Wild Mark

Right, this is the situation, the wifes Voyager is being pressed into service as a delivery van in my company so It gives the wife an opportunity to go for a new car, the current car is her third people carrier, two in Canada and one here and too be honest she's fed up with big slow cars and wants something sporty...no before its mentioned she hates the scoob!, not for its power, she loves driving it, but the fact it looks like a kid should drive it.

Between us we have narrowed it down to the above listed cars, well there was the M3 but there is no way I will pay or can afforfd to pay £40k, plus there is no way I would allow her to drive a faster car than me, I would never live it down.

We have set aside next Thurs to arrange test drives of three cars, I was wondering if I have missed out any cars in the same group, must seat 4, the eldest never comes out with us, he's at that age where we are emarrasing to him so she can get away with a four seater.

Does anyone have any experience with these cars?

Looking for some inside knowledge as to wether there a great car or dogs?????

Mark

OH It will be on contract hire

RB5 Paul

Only get the TT if she's an estate agent

Wild Mark

Its her favorite at the moment, she has not driven any yet.

Mark

RB5 Paul

Personally i'd go with a 350Z then the RX8,just remember to keep the oil topped up in the RX8.

Dark Blue Mark

S2000

MB

what would scooby do

Get a 350z,TT's are dunce chariots

SJJ84

Don't know about the others, but the TT certainly isn't a 4 seater. Yes there are 4 seats, but try getting anybody in the rear. No space at all.

bugeyes

The 350Z isn't a 4 seater either (I'm pretty sure), the RX8 will be the most practical with those 'suicide doors'. Read this months EVO mag as there is a group test with these 3 and the 330Ci and new Alfa GT - the 350Z comes out on top.
Stephen

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

330ci would be out anyway..... as you said she needed something sporty/fast

The 330ci is neither - wife went out in one before we bought the wrx04 and said to the salesman - this is just TOO SLOW!! - and like you say the M3 is just overpriced....... but then so too is the 330ci (they put the prices up in March/April I believe) and I think it was circa £31-£32k.......

Alpha - errrr - they have a tendency to break down!!

TT - very common, hairdressers car.......... even the wife said it was too girly - and reckons any bloke that drives one is gay (the wifes comments not mine, but hey she has a point)........... way too impractical and claustrophobic....... should have made it a proper 2 seater as thats all it really is

Mazda RX8 - far more practical than the TT - we test drove one against the wrx04 and wasn't that impressed - just didnt feel that pokey....... plus it was £23k - we got the wrx04 from a dealer brand new for £18.5k

350z - heard a lot of good comments but looks wise its weird - ok for driving by a woman though I guess - looks more of a womans car.......... didnt even consider it ourselves - aren't they quite pricey?

Wild Mark

2 seater so out.

Wild Mark

I thought about the 330Ci, nice but does not look sporty.

She is not after the fastest 2 +2 and too be honest she would not know the difference in handling between my MY03 and a mini, as long as it goes round corners without too much roll she would be happy, thats why the TT is still in the picture.

Even thought about the Crossfire.

Which of the four cars offers the most room in the back?

Mark

NotoriousREV

350Z is a 2 seater (not even 2+2) so forget that, TT's are Golf's in drag so forget that, looks like RX8 is the only one left out of your choice of those 3.

Dark Blue Mark

Cooper S?!

MB

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

Mini Cooper S

Erhhhhhhhhh - no thought it had to be sporty - these are just go carts on wheels without any real power........... horrible girly cars

Looks likes its the RX8 as a logical choice if she doesnt want the Scoob.......as these have the most room

You could look at an Evo 8 - but if she thinks Scoobs should be driven by youngsters then she'll defo think the Evo8 is kevboy racerish........... RX8 is more sophisticated - it doesnt half burn fuel though..........

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

You could look at something like an Integra Type R also - far superior to the Honda type r (I owned the Honda...... a bit noisy for motorway driving)

Dark Blue Mark

Would a woman choose an ITR or a Cooper S? Hmmm, let me think

What do you mean the ITR is more superior to a Honda type R

MB

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

VX Monaro? Proper size. BIG engine.

If you want some more poke, go for the VXR version....

Fangoria

iTrader: (1)

DBM

Women would chose the mini-cooper over an Integra

BTW I'm talking about the new Integra (the old one is no contest as its in a far superior league to the HTR)

The ITR costs about £23k and has circa 30bhp more than the HTR...... has more room, more features as standard and yep you can buy the race spec from Litchfield imports for about £15k all in but its barely road legal at that price - I bought the HTR for just over £12k.............. brand new in France

mynickers

TT really is a lump of pooh, it looks nice, you can't take that away from it, it's a pretty car, but then that is why they attract such *****'s to drive them, serious waste of money. I drove a friends once, it was an utter bore to drive, ok it was quickish, it has a 1.8T engine lump, it's not gonna be slow, but the chassis was poor, the handling was uninspiring at best. It's a pure fashion accessory - leave it to the plebs. Even the sport one with the V6 or whatever is suppose to be ****e. If however, you can get a works DTM - then go for it, I like those

350z and RX8 on par in my view, slightly different beasts that do the same job, my personal opinion for your needs would be the RX8. Very good price, well made, good performa, space, and apparently fuel effiecient. Maybe doesnt have the poke or the turbo kick you're used to, but it's really not a slow car and it's well made, and well designed. Both RWD, both good chassis both got good interiors so nice to live with. I would say RX8 followed very closely by 350z.

