Shaun

Those are absolute valid opinions.


You must see though, that you have been getting the wooden spoon out a bit on this thread. Hence some of the reactions you have been provided with.

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

For me the colour scheme they went with for the A45 alloys just look pants in black with a different colour rim, I'd have to change that, but then I think the stupid colour mirrors Audi S* cars look naff too.

Matteeboy

Proper A45 love in here.
I respect them; but desire one? No.

Had another M135i meet on very nice roads around here; six of us hooning on rural coast roads; nothing I would have rather been in.

Too few RWD fans on here; it's the only way forward (or backwards; but then I guess it's FWD).

Shaun

Matt,
It's no great shock though, as it's a platform that in some ways is an evolution of the STI platform.

On the flipside I respect the M135i but it's not my bag. Whilst it's a competent vehicle, it doesn't have enough theatre or presence to me. To me it's a car that belongs on the drive, not one that belongs in the garage, to be pulled out for those occasions for some excitement and fun. I personally see the Golf's and S3's in the same way.

It's all about personal preference.

Few RWD fans on here is no great surprise..... the community is based around 4WD vehicles.

Matteeboy

And we have a 4wd Subaru but it's more for light off-roading than razzing about; however I do find Subaru's insistence on sticking to proper 4wd admirable despite utterly killing sales due to high emissions.

Haldex will always be reactive however clever it is. And ***** out driving, the STI retains proper steering too; something I do occasionally miss in our BMW.

You're right; ours is more of an everyday car which is exactly what we need; 16 months old,16k miles: ours gets used plenty!

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I am a big fan of RWD but just can't have one at the moment, not even sure that I ever will again. Like these cars as much as I do for the concept and moving with the times / using the latest technology available, I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't buy anything in the sector if I had up to £40k to spend on a car.

It would however have to be something that gave me a sense of occasion and made me want to pull it out and polish it, pun intended.

Shaun

In many ways I prefer the Haldex set-up, because in reality for most of my road driving I don't need 4WD. So why waste energy using it, when it's not warranted.

Granted, on a couple of occasions I have noticed it catching up with what I'm doing, but those occasions have been few and far between...... and I was being a hooligan at the time.

There is a time and a place for permanent AWD.... I would suggest that for the most of us on the UK roads, it's not needed.

Shaun

That in a nutshell is how I personally see my A45.


Perhaps I'm in a different place to others, as this car is my weekend blaster, rather than my daily work horse.


I would not have the A45 as my daily plodder.

Matteeboy

Our driving is either fairly local blasts or trips to Bristol or London (the latter are currently quite frequent) for work.
So the car needs to be quick, fun but also cover 550 miles in a day without issues - the M135i is just comfortable enough for the long drives but still a hoot on back roads - I also fear that we won't see a six pot RWD hatch ever again so I'm clinging onto this a little.

However we had a meet again this weekend; this isn't big headed (well maybe a little) but I'm comfortably the quickest driver and always way ahead - on the very tight, twisty lanes on far West Cornwall, I did slightly run out of car for the first time - on the really right bends the inner wheel was slipping; an LSD would have been handy. And the throttle response cold have been sharper - but to get this I'd need something like an Exige or Cayman which would be useless 98% of the time. It was only a tiny ***** and on faster back roads it's brilliant but it was interesting finding and breaching it's limits. The others (way behind) were completely oblivious and all very happy.

Stick and LSD on it (£2k), stick coil-overs on and add a JB4 box and you have a total weapon of a car - many are now seeing well over 420bhp and 510kb lbs-ft in them!

Ryanj1993

Couldn't agree with this any more! I personally don't like any of the new super hatches, hence why im in my JDM Hatch (an acquired taste i know) but if i had to buy any it would be the A45, purely because of its road presence. It doesn't look like anything else on the road, the M135i, well that just looks like any other boring 1 series in my opinion, regardless of how it drives.

Matteeboy

And that is very appealing to me and others who don't feel the need to shout about the bhp they're packing. I've always preferred subtle but quick cars, always will.

The Focus RS is the opposite -not actually that quick, VERY shouty. No no and no again.

Ryanj1993

Fair enough then, Ha Ha yes, almost bought a Focus RS, then i drove one

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

The driven wheels thing has never really bothered me as I like variety I guess. At one time I had a DC2 Type R, an S2000 and an STI at my disposal and I liked all of them for the differences between them. Anyone who reckons a FWD car can't handle and isn't fun needs to drive a DC2. Even in stock trim it is a mighty fine car. The S2000 was just sublime on those weekend summer thrashes across the moors and of course when you absolutely had to get from A to B as quick as possible on a wet dull winter's morning the STI would be the weapon of choice.

