Sensible cars? (NON MINI)
Turbo Mini Forums

thinking of changing my day to day car, although my polo is reliable, cheap and probs the best car ive had it too low for day to day use, would be ruined if it was raised so best someone else enjoys it i think, but cant think of sensible cars, so far been thinking of golf tdi/gti, MG ZR, and a civic. around the 2-2.4k price mark, not really wild cars either as insurance is still average, anyone got any recomendations?

Edited by Rick.SPI on 11th Jan, 2011.

I have a MG ZR160. It's a great car and the throttle response is great BUT it drinks fuel like no fuckers buisness and you can expect to replace head gaskets if you don't care for it.

alfa romeo 147

ah good to hear someone has one.... not bothered about fuel, insurance is the killer but this is lower than most cars ive been loking at (prelude, 200sx) are they really as head gasket hungry as people say then, has yours had many probs?

not a massive small alfa fan to be honest, tis only the monster alfas thats grab my eye

The 160 is about a band 16 when it comes to insurance, it isn't exactly the cheapest of cars to insure but then it depends on your age/ncb/etc. Saying that, if you go for the 120 or 140 they are much cheaper on insurance.

They have got a bad name as you can't just rag them about on little oil and coolant but they aren't that bad. The ZR has had 2 changes and it's done 80,000 miles. First one was because the OH ex used to drive it and let it over heat repeatedly without telling anyone until it blew so driver error. Second time was because the first one was replaced with a sub standard gasket by a so called 'mate' so again human error. She takes some shit but she's a good car because I look after her.

I've always thought that these were good value. Mate had one when they were new and it was a great car. Look good in black.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

Buy an old metro

I ran a few Golf GTI's from Mk1-Mk4 before moving onto the Audi. All of them had good and bad points. The Mk3 was the 8V model and didn't exactly fly but it was torquey and towed well (thinking about it, the Mk2 was similar).

the Mk4 was the 1.8T - cracking car but mine was the lowly 150bhp output and I never got round to a re-map. The 2.0 is ok but doesn't realy warrant the GTI badge (although a fair few would argue that with most of the Golfs now!)

As a gauge, the wife and I would happily go back to the Mk4 again. The only reason I got rid was I needed better economy than the 33mpg I was getting

As for the deisel option, a mate of mine is running one happily at over 185k on the clock without issues and I'm sure there are a few on here with high milers as well.

As for Wils suggestion, again another mate is running an aerodeck as his work car - again it gets abused and neglected and still performs without fault and costs him nothing in repairs

My little brother had a prelude. Great cars until they go wrong. Can be expensive when they go wrong as diagnostics are difficult and the big things that go wrong (auto boxes, rear steer etc) are very expensive.

a friend of mine has a mk4 golf tdi, been remapped doing a 170bhp.

He claims to get decent mpg, but he does drive it flat out everywhere.

Id have one if i could afford the insurance.

my father-in-law had a 130bhp bora a few years back and used to regularly get over 50 mpg

Impreza Turbo. Not so good on fuel, but better for everything else.

get an E28 bmw!

i love mine! mines a 525e the economical one, 25mpg i get, £173 a year insurance, easy to work on, you can fit loads of bodies in the boot and they only cost about £350 to £500!

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

vw lupo gti (ok they look small but they are quite big inside and i have mine lowered by about 60mm front and 80mm back and i dont have trouble with speed humps and i dont have a bad ride all nice and smooth

On 12th Jan, 2011 apbellamy said:
Buy an old metro

In the 13's at last!.. Just

as above,

on a similar not the missuses Cinq is great! I caned it all the way to oxford and back (320miles) new years eve on just under 30 quid of fuel, thats over 50 to the gallon.

paid 200 quid for it 3 years ago, cheap insurance cheap tax, disposable motoring...

^

Seriously k-metro would be a good idea.

or even a boring spec Rover 200/25 they seen as old boring cars so mega cheap.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

Mk4 Escort Van.

Edited by MikeRace on 12th Jan, 2011.

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

He said sensible car not pikey wagon.

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

I just bought a Rover 416 saloon (newer shape) for £180 with 6 months MOT. Runs and drives perfectly, just a bit naff bodywork wise. They're cheap as chips and even if it only lasts me the 6 months, I'll just buy another one, keep the engine and box out of this one as spares for the Mini and scrap it.

Well thats the last time we make love in it!

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.