Best perfomance/practical car for 10K

[asuppel]

I have currently got a subaru MY 99 and fed up with the fuel consumption 25MPG on a very good run!
I want to upgrade to a car that is both practical and performs well and also has a good image, and is well built, and also will return better than 25MPG probably more like 30MPG on a long run.

So was thinking MY05 golf gti or
MY 02 Porsche Boxster

Any thoughts ideas on anything else that might fit the bill, anybody had a 330D ? Golf GTDI? thought please?

thanks

[Mastodon2]

You could get an older Nissan 350Z for around that price.

[Fittster]

What kind of annual mileage do you expect to do?

[Great Pretender]

£10k would net you an E46 M3 with sensible miles.

Great cars; practical and surprisingly frugal too.

ETA:

Edited by Great Pretender on Tuesday 10th August 17:28

[asuppel]

What an M3 or a 350Z fuel efficient??

[asuppel]

doing 12K miles per year

[300bhp/ton]

asuppel said:

I have currently got a subaru MY 99 and fed up with the fuel consumption 25MPG on a very good run!
I want to upgrade to a car that is both practical and performs well and also has a good image, and is well built, and also will return better than 25MPG probably more like 30MPG on a long run.

So was thinking MY05 golf gti or
MY 02 Porsche Boxster

Any thoughts ideas on anything else that might fit the bill, anybody had a 330D ? Golf GTDI? thought please?

thanks

Thoughts??

Well for starters you said good image, performs well and well built. Then mention something about a Golf.....


Also not sure a Golf diesel should ever be classified as a performance car


What do you need in terms of practical? The Boxster is a fine car, but as a 2 seat sports car with little ability to carry people or luggage, most wouldn't normally cite it as practical?

Also what are you after in performance. Do you like speed and HP or more bias towards handling?

Assuming 2 seats are fine, then this probably offers a good blend of everyday ability, speed and good fuel economy. Turbo if your budget stretches far enough n/a if not.



If less speed is ok then maybe a smart Roadster Brabus. Lotus Elise or Caterham or a kit car like a GTM Libra.

Newish MX-5 might be worth a shout, although a lot of money for the performance.

R56 MINI Cooper S is fairly good on fuel (R53 not so, but looks better and drives better).

[asuppel]

vx220 are cool but very small and hard to get in/out.
I am talking about performance and handling but smart Brabus roadster sounds interesting as does the elise but doesn't the Boxster beat these all-round in terms of usability and build quality/value for money ?

[edo]

A boxster isnt going to improve your economy woes though. You need to better define what it is you are looking for.

[asuppel]

so far I have had:
MY02 Celica T-sport
Honda s2000
Golf Mk2 16V
R5 GT turbo
205 1.9 GTI
Subaru Impreza turbo

so it would have to be in this sort of league but I am getting older now so looking for sensible too in terms of MPG

[edo]

How many miles do you do?

You may be surprised how little difference a few mpg makes in petrol spend over a year.

[300bhp/ton]

asuppel said:

What an M3 or a 350Z fuel efficient??

Depends what you mean by fuel efficient.

For example my 5.7 liter Camaro did 30.5mpg last week on the way down to Devon and usually returns 22-24mpg.

I suspect a 350z and M3 could achieve similar, although maybe a few mpg less for the Nissan.

What might make a difference too is if you need to run on super unleaded or not, as this in affect makes you mpg worse in a cost per mile basis.

[Chris71]

asuppel said:

What an M3 or a 350Z fuel efficient??

Most things will do 30mpg on a long run driven gently. My old TVR would. A Corvette C5 reputedly pretty much will...

I'm looking at vaguely the same thing at the moment (less focus on efficiency, but still usable) and some thoughts I'm having are:

BMW Breadvan
Porsche 944 S2 or Turbo (maybe a 968 if a good deal came up...)
MX5 and a big wadge of cash
Corrado VR6 and a big wadge of cash
Boxster S
Integra Type R and a big wadge of cash
A smart E36 M3 and some change
Octavia vRS (very fuel efficient for a large-ish performance car)
Nissan 350Z
Vauxhall VX220 Turbo
Toyota MR2 Roadster and a big wadge of cash
A clean late example of a Nissan 200SX and a big wadge of cash
MG ZT 260 and an LPG conversion maybe? I know in petrol form it'd be the silliest answer to a fuel-efficient question, but I ahve a soft spot for them!

[Speedracer329]

edo said:

How many miles do you do?

You may be surprised how little difference a few mpg makes in petrol spend over a year.

asuppel said "doing 12K miles per year"

[300bhp/ton]

asuppel said:

vx220 are cool but very small and hard to get in/out.

It's almost identical to an Elise, but arguably more slightly more comfy than an S1 Elise.

asuppel said:

I am talking about performance and handling

In what sense though. Do you want faster than the Impreza? And as said what brings the thrills to you more? Do you like acceleration and a shove in the back, or are you content with more revs, less speed but higher cornering speeds?

asuppel said:

but smart Brabus roadster sounds interesting as does the elise but doesn't the Boxster beat these all-round in terms of usability and build quality/value for money ?

Usability depends on what you need/want from it. Build quality is variable and full of mixed opinions and value for money is totally personal.

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Tuesday 10th August 20:41

[The Lukas]

Chris71 said:

asuppel said:

What an M3 or a 350Z fuel efficient??

Most things will do 30mpg on a long run driven gently. My old TVR would. A Corvette C5 reputedly pretty much will...

I feel the same. You must compromise in one way or another, it's quite something to have something practical, fast, reliable and fuel efficient without spending X amount of money. Just about any car will do 25mpg. It depends how you drive it. And how how fast exactly are we talking?

[asuppel]

what I am currently experiencing in the scooby is worried to use the performance so never booting it because it half the MPG when you do from 30MPG to about 16MPG. I want car that returns 25 MPG when you nail it and 35+MPG when you dont. I want it to pull and corner well. maybe something that s not both 4WD and turbo!

[asuppel]

value for money is the wrong term I meant depreciation friendly and has solid build quality ie VW compared to Fiat

[braddo]

edo said:

How many miles do you do?

You may be surprised how little difference a few mpg makes in petrol spend over a year.

Indeed - by my calcs for 12k miles and fuel at £1.15/litre, 25mpg only costs you £400 more than 30 mpg, which is only £300 more than 35 mpg.

[homerjay]

Leon fr or octavia vrs

tdi or fsi depending on how much mpg you want