OT FOAK: Q cars

I know there are a few 4 wheel petrol heads lurking around these parts
so I though I might page the FOAK.

The Buzby battlebus is loosing the fight against oxidisation and is
beginning to resemble a loose collection of bits travelling roughly in
the same direction.

I really fancy a bit of a hooligan wagon - however I want something
discreet.

The Passat W8 seems to fit the bill - I'm looking at a budget of around
£5 to £6k which would appear feasable.

Anyone here had one? Any particular gotchas?

 

I seem to recall chatting to a FOAF a while back, and he'd just bought
his second (or third?) W8. Loved 'em to bits.

However, so did the scrotes. Hence the multiple purchases.

 

It never sold well, although by all accounts was a pretty decent car.
Visually it was almost undistinguishable from lesser models, so maybe
the somewhat dour image put potential buyers off, along with the
uninspiring drive and handling.

The later (2008-on) R36 is another animal altogether. Gives me big
grins almost every time I drive it - really much more sporty, with
more power to start off with but uprated chassis, brakes, steering
etc.

No, but read up on them a bit. Probably only the same write-ups you've
read yourself though.

Heavy and thirsty. Dull. Really, really dull. Apparently.

 

That's what attracts

That doesn't

 

How about a Forester with the engine upgraded to Scooby WRC spec.
Bale of hay and sheep optional for added stealth.

 

But don't take my word for it. Never actually driven one, just looked
at the reviews. IMO all the B5 models just look so boring, which was
why I'd never even considered a Passat until I'd ruled out the Volvos,
Scoobies, Audis et al I'd been looking at and stumbled across the new
(2005-) Passat almost by chance.

Then once I saw the R36, the rest of the decision was made for me

 

Better off with a stock legacy, I'd have thought. Timo used to run[1]
some Jap grey import flat-six turbo'd Legacy which was quite impressive.

[1] In the loosest possible Timo-esque sense of the word. Even my cloth
ears noticed something was amiss with the gearbox.

 

That may be the one Timo had.

 

Well I seemed to have spunked a deposit on a newish Saab Aero 2.8T
Cabriolet.

It all started as needing a cheap economical automatic for the summer,
something I can drive with the Mong leg, the C2S being not useful in
this respect. Also something to keep miles down on said toy. Then I
thought it might as well be a Cab for the summer as biking will be
limited. Then I realised that anything with less than 200bhp (250 in
this case) would bore the shit out of me. Then I acknowleged that I
don't really GAF whether is does 25 or 30 mpg as I won't do more than
20k p/a. And finally, the realisation that I'm far too vain to be seen
in some POS like a Mariva.

I will give it a kicking tomorrow to confirm the reports that scuttle
shake was sent packing with the addition of an internal subframe and
that the FWD traction control can cope.

I feel a trans European summer road trip coming on.

 

Hog, do I scratch you from the French Run? Really need to know.

 

And can I borrow the ST4S for the summer? *grin*

--
TD
1991 VFR400R NC30 (black and red)
1993 Eunos Roadster (supercharged)
Could want: something more comfy, sprots or not
Missing: SOB, Unreliable Italian exotica, Lardy tourer

 

And there's more IT threads than car threads!

Oh.

 

Ace wrote:

Shocking on fuel by all accounts, even by 'shocking on fuel' standards.

 

http://www.dieselmotorfiets.nl/

HTHJ

Paul.

 

As were the repair bills.

 

Yeah, but that's a constant with Timo. SOP, really.

 

<bows to crowd>

 

I dunno, quoted figures were 21.6mpg combined. So not _that_ bad,
although compared with nearly 26.9 for the much more powerful R36 it's
quite poor.

For the record, mine is averaging 10.2 l/100k, err, just under 28mpg,
since new. That includes a lot of motorway work where I normally
cruise at around 140-150kph. An enthusiastic single trip around
mountain roads pushes consumption up towards 15l/100k (around 19mpg),
but this takes quite some doing, like holding in lower gears all the
time (or using 'S'-mode auto-change) and heavy acceleration and
braking for no actual gain, IYSWIM.

The last 3.6l car I had was a 1986 XJS, which would just about average
17mpg, with a best, over one particular long 70mph motorway trip, of
24mpg. And it only made 240bhp, IIRC, compared with 300 for the
Passat.

 

Even by his standards, this one soaked up huge amounts of dosh though IIRC.

 

<Considers recent Legacy purchase thoughtfully>