The Free road tax plus over £2800 every year in Mobility money helps the wheels go around on a car tho!

george

This is true, although it's also there to help us care for a terminally ill disabled child :wonder:

I wasnt getting a dig in, but then the Care component of the DLA is for doing that!

george

Edited 11 July, 201213 yr by sk4gw

my (late) step father was Ford of Europes brake cooling expert.

If he had anything to do with cooling of the front brakes on an escort coswroth, he failed. .

Sorry - posted in error.

He didn't! That came out of Boreham from memory.

I know a tuner who has done a lot on Focus ST's and he told me it is difficult to get more than a genuine 260bhp without starting to change a lot of components.

The Octavia definately handles better than the ST3's I had, I guess it's subjective though.

Two cars I'd suggest are a Mk5 Golf or a Renault Megane R26.

I agree its subjective but when the Focus and the VRS was out never ever did the VRS come close in any reviews to the handling, don't get me wrong we are on our second VRS now its still not that bad I bought a second one lol..

As for the tuning you need to spend at least £1500 to get 280+ brake, to be honest I would have said a Leon FR/Cupra with a map (I had one of those as well).

Golf I agree would be ideal, you would have the handling, and you know the cost to tune them and run them and they do seem within budget for a good one.

I had the ST-2, absolutely regret selling it but my finances and the credit crunch hit at the wrong time :(

Sound awesome, go well and look the part aswel...

30 - 32 is possible on a run but round town you'll be chuffed to see 20

Do it!!

Really?

I can't honestly think it was a particularly special car in terms of looks or the way it drove. Engine did sound nice at light throttle though.

I bought an E36 M3 Evo saloon immediately after the ST3 and it was hugely better in every respect.

The Octavia does look a bit bland I guess, but it's a good compromise.

Really?

I bought an E36 M3 Evo saloon immediately after the ST3 and it was hugely better in every respect.

Now I can agree with you on that worth the swap

Mazda 3 mps with the aero kit seems to be winning it for me, going to try and get a test drive soon.

Really?

I can't honestly think it was a particularly special car in terms of looks or the way it drove. Engine did sound nice at light throttle though.

I bought an E36 M3 Evo saloon immediately after the ST3 and it was hugely better in every respect.

The Octavia does look a bit bland I guess, but it's a good compromise.

£17k car VS £35k car... no comparison, really!

Save for the fact that the year old ST3 sold for around £13k (from memory) and the M3 was £6k (£48k new with options).

You can't go comparing a Kia Picanto with a Porsche Boxster just because they happen to be the same price "now".

Phahahaha that's hilarious.

I find my self looking at these every now & then. Lots of car for the money.

Looks like Mazda 3 MPS it is, just need to find one locally with the right spec, miles and price. My Ocy will be up for sale shortly.

Speak to Neo_VR about the mazda, he owned one from new for a while. IIRC tax was top bracket and it drank quite a bit.

Awesome motor mate. Get one!

Speak to Neo_VR about the mazda, he owned one from new for a while. IIRC tax was top bracket and it drank quite a bit.

Yeah I think I saw his project thread. Tax isn't an issue and MPG isn't either really, just means I'll have to cycle to work occasionally lol

Mike, if mpg and tax aren't a consideration, don't discount the RX8. It's much better looking and better handling by all accounts albeit no turbo grunt.

Have several friends who have them and the only real downside is they like a drink.

Jez

RX8's like a drink of petrol and oil, however!

Are the engines in the RX8 not notoriously weak?

They do drink! Mine was reasonable on oil though. Could fit three 6 foot people in too, was good too drive, but not all that exciting and a bit tiring with gear changing lot on motorways etc.

Start at less than £2k too now, could turbo charge it with the change! There's also the 130 Sport - 265bhp and a straight 6, worth looking into?

Edit - Weak how Matt? Power/torque or build/reliability?

Edited 12 July, 201213 yr by TriggerFish

As in go pop and need rebuilds within 80-100,000 miles? Not had any experience of them myself, could just be the usual stories

Ah, yeah, they can.

They're not as bad as the RX-7's were but are they still prone to it. They can lose compression over time, eventually leading to a rebuild (a couple of £k IIRC). If it doesn't start easily when it's hot, it's on its way to failure as a general rule. Failed/unreplaced coil packs have been linked directly to this as the incomplete burn of the petrol leaves some in the chamber which can then strip down the protective coating the injected oil builds up on the rotor tips, which causes them to wear (or something like that). If the coil has white marks on the underside, they tend to need doing. £50 X 4 per coil 3rd party in the UK, and same again for plugs, also x4. From Mazda, I think I got told about £800 in parts but got it a lot cheaper from the USA! Access to the plugs is via the passenger wheel well, behind the brake disks, easily doable (even I managed it!), but you'll need socket extensions.

There was also a starter motor recall as some cranked too slowly to start the engines easily, which could make it look like a failing engine (although I'd look into that further, it's just from memory). Like everything though, some go very quickly, others last a lot longer than most. You can get Mazda to check the compression on the engines which will give you a good indication of there remaining life, although a normal compression tester won't work. IMO though, it's pretty over-hyped. Go in with your eyes open, do your research and don't buy the first one you see and you should be alright. I got mine on ~40k with the original plugs and it was perfect.

Did you look at the 6MPS? 4WD ftw, earlier ones are on £270 tax bracket.

I keep tempting myself into buying one but they are all too far away. If I found a decent one locally I'd be properly temtped to buy one...