Which Engine?

[jamie_z4]

I had a 2.5i 177bhp which I felt was really underpowered for the note of the engine

Had it 3 weeks & replaced it with a 3.0 coupe. No difference in fuel/insurance/tax. No brainier imo

 

[Steve84N]

My pre facelift 2.5 i SE 6 cylinder returns around 35 mpg on a run which was better than I imagined when I got it a month ago. It has bags of power and torque and I couldnt imagine why I would want more. It does have 192 bhp which is more than the 177 from the facelift model so not sure why you would want a newer version when it has less bhp. To me 177bhp from a 2.5 6 cylinder is pretty measly and I can imagine after a while you would hanger for more performance.
By my reckoning if you look at the engine lineup you probably wouldnt want the base 2 litre as you would always wonder what the bigger engine would be like whereas the 3 litre might be a bit much for our overcrowded roads and hit you insurance wise. Thats why I went middle of the road with 2.5 192 bhp.

That's a lot of excuses for not getting a 3.0...

I reckon about 400bhp on the road would be ideal, certainly wouldn't settle for under 200bhp.

 

[jamie_z4]

My pre facelift 2.5 i SE 6 cylinder returns around 35 mpg on a run which was better than I imagined when I got it a month ago. It has bags of power and torque and I couldnt imagine why I would want more. It does have 192 bhp which is more than the 177 from the facelift model so not sure why you would want a newer version when it has less bhp. To me 177bhp from a 2.5 6 cylinder is pretty measly and I can imagine after a while you would hanger for more performance.
By my reckoning if you look at the engine lineup you probably wouldnt want the base 2 litre as you would always wonder what the bigger engine would be like whereas the 3 litre might be a bit much for our overcrowded roads and hit you insurance wise. Thats why I went middle of the road with 2.5 192 bhp.
I was also told that you can tweak the 2.5 to get near 3.0 performance.

They dropped the 2.2 in the facelift so offered the 2.5 with 2 power outputs, 177 & 218bhp so they could still have similar offerings

 

[Sycamore]

Thanks for all of your responses, much appreciated.

I've been playing around with insurance quotes and the like.

A years insurance comes in at ~£1000 on a 2.5, and ~£1000 on a 3.0. I live in a horrible post code and have an at fault accident against me from last year (picked a fight with a fiesta while in my smart car - I lost). £1000 for that is great considering my circumstances, especially as I now pay £800 (!!!!!) on a 1.0 Fiesta.

You may have nudged me towards the 3.0, I can stomach the slight increase in fuel

 

[nightyard]

I had the 2.0 150 bhp and whilst that was great coming from a saxo 1.0, as soon as I drove the 3.0 coupe I was like woahhhh

Definitely get the 3.0

Just go steady in it if your not used to the power and rear wheel drive

 

[Smartbear]

Thanks for all of your responses, much appreciated.

I've been playing around with insurance quotes and the like.

A years insurance comes in at ~£1000 on a 2.5, and ~£1000 on a 3.0. I live in a horrible post code and have an at fault accident against me from last year (picked a fight with a fiesta while in my smart car - I lost). £1000 for that is great considering my circumstances, especially as I now pay £800 (!!!!!) on a 1.0 Fiesta.

You may have nudged me towards the 3.0, I can stomach the slight increase in fuel

The 3litre uses no more fuel than the 2.5, a friend has one & we've tested them over long journeys-strange but true
Regards

 

[El Pollo Diablo]

Just go steady in it if your not used to the power and rear wheel drive

+1 on that.

 

[srhutch]

Many of us found a instant drop, mine went from £500 to £400.

4 years on and I'm paying £204 per year

Well I guess you're not going to argue, but the ///M is faster by a mile & more expensive & a higher insurance group - makes you wonder what formulas the insurance companies use to calculate premiums?

Over time insurers create a risk profile based on actual experience which is used to amend the initial pricing model (which will use insurance group as a basis), but there are a great many rating factors, including value, and not all of them result in difference in premium that one might expect.

That is all true, but still doesn't alter the fact that with the same insurance company when I upgraded from a 2.5si to a ///M my policy went down by 20% and the car was worth 3k more as well as being 33% more powerful.

 

[Steve84N]

More like 57%...

 

[Nanu]

Thought about a 28i?
Quick and fuel efficient

And a lot more than the cars he's been looking at

Didn't see a budgetmentioned but as a guide my ex 2 year old 28i with below average milage and all the toys has just been sold by the garage for £20K

 

[Cornwall1888]

I was in your position 2 months ago i went with the 3.0i 231bhp 222ft/lbs torque or whatever it is version.

After a while you will appreciate the power and torque and regret getting the 2.5. I to have a short urban commute like you and average about 25mpg as I drive in the city a lot, being 25 my insurance is £555 which is quite good I think.

 

[Mr Tidy]

I bought a Coupe last year, so it has the 3 litre N52 engine with 265 bhp - lovely!

Trip computer reads 29.7 mpg but my saddo Excel spreadsheet suggests over 30 mpg since I bought it! While I don't use it to commute it does mean that when I do drive it I usually get the chance to give it loads of volume. For the car it is that seems like a bargain to me!

From what I have read generally the 2.5 litre sixes don't cost significantly less than the 3 litres to run - my experience seems to support that, my daily is a 325ti!

Personally I would go for the biggest you can afford or you may regret it for years - Jamie's experience tends to support that!

 

[Marvin-HHGTTG]

Well I guess you're not going to argue, but the ///M is faster by a mile & more expensive & a higher insurance group - makes you wonder what formulas the insurance companies use to calculate premiums?

Over time insurers create a risk profile based on actual experience which is used to amend the initial pricing model (which will use insurance group as a basis), but there are a great many rating factors, including value, and not all of them result in difference in premium that one might expect.

That is all true, but still doesn't alter the fact that with the same insurance company when I upgraded from a 2.5si to a ///M my policy went down by 20% and the car was worth 3k more as well as being 33% more powerful.

But this is my point - a car with a higher value (book, not the one you type in) can often get better quotations than a lower value car. There are far less Z4 Ms than 2.5s, and the proportion of the former used purely as second/third cars will be far higher, ergo less accidents per policy year, and so on.

It's really quite complex and can't be traced down to anything as simple as value or power as a sole reason one way or another unfortunately.

I also found that insurance for a 2.5i pre-facelift, 3.0Si facelift and M were pretty much the same as each other.