Fun daily £10K budget
Discussion
Pistonheads gurus I need your assistance… earlier this year I purchased myself an A90 Supra which has been a dream car of mine ever since they dropped the concept. It replaced a Mini Cooper S coupe. As a ‘daily’ I also have a 2012 Ibiza FR, with the 2.0tdi 140bhp engine.
The plan was to use the Supra on the weekends, and use the Ibiza for the trips to the office (110 mile round trip, mixture of motorway, dual carriage or some nice twisty A/B roads). Currently head to the office 2 days as week, plus site visits. The problem is, every time I have to drive the Ibiza now after being in the supra I hate it… high driving position, clattery diesel noise etc. As such I’m now using the Supra as a daily, and I’m worried the specialness of it is wearing off. Also, some of my site visits for work aren’t to the best places, and my line of work it can be frowned upon if you show up in a bright red sports car…
So I think I need a fun daily to replace the Supra. The requirements are:
0-60 in sub 8 seconds
Manual
No more than 80,000 miles
Reasonable reliability
‘Fun’ to drive (entirely subjective).
£10K budget, but less would be helpful…
Doesn’t need to be massively practical as partner has Mazda 3 for tip runs.
I’ve come up with this short list:
Mazda mx5 NC1. Plenty in budget. Had one back few years ago and seems to hit the criteria. Fun enough, reliable, cheap etc. BUT I’ve read nothing but horror stories about some pretty shocking rust appearing on low mileage cars. Budget is healthy enough that I could get a rot box and get it repaired… but not sure I want the hassle. Plus I’ve had one already so something new Would be good.
FN2 civic type R. Had an EP3 back in the day so familiar with the engine. Honda reliability, and I find the lack of torque and revving them out entertaining, certainly much different driving experience to the Supra. Downsides…. They’re thin on the ground and many look abused and tired. Also I loved my EP3 and worried the FN2 may jade my memories of that it doesn’t serve me well.
BMW Z4 E85, either 2.5i, 2.5si or 3.0si facelift cars. Would meet the ‘fun’ aspect as roof comes off. Manual box makes it different to the supra. 2.5si seems the sweet spot but not many around and prices seem very strong for what are at their newest 15 year old cars. Albeit their design in my opinion has aged well. Apart from roof motors they seem generally quite reliable with few horror stories. They look like they wear their high miles well, and a 3.0si fully spec’s with over 100K miles can be had for around £6K leaving plenty of budget for repairs. I have an aversion (right of wrong!) about cars over 100K, but if I can look past this there are some bargains to be had….
R56 Mini Cooper S. been there, done that. Had an earlier R53 before the Mini. Both minis have been expensive Beasts to keep on the road, with plenty of well known serious faults. Again prices seem very strong on these at the minute, and whilst I love minis as a package, I’ve always been driving them with one eye open thinking they’re about to throw up a big bill.
Audi mk2 TT Roadster. Not really ‘fun’ but would be well built. Not sure the roadster works design wise, and the coupe would just seem a bit too similar to the supra…
Back in the day 10K would be a healthy budget, but I’m really struggling to come up with any other suggestions which are workable. The Z4 is the front runner, but I am mindful of their age…
So over to you… find me my next daily.
The plan was to use the Supra on the weekends, and use the Ibiza for the trips to the office (110 mile round trip, mixture of motorway, dual carriage or some nice twisty A/B roads). Currently head to the office 2 days as week, plus site visits. The problem is, every time I have to drive the Ibiza now after being in the supra I hate it… high driving position, clattery diesel noise etc. As such I’m now using the Supra as a daily, and I’m worried the specialness of it is wearing off. Also, some of my site visits for work aren’t to the best places, and my line of work it can be frowned upon if you show up in a bright red sports car…
So I think I need a fun daily to replace the Supra. The requirements are:
0-60 in sub 8 seconds
Manual
No more than 80,000 miles
Reasonable reliability
‘Fun’ to drive (entirely subjective).
£10K budget, but less would be helpful…
Doesn’t need to be massively practical as partner has Mazda 3 for tip runs.
I’ve come up with this short list:
Mazda mx5 NC1. Plenty in budget. Had one back few years ago and seems to hit the criteria. Fun enough, reliable, cheap etc. BUT I’ve read nothing but horror stories about some pretty shocking rust appearing on low mileage cars. Budget is healthy enough that I could get a rot box and get it repaired… but not sure I want the hassle. Plus I’ve had one already so something new Would be good.
