If You Have To Pick One Car For Life, Make Sure It's One Of These

We often talk about cars that are easy to live with, but if you had to choose a car to live with day-to-day for the rest of your life, what would you go for? Versatility is the key here, but a car for life would also need to be exciting enough not to get boring.

CT Editor Alex's choice would be the BMW 330d M Sport, a car you didn't rate highly enough to mention when we asked for your suggestions on Facebook this week. After a huge response (well over 1000 comments) we've put together this list of 10 cars that could fit the bill nicely. The vast majority are four-wheel drive, so clearly you guys want to hoon whatever the weather...

10. Alpina D3 Bi-Turbo

BMW makes a dizzying array of fast saloons and estates, but what if you want something a little more frugal? As mentioned, the 330d is pretty damn good, but if you want to go really fast, give Alpina a call. The BMW tuner's 3-series-based D3 Bi-Turbo is a diesel demon, and will temp the most ardent petrolhead over to the oil-burning dark side. Its 3.0-litre straight-six churns out 345bhp and a massive 516lb/ft of torque, sending this rapid saloon from 0-62mph in 4.6 seconds and on to a top speed of 172mph. Despite that, it'll still do 53.3mpg and puff out just 139g/km of Co2.

9. Honda NSX

The phrase 'everyday supercar' has often be thrown around when talking about the NSX. While these days the NSX's performance is a little more hot hatch than supercar - the mid-mounted 3.2-litre V6 in later models develops 276bhp - it genuinely is a good everyday car. It's reliable and easy to drive when you're not pressing on, yet is utterly sublime when you give it some stick. The NSX is still decently quick despite the underwhelming power figure - the 3.2-litre versions will do 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds and top out at 170mph.

8. VW Golf R32

Hot hatches always make great all-round cars, and VW's R32 Golf is a belter. The muscular 3.2-litre 'VR6' engine develops a useful 246bhp. Go for the DSG version and you'll dispatch the 0-60mph sprint in 6.0 seconds dead, and top out at 154mph. The Golf R that replaced it is much faster, but we were sad to see the back of that lovely six-pot. In five door form it's very practical, and of course, the R32 is four-wheel drive.

7. Land Rover Defender

The venerable Defender may not be quick, but it's exciting in other ways. It will go anywhere you point it, will drive in all weathers, and has a rugged simplicity that should help it last - providing you protect it against rust.

6. Ferrari FF

If you want a Ferrari to live with every day for the rest of your time on planet Earth, the FF is surely the best bet. This big GT car has four-wheel drive, four seats, and a shooting brake-style body that gives it a gigantic boot. Oh, and it's fast, very fast. That front-mounted 6.3-litre V12 is good for a massive 660bhp. It'll do 0-60mph in just 3.7 seconds, and will hit 208mph.

5. Toyota Hilux

We were a little worried about how many of you guys chose the Toyota Hilux as your car for life. As proven by the Top Gear boys more than once this hardy pick-up truck is damn-near indestructible, and with a few modifications can be driven anywhere. We can only assume this means a high percentage of you think there'll be a zombie apocalypse in the near future, resulting in us living life Mad Max-style...

4. Subaru Impreza WRX STI

For blistering real-world performance and practicality, the Impreza WRX STI takes some beating. With four-wheel drive you'll have grip all-year round, and that 2.0-litre turbo boxer engine is usefully powerful and reliable. The face-lifted second-generation model would be our pick of the bunch.

3. Porsche 911 Carrera 4

Like the Impreza, the Porsche 911 is pretty good at the whole 'real-world performance' thing. Spec a Carrera 4 or 4S (pictured) and you can access that performance all-year round, however nasty the weather is. Go for the standard, 345bhp 3.4-litre Carrera 4 and you'll see 0-62mph flash by in 4.9 seconds before hitting 177mph. If that's not enough for you, the 395bhp 3.8-litre 4S will do the benchmark 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds before hitting the buffers at 185mph.

2. Nissan GT-R

The GT-R has been with us a few years now, but it's still an astonishing beast. With 530bhp from its twin-turbo 3.8-litre V6 it's unbelievably quick, and with a sophisticated four-wheel drive chassis it can tear up any track at a deranged rate. The best part is, with all those clever electronics the GT-R is an easy car to drive fast.

1. Audi RS6 Avant

As far as all-rounders go, a quick estate car is always a good bet. And if there's one manufacturer that's synonymous with ballistic estate cars, it's Audi. Arguably its best effort is the C6 RS6. Not content with shoehorning a 5.0-litre V10 under the bonnet, Audi saw fit to strap on a couple of turbos. The result? 571bhp. That makes the RS6 the most powerful road car Audi has ever sold. 0-60mph takes just 4.6 seconds - not bad for a two tonne car. The 0-124mph figure is even more impressive, at 12.7 seconds.