Which quick £20k(ish) estate, auto, 4WD, petrol?

[Winny911]

If it has to be a big estate car with auto and awd then the only option is the RS6 :evil:

 

[Roro]

I found it hesitant, frequently had moments of momentary coasting as it figured out which cog esp. when driving hard in hilly territory and some models have now had an update for emissions which, and this is passenger experience only as i don't have one now, have made it even more wooly. The R is fine as a hot hatch to waft around in as long as you don't expect much. The manual wasn't as bad but still dull, except in the snow 2 years ago on winter tyres when it was an utter hoot.

Interesting, hesitation seems a common issue. If a car has paddles then I usually drive in manual mode which should probably avoid some of those issues. Unless i'm commuting / otherwise in traffic in which case will just leave in D.

 

[Roro]

If it has to be a big estate car with auto and awd then the only option is the RS6 :evil:

I would LOVE a £20k RS6 V10 - be interested in hearing about anyones ownership experience. Is there a decent RS6 forum I can do a bit of lurking?

 

[2155GP]

O.K. I know you are not keen on a BMW.......

However I have run a BMW 535D Touring F11 Auto with Tiptronic (8 gears) for 5 years (with brakes like a Boeing 747).

Always brings a smile to my face (and back) after a blast in my Manthey KK400 GT3 Mk. 1 Clubsport.

For a bit more power you can always add a TDI Tuning Box Chip!

https://tdi-tuning.com/car/bmw/5-se...riple-channel-with-rpm-diesel-tuning-box-chip

 

[Winny911]

Forum wise there is audisrs and rs246

If you think about it a new one would be £100k so at £10k depreciation per year you only need to keep it two years and it will have paid for itself

I can't comment on the c6 but I bought a c5 4 years ago it's not been too expensive to run apart from the cambelt service which is about 16 hours labour

 

[GlenB]

If it has to be a big estate car with auto and awd then the only option is the RS6 :evil:

I would LOVE a £20k RS6 V10 - be interested in hearing about anyones ownership experience. Is there a decent RS6 forum I can do a bit of lurking?

Anything involving Audi RS, whether that's a 4 or a 6 will completely miss the point of being cheap to run. Trust me, you will be stood at a petrol pump lots. The RS4 also has top rate tax, not sure how the 6 fairs for tax but I assume high.

 

[hornet]

I have the RSQ3 (340 PS) and absolutely love it. Its seriously quick and very refined when you want it to be. I suspect you would struggle to get the 340PS version for £20K ish and I've not driven the lesser powered model. My mate has the S3 estate and I do prefer the additional refinement / ride of my RSQ3.

 

[NLW73]

Go and lease the seat cupra estate

Mate has done the same and it's 250 per month. It's got a chip box on it now so a few hundred squids and it's a rocket ship with about 340 bhp and 4wd. Plug and play and easy to install and loads of people run them on the golfs and seat cupras

Loads of room, great interior some nice angles on the car and it's not a golf r as so many about and tend to get stolen!!

Keep the cash for the gt3. Loads of offer from likes of vehiclessavers.co.uk

Mate has 2 year lease with 1500 down and option to extend for year or 2 years

I drove it and it's just brilliant!!

 

[RJW1881]

I'm having a similar dilemma at the moment. I've looked at all sorts including E63's, ML63's, M5 tourings, RS6's (already has 2 RS4's so they were out), etc... I've settled on a Volvo V70r. My dad has one when I was a kid and I have fond memories of it. 300bhp, auto box, 4wd and reliable, what's not to like. I'm going to look at one tomorrow 110k on the clock with full history for £5k.

With something like that the GT3 & M2 will feel very special when you do use them and it will feel like an occasion?

 

[Slayer]

Roro, Drive a few of your shortlisted brands and make your choice. As for R , get a pedal box and it will make your throttle response good. DSG is pretty okay in S mode. It's only a hatch back end of the day 😐

 

[Mad Mark911]

Simple - if running costs are the major thrust - the Golf R. It's a VW and you can easily average 40mpg when cruising - but it has enough thrust to entertain and overtake. I've bought a Golf R hatch as my daily driver - so I'm a convert.

