What car thread - 2+2 coupe

[markCSC]

Hello

Next year I might be in the position to buy a new toy

I want a 2+2 coupé (I have a small child) in either rwd or 4wd. It needs to have about 300bhp+, a manual gearbox and I have a budget of £10-£15k (10k preferred). I don't want LHD or something with a high bork factor. I also want something a bit special as it will be the weekend car. The wife (who will be helping pay for it) doesn't want anything too chav, so my first idea of an Impreza Type R was met a disapproving look

Options so far

911, 996 Carrera
Monaro
BMW E46 M3
Audi S5 V8 (are they really a rubbish drive?)
TVR Cerebra (big bork factor?)

Any other ideas welcome

thanks

Mark

[Snowboy]

One of the porsches is the way to go.

No Audi or BMW will ever be special.
A TVR might work - but you'd want to make sure you get a good one.

Porsche gives a good mix of reliabilty, safety, comfort and 'sense of occasion'.

Edited by Snowboy on Wednesday 9th October 11:59

[rotarymazda]

Standard late model (99+ R/RS) RX7's dyno at ~300bhp.

Rear seats are used by my 6 and 10 year old.

10K would get a very good one.

[markCSC]

Hmm never knew the Brera was 4wd.

[Chris71]

Weekend car? That'll be the TVR then.

As a 'special' daily driver you'd struggle to beat the 911 I think, but it's just a bit too sensible to be reserved for weekends and evenings IMHO. The TVR will need more looking after, but I think it'd be worth it.

As an alternative, what about a Maserati 4200 GT? Definitely more of a GT than the TVR, so you might argue the sense-of-occasion-to-bork-potential ratio is less favourable, but they look and sound pretty special.

[ultraheed]

Will be keeping an eye on this thread as i posted one quite similar last night!

I'm considering a M3 and for your budget you should be able to find one with a nice spec and reasonable mileage.

Would a Supra fit into your criteria? Many have been body-kitted into oblivion but the stock cars still look the business IMO.

[willld]

I've recently gone through a similar process and ended up with an E92 335i. Not a particularily 'special' car, but to me neither are boggo 911s.

In the real world it's not going to be far behind an E46 M3 and can be easily remapped if that's your thing.

I looked at Cerberas, fantastic cars with a real sense of occasion but I don't have enough tinkering time or contingency budget.

Head vs heart thing really.

[angry jock]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

markCSC said:

Audi S5 V8 (are they really a rubbish drive?)

Wowsers, had no idea these were £15k cars already!

Straight out of left-field, and I get the feeling you will dismiss it (but you really shouldnt before driving one):

Brera V6 S by Prodrive:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

260+bhp, rear bias 4wd, brilliant handling (EVO rates them), special, rare & plenty more BHP on tap for relatively little outlay (supercharger conversion whilst expensive at £5k, will give 350bhp+)

Brera SV6 are all FWD. They never did a 4WD version. Also need to remember that Autodelta don't exist any more who used to do the supercharger conversions.

It is a great car though

[markCSC]

angry jock said:

Brera SV6 are all FWD. They never did a 4WD version. Also need to remember that Autodelta don't exist any more who used to do the supercharger conversions.

It is a great car though

Looks like they did http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/6228...

[300bhp/ton]

markCSC said:

Hello

Next year I might be in the position to buy a new toy

How important is this bit? As personally I think this is a very defining aspect. And as nice as the Brera posted above is, it most certainly isn't a toy IMO.

markCSC said:

I want a 2+2 coupé (I have a small child) in either rwd or 4wd. It needs to have about 300bhp+, a manual gearbox and I have a budget of £10-£15k (10k preferred). I don't want LHD or something with a high bork factor. I also want something a bit special as it will be the weekend car. The wife (who will be helping pay for it) doesn't want anything too chav, so my first idea of an Impreza Type R was met a disapproving look

Options so far

911, 996 Carrera
Monaro
BMW E46 M3
Audi S5 V8 (are they really a rubbish drive?)
TVR Cerebra (big bork factor?)

