Hi Guys, New to the forum, mostly because i'm looking to get a new car just after the new year... A the moment i'm looking for a Hot Hatch I currently have an Astra H 1.6VVT (which is my second card after having a little 2001 Clio which was a very reliable car).. which admittedly was a car I had wanted for a while after passing my test, had it 2 years now and getting bored with it so looking to pay it off and get something a big quicker. There are a few cars on my list, RS Megane 250 (think the 265 will be out my price range still and a remap is always an option), VXR GTC (only because they depreciation is making it look possible) Leon Cupra S3 Quattro and the Mazda 3MPS The RS Megane at the moment is top of my list, few reviews I've read up on it puts it way up there as one of the best, however there is a few questions. First of all.. that Yellow Rev Counter.. Can it be changed, I think it's absolutely hideous.. Secondly, what optional extras are a must have? I admittedly would like the satnav as I feel the dash is a little "boring" compared to other hatches out there? Next what are running costs like, brakes etc? One thing putting me off the astra is costs of brakes, currently £500 a disc and a few hundred for pads, are the brakes on the RS Good? Which model is recommended? Sport or Cup? I would be more inclined to cup as it has the LSD but looking for opinions. Any REALLY common faults? (I understand all cars have faults but anything obvious to look at) I'm sure there will be other questions but this will do for now, interested to see the replies, I really do like the Megane, only thing putting me off is the dash so far..
I used 3 Renault cars before my Megane RS, so no issues with reliability so far. The most annoying feature of Megane is squeaky interior, especially door's seal and seat mounts. Audio quality is poor, even Arkamys. On other side, it is nice suspension, nearly perfect steering with lots of feedback, so it is nice car to drive. You don't feel much power on a steering wheel. Size of cabin and boot is decent. It is easy to find car with high specification, so you may have xenons, leather or sat nav. You may also find nice Cup version with Recaro seats and lsd. Among those cars you have on a list I would go for Megane, but it is your personal choice. You can't expect built quality of Audi, but if you are looking for driver orientated car, you are on a good path.
I could live with the squeaky interior as I currently already am and the audio isnt a bit problem, music is usually on in the background, don't care if it's not Bose quality as I'd rather listen to the car itself. Sounds like it could be what im looking for, Any idea about the yellow rev counter being changed?
For me the must haves (completely subjective lol) are: RS Monitor - spruces up the dash and gets you telemetry to brag to all your friends with lol 19" Steev alloys - makes the ride slightly harsher but I love them Cup - it's just perfect DRLS - Shiny little xenons at the front Keyless - handy ... although if you drive any other car, you WILL leave it unlocked by walking away Recaros (leather) - suit the car and hug you tighter than your nan Had my 250 for 3 years and have never had anything (touch wood) go wrong with it other than an overly squeaky brake pad / disc. My only teeny tiny gripe is the seat belts cant be adjusted and rub (or squeak). No idea on the yellow rev counter, I like it as it matches the rest of the crazy yellow interior
There was instruments change offered since the speedo can appear almost invisible in certain lights. Some have mentioned it being done for £50 with Renault taking the rest of the bill. I didn't bother, I've always quite liked the yellow rev counter and you get used to spotting where the speedo is.
Very good point! and my other gripe! The red needle on the speedo, around dusk becomes completely invisible. Makes for fun and games in speed camera zones. Only in early models I think though.
So what are running costs like? Much to replace discs and pads etc? Also what do people average on fuel? I know this can be a hard question cause it really depends on how heavy a foot you have, but do you feel like 28-30 is hard to maintain?
Fuel economy for me is locked between 23 - 24mpg .. but then I live in Milton Keynes and with all of the dual carriageways it's a mixture of spirited driving or stop starting, neither of which is good for economy. Tank lasts me around week and a half of daily commute (probably 200 miles) and costs about £60 - £65 to fill from nearly empty. Couple of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetrics 2 cost me £380 recently. Can't remember how much my pads were sorry but think it was around £200 ish for two (dont quote me on that).
Tyres won't be too much of a shocker to me, currently have VXR Replicas on mine which are 18" and I try to put decent tyres on, Dunlop Sport Maxx ETC so that doesn't concern me. So far it the megane seems to be the best choice, just the interior that seems to let it down, only other interior I like is GTC VXR but the maintenance costs let that down.. Hmm Gonna be a difficult one I think, might just need to go out and try a few different ones, see which I like best.
Go and test drive them all and see what you like best. If it were me though i would be looking at the RS250's that are around the 10k mark now, Cup and Recaros are the only two must have options on them IMO then spend the savings on learning how to drive it properly on track days
Depends what you want from a car. All of the ones you mention are nice and quick in a straight line. The Renault will offer the best driving experience, the Audi the most premium feel to it, the Mazda probably the best reliability and the Vauxhall will be great value. It's what best fits you. The only options I wouldn't go without is cup and recaros
You want a yellow 250 Cup on a 61 plate with one careful (old) owner, , , lucky for you i have one for sale, , , LOLz
250 with a remap is hilarious, even as someone with a biking past the wave of torque is silly. It also handles well, something the rest of those cars can't match it for.