The RS6 will be ludicrously, read ruinously expensive to run at that mileage. One of my mates had one for 3 years and spent more on brakes, tyres, suspension fuel and niggles than I have in 10 years ....

The RS4 is very fast, handles beautifully and is the middle ground option.

 

[Longp2]

Simple - if running costs are the major thrust - the Golf R. It's a VW and you can easily average 40mpg when cruising - but it has enough thrust to entertain and overtake. I've bought a Golf R hatch as my daily driver - so I'm a convert.

The RS6 will be ludicrously, read ruinously expensive to run at that mileage. One of my mates had one for 3 years and spent more on brakes, tyres, suspension fuel and niggles than I have in 10 years ....

The RS4 is very fast, handles beautifully and is the middle ground option.

Good point RE cost, our golf is the first car that we've had that managed to cover a trip from Newcastle to Plymouth on one tank of fuel - 420 miles.
Around town I think we're averaging high 20s but compared to my previous S4s and Skoda VRS it's pretty impressive.

I do love an Audi RS and if I had money to burn I'd have one for the dogs daily in a heartbeat

 

[Roro]

Thanks for all the comments chaps :thumb:

It was a busy morning, I managed to test drive a Mk7 Golf R estate and an RSQ3 (the pre-facelift model with 300 bhp)

I liked them both a lot, but the RSQ3 is probably on pole position at the moment

They were both a hoot to drive. I'm not sure how the Golf could be considered boring, loads of grip with both these cars, both very pokey, and both quick off the line and handle the bends well - the Golf better than the RSQ3 (obviously)

Overall the Golf felt more planted and the RSQ3 a little wobbly, must be down to their respective centres of gravity. I'm assuming tyre pressures and geometry on both cars was within factory tolerances (both were offered by Audi and VW main dealers), but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they were both well out of whack). The RSQ3 felt more like a hot hatch on stilts than an SUV, and the Golf estate felt like a slightly heavier Golf ... which is what it is...

Not sure which to go for, I'm pretty split. The Golf estate is positively massive in the back with the seats down, whereas the RSQ3 looked like it had maybe 30% less space at a guess

The RSQ3 sounded superb, that 5-pot really is something. The Golf didn't sound bad, but it didn't make me think I was Walter Rohrl on a 1980's WRC stage. The Golf had a nice rortiness to the exhaust sound, although the Audi engine is a winner, the exhaust sounded like it really could do with some aftermarket tweaking to open it up a bit more

I'll sleep on it, but I'm currently leaning toward the RSQ3. It just felt more special, and more or less has the practicality I'm after

The one thing I didn't like about the Golf were the seats. They looked the part, but I found they didn't support me around the upper back and shoulders like the M2 does and the RSQ3 did. Maybe I need to try another drive and spend more time trying to get a decent seating position

Oh yes, about the hesitation on the DSG. I did definitely notice this when I first started driving, and I mentioned it to the sales guy who said the car probably just needs to warm up. After 5/10 min I didn't notice any hesitation. I was driving both cars mainly in manual mode most of the time, and at first the Golf's DSG was a bit clunky (I definitely noticed a clunk when going from 3rd to 2nd), but again this only happened when the car was cold, nothing like that happened again after the initial 5 min or so

The RSQ3 didn't exhibit any of these issues though, it seemed to behave better generally both in auto and manual modes. The Audi 'box seemed a better match to the 5-pot than the Golf box to its 4-pot. Thinking about it, I remember noticing a fair bit of lag with the Golf and it feeling a bit 'boosty' at times (could this be what the reports of 'hesitation' are about :?

The wife should be fine with the RSQ3 as well, although it's tall it has a tiny footprint, I looked up the dimensions and it's 5cm shorter than the M2 which was a surprise. Having never seen one close up in the flesh before (not even a standard Q3), I was surprised at how compact it was

I'm not ruling out the Golf completely yet though, it still has a lot going for it. I have ruled out the other RS Audi models though as decent automatic examples of reasonable age and mileage are outside the budget

 

[NLW73]

spec a cupra with the sports bucket seats and they are nice. much better than the standard seats in the cupra and the golf R.

either way am sure you will have a hoot in it and they do look like sleepers....until they take off down the road!!

