I have an 05 Fabia vRS and am looking to replace it with a new car. Something more exciting, probably a hot hatch, but still with room at the weekend for swmbo and 2 kids. I do around 12-15K miles pa, at my own expense. My daily journey to work is 10 miles each way, a mix of urban and country A roads. A key factor is the car's width: I have a narrow parking space between two garages, so any test drive will have to include this. The Fabia isn't a problem, and I could go a little wider but not too much. I also appreciate reliability and quality.
Cars I have considered so far are the Clio 197, Swift Sport, Fiesta ST and Focus ST, with the Clio towards the top end of my price range. The Focus would probably be affordable as my father is a Ford pensioner so I would be entitled to a discount, probably between 20 and 25%.
Does anyone have any experience of the cars on my shortlist, or alternative suggestions?
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How about a Toyota Corolla Compressor? 215 bhp, guaranteed reliability and exclusivity (only 250 rhd models allocated to UK). Its different to the usual suspects at least, and IMO looks good.
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Thanks for the reply. Not sure it is quite in my price range, and a bit nervous about the impact that the Corolla-replacement model (Auris?) might have on its residual value, but certainly one I'll think about further. Anyone else have any thoughts?
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Any car that you get to be more exciting, I would suggest you go for a lengthy test drive. On the Briskoda website, there are plenty of guys who have moved from the cars you are suggesting, to the Fabia vrS and claim they wouldn't go back.
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Quite so and for around £350 you can get a re-map to give around 30 to 40 more BHP a pocket rocket in disguise then!
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
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These cars are very different inpower delivery to the vRS. The Clio may produce 197 but you need to wring its neck to waken up those horses. I prefer my power lower down. Otherwise a nice car, one of the recent Ghosn cars from his immense whip cracking.
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These cars are very different inpower delivery to the vRS. The Clio may produce 197 but you need to wring its neck to waken up those horses.
I think that's what I may be looking for - something that forces me to work a bit harder. But I don't want to give up the vRS' practicality and reliability.
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Quite so and for around £350 you can get a re-map to give around 30 to 40 more BHP a pocket rocket in disguise then! Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
Not sure I'm keen on re-maps: don't want to affect the warranty, and would be nervous about knock-on effects on gearbox, brakes etc. The car is reasonably quick already - it just doesn't deliver the power in a way that is remotely exciting, at least not for me anyway.
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I've got a Feb 2001 Golf tdi 115bhp PD that was chipped from 3 months old, the only issue is a bit of clutch slip if you tramp on the go pedal at low RPM in top gear. Some companies offer a 5 hour test drive to see if you like the changes. There's no down side, economy improves too ;O)
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Sounds as if the Focus RS is what you need if the others aren't roomy enough. I like power at the lower end of the rev scale - a Fabia vRS would suit me fine if I were in the market for a car that size - but you perhaps want it at the higher end and the challenge of working the engine harder. So you need a petrol rather than a diesel.
If the Fabia has done you well, is an Octavia vRS an idea or is it too wide? Worth a try as this is available with petrol or diesel, and the petrol engine is from the Golf GTI.
A final thought - some form of Alfa? You'd need to find a good dealer if you go this way.
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Sounds as if the Focus RS is what you need if the others aren't roomy enough. I like power at the lower end of the rev scale - a Fabia vRS would suit me fine if I were in the market for a car that size - but you perhaps want it at the higher end and the challenge of working the engine harder. So you need a petrol rather than a diesel.
For most petrol engines I'd agree with your comment, Avant, but in this case the Volvo five pot in the Focus RS is somewhat different, as is it's ancestor is in my V70. If our friend wants the challenge of wringing a petrol engine to deliver the beans, then the engine in the Focus RS is not the baby.
