Fast estate cars for small money.

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate Pete M, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

Hmm, I've been offered a '93 Vento VR6 and some cash for the Golf.

Would it be easier to get a swap on a Vento VR6 with no history than a Golf GTi with FSH.. this is the question..

No, IMO.

Definately not. Cam chains are the weak spot on the VR6 and will fail without warning at around 100-120k, less if not had clean oil, and its an engine out job and at least £900 to replace them, usually alot more.

Tim..

Oh, come on, there is only one car that fits the bill. It also has the benefit of out-handling a hot hatch.

You want a Passat, you do. ;-)

Okay seriously now - the Passat isn't a nice machine - I'd go with Elder and suggest a Saab 9000 2.3T, primarily because they're tough, vast inside, cheap to buy and comfortable. The more power the machine, the more economical, so either get it chipped ;-) or go for the Aero. Or both...

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There are minters out there for not a lot of cash, and ex-cop cars virtually free.

It'll cruise all day at 120+ (and it /will/ hit a genuine 150) and takes no time at all to regain speed.

It's mid-range torque is phenominal - the advert at the time made a lot of its 50-70 speed, which was quicker than a Ferrari of the time (can't remember which one) and the contemporary 911.

With the rear seats down, you could play a game of footie in the back.

It goes unnoticed on the motorway.

Mine never missed a beat, despite being mod'ed to pretty much the maximum output allowed by the standard turbo.

Nuff said.

Of course if gas-guzzling isn't an issue, then the Exploder is fast(ish), has a load area larger than a T5, seats as comfortable as the Rangie and they cost pennies. Also fairly reliable.

E55AMG - but not for a grand...

Spend some more and get an E300TD estate - cheap fuel on them conti runs.

I would go for the Subaru, not the best looker but a real performer in a=20 very understated way.

However, even knowing Pete's love for diesels, if it had to be a car for=20 the UK-Tsjech-stints I would look more closely at the German diesel- breaks of BWM, Audi, Merc and ... Skoda.

I guess the Subaru @ 120 MPH will need around 25 l per 100 miles, with a=20 tank of 50 liter that's every 2 hours filling up. The diesels at that=20 speed will need 14l/100 miles and German reservoirs are bigger than=20 Japanese, so the actionradius will be =B1 4 times more important. At=20 speeds below 100 MPH semi-modern diesels seem not to consume any fuel.

Not mentioning the price: diesel is about 20% cheaper than petrol on=20 mainland Europe.

Tom De Moor

They said the same thing about SAABs as well. Completely meaningless though as most old Ferrari's are pretty slow or not at their peak for the particular comparisons they used.

T5 would probably be my choice out of that list though.

Mine was £400 with 10 months MoT, and it's pretty tidy. Only major isssue is the clutch'll need doing at some point.

That's what I like to hear

I've been reading up on the original press releases for the T5 - 221ft lb of torque from 2000-5200rpm, I'm pretty sure that's more than the SD1!!

OTOH you can't really do 120MPH for any length of time on UK roads. I certainly won't, because getting nicked doing over a 100mph is an almost certain driving ban. Obviously that'll be less relevant for Pete once he's got into Europe.

Of course, I know you all hate diesels, but a my E270 does 30mpg at 110mph, so that's 3.7 gallons/hr (give or take), 4.5 hrs between stops (80l tank),

500 miles per stint at 110mph. Expect a little worse due to the fact that you're gonna be doing 120-130 wherever possible and it makes a nice stop every 3-4 hrs and 4-500 miles. And of course being diesel it's cheaper over there.

That may be the case, though I went recently from Edinburgh down to London (M1) rather more swiftly but that was at night. Good thoughts of driving normal went out of the window once I got on the M1 ;-)

The problem persists however all big (LPG)-barges need a lot of fuel, they even need more fuel when constantely accelerating and braking than steady state at topspeed. That for me is one of the main reasons why big-engined petrol cars are not for long distances, there one needs a big turbo-diesel-motor. A typical ambassadors cars is a big engined petrol tank: most have stupidily low mileage. There are several Rolls and Bentleys in Brussels, over 20 year old with less than 50 k km on the clock. Strangely: the new Bentley's drive a lot more.

For Pete and his Europ-crossing there are 2 more things to concider: only Germany has no speed limit. If Pete gets nicked, his driving licence will be safed but each time his wallet will lighten around 500-

1000 UKP.

Secondly diesel is about 25% cheaper than petrol. LPG is not so commonly available, there are different nozzles and where the is LPG available on the highway, the price is at its maximum.

Tom De Moor

I am with you, Tim. Your figures match.

TDM

It's why I went diesel - the S60 was smaller, also 180bhp (when I bought it...ahem...) and did 20mpg at 100mph, with a 65l tank. so 2.5 hrs between stops. Worse than that was the spacewagon, 18mpg at 100mph and a 45l tank...

I'd love something with a nice big petrol V8 or V12 but reality bites.

ABout the best diesel estate for long distance cruising in Europe is the Avensis D4D. It's as ugly as sin, very comfortable to be in, very frugal on diesel and it can do the trip from London to Pescara in Italy without refuelling.

Although it's not terribly fast, it has the advantage that it needs fewer stops at the pump. Hence when I drove a hired one across to Italy I made the journey faster than a friend driving an E320 because he needed to stop three times to refill.

I was surprised at how good the ML270CDi was the other day coming back from the south coast. Cruise rivetted to 75 and let it get on with it. Not quick but as long as I didn't slow down for anything it did the job ok. I'll have to try an ML500.

They're supposed to have improved since the first models. I tried one of the very early ones and fell about laughing, it was about as "prestigious and well built" as the Korean rubbish.

This was an '03, perceived trim quality was still s**te, the seat adjustment cables had broken "They all do that, Sir", but was a nice enough thing to actually drive.

As if the money had gone on mechanicals instead of STD and Car Park Interview Kudos points.