 

[Roro]

I have the RSQ3 (340 PS) and absolutely love it. Its seriously quick and very refined when you want it to be. I suspect you would struggle to get the 340PS version for £20K ish and I've not driven the lesser powered model. My mate has the S3 estate and I do prefer the additional refinement / ride of my RSQ3.

I think this is what surprised me most about the RSQ3, it really played both the refined cruiser and the hooligan roles very well. I've been researching prices since I got home and about £26k seems to be the cross over point between the 300 and 335 bhp models. Good leverage potential with the dealers trying to offload the previous model at that price, might help me get a good deal on the lower powered version. I'm in no rush for the more powerful model, if I like the RSQ3 then could always upgrade in a couple of years when values are in range

Go and lease the seat cupra estate

Mate has done the same and it's 250 per month. It's got a chip box on it now so a few hundred squids and it's a rocket ship with about 340 bhp and 4wd. Plug and play and easy to install and loads of people run them on the golfs and seat cupras

Loads of room, great interior some nice angles on the car and it's not a golf r as so many about and tend to get stolen!!

Keep the cash for the gt3. Loads of offer from likes of vehiclessavers.co.uk

Mate has 2 year lease with 1500 down and option to extend for year or 2 years

I drove it and it's just brilliant!!

spec a cupra with the sports bucket seats and they are nice. much better than the standard seats in the cupra and the golf R.

either way am sure you will have a hoot in it and they do look like sleepers....until they take off down the road!!

Have you driven a Golf R estate? I'd be interested to know how the drive differed, if at all?

I've always had a love / hate relationship with leasing. I find I'm happy leasing a small car as a runaround for town for 150/200 per month with a few hundred down as deposit, anything over that and I feel I'm throwing money away. The 4Drive Cupra is generally around 300+ pm with £1k down which sounds ok, but for that amount I'd rather go for a higher value car on the used market instead

I'm having a similar dilemma at the moment. I've looked at all sorts including E63's, ML63's, M5 tourings, RS6's (already has 2 RS4's so they were out), etc... I've settled on a Volvo V70r. My dad has one when I was a kid and I have fond memories of it. 300bhp, auto box, 4wd and reliable, what's not to like. I'm going to look at one tomorrow 110k on the clock with full history for £5k.

With something like that the GT3 & M2 will feel very special when you do use them and it will feel like an occasion?

This is actually my fallback position, if I decide not to trade the M2. I really do enjoy driving it and would like to keep it, but it just feels too similar to the GT3 insofar as it being a manual 2 door coupe. (That's pretty much as far as the similarity goes though!). The thing holding me back from buying something older and cheaper to run alongside is concerns about reliability especially on a long road trip abroad

Roro, Drive a few of your shortlisted brands and make your choice. As for R , get a pedal box and it will make your throttle response good. DSG is pretty okay in S mode. It's only a hatch back end of the day 😐

:thumb: Is that a VW part or an aftermarket gizmo? How much are they and what do they do and how?

Simple - if running costs are the major thrust - the Golf R. It's a VW and you can easily average 40mpg when cruising - but it has enough thrust to entertain and overtake. I've bought a Golf R hatch as my daily driver - so I'm a convert.

The RS6 will be ludicrously, read ruinously expensive to run at that mileage. One of my mates had one for 3 years and spent more on brakes, tyres, suspension fuel and niggles than I have in 10 years ....

The RS4 is very fast, handles beautifully and is the middle ground option.

Good point RE cost, our golf is the first car that we've had that managed to cover a trip from Newcastle to Plymouth on one tank of fuel - 420 miles.
Around town I think we're averaging high 20s but compared to my previous S4s and Skoda VRS it's pretty impressive.

I do love an Audi RS and if I had money to burn I'd have one for the dogs daily in a heartbeat

I've kind of ruled out the other Audi RS models on this basis, I think the RSQ3 is probably an exception? It doesn't strike me as having high running costs, but I'm yet to research servicing etc costs. The thing that's bugging me is I wish the RSQ3 had more luggage space. NB just did look up on service costs and they look same as an RS3

Anyone know if the RS3 sportback has better luggage capacity than the Golf R hatch? I'm wondering if it has more space than an RSQ3 :?:

I think I need to try an S4 Avant next, 2014/15 models seem to be in the RSQ3 range price-wise, up to £24/5k just about