Any other ideas welcome

thanks

Mark

You said no LHD, is there any reason for this, would you consider one if such a car offered the right mix of attributes otherwise?

A 996 sounds like a good car to test drive for this money. Although I can't help feeling I'd want one more as a daily driver than weekend worrior. Same with the Monaro to an extent, just a bit too tame visually to be a toy only type of machine.

The TVR is the exact definition of "toy". I think the V8 ones are fairly ok, just buy with your eyes open. Strong residuals should mean overall costs might be better than something like an M3 which is still dropping in value.

Not sure what the S5 is doing on a toy list



Things like a Supra TT or a Skyline seem to fit the 2+2, manual and speed criteria. Chav, well I guess that depends on your take of it.

Older and below your budget you have things like the Z32 300ZX and the Mitsubishi 3000GT.

Even a nice Jag XJS could be had, but manuals are rare and not on the 318bhp V12, only the 240bhp S6's.

Similar story with the 928's, there are some manuals, but most are autos.

944 Turbo's and 968's are in budget, but I'd rather a 996 over any of these.

[FD3Si]

rotarymazda said:

Standard late model (99+ R/RS) RX7's dyno at ~300bhp.

Rear seats are used by my 6 and 10 year old.

10K would get a very good one.

Not something I've ever heard before to be honest - circa 280. And he also said he didn't want something with a high bork factor

Other than that I'd happily recommend one

[markCSC]

Thanks for the suggestions

Brera looks nice but not for me. Maybe as a daily but not the weekend car.
RX7, love the looks but high bork factor and lack of interesting engine noise puts me off.
Supra TT - a "maybe". manuals seem pretty rare though
Skyline - "she" thinks the're chav
Z32 300ZX - Driven one, felt huge, not very nimble and massive bork factor
Mitsubishi 3000GT - have your driven one!!?? nuff said
Jag XJS 318bhp V12, - Just no. The V12 I drove felt like it had 150 bhp rather than 300 and it isn't a car to hustle along b-roads
928's - I really can't get over the looks, sad but true
944 Turbo's and 968's - If they had a V6 then yes, engine noise is quite important to me

The reason to no LHD is that this on the whole means yank tanks. I love American cars but on the roads around Suffolk they just don't fit!!!

Any other ideas welcome

[300bhp/ton]

No yanks is fine if it's not what you want. But many of them are no bigger than an M3, or at least not big enough to make any really odds vs something like them.

That said, I think I'd be looking at a 911 if I were you.

Or if you fancy project to build, keep an eye out for a Subaru SVX. An engine upgrade and swap to manual would make it an interesting AWD coupe.

[angry jock]

markCSC said:

angry jock said:

Brera SV6 are all FWD. They never did a 4WD version. Also need to remember that Autodelta don't exist any more who used to do the supercharger conversions.

It is a great car though

Looks like they did http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/6228...

SV6 are all fwd.

They did the Brera V6 Q4 which was never available with the Prodrive pack. When the phase 2 Brera/Spider came in you could also buy the V6 fwd only which is quite a bit lighter.

Prodrive never built a 4wd Brera.

Edited to add linky

Edited by angry jock on Wednesday 9th October 15:06

[Rawwr]

[Tom8]

Snowboy said:

One of the porsches is the way to go.

No Audi or BMW will ever be special.
A TVR might work - but you'd want to make sure you get a good one.

Porsche gives a good mix of reliabilty, safety, comfort and 'sense of occasion'.

Edited by Snowboy on Wednesday 9th October 11:59

I used to think that but sold my Tuscan and bought a V10 Audi S8 and have fallen in love with it more than the trevor. It sounds way better than any other car I know, goes like stink and is great on all roads.

[Krikkit]

TVR for the special factor, shirley?

[danp]

gt86 with a turbo might be poss sometime in 2014 for 15k, or add the turbo when you get bored of 200bhp.

[elvismiggell]

Worth noting that the Brera has almost no rear legroom whatsoever.

[007 VXR]

Monaro ticks all boxes here