My current choice is between a Mazda 6 and the SL, but the SL isn't allowed out in the rain

Matteeboy

Up to about 250bhp, FWD is okay but is easily overwhelmed with more power. And I hate understeer!

Ryanj1993

Its the torque steer that put me off the RS, constantly wanting to change lanes, hardly confidence inspiring.

I do miss RWD tho, my 350z was a dream down the B roads

Matteeboy

Yep, the 350z is a good 'un.
I just feel most in control with RWD.

Devildog

And not a solitary f*ck was given....




Anyway - relevance to this thread Matt??

I appreciate this looks like I'm having a pop, but really, I'm not. I just find your insistance to continually bang on about you and your car's abilities at every available opportunity and with a totally unecessary picture on a thread about A45 AMGs (which, before you say it, I've been following since it started having come very close to buying one) quite, well, worrying

Matteeboy

Not as worrying as your determination to de-rail every thread with your nonsense - others have been fine with it. It's about CARS and mine is in a similar class as the Merc. I see you didn't spout drivel when the S3 was mentioned (or the Xsara VTS...) You may also spot (if you read it properly) that I was actually highlighting a few shortfalls of our car.

Anyway Steve, you do realise how much you've upset a few members who've done some rather clever digging and found out a lot about you that you think you've hidden? Nowt to do with me, just a PM sent to me by a very annoyed but well connected member who lives pretty near to you after he saw your rather harassing posts. This isn't a threat (I'm on Cornwall and couldn't give two hoots) but I really would lay low. They told me about your "career," (lack of) qualifications, where you live, etc, etc - I didn't really want to know but it was rather enlightening. Now try and resist threatening me as usual, take a deep breath, realise you rile people and think carefully about what and when you post.

Anyway, back to cars - I reckon the A45 would be good on this particular road. Tight B roads really do test the fundamentals of a good car - grip, balance, throttle response, brakes and gearboxes. 0-60 times, etc just aren't really relevant.

stilover

Well, after reading various reviews on the A45, it does seam to be more a point and squirt type of car, lacking in what makes a truly great drivers car.

Matteeboy

How's the S3? You need to change your profile pic

stilover

Being a car forum, it's only natural people will compare their own cars, or similar cars to the car that the thread was originally about. Hence why I stated I don't like the look of the A45, and would buy an RS3 over the A45 any day of the week.


I even bought an S3 rather then an A45 AMG. Not everything is about the car being the quickest to 60, or how quick the gearbox is, or how much Tech the car has. A lesser car can actually be far more satisfying than the car that top all the Top Trumps charts.


Exactly the same reason why I bought an R8 V8, over the `Top Trumps` GT-R.

stilover

It's going well Matt. Running in nicely now. Just using it mostly on weekends. When the weather is nice, I do miss the R8.


But TBH, over most roads, the S3 is the quicker car.

Maz

iTrader: (34)

For someone who doesn't give a f@ck he had an awful lot to say didn't he.

Matteeboy

Is there a run in mileage? I found the first 1200 miles a little painful!

Funny how certain roads can level cars; I kept a new V8 Vantage honest (almost identical 0-60 and 0-100 times but the AM is a fair bit heavier in the twisties) a while back but I wouldn't dare in the wet.

However the fairly low powered Subaru (165bhp) can be mercilessly flung around bends in ANY weather and it just will not unstick. Acceleration is pretty lame (9s to 60) but once up to speed, you hardly need to use the brakes (which, TBH, are pretty poor anyway). I need to try not to crash it....

Only seen one current shape S3 (sportback) - not a single saloon. Seen a zillion Golf Rs but again only one A45.

Shaun

**** reviews - drive one and make your own mind up.

Shaun

Matt,
That's another reason I like the A45. Not every swinging dick has one.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Or try and keep up with a well driven one and see what sort of driver's car it really is

When will they hit £25K secondhand? LOL!

Matteeboy

They've all got leased Golf Rs now...

Devildog

Mathew,

I'm going to call you out on this one. For three reasons.

1) Because I think you're bull****ting
2) Because I have no problem with you knowing who I am and where I live.
3) Because I've never threatened you or anyone else on this forum for that matter

So I'm going to ask you to PM me with who you think I am, what my "career" is, my lack of qualifications, where I live, etc, etc, etc.

If you're correct, I'll buy you a beer if you are ever in Glasgow because I have no problem speaking with you face to face.

Hell, if your wrong, the offer still stands.

Steve

Matteeboy

PM inbound.