Is it possible for a workhorse & toy to be the same car?

JSP214

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131
Presumably this all comes down to personal preference, in respect of how raw you want your weekend car and how luxurious you want your daily driver?

Personally I wouldn’t want something as raw as a Caterham or Exige, nor would I want something as big & heavy as an A7 or 5 SerIes. So I’m fortunate perhaps in as much as somewhere in the middle is my preference and I’ve got more of a choice.
 

Lavazza

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1,060
Presumably this all comes down to personal preference, in respect of how raw you want your weekend car and how luxurious you want your daily driver?

Personally I wouldn’t want something as raw as a Caterham or Exige, nor would I want something as big & heavy as an A7 or 5 SerIes. So I’m fortunate perhaps in as much as somewhere in the middle is my preference and I’ve got more of a choice.
Variety is the way to go.
 

Andyk

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61,038
Is this not the holy grail, indeed the answer to life, the universe and everything? One car that does it all!
May I suggest the Mercedes S class 500 coupe. A beautiful car and probably the best interior of anything modern in my opinion.
Available from mid £30K, a V8 and will do an alleged 25mpg. I rest my case!

Would not disagree. The new S class coupe is a lovely car ....Would make a lovely daily drive and stunning place to be in for 400 miles.....but Mark wants something that can do more MPG....
 

mmarks

Member
Messages
132
How about the e63S. A beast of an estate with drift mode. Allegedly can do nearly 30mpg on a run. All the performance, tech, space and noise you would ever need. Early ones (2017) now just under 50k.
However, any car used as a daily loses its appeal. Much better to have 2, but even if they are inferior! I used to drive out my Bentley and Ferrari as dailies but cost too much in fuel. So I bought an Astra diesel for £800. Brilliant daily hack and it was so dreary I got excited about driving my other cars again.
Now I have the Masser, my daily is an Alpina XD3 which is on paper everything you would ever want from a car but in reality it isn't!

Sent from my BBF100-1 using Tapatalk
 

jebroni

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127
What about an e39 530d msport my old lump is 20 years old & was showing 55mpg on a run down to Kent recently & will still do double the speed limit?
 

Ewan

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6,756
I’d go old school, possibly a Porsche 968. Cheap and practical, but still fun and comfortable. I once did 900 miles in a day in mine. Depreciation free as well.
 

rs48635

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Messages
3,181
For me an all in one car or car that does both does t work. An M140 or C43 I'm sure are very good cars but most modern stuff is just too big haven't and refined to be raw or special enough to be a weekend sports car. An MX-5 would be a better weekend sports car than most and am very tempted to get one soon.
Do it! - fun per pound outlay is unrivalled. Bought mechanically sound MX-5 but cosmetically scruffy for £1200. Turned out seller was real enthusiast so it was his Dad's well sorted car. Pretty sure it will sell for similar if I need to lose it. Costs so far rear disks and pads for £80 needed after two enthusiastic track days.
 

rs48635

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3,181
The Corona Virus pandemic has made us all change the way we do things (particularly as it's not over yet).
Instead of meetings we're having Zoom calls, Skype calls and WhatsApp calls.

Since the end of March my work mileage has been precisely zero. Although that's to be expected with the lockdown.

However, I have a feeling that the amount face to face meetings I have will reduce significantly changing the way we do business going forward, particularly with more people working from home.

With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a car out there (not necessarily a Maserati) that could be both a weekend toy and a workhorse?
Capable of doing 400 miles in a day and not leaving you aching like a mo fo, returning decent MPG, but also gets the pulse racing when you want to take it out for a blatt!

Any ideas?
How often do you need to do 400 miles in a day? Thought you were mainly at home now, so guessing more occasional holidays and visits. Just do calculator on fuel and go from there. The QP or GT is well comfortable enough to sit in all day so fits the brief. Both would need a refuel stop to comfortably reach 400 mile destination mind.
 

rockits

Member
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9,167
When you think about it and your question the two ideals are a little counter intuitive really.

The the things that you want in a weekend sports cars such as as being sharp, tight, engaging, visceral, rewarding, light, raw, analogue etc. are at complete odds and the other end of the scale to an ideal daily mile muncher. Also fuel consumption is less of an issue and some decent noise is welcomed

A great daily mile muncher is not necessarily sharp, tight, engaging, visceral, rewarding, light, raw, analogue but softer, smoother, more comfortable, relaxing, quiet and fuel consumption is more sentive. Less noise is also preferred.

Not sure how any car can be both without compromises too far either way for me. Every time I have ever compromised on a car purchase knowing I'm making compromises has never ended well. I've always never been satisfied and always have sold the car never fulfilling its true brief.

We are only here once mate....don't compromise.
 

schell70

Member
Messages
313
Did 380 miles on Wednesday in the GT and averaged 28 mpg - wasn't totally driving Miss Daisy - Sport mode was active a few times! Nearly all motorway though.

I had an M135i before which is a good mix but not the biggest. For sure any fast 2nd hand fast BMW/Merc/Audi for 15k?
 

flexwing

Member
Messages
256
What about a Panamera? So ugly I like them! Very spec sensitive but in the right colour (metallic blue) and the right 19" rims they have a real presence. You can get yourself into a turbo for less than £30k. The 300 hp diesel is also a great drive. Lovely interior and pretty practical. On my short list for next time!
 
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GeoffCapes

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14,000
The question was entirely hypothetical.
Well. Almost. If there was something that could tick a lot of boxes I would take a look.
When we move my commute to the office will be 20 miles each way so something with a bit of fuel economy is always a bonus.

I think though, as Dean said. You’re always going to compromise on something so I might as well get a workhorse and a toy. I’ll have the space soon!

It’s a good debate though.
 

StuartW

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9,306
Over 2 years and 25k miles I reckon this is as good a bet as anything ;)


Another beauty Richard and bar the flat piece of trim around the aux 12v socket & park brake, that must be just about every carbon option ticked. I cannot see this one hanging around for long
 

Motorsport3

Member
Messages
868
The Corona Virus pandemic has made us all change the way we do things (particularly as it's not over yet).
Instead of meetings we're having Zoom calls, Skype calls and WhatsApp calls.

Since the end of March my work mileage has been precisely zero. Although that's to be expected with the lockdown.

However, I have a feeling that the amount face to face meetings I have will reduce significantly changing the way we do business going forward, particularly with more people working from home.

With this in mind, I was wondering if there is a car out there (not necessarily a Maserati) that could be both a weekend toy and a workhorse?
Capable of doing 400 miles in a day and not leaving you aching like a mo fo, returning decent MPG, but also gets the pulse racing when you want to take it out for a blatt!

Any ideas?

BMW (eg 330, 540 etc). Reasonably priced particularly in slightly used form, good fundamentals, tech for every day use. Ticks most boxes I think. VW golf GTI mk8 is another credible option.
 

Corranga

Member
Messages
1,219
It all depends on what you want in a toy. Virtually everything posted here would be too heavy / not engaging enough imo, but then and Elise / Exige / Evora would be too compromised as a daily for most.

My Elise was my fault when I bought it 13 years back, I learnt to hate it, bought a Punto which I actually really liked, and fell in love with the Elise again. Variety is best.