Anyone found a good interesting to drive but still comfortable practical daily?

MarkMas

MarkMas

Chief pedant
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8,925
DLax69 said:
I drive GMC products (and just got rid of a RAM that tried to kill me). My first car cost 400 USD and I have literally owned a hundred-dollar pickup truck with a green vinyl sofa strapped to the frame where the bed was supposed to be. And I still wouldn't buy one of these ugly new BMWs or a Hyundai that just ripped off another maker's styling...or an Audi, or a VW, and probably not another Porsche or MB...not sure what that makes me.

I also wouldn't buy a "luxury" marque of another manufacturer. See: Acura, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, Lincoln...just don't get the premium.

One caveat: talking explicitly about buying new.
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Ahhh....
The American Dream....

111000
 
O

ofenomeno99

Member
Messages
354
I bought an absolutely loaded BMW X5M to use for my road trips between Kuwait and Riyadh.

Fast, comfortable, practical and rare and the worst MPG I have ever seen on any car.
 

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MikeyMaser

MikeyMaser

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473
How about a nice low mileage Alfa 159 2.2 Ti:

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Or a SportWagon so your ladders fit:

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damnawivdaplan

damnawivdaplan

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322
rockits said:
Not totally the exception. I don't care for badges either. Short sighted IMHO. We have an MG ZS and I had a Mitsubishi Outlander before. I have a Hyundai Coupe too and I bought one new in 2002.

I just choose what suits my needs and the badge is irrelevant. I have never bought into that keeping up with the Jones's BS or worried about what everyone else has or thinks.
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wouldn't be on a Maserati forum
 
MarkMas

MarkMas

Chief pedant
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8,925
rockits

rockits

Member
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9,172
I have spent a few days on some long journeys this week. Done about 500 miles and got to experience the car across a variety of roads in short succession including tons of motorway time. About 12 hours driving time the last 2-3 days.

It is really odd and I can't quite put my finger on it. On the motorway it does everything you expect and does it very well. When the road surface is decent it rides really well and damping is very good. All in ECO mode mainly so all settings in Comfort. When the road surface is lacking it picks everything up regardless of how small. Hard to explain but it is like there is no air in the tyres or they are solid tyres kind of feel. A bit like a 4200 kind of feel but worse.

When you hit a pothole and I know every car will do this to an extent but it just feels much much more emphasised. To the point you wince and the noise it transfers through the whole car is bonkers. I have a few other cars and have had many sports cars with suspension tuned for sports driving but none were even close to the harshness the E43 shows on most A/B roads and lanes. It was a joy to run on the motorway and amazingly relaxing, doing that job for hours on end really well. Just seems to be anything less than perfect or very good roads it really seems to struggle more than any other car I've had.
 
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sionie1

sionie1

Member
Messages
1,316
rockits said:
I have spent a few days on some long journeys this week. Done about 500 miles and got to experience the car across a variety of roads in short succession including tons of motorway time. About 12 hours driving time the last 2-3 days.

It is really odd and I can't quite put my finger on it. On the motorway it does everything you expect and does it very well. When the road surface is decent it rides really well and damping is very good. All in ECO mode mainly so all settings in Comfort. When the road surface is lacking it picks everything up regardless of how small. Hard to explain but it is like there is no air in the tyres or they are solid tyres kind of feel. A bit like a 4200 kind of feel but worse.

When you hit a pothole and I know every car will do this to an extent but it just feels much much more emphasised. To the point you wince and the noise it transfers through the whole car is bonkers. I have a few other cars and have had many sports cars with suspension tuned for sports driving but none were even close to the harshness the E43 shows on most A/B roads and lanes. It was a joy to run on the motorway and amazingly relaxing, doing that job for hours on end really well. Just seems to be anything less than perfect or very good roads it really seems to struggle more than any other car I've had.
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We have an E43 Cabriolet and I'd agree. Nice place to be, seats and finish is lovely, power a-plenty but on some roads it is just exhausting to drive. Potholes often have me pulling over as the noise has you thinking there must be some damage. Non of which evidenced themselves on the test drive, on a nice smooth recently relayed street of tarmac. Still, a great car don't get me wrong , but flawed in an odd way. Maybe fatter tyres and smaller wheels?
 
rockits

rockits

Member
Messages
9,172
sionie1 said:
We have an E43 Cabriolet and I'd agree. Nice place to be, seats and finish is lovely, power a-plenty but on some roads it is just exhausting to drive. Potholes often have me pulling over as the noise has you thinking there must be some damage. Non of which evidenced themselves on the test drive, on a nice smooth recently relayed street of tarmac. Still, a great car don't get me wrong , but flawed in an odd way. Maybe fatter tyres and smaller wheels?
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Thanks. Very useful. Good and bad to hear! Just gone from the optional 20" alloys it came with on 30/35 series tyres to the OEM stock 19" alloys with 35/40 series tyres. It does help but maybe 25% difference not 100% so not a real noticeable difference. It is odd as gives the feeling there is not tyre on the rim or it is solid rubber rather than being a suspension or damper issue.
 
DLax69

DLax69

Member
Messages
4,292
rockits said:
Thanks. Very useful. Good and bad to hear! Just gone from the optional 20" alloys it came with on 30/35 series tyres to the OEM stock 19" alloys with 35/40 series tyres. It does help but maybe 25% difference not 100% so not a real noticeable difference. It is odd as gives the feeling there is not tyre on the rim or it is solid rubber rather than being a suspension or damper issue.
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Pirellis...?

Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
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