FN2 civic type R. Had an EP3 back in the day so familiar with the engine. Honda reliability, and I find the lack of torque and revving them out entertaining, certainly much different driving experience to the Supra. Downsides…. They’re thin on the ground and many look abused and tired. Also I loved my EP3 and worried the FN2 may jade my memories of that it doesn’t serve me well.
BMW Z4 E85, either 2.5i, 2.5si or 3.0si facelift cars. Would meet the ‘fun’ aspect as roof comes off. Manual box makes it different to the supra. 2.5si seems the sweet spot but not many around and prices seem very strong for what are at their newest 15 year old cars. Albeit their design in my opinion has aged well. Apart from roof motors they seem generally quite reliable with few horror stories. They look like they wear their high miles well, and a 3.0si fully spec’s with over 100K miles can be had for around £6K leaving plenty of budget for repairs. I have an aversion (right of wrong!) about cars over 100K, but if I can look past this there are some bargains to be had….
R56 Mini Cooper S. been there, done that. Had an earlier R53 before the Mini. Both minis have been expensive Beasts to keep on the road, with plenty of well known serious faults. Again prices seem very strong on these at the minute, and whilst I love minis as a package, I’ve always been driving them with one eye open thinking they’re about to throw up a big bill.
Audi mk2 TT Roadster. Not really ‘fun’ but would be well built. Not sure the roadster works design wise, and the coupe would just seem a bit too similar to the supra…
Back in the day 10K would be a healthy budget, but I’m really struggling to come up with any other suggestions which are workable. The Z4 is the front runner, but I am mindful of their age…
So over to you… find me my next daily.
I drove an FN2 as a daily for 2 years, which i still had at the time of my joining PH (hence the second part of my name). Whilst I adored it, and would gladly have another, it was the lack of compliance on typical British roads that wore me down and led to me getting something better suited to the long weekend drives.
If I was looking for a fun Honda daily, I'd probably go for a CRZ. Similar boot space to the FN2, similar sporty feel, but less harsh and also reasonably less to run.
If I was looking for a fun Honda daily, I'd probably go for a CRZ. Similar boot space to the FN2, similar sporty feel, but less harsh and also reasonably less to run.
Can see you wrote a fair bit about the Z4 3.0si so as the owner of my second one...
Prior to it I have gone for a variety of fun cars (potentially add a 350z or cheap 370z to the list?) but I do like the Z4 as a decent compromise to a lot of cars that came before it for me, but not compromised to be boring.
Roof motor, any good enthusiast will have relocated it to the boot, it is kept nice and dry there. Should it even then fail for some reason repair/replacement is therefore pretty straight forward. the facelifted cars with the N52 engine are a peach, one of the best straight sixes made. They are quite light cars too, they dont get that appreciation. The seating position is pretty low down, so getting in and out is a little bit of a mission, the flip side is obviously once driving it its a great position to be in.
The jobs you want to see done on higher milers are: Water Pump (electric and will fail, not a case of if, but when). Vanos. Valvetronic/Valve Cover Gaskets. DISA valves. The water pump is a must do job, the rest do once they need it, all are not wallet breakers by any means.
I bought first an E86 coupe then sold it and bought a 115k mile E85. It drives beautifully and you would think it has 15k miles on it not 115k, the interiors wear really well too. Avoid the pop up screen in the dash option, it is about the only thing that hasnt aged well!
I paid less than 6k for mine it has M sports stuff all round plus heated seats etc. so all the goodies.
Bang for buck, for a 3 litre, its pretty good!
Prior to it I have gone for a variety of fun cars (potentially add a 350z or cheap 370z to the list?) but I do like the Z4 as a decent compromise to a lot of cars that came before it for me, but not compromised to be boring.
Roof motor, any good enthusiast will have relocated it to the boot, it is kept nice and dry there. Should it even then fail for some reason repair/replacement is therefore pretty straight forward. the facelifted cars with the N52 engine are a peach, one of the best straight sixes made. They are quite light cars too, they dont get that appreciation. The seating position is pretty low down, so getting in and out is a little bit of a mission, the flip side is obviously once driving it its a great position to be in.
The jobs you want to see done on higher milers are: Water Pump (electric and will fail, not a case of if, but when). Vanos. Valvetronic/Valve Cover Gaskets. DISA valves. The water pump is a must do job, the rest do once they need it, all are not wallet breakers by any means.
