How fast...is fast???

SouperComputer

aye, the robin hoods offer excellent value for money. I think the only way get insured is thruogh a Kit car club though, possibly with limited milage.

Im working off dated info though.

CorporalCarrot

Gatster

I currently drive an E46 M3 having previously owned a E46 318ci. I know the 328 is 40 more horses than the 318, but frankly there is no comparison. Get a good test drive (as i did) in the M3 and you will want it, if you have any kind of petrol in your soul.

I also test drove the wrx sti etc before the M3 but they also left me cold, the styling I couldn't get over and the lumpy power delivery is not as useable in everyday (its only over 3000 rpm the scoobs really start to deliver).

the M3 on the other hand....well all I can say is that even now 4 months after buying it, it still gives me thrills. The sound of the straight 6 engine is just immense, the way it screams all the way to 8000 rpm. Floor it at around 4000-5000 rpm and its like sex. Even if its just on nice deserted back roads or the odd "incoming missile" on a motorway slip road. The handling and grip is also fantastic. But it ticks all the other boxes also. It can be a comfortable cruiser, takes the shopping and two sets of golf clubs. Plus its the last properly resolved BMW design.

Oh and don't mind all those who say, "ooh you can't really use it" etc etc. In my experience its generally people who simply can't afford them who come out with ****e like that. By that rationale we should all be driving around in 1 litre micras and glorious cars like ferraris would not exist.

So if you can afford it (and I mean truly afford it with money to spare for eventualities and higher running costs), get yourself a PROPER test drive and go for it.

C

TempestSabre

I think it depends on what you driving is. I used to do a 50 commute every day across the mountains in winter. Now I'm doing a 7 mile commute though the city center. Completely different type of driving, and requires a different car. Incidentally both journeys take me roughly the same time. :eek:

I think a lot of people feel finding the limits of a small car is more accessible, than finding the limits of a 150mph car. But there are intrinsic pleasures from owning and driving a really nice car, even if you are just trundling around. I think the comments about not having somewhere to use them, comes from the idea of rhe sports GT's, which are really designed for going from UK down to the south of France/europe. Or just trans europe. But really those days are gone. Now it about discovering quiet and challenging roads, and enjoying them. That doesn't always mean driving flat out though. In Ireland we have really poor road surfaces, so on a car with low ground clearance, hitting a pot hole or a stone, and ripping off your sump, really isn't all that fun.

kevmac

Maybe it's the time of night that I am reading this but this thread has to be one of the most balanced threads on this board for ages.

Got myself a Subaru Legacy Spec B and have been trying to get my head around the NA engine delivery after many years driving a turbo car.

Keeping the engine peaky works but it is so hard to change my driving pattern.

ambro25

What about a 'toy' and a bike? (I think you've suggested that in-thread). I used to do a 6- to 7-mile commute in Dublin center in a reasonably nice & fast car (1,8i MX-5), but in the end I went for a scooter.

I've barely put 10 miles on the car for the last 2 months or so ('98 and yet to break 45kmiles ), but those miles have been fun to say the least: I've re-discovered the joy of owning & sometimes playing with a RWD nimble sportscar, from ownership and use that had become 'stale' through mostly ever using in grid-locked Dublin...

I find the balance to be nigh-on perfect, tbh. Not likely to take the scooter for anything else than the commute, so in the car and ready to rock'n'roll whenever I'm out-and-about out of commute hours

So, that may overcome your parking limitations, side along nicely with your budget(s), not to mention you can forget about tailbacks in the center

Oh and BTW: I did comment about possible use, and in respect fo further comments in-thread (i) could afford a much nicer set of wheels if I so desired (currently MX-5, 2.0 Sport Impreza and the scooter, thinking of binning the current Impreza for a WRX - 'tis family motor ), (ii) merely asked as the OP hinted at regularly hitting ungodly speeds and -whilst I'm not going to berate anyone for a quick 140 mph on the M50 in the dead of the night- one has to be responsible at most other times...:)

CorporalCarrot

Ambro

I hope you didnt take my post badly.

I was not for a second advocating being irresponsible in the car......I think even in this day and age its still possible to enjoy a nice car without going mental. In fact, even though I have more overtaking power than most, I still find myself getting overtaken by small engined cars on roads where I would deem it too much of a risk to execute a manoever.

I think tempest said it best that there are intrinsic pleasures to owning and driving a really nice car even if you are just trundling around.

C

ambro25

Nah - just get testy real quick these rainy cold days, comes with age...you'll see

On balance, I get more pleasure than grief for owning something nicer than a Punto/Focus/Vectra, and I'd expect any one else to as well.

But it can be testing at times, and the utter worst is totally unprovoked aggro' (verbal, gestures, bumper-riding and the like) from someone clearly jealous. Happens all the time to anyone in anything remotely fancy, I'm certain, as I have now unilaterally decided that begrudgery is endemic in Dublin

So, in that respect - helps to have the extra ooomph...sorry...'fastness' (;) @ OP), to leave such ignoramus coughing on dust and fumes...