The pre-midlife crisis all purpose car thread

[Peter Mallett]

Estates, hot or not?

[nicanary]

M5

[nicanary]

Damn, copy and paste failed again!

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Estates, hot or not?

Not when towing a caravan! Possibly hot, certainly can be "stealth" in that they look benign beside you at traffic lights and then head off at hyper-drive speeds.

[bella]

my "when i grow up" car is an audi rs-something. if those aren't seriously cool then there's something wrong with the world!

not only can you bring home your new ikea wardrobe without needing to use a bungee you can be seriously quick whilst you're doing it. totally cool.

[garcon]

The last really cool RS Avant was the C5 RS6 (same body as MagnetOn's new tractor). 4.2 twin turbo V8, 450 or so BHP. The RS3 has finally reduced the RS badge to no more than a cynical brand engineering exercise.

I'd prefer a Merc E63 AMG estate. Huge, comfortable, stupidly quick and sounds like God gargling spanners.

[bella]

Originally Posted by garcon

The last really cool RS Avant was the C5 RS6 (same body as MagnetOn's new tractor). 4.2 twin turbo V8, 450 or so BHP. The RS3 has finally reduced the RS badge to no more than a cynical brand engineering exercise.

not sure about that garc. just had a look at the maths and the rs3 has 335bhp in a car that size is absolutely nuts. on the downside it weighs 1.6tonnes... mind you technically that's just a hatchback so it's in the wrong thread

i knew someone who had that very rs6 as a tow car for his kart and trailer back in the day. awesome.

how about an alpina? i learnt to drive in one, and both my folks have them at the moment. they are older mid to late 90s ones though - has anyone had a go in a newer one?

[GORDON STREETER]

My chipped up Pug estate can out perform some of the so called performance vehicles can be used to lug stuff to the tip and even kip in it in the pub car park, and if I was younger no doubt various other things that I used to do in my "Yoof"

[garcon]

Originally Posted by bella

not sure about that garc. just had a look at the maths and the rs3 has 335bhp in a car that size is absolutely nuts. on the downside it weighs 1.6tonnes... mind you technically that's just a hatchback so it's in the wrong thread

Oh its figures are impressive indeed, and I've seen video of an RS3 destroying a C63 in a drag race, but there's so much about the RS3 that screams end of line exploitation model with few of the flourishes that (all be it subtly) separated the proper RS models from the rest. And list price is laughably high for what you get.

how about an alpina? i learnt to drive in one, and both my folks have them at the moment. they are older mid to late 90s ones though - has anyone had a go in a newer one?

Now you're talking. Latest B5 Touring is a twin turbo V8 with something like 550bhp. Even the B3 Touring (based on the 335i) is an attractive proposition. Very exclusive though, and punishing depreciation.... which does at least mean older ones are good value.

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Estates, hot or not?

There seems to be a tendency towards supercar performance here.
Do you mean "hot" as in fast, or "hot" as in public perception, i.e. cool.

Personally,I'd prefer an estate any day over a 4X4, if road conditions or towing needs were not a consideration, whatever the "image" problem.But nobody seems to buy them anymore.

[JHamilton]

I give you the CTS-V wagon, which is extremely cool. It is also the fastest production wagon in the world.

[bella]

Originally Posted by garcon

Now you're talking. Latest B5 Touring is a twin turbo V8 with something like 550bhp. Even the B3 Touring (based on the 335i) is an attractive proposition. Very exclusive though, and punishing depreciation.... which does at least mean older ones are good value.

i've always lusted over the 3 series diesel (is it called a d3, or is that too sensible?), though the styling on the new ones just rubs me the wrong way. they're just a bit too flashy, though i guess that's mostly down to the abominable design by bmw in the first place. you can't polish a turd...

on the depreciation front, my mum's b8 was about £7k with hardly any miles on the clock and in perfect nick with a huge stereo on 1995 plates. INSANE value for money. particularly whilst it's off the road and not consuming any petrol

we got the first one when the m5 first came out in the early 80s. my old man was looking at one of those but it didn't quite tick the boxes, and the dealer suggested he have a go in a b10. needless to say, he bought one immediately...

[mountainstar]

This is what I want:

http://www.stangbangers.com/Volvo_5p...Conversion.htm

However realistically "station wagons"(estates) are not really ideal.

Get a truck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=y6GkTdGc4Z4

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Estates, hot or not?

Hehe.

What next?

"City cars - one for each foot?"

Personally I think understated and unobtrusive Estates are fine. Especially with an Aero badge.

[Steven Humphrey]

We've got an ex-police Volvo estate at work that we use as a fast response vehicle. Not sure what the exact spec is (it's petrol, not diesel) but it goes like absolute stink! Very smooth & comfortable too, plus auto gearbox. We've also got a Skoda Octavia diesel estate, not quite as quick but equally practical. Both look a lot slower than they are!
Check this site out for some real bargains http://expolicecar.co.uk/default.asp

[Adam43]

I understand that on the continent estate are the cars for young people. You can get all the stuff you need in the back for your exciting life.

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I understand that on the continent estate are the cars for young people. You can get all the stuff you need in the back for your exciting life.

Including a double mattress

[dtype38]

These are very practical.... and they are one hell of a lot faster than they look (2.3ltr turbo petrol). As was (alledgedly) found out on various occasions by Vectra GSi, Porshe 911, and Escort RS drivers....

.

[bella]

that one's a pretty shocking colour though

reminds me of when volvo raced estate cars in the btcc. absolute stroke of marketing genius!

[garcon]

I vaguely remember some humourless scrutineers spoiling Rydell's fun because they didn't like the blow up dog in the back.

The 850 R was one of the first cool estates in my book. I can't think of many before then, apart from a highly modified VX490 I saw at Santa Pod once.

[nicanary]

Originally Posted by garcon

I vaguely remember some humourless scrutineers spoiling Rydell's fun because they didn't like the blow up dog in the back.

The 850 R was one of the first cool estates in my book. I can't think of many before then, apart from a highly modified VX490 I saw at Santa Pod once.

If you mean the vauxhall VX4/90, they didn't build an estate version. So that's pretty highly modified!

[garcon]

Admittedly that was entirely from a somewhat foggy memory. Was there a Victor estate? It had a 700hp V8 in it so it was pretty highly modified...

Do the Scimitar and Interceptor count as estates? I guess that depends whether we include shooting brakes.

[dtype38]

Scimitar GTE.... a Hot Hatch/Classic/Estate! Woohoo!

.

[MagnetON]

Originally Posted by bella

reminds me of when volvo raced estate cars in the btcc. absolute stroke of marketing genius!

That's only because they misread the translation and thought it was British TOWING Car Championship.

[nicanary]

Now that's what I call a "gentleman's estate"...