Thanks greatly for the replies. I would love a Clio 172 as read they are meant to be huge fun.....But a bit too small I think.

There is a Octavia VRS on here for sale, think they are meant to be good cars?

deanflowers .......... Love that BMW 5 series....Such a shame it is so far away (290 miles)

Jimbo ...... I am liking that Audi, plus not that far away

My Passat is good as in performance and economy wise but lacks fun. She has the 130PD engine and I had her mapped to 160BHP so goes well and returns 47MPG, but corners there is no great feedback and this is on coilovers. A 306 GTI-6 would be fun but they all seem to have been thrashed and even then wondering if the boot in one of those would be big enough for my dog, he weighs 41kg so a fairly large beast!