Does the RX8 have traction controll, the 350z does, is your misses a good driver, I personally wouldn't give the keys to a powerful RWD car to a women without traction control but then I am an openly chauvinistic pig when it comes to women and cars

Someone mentioned S2000 - fantastic car, don't think it will be right for your needs. THey're not the easiest car to drive on account of VTEC being at 6k miles for road use, I doubt she'd get much out of it. THey've very pokey if you keep them on the boil, but VTEC's make a racket on full chat constantly! 350z and RX8 both a bit more civilised and benefit from power throgh the rev range not just in the top band.

Don't bother with a Beemer, the only decent beemer is the M3 and M3CSL in my view, and thy're a bit pricey!

If it's serious bang for your buck, as much as I HATE to recomend Vauxhall's, the VX220 Turbo as mentioned is really quite a capable car, and the VXR getting good write up's, but I am sure your women wants the creature comforts, not a stripped out bumpy 'R' anything! But the turbo will give the S2000, Z4 and Boxster S a run for their money..

Gallardo

Golf R32!

cheddar bob

How about considering a sporty saloon if your looking for some practicality and space/able to seat 4 adults:
Legacy B4
Mondeo ST220
AMD Octavia vRS (could put a VW badge on if she doesn't like the idea of a Skoda )
Audi S4 - 2.7 V6 Bi-Turbo

RX-8 - will need lots of oil reguarly and you will have to rev it hard to get the most out of the engine, then you'll be lucky to see mpg figures in the 20's

Audi TT & Mini Cooper S technically have 4 seats but really the rears were only designed for dwarfs, midgets & small children

kenco

I have had a High Power RX8 since November 2003, as an all round package the car is hard to beat!

Very practical as well as great handling (with excellent stability/traction control), quicker than it feels due to the engine being so smooth.

I average 20mpg with a heavy right foot, oil needs checking topping up approx. every 500 miles.

It's the only one of the 3 cars you mentioned that has 4 seats.

I bet if you test drive one you'll buy one! (as long as you don't want turbo-like thrust).

Dark Blue Mark

Fang, still dont know what an HTR is

As far as I know, the one I own is an Integra Type R DC2 and the new one is an Integra Type R DC5

MB

Emms

Go with the RX8...the Audi is 'for men who like other men'. The RX8 is more fun to drive and more involving, the rear seats are comfy and you have reasonable room (tho because the side windows are small and set forward it is a bit gloomy in the back). The Rx8 also looks better in the flesh (and black imho). The 350Z I drove and found a bit 'heavy' for me, hard to describe but felt like more of a tourer, engine sounded flat, but well made, and did still handle well. As someone else has said I would rather go for a Golf R32 than the TT.

Wild Mark

Too big and too much money.

Wild Mark

She does not like the looks, has to look very sporty.

pbee

Audi A3 3.2 s-line, might be a bit pricey though. New chassis and suspension setup (from the focus people they nicked from ford), makes this a very very good car to drive much better than a TT.

good brakes, classy interieor and doesnt have the negative image that a TT does and good residuals.



im no fan of the rx-8, the maintenance and high revving driving style do not suit women imho. And with the amount that of gone bang in the US that will eventually hurt residuals over here, I certainly wouldnt entertain one outside the 3 year warranty period, which again will hurt residuals

as said before the 350z is a 2 seater.

the new alfa gt with the v6 is a peach, the build quality is very good now much better than their image tarnishes them with, but you will get hit hard on depreciation if you keep it for a while, short term with the coupe you may get away with it as there is a waiting list, and once people start seeing them on the road they will want one.



something you may not of thought of, Must be one of the ultimate sporty wifes cars. (in this price range :-) ) Not driven one but the c230 kompressor with the evo pack should fit the bill. Will hold its value well too. She might not be up for a total sports car and this could be a good comprimise.



does it have to be new ? could you ditch the kids alltogether and get her a boxster ?

QuattroMNC

A3 is a good choice - DSG box is very impressive it's almost like it runs without changing gears.

Also consider older S3 - look better

farmerwrx

had a test drive of a 350z on saturday really nice to drive with that v6,had the triptronic gearbox in it needless to say we were impressed we ordered one in sunburst.got to wait for it to come from japan tho. (8 weeks)ish

scooby_si

vive la rotary you knbow it makes sense....
Si