I bought first an E86 coupe then sold it and bought a 115k mile E85. It drives beautifully and you would think it has 15k miles on it not 115k, the interiors wear really well too. Avoid the pop up screen in the dash option, it is about the only thing that hasnt aged well!
I paid less than 6k for mine it has M sports stuff all round plus heated seats etc. so all the goodies.
Bang for buck, for a 3 litre, its pretty good!
Xcore said:
M135i
Ezra said:
I'd have a BMW M135i on the list...that's deffo within budget. Not had one but did have an M140i which was awesome, but I suspect one of these wouldn't be in budget.
OP...you are only allowed to get one of these if you put a mega loud pop and bang map on it! 
They seem to have taken the limelight off the Golf R/S3 now I reckon.
hunt123 said:
OP you mention Audi TT, for 10k you'd get a decent Audi TTS. 0-60mph iirc low 5sec 0-60. Very tuneable, £600 gets ~320bhp and sub 5sec 0-60.
We had one a few years ago, and whilst it wasn't the most engaging thing to drive, it did feel quick and it was a lovely thing to sit in/live with I thought though. cerb4.5lee said:
hunt123 said:
OP you mention Audi TT, for 10k you'd get a decent Audi TTS. 0-60mph iirc low 5sec 0-60. Very tuneable, £600 gets ~320bhp and sub 5sec 0-60.
We had one a few years ago, and whilst it wasn't the most engaging thing to drive, it did feel quick and it was a lovely thing to sit in/live with I thought though. Different cars, but I bought my Mk 2 TT Roadster for the same reasons : Because I was using my "fun" car every day, and I wanted to stop. It didn't work - it simply meant I had a Mk 2 TT Roadster that I didn't use.
Since then, I had a period of about 8 months without the fun car, and the TT grew on me. I do have a "fun" car again, but the TT does get used more now and it is a decent car. I like it, but I still use the "fun" car more than I should, and if you bought a TT Roadster I suspect you'd find the same.
Since then, I had a period of about 8 months without the fun car, and the TT grew on me. I do have a "fun" car again, but the TT does get used more now and it is a decent car. I like it, but I still use the "fun" car more than I should, and if you bought a TT Roadster I suspect you'd find the same.
Had my FN2 for 8 years now as a daily, overall I still enjoy it and its been 100% reliable. I will replace it when it becomes too expensive and unreliable but so far it just keeps on going without any fuss.
Main thing to be aware of its the very firm ride, the fact the car lacks anything modern or 'creature comfort' apart from cruise control and the fact it will feel slow compared to something turbocharged with only slightly more power.
In isolation they still feel 'quick' but the reality is your as quick as a modern 320d...
On the flip side you can thrash that engine and gearbox on a b road without the car feeling too fast and torque steering all over the place. It probably has the right amount of power/weight for this.
Main thing to be aware of its the very firm ride, the fact the car lacks anything modern or 'creature comfort' apart from cruise control and the fact it will feel slow compared to something turbocharged with only slightly more power.
In isolation they still feel 'quick' but the reality is your as quick as a modern 320d...
On the flip side you can thrash that engine and gearbox on a b road without the car feeling too fast and torque steering all over the place. It probably has the right amount of power/weight for this.
Ezra said:
I'd have a BMW M135i on the list...that's deffo within budget. Not had one but did have an M140i which was awesome, but I suspect one of these wouldn't be in budget.
Looking at a bottom of the market one for that price - likely princely mileage or questionable ownership, or both.I’d echo what coldel says .. Z4 30Si is pretty much unbeatable as a package
The 2.5i is only 170bhp and the difference in insurance/running costs between the 218bhp of the 25Si and the 265bhp of the 30Si is negligible .. I’d go for the 30Si every time although there isn’t much in it real world performance between them and some reckon the 25Si is a freer revving unit
I’d add that you need to remove the runflats, check the suspension has been renewed as if not it’ll be shagged and do a clutch delay valve delete .. and you’ll have a great car
The only problem is finding one, and a good one, as they are a rare car, only 693 manual ones sold in the U.K.
The 2.5i is only 170bhp and the difference in insurance/running costs between the 218bhp of the 25Si and the 265bhp of the 30Si is negligible .. I’d go for the 30Si every time although there isn’t much in it real world performance between them and some reckon the 25Si is a freer revving unit
I’d add that you need to remove the runflats, check the suspension has been renewed as if not it’ll be shagged and do a clutch delay valve delete .. and you’ll have a great car
The only problem is finding one, and a good one, as they are a rare car, only 693 manual ones sold in the U.K.
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