If you have to choose between those, the Jaaaaaaag every time. I owned an S type for five years (before the finances of self-employment took over) and I loved getting into it, every single time I drove it. Then again, the RR probably feels similar in terms of loveliness. Just to throw a spanner into the works, if you're open to pure value for money, the most car it's possible to get for similar money is a VW Phaeton. Utterly astounding car, based on the same platform as the Bentley Continental and quality beyond belief. It has no value at all in terms of badge prestige but you won't find a better car. However, the joy of not having a "badge" is that second-hand prices are barmy. They are so anally designed that the air vents close for a moment when you wash the windscreen so you don't get the odour of screenwash in the car. Here's Clarkson on it. He raves, as does every single person who ever drives one. Loads of tech stuff at http://forums.vwvortex.com/forumdisplay.php?112 New, they are £52,000 - I've seen four year old ones going at auction for £11,000, and a nine year old one went last night on Ebay for £3,250. Madness. Plenty for sale for all budgets. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/volkswagen/phaeton Definitely, 100% my next car as soon as we actually have some money. So never, really. Vin
Depends what you want from a car. No doubt the Phaeton is fabulous, but to me it would be like driving a comfortable slipper. I like to feel like I'm driving, hence my obsession with grown up go-kart type cars! I think it must be the slightly-too-scared-to-have-a-bike gene.
I did the motorbike bit, got all the madness out of my system and now like boring old fart cars that are as big and as comfortable as possible. The Jaaaaag was a glory, the Phaeton will be perfect. Vin
I've had 3 suds, 2 Gtvs (4 and 6 cyl), a couple of alfasud sprint coupes, a V6 155 widebody and a 33 (brilliant car, lightweight and 135bhp so went like stink)....you could say I like Alfas . I'd like a Zagato Junior because they're beautiful little cars but I'll probably never get one as they're rare as hen's teeth, as are its big brother the 2600 sprint coupe. Photo below of one that sold from Bonhams for about £120,000 so Ill need to win the lottery fr that. Never owned a newish Alfa though although after test driving a Guilietta I may be tempted to try one next time i change. please log in to view this image Never had a toy Alfa though Saintdon, so you're one up on me.
I liked the Coupe, but enjoyed driving the Barchetta more despite it being a punto in a posh frock. Great 1.8l engine that really delivered if you revved the bollocks out of it and was a lovely little thing. Shame it only came in left hand drive though.
The Barchetta was lovely, but suffered understeer. Ok, you can overcome understeer fairly easily, but the Coupe doesn't suffer it.
As you say TSS, you can get around understeer issues - I knew it was going to happen every time so just lined up for the corner slightly differently. My Barchetta was slightly tweaked and modded so was a match for the Coupe in terms of performance despite no turbo.
That is, indeed, a spanner in the works. VW prices must be way down right now. And it fits the sort of car I need, since I spend most of my driving time these days on the M3, which is ****ing monstrous right now. Need something that can waft me up and down it with minimal stress.
I learned how to deal with understeer issues just before they happened. The Tipo used to safely understeer a bit, but you could get over that by taking your foot off the throttle and tweaking the steering inward the get the back end to step out. Then it was a case of balancing it. I used to practice this if I was late for work when I lived in Kent. There was a particular underused roundabout near Ashford that allowed one to join the M20. I'd get the offside front wheel about 6 inches from the kerb and keep it there whilst going round the roundabout at the highest safe speed. I managed about 70 mph odd all the way to the 3rd exit. In the partner's Peugeot 306 I managed 75mph, but that had passive rear steering which really helped the handling at the limits. Tbf, apart from the poor engine on the 306 it was a very good drivers car. Btw, I am not a maniac. Any time I've done things like that it has been well away from other road users and pedestrians.
Hmmm. Probably perfect for that. I drove from Southampton to Weybridge for three days a week on average for five years, so I know why comfort matters. The thing I like about it is that every review says that the running costs are horrendous but then in parenthesis say it's because of steep depreciation (even in used car reviews). If you're on the receiving end, depreciation is a wonderful thing. I'm only going to look at cars with full VW service history and I'm going to keep a couple of thousand to one side on top of the purchase price for any stiff repairs. Sorry to add to your choices! Vin
I was actually surprised to find that their sales have taken a 9% dip, but that is less than several other major manufacturers, and does appear to be a seasonal industry wide trend in sales. So it could be that not a lot of people care about their sharp practice of late, or maybe the state of the environment, or maybe that the performance and/or economy of VWs will suffer when they stop cheating the testers. Perhaps it's all about brand, which is the worst reason for making a choice of purchase. Not that I'd ever buy a diesel, but that has put me off VWs until they demonstrate that they are a fit and proper company again.
I so wish I'd sold my wife's VW people carrier in the summer! It's actuay a 2007 car so before the 09 dodgy ones, but mud sticks!
Don't know if true, but didn't the Phaeton have electrical issues? I've only been in one once (as a passenger) and it was smooth as you like. My cars is up for a change. I finish paying for it in January and considering options. Not sure how good those big boys are on fuel though I'm not a petrol head and consider, cost, comfort and economy. Current wagon is a 2.2D Honda Accored DTec. She was 12 months old and had 2,500 miles on the clock when I got her. Nice smooth drive, though not in the league of the Phaeton or Jag. I do 30,000 miles a year so need some comfort (probably more comfort than I buy) but I'm also hesitant to outlay a lot in a car. I'd love an XF but there a bit pricey for me!
Be careful TSS, while I admire your moral stance in VW. At the moment they're just the ones who have been caught!!
I'm sure Pie! will live with the guilt. Presumably your concern about the environment means you won't be riding your motorbike for fun any time soon; it'll be used solely for functional and utilitarian reasons. That'll be the motorbike that's been specifically tuned to pass noise pollution tests, incidentally - which is why it has a flat spot at half peak power (like every bike on the road). I'm sure your morals will forbid you from riding something with an exhaust and power characteristics purely engineered to pass a test. Vin
I know that motorcycles don't have to pass emissions tests until recently. but VFRs actually do. In fact, they are one of the cleanest engines, two wheels or four. You're going to have to do a bit more research than that before you decide to take the piss, Vin. I'm baffled why you have a problem. Perhaps you'd like to PM me.? And mine doesn't know when it's being tested.
Noise pollution tests. Not emissions tests. You're going to have to do a bit more reading-what-I-wrote than that before you decide to take the piss, TSS. Vin
This deserves its own answer. This is one of the more bizarre things I've seen on here. You've made a wild sweeping statement stating that "perhaps [people buying VWs] don't care about the state of the environment". I've merely, quite calmly and politely, pointed out that there are two whiffs of hypocrisy in the post being made by a keen leisure motorcyclist (gaming of noise emissions tests by motorcycle manufacturers and riding for pleasure). Your response is that it's something to be hushed up into a private conversation. Look, TSS, I understand you have certain political and social views; you let us know as often as you can - you wear your political heart very much on your sleeve. Normally I just ignore it but this one seemed worthy of response. The concept that you want your views to be above or beyond public debate is a little odd given that you're airing them in a public forum. Vin
People carriers are a sin against nature. Slept on it. Who am I kidding, it's the Jag. Going to spend a bit more to get a current model XJ. Sexy car.
