Want a fast saloon - any advice?

[Chris56]

Hi all, i currently drive a 2005 Mazda6 diesel and I can't fault it: its done 88,000 miles, sips fuel and never misses a beat (touch wood).

Im looking to change it this year for a performance saloon, for less than £5k and less than 60K on the clock. I would prefer a pre-2006 model as theese are cheaper and don't carry £400 + per year in road tax. My shortlist is as follows:

Subaru Legacy 3.0R (4wd might be just out of my price range though)
Ford Mondeo ST220
BMW 330i (not my favourite, but they are rear wheel drive)
Saab 95 HOT Aero - probably the cheapest and quickest, but 250Bhp through the front wheels!!

Do any of you folks drive any of these cars? which would be your choice? are there any areas to stay clear of? are there any cars that should be on the list but aren't?

[daz]

The question is, how many miles do you do a week to justify the fuel costs. I own a BMW 530i sport (petrol), currently averaging 24mpg was doing 19mpg in the winter months.
I dont use it for communting anymore and only do around 100 miles every 3 week, but when i was communting doing around 160 miles a week, it was costing £50 a week to run, and that was before the fuel prices went silly.

[daz]

And my choice would be a BMW 330i sport, but i dont think you would get a decent low mileage one for that price tho. Followed by the moondog st220, these in petrol format are getting cheap as chips now and are probably cheaper to up keep than the unrealible diesel shat version. I wouldnt waste a good fart in the other 2 tho.

[Chris56]

Cheers for the info Daz - im not doing the high milage I used to (less than 10K a year now) so am not too concerned about the higher fuel consumption. With my last job I was commuting 300 miles a week and was costing me a fortune - even with a frugal diesel.

Looking on autotrader, there does seem to be an abundance of pre-2003 BMWs (both 330 and 530) with a low milage - they seem to be quite cheap now so might be able to bag a bargain

[daz]

No worries, dont forget tho 10000miles a year is nearly 200 miles a week. That would cost me 70-80 quid a week to run, in mine. But if thats what you want, go for it. I sold a Mondeo tdci what was doing 50 mpg for a big barge. Just cos a wanted one and couldnt stand driving a bag of shat diesel. Diesels in my eyes are for people who have given up on life and brag about how much fuel they save a year, but when it goes wrong they go all quite and realise that the petrol equivalant is actually cheaper to run in the long term.

[Robbiejuk]

The St220 is a good car. I loved mine when I had it hugely practical saloon and the engine is great. Little bit more exclusitivity than the bimmer if you ignore the ST diesels. Recaros in leather are nice to

[kinggareth]

I owned an ST220 estate for 18 months and only got rid of it cuz of the ridiculous fuel economy - other than that I would put it in my top 3 cars owned (and i've owned a few!)
It had plenty of torque and no blowers so there was always instant power. The handling was amazing for a big car, it was comfy on motorways, had plenty of room and all the kit you'd ever need (leather, auto lights, auto wipe, cruise, air con etc).

The BMW will probably be a great car, but you'll no doubt get a much lower mileage Ford for your money.

[Steve.T]

Honda accord type R?

[Chris56]

Originally Posted by Steve.T

Honda accord type R?

Bloody good car - shame that low milers are rare as hen's teeth

[Bagman]

What about an Alfa? The monster depreciation will have leveled out for a 2006 car and play right into your hands.

Every car fan should own one at one point in their lives, it's a box that needs to be ticked. You could also go a bit wildcard and get a Volvo S60.

[Chris56]

Originally Posted by Bagman

What about an Alfa? The monster depreciation will have leveled out for a 2006 car and play right into your hands.

Every car fan should own one at one point in there lives, it's a box that needs to be ticked.

Definately on my wanted list for some point in my life as it would be wrong of me to call myself a petrolhead without it!

[Churk]

What about a 2005 RS4?
dunno how much road tax will be but u know ur gonna get quality and performance plus they look nice.

[Chris56]

Originally Posted by Churk

What about a 2005 RS4?
dunno how much road tax will be but u know ur gonna get quality and performance plus they look nice.

Superb cars but way over budget!

[jamie 6.5t]

i know its not a saloon but have you thought about an old skyline like the R33GTS or even a nissan sunny or pulsar GTI there all v fast cars me personally i have an old R32GT in my garage as a project it runns and bodie work is emaculate only thing wrong is needs some new shocks dropping onto it as the old ones had collapsed ;/ its on ebay for 3500 only done 95000 miles

[beckybean66]

z-cars mini

[mattbrown]

Sierra Sapphire is where you need to go.

2wd obviously

But an awesome toy, cheapish, cheap tax, insurance not bad, fairly reliable in standardish trim.

[shanks]

Originally Posted by Steve.T

Honda accord type R?

Absolutely awesome handling car