Car with a bit of difference

mind you i hate french s*it wagons so maybe worth waiting for a less biased opinion ;)

Ive eventually sold my frog, but now have somthing Japanese, and personally, I think its the only way to go, despite loosing the war, they know what there doing when it comes to performance cars ;)

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.star.co.uk, Steve decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

I can't stand Jap cars. Soulless, boring, unremittingly grey inside and never much fun to drive.

Before the uninformed of you lot start, I've driven Imprezas, 3000GTOs, Skylines, MR2s [1] etc and all they ever did was reinforce my opinion that Jap cars are nothing special at all. Reliable, but boring as hell.

I like em. But the V6 is the only one with any go, and at 21 insurance would be excessive. The 2.2 diesel is supposed to be surprisingly good, and chippable, but they're quite pricy still. Of course, you might be on an unlimited budget, so this might be irrelevent :)

not really, was thinking of getting the 2.0.. cant afford the v6, and dont really fancy the 2.2 diesel. The way i wanted to go was, get it, and add a turbo to it, never seen it done to one so could be a challenge. Just dont wanna get the piss taken out of me for having that car in the first place ;)

Well thats a mad idea, cos it will cost a bomb, won't have the 4 pot Brembo's etc of the V6, and will probly cost more to insure, and not be any quicker than the V6 :)

hehe, yea true.. In an honest world, i doubt i'd be able to afford to have a turbo on it, can only just afford the insurance as a 2.0.. Ive also been looking at the astra coupes, but im not sure if they look as nice as the 406 does

They don't :) And ask PeteM about FWD Vauxhalls.

First off, care you not what other people think, surely? Buy it for your own reasons not to please others...

If you get the 2.0, you'll forever wish you'd bought the V6, or the 2.2 HDI. And if you forget the above from time to time, we'd be here to remind you.

The diesel is marginally quicker at the top end and for almost all drivers, just as quick in the 0 - 62 dash. And uses stacks less fuel. And can be chipped to be much quicker than the 2.0 petrol.

No, but they're arguably a better drive, and the 2.2 is a hoot...

The mark one MR2 is a superb piece of kit.

Just wish I could do a back to back with a 1990s Lotus Elan for comparison purposes /cough/ you appreciate...

agreed, chip a diesel and you'll get bags of torque and good fuel eco. just doesn't sound as good as a petrol engine :)

That 2.0 doesn't sound good, heh. It's just another banal modern engine... :-/ At least the 2.2 HDI has the turbocharger... :)

saw a 406 diesel at the jap meet at bluewater which had a dump valve, very amusing :)

Grey? Pah, mines black and light beige, and suits the car very well!

Glad to hear it :)

dont_buy_vauxhall

he'll struggle to insure one IMO.

I'd go with the 2.2 DIEsel TBH.

How much are you looking at spending? Get a Toyota Celica or something similar... for a 21 year old (I'm 22) the Pug *is* too 'old-man' and boring.

Japanese is the only way to go at the moment...