What £5k car for euro roadtrip?
Discussion
In the next few months I am looking to buy spend £5k on a car. I walk to work most days, so can get away with something fun/uneconomical, the only restriction being it needs to be suitable for a 2 week European road trip next year.
My current shortlist is:
Porsche 944
BMW M3 (E36)
Nissan 350Z
Honda S2000
Cars I have ruled out:
Mazda MX-5 - My last 2 cars have been MX5s, so I fancy a change.
BMW Z4 - 2 of my mates have Z4s, so I'd rather go for something different, but could be talked around if they really are the best option.
Toyota MR2 (mk3) - Probably the car I would go for if it wasn't for the 2 week roadtrip.
Has anyone done long roadtrips in the cars above, or advice? And are there other cars I should be looking at?
My current shortlist is:
Porsche 944
BMW M3 (E36)
Nissan 350Z
Honda S2000
Cars I have ruled out:
Mazda MX-5 - My last 2 cars have been MX5s, so I fancy a change.
BMW Z4 - 2 of my mates have Z4s, so I'd rather go for something different, but could be talked around if they really are the best option.
Toyota MR2 (mk3) - Probably the car I would go for if it wasn't for the 2 week roadtrip.
Has anyone done long roadtrips in the cars above, or advice? And are there other cars I should be looking at?
The 944 is a good call. IIRC the later examples are available with air con if you're going anyway hot. Or indeed staying in the UK at this rate. 
If you fancy something a bit more leftfield you could get a good (and, yes, reliable) TVR S-Series for that money. Decent boot by sports car standards, reasonable motorway manners, good weather protection and that noise.
ETA How realistic is a £5k 350Z these days? Last time I looked that would be a bit marginal, but might not be a bad idea if they've gone down a bit since then...
If you fancy something a bit more leftfield you could get a good (and, yes, reliable) TVR S-Series for that money. Decent boot by sports car standards, reasonable motorway manners, good weather protection and that noise.
ETA How realistic is a £5k 350Z these days? Last time I looked that would be a bit marginal, but might not be a bad idea if they've gone down a bit since then...
jke11y said:
Done multiple South of France / Italy roadtrips in ours - off again soon. jke11y said:
That is a good shout - perfect for cruising around Europe. I had also considered something American, but hadn't looked into it further and the TVR S series is another good shout!Elise18S said:
How about a cheaper yank?
Lhd, so good in Europe, mechanically simple... And lots of fun/character...
Like this?Lhd, so good in Europe, mechanically simple... And lots of fun/character...
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Sounds like a nice excuse to buy something fun.
Have previosuly owned all the ones on that list and I would take a 944 or M3.
944's are brilliant long distance cars, comfy and cover ground in a very relaxed fashion, decent MPG at high speed, long geared, quick, compliant, great seats. Finding one with aircon for £5k will be the problem as its usually the turbo's that have a/c (rare to find on an S2).
S2000 is not great on long motorway trips, a lot of noise with the roof up, cabin has lack of places to put stuff.
350Z not in the same league as any of these but will be quite new so more toys and less chance of breaking down.
So that leaves the M3, £5k will get a decent one, make sure you take it for a decent drive before you buy, including in traffic, the clumsy gearchange and heavy clutch spoil it.
Porsche 944
BMW M3 (E36)
Nissan 350Z
Honda S2000
Have previosuly owned all the ones on that list and I would take a 944 or M3.
944's are brilliant long distance cars, comfy and cover ground in a very relaxed fashion, decent MPG at high speed, long geared, quick, compliant, great seats. Finding one with aircon for £5k will be the problem as its usually the turbo's that have a/c (rare to find on an S2).
S2000 is not great on long motorway trips, a lot of noise with the roof up, cabin has lack of places to put stuff.
350Z not in the same league as any of these but will be quite new so more toys and less chance of breaking down.
So that leaves the M3, £5k will get a decent one, make sure you take it for a decent drive before you buy, including in traffic, the clumsy gearchange and heavy clutch spoil it.
