City Dwellers: What runabout for petrolheads?

[jimmybell]

Calling anyone that lives in a large city, commutes largely on public transport and when you do get in the car you end up spending time sat in city traffic doing daily tasks, yet you still aspire to own a special vehicle...

What's your idea of a daily runabout that's practical, comfortable, small enough for city life parked on a street - but still ticks the petrolhead box?

Things you or i might do in a runabout:

Drive to Sainsburys and do the weekly shop when hurricane imogen makes walking uncomfortable,
Buy some stuff in ikea,
Visit some friends or family out of town,
Drive to the golf course,
Bug out of the city for a quick b-road blast,
Go away for the weekend,
Chuck some mountain bikes in the back and find some trails,
Commute on a Friday when you can't face the tube...

Whilst we'd all love to do this in a V12 fezza, or the most favoured 911 GT3, this isn't the most practical and eventually you might want to carry something other than yourself - What's the best car for this job?

[jimmybell]

Considering i currently drive a Z4 M Coupe, and that's considered not practical enough (although has done an admiral job over the years, ikea included) - i guess that counts out ideas on the MR2/MX5 scale, though appreciate the effort justifying a mk1 MX5.

I tend to find the main difficulty is the natural contrast between 'small city practicality' and 'visit family/friends long distances away in comfort', thus i'm settling on ideas like the latest RS3, M135i, Golf GTI/R etc - but they're all a much bigger commitment than some decent second hand bargains, so before i put my money down on an overpriced RS3, i'm wondering if there's any interesting alternatives.

[jimmybell]

Shaoxter said:

How often do you really go to Ikea? And do you really want all those cardboard boxes scratching the interior of a nice car and plants dropping soil everywhere? Either rent a van or just use their delivery service. Take that requirement away and you have a much wider choice!

I don't get the whole notion of a small city car, I'd happily drive a Phantom into central London.

Ikea? Way too often.

Driving a phantom into central london? Sure, parking it on a modest street that isn't in Chelsea? No thanks. Nevermind the size/width/length of the thing dictating that you can fit in exactly zero spaces anyway.

Edited by jimmybell on Monday 8th February 12:36

[jimmybell]

Looket said:

If I were you I'd be looking at something along these lines:


http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C658314

It's like another Z4MC but bigger and slower Nice suggestion.. though surprisingly i'm still leaning towards the 8V RS3...

I'll start my foray into classics when i've got private drive space and a few garages.

[jimmybell]

henrycrun said:

Just use it when you need it https://www.citycarclub.co.uk/locations

They can be useful, i've been a member of zipcar for some time and mainly use it for the vans - but really they're no good for anything other than 1-3 hour rentals, not much use if you need to take anything further afield.

[jimmybell]

mark_m135 said:

I live in London and love my 135, it is pretty punchy, fits a lot more than you'd think in there, and is RWD. As for mountain bikes, I don't know, but I got a mate, 2 road bikes, and 2 big bags inside for a drive down to the Dordogne over the summer. Plenty of space in the front still and the performance wasn't noticeably impacted...actually the extra weight in the back meant that the tyres bit more when I used launch control out of a toll booth...well I had to do something to amuse myself while my mate was paying the toll ha

This is for London usage actually - i'm torn between m135i and RS3, both new. The man maths debate in my head seems to be RS3 excitement vs RS3 price

[jimmybell]

DonkeyApple said:

Get the BMW and save some money by eBaying the indicator bulbs and mirrors.

They should theoretically fold in - thus reducing the risk of them being smashed off when parked up!

[jimmybell]

Shaoxter said:

Don't think you quite got the joke there...

BMW drivers.. yadda yadda

(I already have one, the Audi would complete my set and elevate me to full roadtard)

EDIT: Auto folding mirrors are genuinely a requirement