Car recommendation quandary...

Not Japanese and not RWD, but you've pretty much described the 156 Sportwagon.

ie. a bit smaller than you'd usually buy, reasonably decent parts supply, not too expensive to run and dirt cheap. It'll depreciate, but you'll not be paying too much for a nice one anyway.

Not really, I don't get on with Jap stuff, and there isn't much you've not listed above that's RWD, small and amusing.

Sunbeam Lotus maybe, that's got Timo reliability from the factory...

Ah yes, something that actually works most of the time is also a Good Thing.

They're *stupidly* dear for what you get, very prone to rot, (yes, even the grey imports), and would you be happy leaving it parked up at the station all day, given scrotes are generally fully aware of what it is and what it can do???

Not Jap, but what about an original Audi S2 Avant, or, if you can stomach something a bit bigger, an S4 Avant?

External wastegate as standard as well. :-D

Other than that, I dunno what to suggest - FWD isn't the devil you seem to think it is, and you'd have a much wider range of options at sensible prices if you'd consider something with that.

Oh, and if you can handle having a saloon again, what about a Merc 190E Cosworth - the later Evo, natch. :-D

I'd much rather have a Sapphire Cosworth than a 190E.

Yes, but then you, being a Ford nut, would.

The 190E is a much more reliable, solid proposition than a Cosworth... you just need to make sure you buy one that's been well looked after as the earlier ones at least, aren't massive money any more unless you buy something absolutely mint and low mileage.

Oh, and a 190E Cosworth won't attract every passing thieving f*ck like flies to a fresh pile of steaming shit, when left parked up at a station etc, all day.

snip

Subaru Legacy Kombi 3.0R: 4wd, can put near to all hot hatches to shame, a boot where you can sleep or stretch in, fuelconsumption in town is rubbish but decent on highways, refuses to break down *ever*, silk smooth engine noise which becomes a roar at a certain RPM (variabel valve lifting), excellent driveability and accelarations even when towing a trailer.

One major downside: 18 inch wheels with hard to find Yokohama's. Get the

17 inch jobbies, they make the ride so much more comfy.

Price? In Germany you can get the 3.0R up to 40% reduction from the offical new-price, I suspect that if you import from Japan (steering right for the UK) you will get similar cuts.

My collegue has the stated car, I took over his old 2000 Legacy, just to use it up... that was 4 years ago. The Subaru just refuses to die (it's an intervention vehicle, always loaded with about 300 kg of tools and definitely not driven gently). I appreciate such tenacity.

If the 3.0 H6 (245 HP) says you nothing, Subaru recently released the

150 HP Boxer diesel engine: it sips droplets of Pete M's preferred fuel and due to it's design it is close to vibration free. That engine is the sole reason why in the actual climate Subaru selles more cars than ever before.

Tom De Moor

Only because I've driven both on a pretty regular basis.

Shame the 190E isn't as quick, as comfortable, and doesn't handle as well really.

Move to somewhere less pikey. :-)

You've driven *everything* on a pretty regular basis... or so you'd think going by your posts.

He's got an MX5 for slinging around, and a 911 for when he's feeling like it's time for a particularly expensive bill.

And for once I think he'd like something fairly reliable, which Sierra Cosworths *aren't* without constant fettling.

LOL... would you like to compare crime stats on UpYourStreet before commenting any further?

Liverpool City Council English average

Population 447,000.0 -- Households 193,000.0 -- Violence against the person 27.0 16.7 Robbery offences 3.6 1.2 Theft of a motor vehicle offences 6.2 2.9 Sexual offences 1.1 0.9 Burglary dwelling offences 11.7 4.3 Theft from a vehicle offences 13.1 7.6

Canterbury City Council English average

Think I'll stay where I am if it's all the same. :-)

-- JackH

98 Honda VFR800FiW 05 Sachs Madass 03 VW Passat TDI Sport 89 Vauxhall Nova 1.3 Pearl Population 144,000.0 -- Households 58,000.0 -- Violence against the person 14.1 16.7 Robbery offences 0.6 1.2 Theft of a motor vehicle offences 2.0 2.9 Sexual offences 0.9 0.9 Burglary dwelling offences 3.7 4.3 Theft from a vehicle offences 5.9 7.6

Sig moved!

But much easier to find in decent, un-modded by some educationally retarted fanboy form..... also less chance of looking at dozens of shagged-out, rotten old sheds, ringers and damaged repaired cars.

Then there's the parts supply - ISTR reading that many Sierra Cosworth parts are now pure unobtanium, whereas Mercedes tend to keep supplies of parts for cars that are decades old.

Finally, a 190E Cosworth still looks very respectable if you ever have to use it for business, but a Sierra looks distinctly 'council'.

TBH I'd have said that, to anyone who look on old cars like that, both would look a bit 'council'.

What you want if you want cheap and respectable if you ever have to use it for business, is an E32 7-series or an early Lexus LS400. They're not in the least 'council' or 'low-rent pub landlord'.

328 E36 coupe BMW? :)

NSX :-) ?

I hate Fords, but I'd still rather have a, actually an Escort Cosworth, but they're over priced and the way you speak of crime where you all seem to have to park it'd be nicked within the first 20 seconds of being alone :) But surely a Sierra Cosworth, just a sneaky one, one of those that badges aside look pretty normal Sierra-y, or a twin-turbo 2.9 estate if one can be found.

But the same could be said for the Sierra surely? If it's been well cared for and things, it should be ok. And you have the bonus of parts being really, really cheap, and a massive owners club or ten where someone will always be able to sell you a used .

Genuine question - have you seen where Timo lives/parks? Seriously I'm just wondering, because if he lived like, here, he could park it on the road and leave it in the 'station car park' (two spaces hehe - of course in the village you'd be in easy walkin range of the station so I can't really comment on this) all day. Also, all the station car parks I've ever parked in, even when grabbing the tube into London, have had a fairly major security presence - or does that not really matter? I convinced myself the Vee would be fine for a day based on that, and it was heh - was I just mega lucky?

I agree with your AE86 comments though. A lad I know bought one of the ones, is it a Sprinter, with the special throttle bodies from the factory or something? Anyway, it looked like the one from Initial-D and the one you think of when someone says "AE86". It was white of course, and even though it had been fully undersealed and stuff, it still started to slowly rot. So because he was poor now he'd bought it, he had a place 'fix' it on the cheap. A month or so later, it was back... Then the gearbox started crunching, and there was an alarming knocking noise when manouvering at full lock after that too. I can't remember what happened, he might still have it, but it didn't seem worth it to me, he'd never drifted in his life of course, and it wasn't really very fast, especially once he had a couple of people in.

One problem with the Cosworth is that Cosworth specific parts are now deleted from the Ford parts catalogue. Which is a bit of a problem. Especially now that some bits which are almost consumables are now unobtainable.

Really? Neither would exactly scream class,

That looks easily as 'council' to me, if not worse! - but then I've never understood your crazy 'class rankings' of cars heh :-)

OOOoooooh or a Supra Turbo? One of those Subarus that is bigger than an Impreza that I've forgot the name of, ah a Legacy, they last forever don't they? Although, the fast, turbo'd ones are easily capable of single figures. In fact, they're more capable of single figures than double if you drive 'briskly' hehe :-)