[pjs]

Interesting read.

First I seen of a 3.0d xdrive at least.

You might not want to be buying YH13 UPS as an AUC though

Verdict is predictable

A45 the drivers choice, 330d the sensible choice, RS Q3 pants

[Proftinkerpot]

Stick a towbar on that F31 and sell the tractor!!! That will pull anything you need.

[Xplosiv166]

Hi,

Is this not a silly comparison? Should this not have been the 1/2 series compared against the two hot hatches?

That merc looks really good IMO, as usual the Audi looks like every Audi has for the last 10 years.

[pjs]

I think its great to see this sort of comparison - when you're spending £40-£50k on a car it opens up a lot of options and the mind wanders, well mine does anyway. I fancied an A45 tbh but it just the more I see of it it just looks like a little van.

[Finnie]

I have the App on the ipad and just donwloaded it. I really enjoyed the article and it really makes me look forward to the 335 even more. The 3 is so much bigger than the other two and aimed at different markets but it was still great. I liked the comments of how much of an all rounder and a nice place it is to be in. Those are relevant real life views rather than the usual 20 oversteer angle ones. After all we don't all go sliding round all day with the kids in the back crying and the wife screaming. (not that we don't want to - I also used to own a caterham)

What I especially noticed was how in the pictures the x drive really stood out. The car looked so jacked up. All I read in the article was how high the centre of gravity was and how understeery it was compared with the S drive.

Oh hold on that was on here! Top gear had nothing but praise apart from one line of the X drive weighting up the steering a little bit and being a bit gloopy. The pictures from real life - driving, not sitting in a car park with a measuring tape - looked really great. I love seeing real life photos, gets me so excited about the car.

Lets just see a bit more in the other magazines

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by Finnie

...........

What I especially noticed was how in the pictures the x drive really stood out. The car looked so jacked up. All I read in the article was how high the centre of gravity was and how understeery it was compared with the S drive.

Oh hold on that was on here! Top gear had nothing but praise apart from one line of the X drive weighting up the steering a little bit and being a bit gloopy. The pictures from real life - driving, not sitting in a car park with a measuring tape - looked really great. I love seeing real life photos, gets me so excited about the car.

Don't forget that mags are comparing one marque vs another, and comparing an xDrive to other understeery AWD is not going to single out the characteristics.

On here we are comparing sDrive to xDrive. Head to head.

The AMG A45 from what I understand, is a front wheel drive system with ability to port some torque rear wards.....and the Q3 is a typical Audi engine way out in front design, front weight biased platform. Both of these factors induce understeer.

Quite frankly if the journo commented on the xDrive feeling understeery in comparison with these two, I would be seriously worried.

At the end of the day, most people who buy a 330, 335, etc only drive in the 6/10th's area or below anyway, and wouldn't feel the cons of having xDrive too much. Does question why they would 'need' xDrive in the first place though

[GEP77]

I quite enjoyed reading the article, and these three cars are competitors on price at least. In fact prior to ordering a 335d the A45 was on my short list! Although I was put off by the styling of the car so never got behind the wheel. In many ways this review showed what an eclectic array of choices there is at this price point.

I do think the the 3 series touring xdrive is getting quite close to be every car you'll ever need all rolled into one. If only it had a built in espresso maker for those early starts.....

[Cootie]

Originally Posted by GEP77

I quite enjoyed reading the article, and these three cars are competitors on price at least. In fact prior to ordering a 335d the A45 was on my short list! Although I was put off by the styling of the car so never got behind the wheel. In many ways this review showed what an eclectic array of choices there is at this price point.

I do think the the 3 series touring xdrive is getting quite close to be every car you'll ever need all rolled into one. If only it had a built in espresso maker for those early starts.....

Funnily enough the A45 was also on my short-list, along with the Audi S3 Sportback. I test-drove one and was very impressed - seriously rapid cross country and a number of serious sportscars would have to work extremely hard to put distance between them on UK roads. In the end the completely uncompetitive PCP rates ruled it out. £150 per month more than the 335d with an additional £2k deposit needed. It would actually have been more expensive than a C63 from the same dealer!

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by Cootie

Funnily enough the A45 was also on my short-list, along with the Audi S3 Sportback. I test-drove one and was very impressed - seriously rapid cross country and a number of serious sportscars would have to work extremely hard to put distance between them on UK roads. In the end the completely uncompetitive PCP rates ruled it out. £150 per month more than the 335d with an additional £2k deposit needed. It would actually have been more expensive than a C63 from the same dealer!

You got further than me there. I'd heard that the rates for the C63 were very good but the fuel costs would have been crippling.

[Cootie]

Originally Posted by GEP77

You got further than me there. I'd heard that the rates for the C63 were very good but the fuel costs would have been crippling.

A colleague at work had a C63 and he saw 22mpg with a gentle right foot and low-mid teens if driven enthusiastically... Could be seriously expensive! A mate of mine's Porsche 997 Turbo manages better than that...

[NISFAN]

Originally Posted by Cootie

A colleague at work had a C63 and he saw 22mpg with a gentle right foot and low-mid teens if driven enthusiastically... Could be seriously expensive! A mate of mine's Porsche 997 Turbo manages better than that...

An M5 or M6 manages better than that, just shows how old the C63 engine is all of a sudden.

Has to be one of the nicest sound tracks ever though

[Steve C]

I was pleasantly surprised that I averaged 21.7mpg in my e92 M3 over 17000 miles. My previous RS4 averaged just 19.0mpg.

[davyk31]

What does an M5 do in real world driving with a reasonable bit of town driving ? As mentioned above when you decide on a price point there is a massive range of types of vehicles open to you and thats what keeps me awake at night at the moment. Good lease deals on the M5 are to blame for that specific thought.

[pjs]

Thing is, if you get a good M5 lease deal, when it ends - what the hell do you do next?

[dopper99]

Originally Posted by pjs

Thing is, if you get a good M5 lease deal, when it ends - what the hell do you do next?

Get the next generation M5

[Finnie]

A different colour one!