Just heavy as sin the gtc, when i drove one i was dissapointed with the weight, you could feel it, not as agile and it kept trying to spin the inside wheel under hard acceleration out of corners which is pretty poor considering the lsd
Had my 250 for nearly a year now and it's by far the best car I've ever owned. In cup guise with the Recaro's, I don't think you can go wrong or find anything better, even now. The only thing I don't have is the RS monitor which does bug me, but I'm slowly getting over it It's also a very tuneable car.. Just pop down to K-Tec in Dorset and they'll sort you out. Running costs - servicing is reasonably priced as far as I'm aware and compared to previous cars I've owned. I find MPG is decent - on the motorway I average around 26-29mpg and on my commute (which is a 40 mile round trip of backroads and town driving) I can easily get 33+ MPG. Sometimes you get the odd smooth morning where 37-38MPG is possible. Parts also seem well priced. My main concern was going to be brake disc prices and they also seem reasonably priced.. for performance discs anyway Basically, sack off the rest of your list because the Megane is the one. My mate owns a Astra J VXR which is has extremely good handling compared to the others in your list and completely dispels the previous Astra's inability to corner. PS Rare because they're hanging to look at
Running costs are not low. Insurance about £500-800, tax £265, fuel consumption about 21 mpg. Servicing with Renault seems to be unbelievable costly, so better to go to Renault Sport specialist.
21mpg? Jee I average 28 and thats mostly city driving. They are a bit more expensive on consumables but like for like against similar cars or cars just as fast they're either on par or cheaper. Servicing can be reasonable at a good Renault garage but sadly they're a rare thing.
Speak for yourself my insurance was £420 tax £205 on the 265 i average 28mpg just had an oil/filter service for £100 at a renault dealer
You are careful driver. I got 28 when on motorway. Lower tax is for 265, however he is keen to buy 250.
Between me and my dad we have had 3 Mazda 3 MPS'. They are decent enough, superb reliability. They steer pretty well and go well with a lot of torque but have an old school power delivery with a big hit of boost and don't like to rev through to the redline which can make them feel similar to a diesel sometimes The mk1 had a pretty awful chassis, with the only redeeming thing being the lsd. It had a flexy chassis with crashy springs and dampers. The mk2 was a lot better in the chassis department, it felt similar to Renault for damping but unfortunately they changed engine management and the engine lost its edge a little In my opinion. Anyway, they are an entirely decent hot hatch and often over looked.
yep i average 28-30mpg around town and low 40s motorway insurance is £500 with the wife as a learner on and thats with halifax
My insurance has never been more than around £500. I could have had it cheaper but I've been impressed with Greenlight so I'm sticking with them. MPG on average is around 28, and that's a lot of driving around town too. Servicing hasn't been more than about £200 which is very reasonable given the type of car. Tax isn't that bad and it's only a small part of the running costs in the grand scheme of things. The running costs aren't low compared to a 1l Clio, but for the type of car I think they're quite sensible!
Maybe I'm a bit older than you guys (42) but I've not paid more than £230 for fully comprehensive insurance (including courtesy car) for the 3 years I've had my RS250. Try quotemehappy. Each year I renew they come out as ridiculously cheaper than everyone else. I keep thinking there must be some mistake on their part, but as long as my certificate has the right registration number and car details/engine size/description on it I'm covered. And I'm getting 32.5mpg as an average mpg, over 20,000 miles tracked on fuelly.com. I drive sensibly on motorways for 80% of the time, the other 20% is in towns/cities/a roads with the occasional burst of spirited driving. So whilst tax is quite high, for the performance I can get it's more than acceptable, and the overall running costs are excellent in my view. I have the satnav and think it's rubbish. Can be handy at times but it looks terrible and is hopeless to use. I went for the Sport model over the Cup, as I didn't want an overly firm ride (I wanted the 19" diamond cut alloys as they look completely ace and they already give a firm enough ride).
I cannot thank you enough for the advice on the car guys. I've also had some news about a possible new job so it's quite possible I could afford the 265 so that could well be an option. The tax is only about 60 quid more than my current care (A whimpy 1.6 N/A) so that doesn't bother me and i've already looked at insurance quotes and they don't look so bad, not sure if thats because of the fact that during the day at work it's in a secure carpark or not and the insurance seems to be about £5-600 and thats being 22 with 3 years no claims so not too steep to be honest.
The R26 is a whole different car though, that screams "Track" doesn't it haha. I did notice my Job title had quite an effect on my insurance though. "Fraud Investigator" does bring it down by about £100 a year.. Odd really.. Although the new job won't be, so i'll have to word it well to make sure it doesn't get bumped up.
