Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

RX8 was incredible fun to drive. Silly silly fun and actually practical.

Maximum 17mpg however.

Mine cost £600 before engine blew up. Worth every penny

330/335i seems like the sensible choice on balance. Idk what fuel economy is like, but I'd guess in 6th on the motorway it'll be alright. Then you can have fun and thrash is as and when you feel.

Or given the time of year what about a 328i convertible?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144956537724?

If your new commute will continue to be into London, maybe consider the daily £12.50 ULEZ fee from August, to rule out many pre-2006 petrol engined cars.

N53 330i sees 38mpg on an exceptionally smooth motorway run, 36ish if you boot it on the slips. Got 23mpg out of my last tank tho, too many local trips in the lanes and round the local safari park 🙄 there’s a tidy looking 335 in Bristol that’s been in my autotrader saved forever and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.

Oldy spots from the weekend. Bristol 400


Lovely Elan SE


Excellent condition Volvo Amazon


And something to carry the bikes.

On the way home this afternoon into that persistent north east headwind, I was passed by a blue E-type on an 'M' plate.
Always associate the E-type with the '60s.
Had no idea they were available for sale all the way upto 1974:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type

Thanks very much all! I'd be claiming mileage for any work related stuff and for anything London based I'd probably keep getting the train in as I do currently, so it does seem like there's an opportunity for something a little bit silly. Found myself looking at high mileage SLK 350s this afternoon, although that 328i also looks like rather good fun. It'll be a few weeks until I have the money sorted, but hopefully unless we have a sudden upturn in temperatures prices won't have jumped too much on convertible stuff.

seen the Chevrolet parked outside a huge victorian house on Dulwich wood avenue yesterday, the house has been under renovation for ages and previously seen a rat rod rusty slammed pick up outside before, owner or developer is obviously a pickup fan.

Same as my 911

Don't discount the Z4 idea, mine is 16 years old, but was a very well maintained example when I bought it 5 years ago (it still is). It has cost less than £1k in fings wot went rong in that time, is a hoot to drive, ULEZ compliant and I doubt I have lost a penny in value.

Tooled up.

Wonder what it would do at 2000m up over mountain passes, hopefully more.
The Subaru makes up for its fuel drinking with its total lack of maintenance needs and reliability.

Think I need help, I really want this .

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That’s ace😎

If it was an estate then we'd be in trouble.

It looks a bit will smoth

Waiting for the photographer to show up..

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I drove the turbo-diesel estate version of this quite a lot when it was new, the thing that stuck in my mind was that it accelerated harder under partial throttle pedal requests than at WOT.

Quite confusing at first before you got used to it.

Nice pic

I’ve been awol for a bit due to a lack of cycling and mainly enjoying cars. Alas;

Wrote off my 6 month owned M140i - had somebody pull out in front of me on a derestricted road and didn’t have anywhere to go except the clear lane.. great success.. no, the rear then rotated on me as I went past them and I managed to gracefully crash around the offending party into a wall. They then drove off. Sigh.

Now on the lookout for another reasonably quick car which won’t be RWD owing to the above. I’ve convinced myself the above wouldn’t have happened with AWD.
Frustrating situ as I spent a few months last year finding a M140i which had not been crashed or modified, now I understand why that was such a task.

My list, with comments;
S3 - classic, but hard to find with desired options. Always something missing. Sucker for saloon version.
Golf R - not a s3
A35 - engine a bit naff and tends to shit itself?
M135i - missing 2 cylinders vs incumbent but gains 2 extra drive wheels.
335d - scratch the fake cop itch
V60 Polestar 2.0 - lots of nice kit - ohlins shocks, brembo brakes - but a step back into ‘old’ infotainment I.e no CarPlay.
S60 T8 - wildcard, ticks the boxes but isn’t a traditional choice. Non mechanical 4wd I.e. electric motor rear, engine front.

Probably up to £30k. What’s missing?
Boxes: AWD, sub 5 seconds 60, has at least 4 seats (2 for kids) & relatively compact due to parking constraints. B roads are where this car will in large be used.

C63 and some skid pan time?

I have learnt in the last week I have no desire for skids and would rather understeer my way through life here on in.

I’ve convinced myself the above wouldn’t have happened with AWD.

It sounds much more likely to me that your accident was oversteer caused by turning under braking or when lifted off rather than because you accelerated so hard you broke traction (also defeating the traction control if it was on) so the driven wheels are likely not a factor in the crash. Indeed a front- or 4-wheel-drive car with a more front-biased weight distribution may have been more likely to have the same accident.

Sometimes crashes can’t be avoided.

Either way the proper answer is only slightly different; 997 2S or 997 4S.