Car recommendation quandary...

It's not that crime ridden down here in general... but certain cars *always* attract unwanted attention?

They're notoriously unreliable?

And they get worse if you actually have more power extracted from them.

Not a good proposition as an 'everyday car', which is what it would appear Timo wants / needs, on this occasion.

Yes. I'm probably more familiar with that area than he is. ;-)

...and get scuffs and scratches on it like the A8 has?

Which is one reason why, IIRC, he's looking at smaller stuff he can actually fit in the small space outside his house. (which is off the road).

There are cameras down here... but not that great from what I've seen.

Aye, well... I think you need more money than sense to buy one of these.

I owned a Sapphire Cosworth for two years, registration number F521 JAT. I know a few people who've had 190 Cosworths and I've done quite a lot of mileage in those as well.

I prefer the Sapphire, better seats, better ride, better performance, better gearbox, better brakes, more spacious, better equipped, better steering, better handling, better boot, more practical day to day and better on fuel than a 190E Cosworth.

The Merc does have a 'better badge' if that's important to you, and a nicer clunk when you shut the door, but the seats are terrible, it's a four door two seater when it comes to rear legroom, the half leather trim in most if hideous, the steering isn't very sharp with being a steering box instead of rack and pinion, and they're forever knackering gear lever bushes and steering idler arm bushes.

The 190E Cosworth is also chronically tacky to look at being Mercedes' worst 'styling' job in recent history. Hugely oversize body kit combined with undersized wheels and a properly nasty half leather / half nasty patterned interior being unimportant to people who can't see past badges.

I don't see a 'huge oversized bodykit'.

You only get that if you buy an Evo.

Standard 190E Cosworths are still a very understated and elegant car.

Saph and 190E don't meet the spec, they have boots which make them quite useless. He was quite clear that he needed a hatch or if worst came to worst an estate.

I don't know what Timo wants it for but he's looking for something useful. You can't just open the boot and shove a 50gall loft tank (for instance) in a Saph or 190E. I have in a 200SX, so something like that should go in a AE86 or 3 door Civics, except CRX. As I've had a MkIII Celica I know it would go in that too, it had as much load area as a MkIII Cortina estate. Can't with late Supra MkIV nor I think MkV and later Celicas, boot floor too high and roof/hatch slopes too far into car. MkIV Celica is a bit of an unknown but looked to have about same space as MkIII. Hyundai coupe is too short in ass. The choice rapidly becomes a Euro hot hatch (but excluded as except for a few 4wd most are FWD) or estate.

Trouble is without an exact specification of what the "luggage" Timo needs to haul in it is, it's hard to pinpoint what he needs. A few inches between the rear turrets could be the difference between something being useful or not. I set my standard of usefulness by DIY plumbing kit, 760mm shower tray, 6ft shower door, 3m copper pipes, that loft tank. Timo will have a completely different standard of usefulness determined by the load he wants to haul.

Another few pence worth.

Ford, Escort Cossie or 3 door Sierra. Old old skool, MkII Escort 3 door estate? Put a Duratec or something in it. Granada MkIII / Scorpio MkI 5 door?

Rover SD1. Still a good looking and very useful car but probably have lots of rot.

Admittedly the one in that pic doesn't look too bad. Probably because it's black and the photo is from an ok angle. Normally they look a lot more hideous, like this,

No Cosworth powered car should be beige.

Post corrected..

Mike P

galant VR4 twin turbo saloon or estate depending on space needs or what about a nissan stagea?

W210 E55AMG. Find one with no rust and it won't rust any more. Becoming very cheap indeed. Oh and they go like hell.

5 link rear, vs primitive trailing arm. hmmm....sierras I owned were OK but only mildly more entertaining than a cortina....and the cossy interior looks like a rep special...and the rust....

Lotus Carlton or nothing...:-)

anything over 10 years old is 'council' Maybe an S class would impress....

Saab 900 T16S takes a fridge freezer. reliable, comfy. Nice 'image' (no image??) But everyone mentions them, so I won't..;-)

oi! i love jewish racing gold....mmmmmm

Merc boys do overstate the 'cosworth' bit..even stick badges on....Cosworth co-developed the head, but only the 2.3. Just buy a standard 190e for 200 quid - no silly body kit and stick a sierra turbo lump in, best of both worlds :-)

Stick a 24v 300TD engine in with a slightly larger turbo...