Recommend me a properly fast but reliable car

[Rydal]

Whatever I buy will be used everyday for my 60 mile round trip commute on the M5, meaning it will cover approx 20,000 miles pa once other trips are factored in. I want something that will feel a bit "special", I'm realistic about fuel economy and routine maintenance but I just want to minimise the risk of unexpected, expensive and inconvenient problems. Budget is 15-20k, so far I'm thinking:

Audi S4
Golf R32
Boxster
S2000
BMW Z4 coupe
350Z
SLK 350
M3

Any recommendations? Which is likely to prove the most/least reliable do you think?

Cheers

Rich

[andyroo]

645ci coupe? Lovely place to be, quick, and the noise is lovely. Enough toys to warrant a jealous stare from Hamleys too.

[anonymous-user]

I have a 3.0 z4 whilst its ok its not really that fast at all. I would suggest the M sport Z4, 340bhp iirc, look awesome aswell

ETA: None of these are properly fast really bar the M3/s4 maybe

Get a 996 911 or somemthing? not sure of the running costs though.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 9th October 19:27

[nonuts]

Z4 Coupe with the 3.0 engine would be my shout if you want 'reliable' however I'm not sure it's properly fast.

[Wills2]

993 C2?

[andyroo]

yammyfan said:

I have a 3.0 z4 whilst its ok its not really that fast at all. I would suggest the M sport Z4, 340bhp iirc, look awesome aswell

ETA: None of these are properly fast really bar the M3/s4 maybe

Get a 996 911 or somemthing? not sure of the running costs though.

Edited by yammyfan on Saturday 9th October 19:27

£20k will get a decent Z4 M roadster when I was looking at them. Bargain if you ask me!

[anonymous-user]

Rydal said:

Audi S4- Not excting
Golf R32 - Could be the one
Boxster - Also this but needs to be a late car for the performance
S2000 - Not properly fast, handling an acquired taste
BMW Z4 coupe - Not driven one
350Z - A great GT
SLK 350 - Not driven one
M3 - Great daily, a little too good to get under your skin maybe?

[anonymous-user]

andyroo said:

yammyfan said:

I have a 3.0 z4 whilst its ok its not really that fast at all. I would suggest the M sport Z4, 340bhp iirc, look awesome aswell

ETA: None of these are properly fast really bar the M3/s4 maybe

Get a 996 911 or somemthing? not sure of the running costs though.

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 9th October 19:27

£20k will get a decent Z4 M roadster when I was looking at them. Bargain if you ask me!

Look again:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2104994.htm

Next purchase me thinks

[ManOpener]

yonex said:

Rydal said:

Audi S4- Not excting
Golf R32 - Could be the one
Boxster - Also this but needs to be a late car for the performance
S2000 - Not properly fast, handling an acquired taste
BMW Z4 coupe - Not driven one
350Z - A great GT
SLK 350 - Not driven one
M3 - Great daily, a little too good to get under your skin maybe?

An R32 will get under your skin but an M3 won't? I've driven an E46 M3 ONCE and ever since then have set my sights on one, they're properly addictive.

[Vidal Baboon]

Hmm, none of those are what I would call 'properly quick'. Z4M struggled to outpace my remapped Cupra- yes he was trying.

If you want performance you're going to have to sacrifice reliability, unless you look at Yank motors. Corvette for example...

Perhaps a Tamora with an LS conversion.
PHers Jellison done one with a Chimera, Brummie done one witha Cerbera & Don1 has just that particular project on the go right now. Pick up a Tammy with a busted engine or one in need of a rebuild on the cheap, then plenty left for the conversion. 400bhp, and around 1 tonne in weight.

[Wills2]

Stunning and IMVHO set to be a classic like the bread van...

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2111769.htm

[TheStig44]

E39 M5?

An AMG Mercedes of some flavour?

[anonymous-user]

ManOpener said:

An R32 will get under your skin but an M3 won't? I've driven an E46 M3 ONCE and ever since then have set my sights on one, they're properly addictive.

Yes. I'd argue that one all day long. The little Golf howls along and is quite the Q car despite not being super fast. The E46 for me is just too effective, it lacks 'something'. I agree that none of the cars on the list are silly fast but you cant put TVR's and the like into the mix when reliabilty and lots of commuting are needed.

[Cost Captain]

Don't go for an R32 go for an A3 3.2 quattro, mechanically identical but several thousand cheaper to buy an equivelant model and alot cheaper to insure.

[Pints]

If it's reliability you're after, shirley the S2000 has to be the one?

[Wills2]

yonex said:

ManOpener said:

An R32 will get under your skin but an M3 won't? I've driven an E46 M3 ONCE and ever since then have set my sights on one, they're properly addictive.

Yes. I'd argue that one all day long. The little Golf howls along and is quite the Q car despite not being super fast. The E46 for me is just too effective, it lacks 'something'. I agree that none of the cars on the list are silly fast but you cant put TVR's and the like into the mix when reliabilty and lots of commuting are needed.

I would say it was the other way round, the M3 putting 340bhp through the rear wheels would be much more challenging than a 250bhp AWD golf understeering everywhere that would just be painful...But each to his own.

[chrisispringles]

What about a Volvo S60/V70 R? They're really reliable, well built, very comfortable and refined, but with 300 bhp so although they are not as quick as M3s or S4s they really do shift and would probably be a little nicer to live with because they're less likely to throw expensive bills at you, they're even fairly economical.

[anonymous-user]

Lotus Europa S? http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2036904.htm

dont know any stories about poor reliability, 0-60 in 5.5 seconds and 225 bhp probably isnt "properly fast" in most peoples minds but i think they still look great and you dont see many of them.

Maserati Cambiocorsa http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2145707.htm
big v8, fast and reliable, gorgeous, lovely, beautiful and lots of many other adjectives to describe beauty...

[Wills2]

pablo said:

Maserati Cambiocorsa http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2145707.htm
big v8, fast and reliable, gorgeous, lovely, beautiful and lots of many other adjectives to describe beauty...

Wow! That's alot of car for the money and should come with a warranty as its been sold through an offical dealer

Very nice.

Edited by Wills2 on Saturday 9th October 20:08

[Vidal Baboon]

Wills2 said:

yonex said:

ManOpener said:

An R32 will get under your skin but an M3 won't? I've driven an E46 M3 ONCE and ever since then have set my sights on one, they're properly addictive.

Yes. I'd argue that one all day long. The little Golf howls along and is quite the Q car despite not being super fast. The E46 for me is just too effective, it lacks 'something'. I agree that none of the cars on the list are silly fast but you cant put TVR's and the like into the mix when reliabilty and lots of commuting are needed.

I would say it was the other way round, the M3 putting 340bhp through the rear wheels would be much more challenging than a 250bhp AWD golf understeering everywhere that would just be painful...But each to his own.

Yeah, I've got to agree. The R32 was heavily criticised at the time for understeering badly on the Motorways.


Wills, you are Vin Diesel AICMFP.

Edited by Vidal Baboon on Saturday 9th October 20:13