler and a larger turbo, others need both, some need larger injectors others not etc etc what's a stage 3 on a turbo car Vs a supercharger? It's all nonsense.

Instead of "stage 3" why not say "the car has a larger intercooler, a Garret turbo, aftermarket head, larger injectors and is running 320bhp and 400nm of torque" ?

[MikeM6]

Roboticarm said:

It's entirely meaningless and confusing, if you've had a remap say you've had a remap, don't say my car is stage 1. It's not even comparable across cars, a remap might be 10% bhp and 7% torque on car a and 15% and 15% on another.
Stage 3 is the worst, there seems to be no limit and no clear requirement for items, some cars can run a stock intercooler and a larger turbo, others need both, some need larger injectors others not etc etc what's a stage 3 on a turbo car Vs a supercharger? It's all nonsense.

Instead of "stage 3" why not say "the car has a larger intercooler, a Garret turbo, aftermarket head, larger injectors and is running 320bhp and 400nm of torque" ?

Not sure why it's a problem for you. It's just a description of different stages of tuning, I think mostly car specific. Stage three would be .ore uniform across one type of car, so say stage 3 Golf GTI and most would them probably know what to compare it to. It's not saying Stage 3 for a Golf is the same as for a Ferrari 458 though.

I'm not into modified cars and I understand the concept well enough.

[OutInTheShed]

Stage 1 = 'it's had a remap and is now technically illegal due to emissions'
Stage 2 = It's had a remap and some aftermarket tat hardware, it's now blatantly illegal due to emissions and noise
Stage 3 = Stage 2 but more so, it's now unpleasant to drive in traffic and will likely blow up within 20k miles.

I remember when it was all about camshafts....