Porsche 944
BMW M3 (E36)
Nissan 350Z
Honda S2000
My E39 540i is an extremely competent mile muncher and returns around 30mpg on a long run. I bought the car with the same intentions as you, as my girlfriend's family live in the South of Spain. I have already taken it to Edinburgh and back over a 3 day period and got out feeling completely fresh, something that could not have been said for my E36 328i.
f
k the dull modern stuff,get somrthing a bit older and interesting,to this end the tvr n 944 arw good shouts.
I do a big euro trip in my 2.8i Capri every year.
Decent boot,comfy recaros,enough grunt and plenty of fun on the twisties and fully laden i average a consistent 32mpg.
Reliable and simple if it breaks too.
Plus even european type foreigners love capris and respect you for doing big trips in an old car!
k the dull modern stuff,get somrthing a bit older and interesting,to this end the tvr n 944 arw good shouts.I do a big euro trip in my 2.8i Capri every year.
Decent boot,comfy recaros,enough grunt and plenty of fun on the twisties and fully laden i average a consistent 32mpg.
Reliable and simple if it breaks too.
Plus even european type foreigners love capris and respect you for doing big trips in an old car!
Craikeybaby said:
That is a good shout - perfect for cruising around Europe. I had also considered something American, but hadn't looked into it further and the TVR S series is another good shout!
The s series is a great shout. Its the car I'd do it in Just think of the sound and experience. Thats surely what counts on one of these trips. Should be reliable too. Come and have a look in the s series forum and see the euro tour. An unusually high number in the classifieds too at the moment...
I have done multiple 3000 mile euro trips. Mostly in my Integra Type-R which is quite heavily modifed. I also have an S2000 which I am taking for a 10-day trip starting on friday (going down as far as corsica via the ring and monaco, across to corsica for a couple of days around the island and then back up via italy, austria and across germany).
I have an E36 M3 and have no desire to take it to the alps... you want something with very good brakes and a great gearshift - neither of which the E36 M3 has IMHO. it would be good for the long motorways and some of the 'A' roads like the N85, but I like the tight twisty passes and want something nimble.
The S2000 is a pretty good compromise I think - reasonable size boot, great engine and gear shift... feels a bit heavier than the Integra (which it is).
weirdly, hot hatches I think work well there, see a lot of locals in RS clios.
944 might be getting a bit old / fragile and unless you very keen on RWD, the integra is a similar package in terms of boot and rear seats and would likely be quicker and IMHO more fun to hussle.
Of the cars I haven't owned, I'd be short listing:
- a WRX or EVO to do tarmac rally impressions with
- an MX5 would actually be a good choice, as they are cheap and reliable and £5k would get you a good Mrk2 with aircon
- a porsche boxster - likely to be old and maybe a bit ropey at £5k, but maybe not any more so than a 944
- clio 172/182 as mentioned above, with the cup pack and aircon
- DC5 integra, bit more 'grown up' than a DC2, more comfortabole for long distance and has a 6th gear for motorway cruising. might not be in budget as they seem to hold their value remarkably well
- not sure if you can get an elise or VX220 for that money - would be fun to drive, but not very practical i guess
other points to note:
- comfortable seats are a must as you'll be in them a lot and there is plenty of motorway unfortunately
- needs to run on 95 octane as higher octanes are not always avalible (ie corsica only has 95 on the island)
- *needs* aircon if you do mountain passes in summer. the first year I took the integra without aircon, it was 35+ and inside the car when your hammering up alpine passes gets very unpleseant even with the windows down - think james may in that racing aston martin... it was bad enough for me to retro fit aircon for the trip the following year
- brakes get very hot, worse than most UK race tracks, I run endurance race pads on alpine trips. get a car with good standard brakes and upgrade the pads
- big fuel tank is a plus although not nessecary as there are loads of petrol stations even in remote parts of the alps which take cards 24hr but the integra empties a tank in about an hour
- fuel consumption may or may not be a concern - I usually budget around £800-£1000 for the 3000 miles
- I take oil, brake fluid, a decent socket set / tool kit, spare brake pads, oil filter and any specialist tools for wheel nuts or engine bits as well as a jack and full size spare tyre. assume any local garage will not have parts and be expensive and plan accordingly
I have an E36 M3 and have no desire to take it to the alps... you want something with very good brakes and a great gearshift - neither of which the E36 M3 has IMHO. it would be good for the long motorways and some of the 'A' roads like the N85, but I like the tight twisty passes and want something nimble.