It has the stonking torque of a decent modern turbodiesel in the mid range, without the off boost gutlessness below or the sudden death above; it pulls cleanly from not much above tickover, is well and truly out of bed by 1500RPM, and then charges smoothly and cleanly all the way to the rev limiter north of 6000RPM (I don't recall exactly where in the case of the RS). If ever an engine were "elastic" in nature, this is it, and HJ's observation regarding essentially the same motor in the C30 (yes, the software is not identical) is bang on the money; third whether you'd normally use second and again third where you'd normally use fourth; tall gearing and such a wide plateau of torque welling in to strong power makes for a wonderfully effortless way to make more than decent progress. With the 258bhp and 444NM I now have courtesy of some OBDII software tuning and a couple of simple mods, the effect is even more so! An RS will respond equally well, but it won't be a challenge to use it! :-)
Hope you're keeping well, by the way.
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Oh, the five pot sounds utterly gorgeous, too, engine sound being a key factor whenever I choose a car and the reason that the last four cylinder car I had (1994)was a company car with nothing more "cultured" (I mean in the way that a four banger never can be) on the list.
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Got to be the Focus ST. I have a remapped vRS and as well as being blisteringly quick, the remap has ironed out the narrow torque band between 1,900 and 3,000 rpm so that the car can be driven hard between 2,000 and beyond 4,500 (not often that necessary!) if you want to. Still nothing like a free revving petrol but also a long way from a standard vRS, a bit too nose heavy for serious press on driving but value for money, 45mpg and gung ho performance it works for me.
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SjB, nice to see you posting again. All well with the twins...?
I´d agree with the Octavia vRS suggestion. Perhaps the old shape model (180bhp) is a wee bit narrower, would need to check tho. Have fun trying out the shortlist!
Regards,
Barchettaman.
PS What about a 325i Compact?
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Very interesting comments, Steve, about the 5-cylinder Ford / Volvo engine. I agree about the quality of the four-pot noise - although as you are no doubt finding, twins are even noisier than four cylinders! (Congratulations to you and your wife by the way.)
I too prefer bags of torque more than outright top-end performance, which is why I've had diesels recently. The ideal is diesel torque without dlesel noise: I got it in the late lamented A4, as this was a six; I certainly don't get it in the current B-class. I'd consider going back to a petrol if the engine is a good as that Ford / Volvo 2.5 seems to be. The S-Max so powered sounds interesting.
Has anyone got experience of the Volvo V50 D5? That could be interesting, although the price puts it into Audi territory.
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Thanks, barchettaman and Avant. :-)
It's good to be back, if only a relative little.
To save duplication, the twins are just great, ta, as is life! www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=47286&...e
Twins can indeed be noisy, heh heh!
Yup, Avant, the engine really is that good and that broad in its talents; well worth a try. If you're ever passing through Warks, get the Mods to put us in touch. Not as economical as the D5, sure, but for me a perfectly fair trade for the other benefits at 28-30MPG and my 10K miles a year (in the Volvo). Bro had a V70 D5 auto (163bhp) and that was a super engine, gearbox, car combination. I would imagine a V50 D5, especially with the 185 unit, to be at least as good. Muscular and economical, it even sounding sporting, but wasn't the engine for me; like every modern turbo diesel I have tried, it was totally flat off boost (I mean nothing) and although free revving for a diesel, was running out of steam come 4750RPM or so. With the turbocharged petrol equivalent at least pulling with no turbo boost, boost building from 1000RPM, full boost and peak torque at about 1600RPM (varies a little with exact version), and then pulling hard to beyond 6000RPM, it is a more useable friend that give you more options.
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Is new MINI cooper too small..? Would certainly tick the performance and resale boxes.
Vauxhall Corsa VXR looks interesting performancewise but not sure about image. SEATs - new leon cupra but maybe a bit pricy, or the ibiza cupra..
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I've had a new V50 D5 for 8 weeks and 2500 miles. It hasn't loosened up yet but seems pretty fast to me! I can't see it being any more involving than a Skoda VRS though, it's just so effortless. Besides it is only available with the Geartronic automatic until next Summer: no manual 'box until then. In any case, I can't imagine the OP would think about a diesel Volvo estate as being the kind of sporty drive they are looking for!
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Nearly new Civic Type R ?
P
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