...a 'Q' car what would I have.
Well it has always been a Volvo T5 auto......with 'chips'. I have ridden in two. One of them some 8 years ago and one a colleagues last Friday. Both had been dosed to circa 300 BHP and gave shattering and I mean shattering mid range performance. They of course are getting on now and good ones are getting very difficult to find. Given the description, i.e. estate, relatively easy and cheap (ish) to maintain what would the panel suggest that would fit the bill of a seemingly understated carriage that came from later years, i.e. more available in reasonable condition.
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Debadged Audi RS more or less anything? Bland looking Vauxhall with a V8 engine?
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Mercedes C32 AMG, circa 2004/5, check carefully for rust and get it rustproofed if you want one to keep.
3.2 V6 petrol plus supercharger pushing 354bhp, remove kompressor badges from front wings substitute a lesser badge on the tailgate for stealth, silk smooth auto box lovely to drive at any speed.
If i had decided against spending the money on my current MB that would have been my next car, and yes it would have been LPG'd too..;)
C32 replaced by C55 around 2005/6 with naturally aspirated V8 which sounds lovely but in reality has little more power than the C32 and sports huge exhaust pipes which give the game away somewhat.
Indeed you can find C class as a 320 petrol without supercharger, its no slouch, and you can find the same car with the 320 Diesel which pulls like a train.
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Just the car for you a dull green 325 - decent fuel economy and a proper engine note and goes like stink and will sit at 120mph all day. Bargain for you 4 good tyres.
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Change the box and i'll give ya 4995 (0:-:0)
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Brother has a V70 D5 chipped to about 200bhp. 200,000 miles and still sound in wind and limb, and he gets exceptionally good fuel economy - 45+ at motorway speeds.
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I quite like the 535d Touring in SE trim as an all round Q car. Looks the same as every 520d on the road, but (at least in E61 form, which was the one I had) capable of making very good progress indeed. Make sure its grey or maximum blend-in effect Spacious and comfortable too, especially if you replace the run flats with normal tyres! Mine only averaged low 30s to the gallon, but later 'LCI' in BMW speak models are better I think. 280odd BHP I seem to recall; 500NM of torque rings a bell too
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Volvo S60 R with the D5 badge off my current car.
Simple chip gets me 340 bhp with AWD.
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I saw a very tempting Q-car last year and if I'd had £16k (which was what the dealer wanted for it) I would very likely have gone for it.
BMW 550i SE, debadged, in an innocuous shade of blue and with the (I assume standard) 17" wheels more commonly seen on 520d and 523i. 56 plate, 23k miles, looked mint (and being sold as approved used). Nothing whatsoever to give away the contents of the engine bay externally.
Would have deeply irritated a LOT of people, that. Hey ho....
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Passat estate with the 3.2 engine, cant remember what it was calleds
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>> Passat estate with the 3.2 engine, cant remember what it was called
Early ones were badged VR6, later ones had 3.6 lump and were badged R36 - saw one in Guildford last week.
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>> I saw a very tempting Q-car last year and if I'd had £16k (which was
>> what the dealer wanted for it) I would very likely have gone for it.
>>
>> BMW 550i SE, debadged, in an innocuous shade of blue and with the (I assume
>> standard) 17" wheels more commonly seen on 520d and 523i. 56 plate, 23k miles, looked
>> mint (and being sold as approved used). Nothing whatsoever to give away the contents of
>> the engine bay externally.
>>
>> Would have deeply irritated a LOT of people, that. Hey ho....
>>
It's predecessor,the 545i SE, is available for a lot less...
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201308098226997
I'm only doing around 9k miles a year now, so mpg is almost irrelevant...
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>> It's predecessor,the 545i SE, is available for a lot less...
>>
>> www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201308098226997
>>
>> I'm only doing around 9k miles a year now, so mpg is almost irrelevant...
>>
Must....not.....
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I know.... The trouble is, I've never owned an 8 cylinder car and I think that the 545/550 and equivalents are, sadly, the lasted their types. If I don't buy one soon it will be too late! Emissions legislation has killed them off.
Ive been lucky enough to have owned or at least had custody, of a variety of inline 6 and V6 engined cars, but even they are a dying breed nowadays. The MB S class is available with a 4 cylinder engine in some countries! I passed my test in the late 80's, but those who passed just 10 or 20 years later are just left with turbocharged 3 or 4 cylinder engines in pretty much every mainstream car
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Is it really all over? I don' think so.
I thought there would be a few thirsty snorting-monster Mercedeses much reduced in value some of which would be discreet enough in appearance to do the trick here, but there are so many Merc variants that I didn't know what any of them were. As so often gb has come up with their names, or some of them.
Anyway, what he said sort of thing. Naturally the overheads will be a bit steep as well as the 98 octane at 12mpg, but you know that in advance. A buyer willing to pay them would perhaps be spoilt for choice these days. It may be a good moment to snaffle a bargain.
Wish I had Lud's sort pf money sometimes.
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I currently have my eye on one of these..... quite old ' P 'reg
www.stagea.co.uk/
It is currently owned and been breathed on by a mechanic at my local independent but he cannot really afford to run it....
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I've fancied one of those since I saw Mike Brewer trading one in Japan on the gogglebox recently. Beautiful motor. The later models (M35) look better to my eye.
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Subaru Forester 2.5XT auto Pro Drive without the alloys. Debadged.
4x4 essential round here with power as wet roads and corners in RWD = ditchfinding.
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If I wanted... - Armel Coussine
