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Economy vs performance


njc110381
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I'm at a bit of a loss - the mrs wants something a litle more economical but I still want it to shift a bit when needed. At the moment we have a Golf V6 4Motion, 2.8, 200ish bhp....

 

I just looked at a GT Tdi - 130bhp? How's that ever going to be quick? I thought by the name it would be reasonable. Is this the bottom of the range version or am I missing something?

 

I want an Audi S4 - apparently the mpg on that is better than our golf? :D

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Forget the BHP figures and look at the Torque! I have a 150BHP CTDI and it shifts (but at lower revs) chassis make a huge differenc emine is vauxhall, mate has same engine and box in an alfa GT much quicker on the road (eats front tyres tho!)

 

The new ones are 180 BHP out a 2.0l CDTI unchipped..... :good:

 

Have a look at the Alfa brera JTD! http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/66305/alfa_romeo_brera.html 200BHP and 400 Nm of torque! 2WD there is teh Q4 but thats 3.2 V^ only :oops:

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Would definitely look at the fast diesels, i wont go back to a petrol car now for day to day use as cant justify it. What about the skoda VRS octavia they move. Or look around and see what can be chipped up to a quick motor getting 200bhp out of a 2.0 diesel is not difficult with the correct remap.

 

Alternatively a well under rated car in my opinion is the 3.0 petrol BMW 1 series hatchback the 130 i think its called, pretty economical when you want it to be but still has proper get up and go when you plant it, and its rear wheel drive :)

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a basic astra CDTI http://www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk/tuning/vauxhall/astra/h-cdti-150-power.shtml

 

PErsonally I would go for the ALfa GT JTD mates is lovely to drive big boot space for 4 proper grand tourer get the Q2 model and have it chipped!

 

mmmm http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3391682.htm :yes: :yes: :yes:

Oooh! http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3392240.htm :good:

Edited by HDAV
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I have the 130 GT Tdi and it's a good compromise between performance and economy, even with me driving it returns 50mpg all day long. I would look at the the 150 though from what I gather they go better (obviously) and are about the same ecomony wise. Theer is lots to go wrong on Golf's i would have a good look through the forums before buying one.

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A ha! But you can go down to 17" wheels in the winter and it's ok with your insurance as long as you tell them! But the car doesn't handle as well as when it's on the 18" standard wheels.

 

If you buy Bridgestone potenza run flats they are much better value and as good a tyre as the Michelin pilot sports that come on it as standard.

Edited by gixer1
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Whats your budget should be the first question

 

:shaun:

 

 

agreed - also important is how much mileage you actually do and what sort of driving you need the car for.

If the car is only for goimng to the supermarket once a week and pimping down Southend sea front on a saturday night your requirements are a lot different to if you spend 3 hours commuting in the car each day.

 

As a high mileage driver the spiraling fuel costs combined with the abundance of speed camera's and Traffic Filth on the road made me trade in my jag (18-24mpg)about 2 years ago.

 

Admittedly i went the whole hog and traded down to a crappy french brick with only 100 horsies. a tank of fuel now lasts two weeks where it used to last 5 days. Due to the high torque of a diesel the only time i moan about performance is when forced to scrub off speed on the motorway, knowing it will take time to get back to speed.

 

A friend has a 150hp diesel golf and if you dont need much space in a car I would argue that this gives as much performance as you can safely use in this country while returning a cracking mpg.... and it wont matter that all your friends will think you mine marmite for driving a golf because you drive one already :lol: !

Edited by Canis
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I have a Seat Altea FR 170 TDI

 

Which is basically a VW.

 

does mid 50s on a run, and a nice bit of power when needed

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201140419418927/sort/priceasc/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/model/altea/make/seat/page/1/postcode/ne630bt/radius/1500/keywords/fr?logcode=p (not mine but the same)

 

170BHP/258Torques

 

:shaun:

Edited by shaun4860
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I had a Vectra C V6 diesel estate that was chipped, if I remember right it was running at 226bhp with 365ft/lb of torque....it was effortlessly fast and returned easily over 40mpg on average (very reliable too). Not everyone's cup of tea are vectra's but I still miss what was a great car and that lovely muted growl...everyone who drove it was seriously impressed with it. In fact I think it had the legs on my 3 series 3.0D BMW I had for a while. My neice drives a 2.4td Alfa which she loves, runs it on bio fuel and has a very cheap to run car with enough performance/character.

