Cool car with street cred

I have a 206 XSi and I love it :-) It's never let me down, it's good on fuel, it's nippyish (only the 110bhp 1.6 16v so it doesn't exactly set the world alight...). And you can put 18s straight on ;-) They handle quite well, and the GTi feels quicker than the specs would suggest as it's quite torquey (only 140~bhp from the 2.0 16v - 60 in just under 8 seconds according to Evo mags tests), and gives good power all through the range. As a comparison, a mate just got a Fiesta ST having had a 206 GTi and he says the GTi did feel quicker (the Fiesta ST has 150bhp) although the Fiesta does have sublime handling. Also, 206 GTi as standard is very well specced - half leather/alcantara, climate control etc etc. Get one of them :-D

The only body mods usually seen on 206s, IME, are the dealer fit accessories, the SP kit (mesh grills, subtle arches), as they look *far* better than any of the aftermarket crap available.

LOL, coming from someone who thinks a mk3 Golf and a Boring has street cred. Tee he he, you can keep your rain sensitive wipers!

Right you've got £4k to spend, so if I was you I'd go for one of: MR2 mk2 Turbo MR2 mk1 Supercharger Rover SD1 V8, with plenty of money left for fuel Manta V8 conversion (settle for an XE conversion though) Honda Integra Type R Xantia Activa (2.0T or v6) MX5 mk1 1.8 Merc 190 Cosworth Impreza WRX Nissan 200SX Nissan Skyline single turbo (GTS?) And if you like the mk3 Golf, at least go for the Corrado instead - far better looking!

Bugatti Veyron.

Fraser

Nissan Pulsar GTI-r. They go like stink, are a hatch and are rare enough to be cool.

Fraser

I'm talking the peanuts end, Arthur daily XJ, early ford models and the old Coventry fodder.

That was a typo, but wasn't there a south american golf with a aircooled boxer engine for running on cane sugar alcohol.

ST205, not the earlier ST185 (both are great cars, but you will spend longer messing with a 185). If you get a 205 ask "will you change the figure 8's". Get it in writing and ask to see the old parts. Will save you the best part of a grand within 10k miles.

Mk4 and Mk5 Preludes are the little bit forgotten heroes. Especially the MK5 Motegi import.

Heavier than the Mk4 not as nimble but still better than most and more power to make up for the weight. the Mk3 Preulde looks retro and the 4WS is moderatly simple and electro mechanical. The MK4 and 5 are electronic and more expensive to fix but not bad. Plus you get the cracking VTEC motor that can produce the goods, for a lot less than a CTR or ITR, but, you can only cary amputees in the back.

If it's cool you want then sir wants a V8 Land Rover 90, insurance will be cheap as well, you should just about get one in your budget.

I ran an XJ40 for 250,000 miles. It never broke down, my wife used to regard it as the best car we had ever owned, now she thinks it's the second best, but only because the Ford has done galactic mileage without a fault.

I was pondering over a post made by Ken earlier, but this one takes the biscuit.

First prize: *THE* least educated post, by far, for a while.

:-)

woohooo top prize!!

I had an XJ12 that I ended up hating so much I wanted to take it out to the bush and blow it up. Most unreliable piece of shit that I have ever owned.

Fraser

Yes, that's one of the differences between the V12 and the straight six. I would imagine that in hot climates that the V12 would boil the battery every day. Well, until they moved the battery into the boot, that is.

I think he was referring to Ronny's suggestion that Scoobies and Evos are unreliable. I did think that was a bit a wild one myself TBH. In my, admittidly quite limited real world experience, of both, they're pretty darn bombproof - and that seems to be the concensus of the rest of the world too...

What's an old foggy? If you meant "old fogies", a decent proportion of us here are in our early 20s - not having a penchant for over-lardy German repmobiles doesn't mean you don't have "good taste".

What are figure 8s?