The S2000 is a pretty good compromise I think - reasonable size boot, great engine and gear shift... feels a bit heavier than the Integra (which it is).
weirdly, hot hatches I think work well there, see a lot of locals in RS clios.
944 might be getting a bit old / fragile and unless you very keen on RWD, the integra is a similar package in terms of boot and rear seats and would likely be quicker and IMHO more fun to hussle.
Of the cars I haven't owned, I'd be short listing:
- a WRX or EVO to do tarmac rally impressions with
- an MX5 would actually be a good choice, as they are cheap and reliable and £5k would get you a good Mrk2 with aircon
- a porsche boxster - likely to be old and maybe a bit ropey at £5k, but maybe not any more so than a 944
- clio 172/182 as mentioned above, with the cup pack and aircon
- DC5 integra, bit more 'grown up' than a DC2, more comfortabole for long distance and has a 6th gear for motorway cruising. might not be in budget as they seem to hold their value remarkably well
- not sure if you can get an elise or VX220 for that money - would be fun to drive, but not very practical i guess
other points to note:
- comfortable seats are a must as you'll be in them a lot and there is plenty of motorway unfortunately
- needs to run on 95 octane as higher octanes are not always avalible (ie corsica only has 95 on the island)
- *needs* aircon if you do mountain passes in summer. the first year I took the integra without aircon, it was 35+ and inside the car when your hammering up alpine passes gets very unpleseant even with the windows down - think james may in that racing aston martin... it was bad enough for me to retro fit aircon for the trip the following year
- brakes get very hot, worse than most UK race tracks, I run endurance race pads on alpine trips. get a car with good standard brakes and upgrade the pads
- big fuel tank is a plus although not nessecary as there are loads of petrol stations even in remote parts of the alps which take cards 24hr but the integra empties a tank in about an hour
- fuel consumption may or may not be a concern - I usually budget around £800-£1000 for the 3000 miles
- I take oil, brake fluid, a decent socket set / tool kit, spare brake pads, oil filter and any specialist tools for wheel nuts or engine bits as well as a jack and full size spare tyre. assume any local garage will not have parts and be expensive and plan accordingly
That's a pretty good shortlist you have there. Though, also worth lookng at a Corrado VR6. £5k will get you one of the very best around. Obviously, I am biased but a very individual choice with lovely noise/character. Add a performance exhaust and a BMC Induction Kit and the awesome bark is amplified to spine tingling levels (epic in those roadtrip tunnels). Brilliant grand tourer, very comfy and good storage, seats 4 reasonably comfortably. I get well north of 30 mpg from mine when cruising. The standard set up may 'only' have 190bhp, but the car is rapid and lusty largely due to its relatively low weight. Top speed around 146 mph and mid 6s 0-60... There is currently a 41k mile example up for £5995 on eBay at a specialist dealer.
944S2 or E36 M3 (avoid the SMG cars) would also be brilliant grand tourers
944S2 or E36 M3 (avoid the SMG cars) would also be brilliant grand tourers
Edited by billzeebub on Tuesday 23 July 19:12
Edited by billzeebub on Tuesday 23 July 19:13
Challo said:
Elise18S said:
How about a cheaper yank?
Lhd, so good in Europe, mechanically simple... And lots of fun/character...
Like this?Lhd, so good in Europe, mechanically simple... And lots of fun/character...
http://www4.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...
Matt UK said:
I've spent a lot of time in the current XK/XKR and although they are great cars I've never really clicked with them, I also feel about 20 years too young for them. jke11y said:
For warm evenings driving on the continent it has to be a convertible, surely?
I'm not fussed either way, we're going early may, so it shouldn't be too hot, but roof down would be good around Monaco etc. the car will also live outside in the UK, so a coupe may be better suited. g3org3y said:
Boxster worth a look? Early ones are hitting 5k.
I forget about the Boxsters because I always look at 944s. My Dad had an early 2.5 Boxster and used it for some big trips like this and really liked it. So much so that he's replaced it with a newer Boxster. The reason for the change was impending tyre/brake/suspension work, which were going to be pretty expensive. A Boxster is on the list now!Edited by Craikeybaby on Tuesday 23 July 19:24
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