 

Nothing like a big diesel engine, especially that V6 Isuzu lump which is used by a few mfrs :good:

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The 330d is a stonking engine without any need to chip it though, 230hp, and 370ft-lb or 500nm ...which is more torque than an M3 by a considerable amount, and it'll still give you 40 odd mpg.... The bad bit is you will struggle to find a car that is worse in the snow! (although I'm hoping these magical tyres will help this year :/)

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The 330d is a stonking engine without any need to chip it though, 230hp, and 370ft-lb or 500nm ...which is more torque than an M3 by a considerable amount, and it'll still give you 40 odd mpg.... The bad bit is you will struggle to find a car that is worse in the snow! (although I'm hoping these magical tyres will help this year :/)

 

 

Agree with that, truly awful they are irrespective of tyres....rear wheel drive and snow just don't mix. My 330d had a very harsh ride too and that along with the lack of boot space was the reason I got shot of it. Nice engine/build but **** awful ride quality, especially on those horrid run flat tyres!

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Agree with that, truly awful they are irrespective of tyres....rear wheel drive and snow just don't mix. My 330d had a very harsh ride too and that along with the lack of boot space was the reason I got shot of it. Nice engine/build but **** awful ride quality, especially on those horrid run flat tyres!

 

The ride in mine is great and the boot space is fine but maybe that's cause I bought the old mans touring version....

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My Discovery diesel will go anywhere at anytime and do 80mph on a motorway in comfort all day long. That is as fast as the law allows us to go. Diesel, auto with cruise, point, switch cruise on and steer. It takes all manor of shooting stuff and pulls big trailers when needed to.

 

Get caught over 100mph and its a ban, could you live with that, no licence, no car, then high cost insurance for years as you have been banned. I used to live at 125mph all the while but when camera traps came along I realised that sooner or later I would be banned so I steadied up and switched from very fast Ford Sierra's 4x4s to Discoveries. Go batting down the motorway at 140 ish, someone pulls out in front of you doing 100mph, they rarely look behind as doing a ton makes him think that no one will be coming down on him from behind, wrong,!!. Saw a Renualt 19 Turbo driver one night that was doing over 130 ( I was following at a similar pace a few hundred yards behind using him as a Police sweeper) ) **** himself when that happened to him late one night. He simply had nowhere to go, luckily he managed to avoid a pile up but god knows how, frightened me I can tell you.

 

Talking of snow most of the cars mentioned above are useless in it, last winter the car park inMilton Keynes shopping center was littered with cars that simply could not get up the out ramps. It goes without saying that Landrovers come equipped with sensible tyres.

 

 

 

A

Edited by Alycidon
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My Discovery diesel will go anywhere at anytime and do 80mph on a motorway in comfort all day long. That is as fast as the law allows us to go.

 

No it's 70 mph

 

I used to live at 125mph all the while but when camera traps came along I realised that sooner or later I would be banned so I steadied up and switched from very fast Ford Sierra's 4x4s to Discoveries. Go batting down the motorway at 140 ish, someone pulls out in front of you doing 100mph, they rarely look behind as doing a ton makes him think that no one will be coming down on him from behind, wrong,!!. tyres.

 

Insane behaviour. I, on occassion in my younger days, have done up to 100 mph but when can it ever be ok to do double the speed limit, it's no wonder people don't expect it. Happy for people doing that kind of speed to be locked up.

 

I'm glad you've got a Discovery and decided to calm down,

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Got the Mrs a BMW 330D, as been said goes really well and the mpg is mid to hi 40s, the ride leaves a bit to be desired, especially on the B roads where i live. The OP said an Audi S4 will have better fuel economy than his V6 golf, i would suggest you look into that before buying one, my mate has a chipped up one, he gets around 8-9mpg if he abuses it!!

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