I miss the easy of it Rog for sure
but would a 335 be 95% of it? Dunno
would a 320 be 90%

i cant ever imagine buying another BM though

 

How have we ended up on M3s and S2000s again?!

 

I know you probably dont agree but the M3 is symptomatic of why i am left increasingly cold by modern cars

it remembers in its little pea sized, shitly coded, pc brain that it thought my brake light was duff (wrong)

it requires a circuit board to control what in the s is done by a cable with a lever on each end. That circuit board includes a motor and some plastic.. yes plastic, cogs...

basically you or i cant diagnose why its throwing a hissy fit, it just is.

and that's NA so sounds great and revs.. this alpine will have all the drawbacks and more plus a small turbo engine which sounds a bit like a basa signal you'd use to test a speaker.

weight
modern turbocharging
nanny electronics

that's why the ancient snotter is more interesting to
me. Plus it looks lovely.

i'm sure the new one is much faster round the ring..

 

As a blend of performance and convenience, I don't think there are too many cars out there that can beat my WRX STI.

A four door saloon car that goes like $hit off a shovel for around £30k? Yes, please ...

 

Possibly another case of the new not being as loved as the original pre FREDs machine, David. But we live in a new century and even the S2000 got DBW as an upgrade, and a softened set up in response to criticisms of the snappy handing of the first ones. I preferred that first raw incarnation.

But then nearly twenty years ago I was happy to devote concentration to the driving experience. There was more room on the roads and fewer potholes. Nowadays I am shorter of temper and patience. Most manufacturers take a cold hearted bean counting approach to automotive products. As did Honda with the end of run engine issues with the S2000. Those were 'interesting times' for some, with no obvious solution forthcoming or problem admitted to, that I heard, although possibly there was a non disclosure confidentiality gag. At least Honda engaged though I am not so sure about Honda UK. They have been a waste of space as far as I can see ever since they insisted on fitting that POS alarm to UK cars. But of course our club reps had to suck up to them to get what ever we did get.

The new WRX STI is lot of hot car for the money - although not class leading according to Autocar's review. Visually all modern cars look fat and big up front and are stuffed full of FREDs. I am sure that will be true of the 'new' Alpine too. Were I inclined to spend any of my remaining time fixing and fiddling around under the bonnet or under the car I know which I would prefer. Trouble is with old cars, purer though they may be, you end up running them as a fair weather hobby garage queen, not as a multi mile muncher for commuting any distance.

 

At least up here I'm never more than half an hour from practically empty roads that allow me to let the car loose. I pity you lot in the overcrowded sarf ...

Oh, and your linky no worky ...

 

Ok is this better?

 

Yup. Thanks ...

 

That scooby lacks sufficient badges

Its probably better engineered than a fokus arse in fairness.

Everything dbw should just die though

 

That's a fair enough review. Very few cars tick ALL the boxes so it's a case of whatever you consider suits you best, and I remain happy with my choice.

In their own words, on the subject of not placing it in the top five, "sounds harsh for a car that brought a smile from everyone that took the keys".

I did consider the Focus but didn't want a hatchback, and round my way (but I'm sure not in Norwich or Nottingham ... ), only total cocks drive Audis, BMWs and VWs ...