bushiwarrior

ok so heres the deal,my wife currently drives a 2005 BMW 1 series sport.After the snow fall it is clear the this car which is the only car in its class that to have rear wheel drive is crap in those conditions.So we are deciding on which car will be next which will be sooner rather than later.

my thoughts are

1.subaru 2.0 RX new shape

2.seat leon

3.honda civic 1.8 vtec sport

4.mazda 3

any thoughts guys ?must not be french as they fall apart and possibly 5 door

RB5 Boyo

Hmmmm the new subaru is s***e looking i think ....id go for the leon or the civic!!
The leons are really nice especially the cupra r ones, and i know a fella who has a 170bhp diesel leon, and it goes like stink!!
But the hondas are always a reliable safe bet. You can be sure a honda wont give u any trouble!!

bushiwarrior

i have to add a note by sayin this isnt about power more about changing to a four wheel drive or front for saftey and prob a mid range model.

c0lin

the civics are nice!!

from the choices you've mentioned, i would go for either the leon or a civic!

ulsterscooby

Id go for the new subaru but I would never drive it cause its a ladies car

bushiwarrior

anyone think of others in that class apart from the golf(which i personally like)

c0lin

what about a vauxhall astra??

bushiwarrior

sorry we are top gear watchers and we are afraid of jeremy clarkson

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

I had to drive out of Belfast on Thursday night when the snow was about 4 inches deep, anything that was rear wheel drive was having problems at the slightest incline. If they had to stop they just couldn't get moving again. Saw plenty of BMW, Merc, Porsche, Jag's stuck at the side of the road. Saying that I saw a lot of people getting themselves stuck in front wheen drive cars.

I have owned a Seat Leon Tdi (old shape) from new in 2001, this is the most reliable car (impreza aside) I have ever owned. With 130K on the clock now it has never missed a beat. When it comes time to change the choice will be easy. For a diesel the handling in this car is second to none, I found Seat's warranty to be top notch, with any warranty claims met without debate or quibble. I would hope the same good points have carried through into the new model.

My other half owned a mazda 3 which in diesel form was a nice enough car to drive. My only criticisms of it were when cold it needed an awful lot of revs to take her away from stopped and it did use about a litre of oil between services.

I have test driven one of the new 1.8 civics and was a little bit unimpressed with performance and handling. It felt to me like the revs were going on but the speed wasn't increasing as much as it should, the car needed to be thrashed to get any real perfomance from it and I couldn't live with that. The interrior was great and as an ex-demo car it had been given a few extras like, bigger alloys, polished aluminium pedals, leather seats and steering wheel. Headlight glare from the low level glass panel in the back was a bit of a nuissance, and you can not see where the front of your bonnet is because of the angle it slopes away at.

I have a shogun I use for work, would steer you well clear of those - not sure how the same company who turn out evo's can build such a heap of junk.

RB5 Boyo

Jez i dunno matey, my sister bought a brand new shape 140bhp diesel mark 5 golf a year ago and shes had absolutely nothing but bother with it since she got it. Its been in the dealers no less than ELEVEN TIMES in a year with problems ....and has had two airflow meters, a new turbo, and in the last month its had a new clutch due to the old one starting to shudder and when the dealer replaced the clutch the car then decided it no longer wants to go into fourth or fifth gear on occasions so the dealer now claims it needs a new 6 speed gearbox ....now the car is still under warrenty but it would definately put me off buying one, and my sister is defo not a bad/harsh driver so i dunno ....i know the mark 4 golfs all seemed to be good reliable cars!!

tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

Serious suggestion - what about an Octavia or a Superb, all those taxi drivers cant be wrong, any I have spoken to having nothing but good reports on the diesel versions.

I have driven the Octavia VRS for work and was very impressed by its capabilites.

petedotuk

I think I would choose the Seat, hondas r great but I'm not convinsed with their diesels.

My wife has a 2007 Grand Vitara with 2000miles on it which she is about to change as it was bought to hopefully be economical which it certainly is not. She is going next week to look at a seat leon as she likes them.

bekee

dont buy a jeep..........or a people carrier of any discription........both shyte in the snow.......just buy her a SCOOBEEEEEEE!!!!

petedotuk

I can say my wifes jeep is great in the snow Bekee, permament 4x4 cant be bad!!!!

bekee

higher centre of gravity......heavier........bigger tyres.........not good!!!! ive had experience....

petedotuk

went up the snow covered hill out my front no probs! Owning a jeep must give me experience too!!!

R maybe my wife is just a better driver than u!

bekee

im not talkin about driving the thing, im talkin about handling sumthing when u get in bother.....a jeep is heavier so therefore harder 2 stop in a snow slide, bigger tyres give less grip, higher cog means if u lose balance ur fuked......good on ur wife if she can drive......not many of us about......lol

bekee

ps why u gettin personal????? bushi asked for opinions did he not???

petedotuk

who's gettin personal? (It was just a wee bit of craic)

I dont think bushi is considering a jeep anyway.

SUBJAM1

Personally I would go for an Octavia and the VRs is very good value and I think looks cracking, done a lot of miles at work in one, its spot on.


In relation to the grip thing safety etc, I took the Scooby out for a good run in pretty slippery snow at low speeds and found it quite tricky, immediately after it I drove a new front drive VW Passat on the same road the difference I noticed was this:

The passat would spin its wheels and not move as quickly but sat straight and true on the road, pretty fool proof

The Scooby if you give it any more than the grip could handle would immediately slew sideways throwing the back of the car towards the hedge with the camber of the road, lifting off made it worse and keeping your foot in it scared all the other drivers and u needed to get busy on the wheel.

Anyone else find their Scoob tricky in the snow??

If I was sending my wife out in a car in snow it would be the front driver for dumb safety....IMHO

daddyscoob

Can't understand your comments about French cars - well Renault anyhow - yes the rest are ****e - I've owned 3 renaults my wife is currently on her 4th and I can honestly say none have shown anything like falling apart in fact we wouldn't have bought as many if they were not such a good car.

bekee

best goin car i ever had was a toyota avensis 2l tdi..........until it snowed one day and my husband liked the look of a kerb..............he managed 2 pull the mudflap of my scoob yesterday evening too..........and they talk about laydee drivers????? lol soz petedot was in a crabbit mood last nite..........one of me resolutions broke.......DAMMIT!!!

bushiwarrior

yea def not considering a jeep at all tbh and not a saloon as spacial awarness as proven, isnt a girls best friend so a hatchback it must be. good helpfull comments so far guys but Renault have a great saftey record and ncap awards but as far as reliabilty they have always been at the bottom of the top gear list as voted by the public who drive them.

davey21wagon

i had a wee seat my self it was brillant no problems wot so ever and this was my first car so had the wheels driven of it

i would get the leon, and i would only get a petrol honda ( considering diesel is dearer now ) this is a hard choice

OLLIeRB5

the current model civic diesels have a habit of popping the engine.. honda recommend checking the oil at every fuel stop would you believe.

i`m a honda fanatic.. and tbh.. i`d buy the leon

brocks

iTrader: (3)

New Focus is a good car, but the Leon is supposed to be at the top of its class.........depends how much you wanna spend, but with WRX's coming through at good money now, hard not to be a 2 car scoob family LOL

davey21wagon

this is saying something

ye ha

i found the seat leon quite bland and plain inside .if it was my money it would be a golf or my misses drives a turbo diesel ford focus and it has never missed a beat .its easily one of the best cars we,ve had and the handling is brilliant .best advise is to drive them all and then make up your own mind.

bushiwarrior

so the latest is we are gonna test drive the 2.0rx scooby on saturday(new shape)

bekee

good move